This section lists changes in Oracle Solaris Zones features, including Oracle Solaris Kernel Zones, for this release.
The default non-global zone in this release issolaris, described in thisguide and in thesolaris(5) man page.
To verify the Oracle Solaris release and the physical machine architecture, type:
$uname -r -m
Thevirtinfo command described in thevirtinfo(1M) man page is used to obtain the following information:
Determine system support for Oracle Solaris virtualization technologies
Detect the type of virtual environment Oracle Solaris is running in, such as Oracle VM Serverfor SPARC
Thesolaris zone uses the branded zones framework described inAbout the Branded Zones Framework and in thebrands(5) man page to run zones installed with the same software that is installed inthe global zone. The system software must always be in sync with the global zone when using asolaris brand non-global zone. The system software packages within the zone aremanaged using the Image Packaging System (IPS). IPS is the packaging system on the Oracle Solaris 11release, andsolaris zones use this model.
Defaultipkg zones created on the Oracle Solaris 11 Express release will bemapped tosolaris zones. SeeAbout Converting ipkg Zones to solaris Zones.
Each non-global zone specified in the Automated Install (AI) manifest is installed andconfigured as part of a client installation. Non-global zones are installed and configured on thefirst reboot after the global zone is installed. When the system first boots, the zonesself-assembly SMF service,svc:/system/zones-install:default, configures andinstalls each non-global zone defined in the global zone AI manifest. SeeAdding and Updating Software in Oracle Solaris 11.3 formore information. It is also possible to manually configure and install zones on an installed OracleSolaris system.
For package updates, persistent proxies should be set in an image by using the--proxy option. If a persistent image proxy configuration is not used,http_proxy andhttps_proxy environment variables can beset.
Zones can be configured to be updated in parallel instead of serially. The parallel updateprovides a significant improvement in the time required to update all the zones on a system.
By default, zones are created with the exclusive-IP type. Through theanetresource, a VNIC is automatically included in the zone configuration if networking configuration isnot specified. For more information, seeZone Network Interfaces inOracle Solaris Zones Configuration Resources.
For information on theauto-mac-address used to obtain amac-address for a zone, see the entryanet inResource Type Properties inOracle Solaris Zones Configuration Resources.
Asolaris zone on shared storage has azonecfgrootzpool resource. A zone is encapsulated into a dedicated zpool. Zones on shared storage access and manage shared storage resources for zones. Kernel zones do not havezpool orrootzpool resources.
Asolaris brand zone can use the following shared storage for zonedevice resources, and forzpool androotzpool resources.
iSCSI
FC LUNs
DAS
Properties used to specify IP over InfiniBand (IPoIB) datalinks are available for thezonecfganet resource. IPoIB is supported forsolaris andsolaris10 brand zones.
The Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) IPC protocol is supported in both exclusive-IP andshared-IP non-global zones.
Thefsstat utility has been extended to support zones. Thefsstat utility provides per-zone and aggregate statistics.
solaris zones can be NFS servers, as described in the sectionRunning an NFS Server in a Zone inCreating and Using Oracle Solaris Zones.
Trial-run, also called dry-run,zoneadmattach–n, provideszonecfg validation, but does not perform packagecontents validation.
Allzoneadm options that take files as arguments require absolutepaths.
Oracle Solaris 10 Zones provide an Oracle Solaris 10 environment on Oracle Solaris 11. You can migrate an Oracle Solaris 10 system or zone into asolaris10 zone on an Oracle Solaris 11 system. SeeCreating and Using Oracle Solaris 10 Zones.
Thezonep2vchk tool identifies issues, including networking issues, that could affect the migration of an Oracle Solaris 11 system or an Oracle Solaris 10 system into a zone on a system running the Oracle Solaris 11 release. Thezonep2vchk tool is executed on the source system before migration begins. The tool also outputs azonecfg script for use on the target system. The script creates a zone that matches the source system's configuration. For more information, seeChapter 7, Migrating and Converting Oracle Solaris Zones inCreating and Using Oracle Solaris Zones.
The following differences betweensolaris zones on the Oracle Solaris 11 release andnative zones on the Oracle Solaris 10 release should be noted:
Thesolaris brand is created on Oracle Solaris 11 systems instead of thenative brand, which is the default on Oracle Solaris 10 systems.
solaris zones are whole-root type only.
The sparse root type of native zone available on Oracle Solaris 10 uses the SVR4 package management system, and IPS does not use this system. A read-only root zone configuration that is similar to the sparse root type is available.
Zones in this release have software management related functionality that is different from the Oracle Solaris 10 release in these areas:
IPS versus SVR4 packaging.
Install, detach, attach, and physical to virtual capability.
The non-global zone root is a ZFS dataset.
A package installed in the global zone is no longer installed into all current and futurezones. In general, the global zone's package contents no longer dictate each zone's packagecontents, for both IPS and SVR4 packaging.
Non-global zones use boot environments. Zones are integrated withbeadm,the user interface command for managing ZFS Boot Environments (BEs).
Thebeadm command is supported inside zones forpkgupdate, just as in the global zone. Thebeadm command can delete any inactivezones BE associated with the zone. See thebeadm(1M) man page.
All enabled IPS package repositories must be accessible while installing a zone. SeeHow to Install a Configured Zone inCreating and Using Oracle Solaris Zones for more information.
Zone software is minimized to start. Any additional packages the zone requires must be added.SeeAdding and Updating Software in Oracle Solaris 11.3 for more information.
Zones can use Oracle Solaris products and features such as the following:
Oracle Solaris ZFS encryption
Network virtualization and QoS
CIFS and NFS
The following functions cannot be configured in asolaris branded zone:
DHCP address assignment in a shared-IP zone
ndmpd
SMB server
SSL proxy server
FC services
FCoE services
iSCSI services
ZFS pool administration throughzpool commands cannot be used
The following functions cannot be configured in asolaris-kz brand zone:
FC services
FCoE services
Non-globalsolaris andsolaris10 brand zones running within a single host global zone are supported on all architectures that are defined as supported platforms for the Oracle Solaris 11.3 release. See theOracle Solaris Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).
For information about Oracle Solaris Kernel Zones physical machine support and system requirements, seeHardware and Software Requirements for Oracle Solaris Kernel Zones inCreating and Using Oracle Solaris Kernel Zones.
To support Oracle Solaris 11 Express release customers, any zone configured as anipkg zone is converted to asolaris zone and reported assolaris uponpkg update orzoneadm attach to Oracle Solaris 11.3. Theipkg name will be mapped to thesolaris name if used when configuring zones. Import of azonecfg file exported from an Oracle Solaris 11 Express system will be supported.
The output of commands such aszonecfginfo orzoneadmlist–v displays a brand ofsolaris for default native zones on an Oracle Solaris 11.3 system.