Sybex solaris 9 sun certified system administrator study guide aug 2003 ISBN 0782141811

Solaris 9: Sun Certified System Administrator Study Guideby Quentin Docter ISBN:0782141811 Sybex © 2003 597 pages This guide covers parts I & II of the Sun Certified System Administrato

Solaris 9: Sun Certified System Administrator Study Guide

by Quentin Docter

ISBN:0782141811

Sybex © 2003 (597 pages)

This guide covers parts I & II

of the Sun Certified System Administrator for Solaris 9 exams: 310-014 and 310-

015 and provides in-depth coverage of all exam

objectives along with practical insights drawn from real world experience.

Table of Contents

Solaris 9—Sun Certified System Administrator Study Guide Introduction

Chapter 10 - The Solaris Networking Environment Chapter 11 - Virtual File Systems and NFS

Here’s the book you need to prepare for Sun’s Solaris 9 System Administrator Exams This Study Guide

provides:

Assessment testing to focus and direct your studies In-depth coverage of all official exam objectives

Master Technical Instructor and Lead Curriculum Developer, a consultant, and a senior Network Administrator He is now working as a full-time technical writer, author, and consultant in Murray, Utah.

Solaris 9-Sun Certified System Administrator Study Guide

World rights reserved No part of this publication may be stored in a

retrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but notlimited to photocopy, photograph, magnetic, or other record, without theprior agreement and written permission of the publisher

Library of Congress Card Number: 2002113842

ISBN: 0-7821-4181-1

SYBEX and the SYBEX logo are either registered trademarks or

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SYBEX is an independent entity from Sun Microsystems, Inc and is notaffiliated with Sun Microsystems, Inc in any manner This publicationmay be used in assisting students to prepare for the Sun Certified

System Administrator exams Neither Sun Microsystems, Inc nor SYBEXwarrants that use of this publication will ensure passing the relevant

exam Solaris is either a registered trademark or a trademark of SunMicrosystems, Inc in the United States and/or other countries

TRADEMARKS: SYBEX has attempted throughout this book to

distinguish proprietary trademarks from descriptive terms by following thecapitalization style used by the manufacturer

The author and publisher have made their best efforts to prepare thisbook, and the content is based upon final release software wheneverpossible Portions of the manuscript may be based upon prerelease

versions supplied by software manufacturer(s) The author and the

publisher make no representation or warranties of any kind with regard tothe completeness or accuracy of the contents herein and accept no

merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose, or any losses or

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performing essential procedures on the Solaris OE and technical supportstaff responsible for administering a networked server running on theSolaris OE CertCities.com recently included this certification in its list ofthe "10 Hottest Certifications for 2003."

This Solaris 9: Sun Certified System Administrator Study Guide was

developed to help you optimize learning and retention of topics you canexpect to be tested on, both in the exams and in real life It has alwaysbeen Sybex's mission to teach individuals how to utilize technologies inthe real world, not to simply feed them answers to test questions Just asSun is committed to establishing measurable standards for professionalswho work with the Solaris operating environment, Sybex is committed toproviding those professionals with the means of acquiring the skills andknowledge they need to meet those standards

The Sybex team of authors, editors, and technical reviewers has workedhard to ensure that this Study Guide is comprehensive, in-depth, andpedagogically sound We're confident that this book, along with the

collection of cutting-edge software study tools included on the CD, willmeet and exceed the demanding standards of the certification

marketplace and help you, the Solaris 9 SCSA exam candidate, succeed

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To Kara, Abbie, and Lauren.

Acknowledgments

Ask anyone who's written a book, and they'll tell you that it's a huge

So, deservedly, she gets first billing

The crew at Sybex, as always, has been great to work with Neil Edde,Elizabeth Hurley Peterson, Colleen Strand, Heather O'Connor, StudyGuide Expert Elizabeth Campbell, Sharon Wilkey, Patrick Born, and

Gareth Bromley all contributed a great deal toward making this book asuccess Thanks also to the proofreaders Emily Hsuan, Eric Lach, NancyRiddiough, Sarah Tannehill, and Monique van den Berg

