Oracle Solaris System Administration: Zero to Hero

Learn to build a Unix Solaris lab with two virtual machines using VM Workstation, configure a virtual network, install Solaris 11.4, and use ssh for secure connections.

Download and install VMware Workstation 15 or above, run as administrator, and complete the setup with default next steps. Remember you cannot run host and workstation on the same machine.

Set up a bridged virtual network to connect the VM to the host using Putty SSH. Create a network in Virtual Network Editor, bridge to the wifi adapter, and apply.

Create a new virtual machine named custom, select Solaris under others, configure dynamic storage, allocate ram and cpus, set the vm net, then download Solaris.

Download Solaris 11 for home laptops using the text installer 86, create an Oracle account, sign in, accept cookies, and begin the installation.

Install Solaris 11 in a virtual machine by following guided prompts for language, keyboard, hostname, disk setup, networking, timezone, and user accounts, then access the system via ssh.

Connect putty to unix solaris 11 via ssh, configure the ip address, understand dhcp versus static setups, and save sessions for efficient lab work.

Understand how Unix and Linux file systems use the root directory and absolute paths, and how mounting a new disk integrates into / and major folders like /home, /tmp, /dev.

Apply the pipeline concept to filter command output by chaining commands across Unix, Linux, and Windows. Use pipe and grep to extract the desired results.

Master essential daily commands used across Linux, Unix, Solaris, and Mac, including ls, cd, mv, and permission tools, with practical flag usage for system administration.

Learn to use the man command to view manuals and the ls command for listing, with flags -l, -a, -h, -t, -r, and -S, plus hidden files and permissions.

Master essential Unix commands: cd and pwd for navigation, mkdir and touch for creation, and cp, mv, rm with flags -r -i -p -v for copy, move, and delete.

Master grep to quickly