On the personal side, I want to thank Doc and Sue and Mike and Marshafor being wonderfully supportive grandparents to Abbie and Lauren, aswell as being there for us Joe Hohlfled, thank you for helping cultivate

my interest in computers, golf, and chess, as well as teaching me somany important lessons about life To my friends, Rob and Amy, Scottand Robyn, and Eron and Lisa, thanks for providing sanity or helpingdetract from my sanity at just the right times To all of my students, bothpast and present, thanks for asking the tough questions and making methink And finally, to Lee Rittenour, thank you for sharing your incredibletalents and passion for music with the rest of us

There is high demand for professionals in the information technology (IT)industry, and because Solaris is the most widely used UNIX

implementation in the world, Solaris certifications are very worthwhile toobtain You have made the right decision to pursue certification, becausebeing Solaris certified will give you a distinct advantage in this highlycompetitive market

Solaris 9 is Sun Microsystems' latest version of their popular UNIX-basedoperating environment Sun's first operating system was released asSunOS in 1983, based on BSD UNIX Throughout the years, SunOSwent through many transformations, most recently with the release ofSolaris 9 in 2002

Sun Microsystems is known for their innovative and reliable hardware(namely the SPARC processor) as well as their Solaris operating

environment Because of their large and loyal user base, and their

willingness to take calculated chances to remain on top, Sun is poised toremain an industry leader for years to come

This book is intended to help you on your exciting path toward becoming

a Sun Certified System Administrator for the Solaris 9 Operating

Environment Basic knowledge of Solaris is an advantage when readingthis book but is not mandatory Using this book and the Solaris operatingenvironment, you can start learning Solaris and pass the CX-310-014:Sun Certified System Administrator for the Solaris 9 Operating

Environment, Part I, and the CX-310-015: Sun Certified System

Administrator for the Solaris 9 Operating Environment, Part II, exams

Why Become a Sun Certified System Administrator?

The number one reason to become an SCSA is to gain more visibility andgreater access to some of the industry's most challenging opportunities.Solaris certification is the best way to demonstrate your knowledge andskills in the Solaris operating environment The certification tests are acombination of multiple choice, matching, and fill-in-the-blank questions.They test your knowledge of Solaris commands and components, as well

Certification is proof of your knowledge and shows that you have theskills required to support Solaris Sun Microsystems' certification programcan help a company to identify proven performers who have

demonstrated their skills and who can support the company's investment

in both Sun Microsystems' hardware and software It demonstrates thatyou have a solid understanding of your job role and the Sun productsused in that role

SCSAs are highly respected and well paid in the IT industry Althoughthere might be a significant number of IT professionals certified in othernetwork operating systems, Solaris-certified and other UNIX-certifiedprofessionals are still in very high demand

So, whether you are beginning a career, changing careers, securing yourpresent position, or seeking to refine and promote your position, this book

is for you!

Sun Microsystems offers a variety of certifications to help you

demonstrate your expertise in several functional areas There are

currently four certification areas: Solaris Operating Environment, JavaTechnology, Sun ONE Middleware, and Network Storage

Representatives from Sun Microsystems have announced plans for asecurity certification to be released in 2003

Note For the latest certification information, visit the Sun certification

page at http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/

Solaris Operating Environment

The Solaris operating environment is the premier UNIX-based networkoperating environment available in the world today Many companiesswear by Sun hardware and software, because of their high reliability,availability, security, and scalability Sun is committed to meeting today'snetworking demands, while anticipating tomorrow's innovations

Sun offers two certification tracks for the Solaris operating environment:Sun Certified System Administrator and Sun Certified Network

Administrator Both of these tracks are currently offered for the Solaris 7,Solaris 8, and Solaris 9 Operating Environments Because this bookfocuses on Solaris 9, detailed information will be provided for only thistrack Attaining certifications in Solaris 7 and Solaris 8 is a very similarprocess to that of Solaris 9

The Sun Certified System Administrator certification is for system

administrators who perform system administration functions on Solarisclient and server computers In order to become certified as a Sun

Certified System Administrator in Solaris 9, you must pass two exams:

Sun Certified System Administrator for the Solaris 9 OperatingEnvironment, Part I (CX-310-014)

Sun Certified System Administrator for the Solaris 9 OperatingEnvironment, Part II (CX-310-015)

see questions from Part I objectives on the Part II test If you are already

http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/java/index.htmland choose the certification you are interested in

Sun ONE Middleware

Sun Open Net Environment (ONE) is Sun's software for building and

deploying Services on Demand Because of its scalability and reliability, ithas a place in current traditional software settings as well as advanced

More Information

Certification link and choose the certification path that you are interested

in Test objectives are available on the website, and keep in mind thatthey can change at any time without notice

Note Exam objectives are subject to change at any time and without prior notice at

Sun's discretion, so be sure to check the website

(http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/objectives/index.htmlfor the most up-to-date objective list

answers first Doing this greatly improves your odds if you need

to make an educated guess

If you're not sure of your answer, mark it for review and then lookfor other questions that may help you eliminate any incorrectanswers At the end of the test, you can go back and review thequestions that you marked for review

Where Do You Take the Exam?

You can take Solaris exams at any of the more than 800 Thompson

Prometric Authorized Testing Centers around the world For the location

of a testing center near you, call 1-800-891-3926 Outside the UnitedStates and Canada, contact your local Thompson Prometric RegistrationCenter

In order to register with Thompson Prometric, you must first purchase anexam voucher from Sun To do this, call Sun Training at 1-800-422-8020.Exam vouchers are nonrefundable, must be used within one year of thepurchase date, and can be used only once After you have your examvoucher number, you can register for the test with Thompson Prometric

To register for a proctored Sun Certified System Administrator exam at aThompson Prometric test center:

Determine the number of the exam you want to take

Register with Thompson Prometric online at

891-EXAM (800-891-3926) At this point, you will be asked foryour exam voucher number

http://www.2test.com or in North America, by calling 1-800-When you schedule the exam, you'll get instructions regarding allappointment and cancellation procedures, the ID requirements,and information about the testing-center location

You can schedule exams up to six weeks in advance or as soon as oneworking day before the day you wish to take it If something comes up

and you need to cancel or reschedule your exam appointment, contactThompson Prometric at least 24 hours in advance.

This book provides details to help you learn about the Solaris 9 OperatingEnvironment and to help you pass two exams: Sun Certified System

Administrator for the Solaris 9 Operating Environment, Part I014), and Sun Certified System Administrator for the Solaris 9 OperatingEnvironment, Part II (CX-310-015) After passing both exams, you will be

(CX-310-a Sun Certified System Administrator for the Solaris 9 Operating

Environment This book starts with the basics of Solaris and dives intodetail very quickly Because there are two exams, this book has two

parts Chapters 1 through 9 cover the Part I exam, and Chapters 10

through 16 cover the Part II exam Each chapter begins with a list of

exam objectives

Chapter 1 Starts with the basic fundamentals and concepts central to theSolaris 9 Operating Environment

Chapter 2 Covers installations, including installing the entire operatingsystem, software packages, and software patches

Chapter 3 Describes how to properly boot and shut down a Solaris

computer, including using the OpenBoot PROM

Chapter 4 Explains how to manage user accounts and groups

Chapter 5 Explores file and directory structure, as well as Solaris filesystem security

Chapter 6 Examines the management of system devices and hard disks

Chapter 7 Provides details on file system management, including thetypes of file systems available in Solaris

Chapter 8 Discusses the management of printers and processes

Chapter 9 Explains the processes for creating system backups and

restoring those backups

Chapter 10 This begins the second part of the book, covering the second

Chapter 11 Examines details about virtual file systems, NFS, and coredumps

Chapter 12 Covers storage volumes, including RAID and the SolarisVolume Manager

Chapter 13 Introduces advanced security concepts such as Access

Control Lists and role-based access control

Chapter 14 Explores auditing and system messaging

Chapter 15 Describes naming services such as local files, NIS, NIS+,DNS, and LDAP

How to Use This Book

This book can provide a solid foundation for the serious effort of

preparing for the SCSA certification To best benefit from this book, usethe following study method:

1 Take the Assessment Test immediately following this

introduction (The answers are at the end of the test.) Carefullyread over the explanations for any questions you get wrong andnote which chapters the material comes from This informationshould help you plan your study strategy

2 Study each chapter carefully, making sure that you fully

understand the information and the test objectives listed at thebeginning of each chapter Pay extra close attention to anychapter related to questions you missed in the Assessment

3 Work through all procedures detailed in the chapter, referring tothe chapter so that you understand the reason for each stepyou take If you do not have a Solaris 9 installation available,you will be at a disadvantage, so be sure to study all

procedures and screen output carefully Answer the ReviewQuestions related to that chapter (The answers appear at theend of each chapter, after the "Review Questions" section.)

4 Note the questions that confuse or trick you, and study thosesections of the book again

5 Before taking the exam, try your hand at the two Bonus Examsthat are included on the CD that comes with this book Thereare two Bonus Exams for both Part I and Part II The questions

on these exams appear only on the CD This will give you acomplete overview of what you can expect to see on the realtest

6 Remember to use the products on the CD included with thisbook The electronic flashcards exam preparation software hasbeen specifically designed to help you study for and pass yourexam The electronic flashcards can be used on your Windowscomputer or on your Palm device

To learn all the material covered in this book, you'll need to apply yourselfregularly and with discipline Try to set aside the same time period everyday to study, and select a comfortable and quiet place to do so If youwork hard, you will be surprised at how quickly you learn this material Allthe best!

What's on the CD?

We have worked hard to provide some really great tools to help you withyour certification process All of the following tools should be loaded onyour workstation when you're studying for the test

Interactive Testing Software with Hundreds of Sample Questions

Electronic Flashcards for PC and Palm Devices

After you read the Solaris 9: Sun Certified System Administrator Study Guide, read the Review Questions at the end of each chapter and study

the Bonus Exams included on the CD But wait, there's more! Test

yourself with the flashcards included on the CD If you can get throughthese difficult questions and understand the answers, you'll know thatyou're ready for the exam

The flashcards include 150 questions specifically written to hit you hardand make sure you are ready for the exam There are separate

flashcards for the Part I and Part II exams Between the Review

Questions, Bonus Exams, and flashcards, you should be more than

prepared for the exam

Solaris 9: Sun Certified System Administrator Study Guide in PDF

Sybex is now offering this Solaris certification book on the CD so you canread the book on your PC or laptop It is in Adobe Acrobat format

Acrobat Reader 5 is also included on the CD This will be extremely

helpful to readers who fly or commute on a bus or train and don't want tocarry a book, as well as to readers who find it more comfortable readingfrom their computer

You can reach Quentin Docter by e-mailing him at

<qdocter@yahoo.com>

A patchadd -d

B On file1, the user will have Read, Write, and Execute access; thegroup will have Read and Write access; and other will have noaccess.

C On file1, the user will have Read, Write, and Execute access; thegroup will have Read-only access; and other will have no access

repair - repair a defective sector

show - translate a disk address

label - write label to the disk

A kill -9 proc1

B kill proc1

C pkill -9 proc1

5. B, C, D Solaris 9 can be installed on the sun4m, sun4u, and i86pcplatforms Although sun4d is a valid Sun hardware platform, it is notsupported by Solaris 9 See Chapter 2 for more information.

6. B To see whether any local modifications were not kept during theupgrade process, check the

a/var/sadm/system/data/upgrade_cleanup file The

/var/sadm/install/contents file is the installed softwaredatabase The other two files are fictional See Chapter 2 for moreinformation

7. B The devalias and nvalias commands are used to createdevice aliases Only the nvalias command is used to create

permanent aliases in NVRAMRC See Chapter 3 for more

information

8. A The banner and the enet-addr commands display the

computer's Ethernet address Only banner is correct among theanswer options See Chapter 3 for more information

9. D The test floppy command will run a diagnostic test on thefloppy disk drive All of the other commands use the wrong syntax.See Chapter 3 for more information

10. C The daemon account has the UID of 1 The root account is UID

0, bin is UID 2, and lp is UID 71 See Chapter 4 for more

information

11. D The correct syntax to create the user with the specified options isuseradd -g mdte -u 1068 An uppercase -G switch is used forsecondary groups, and the -U switch is not valid with the useraddcommand See Chapter 4 for more information

12. B The user's encrypted password is located in the /etc/shadowfile The /etc/passwd file contains usernames and a placeholderfor the password See Chapter 4 for more information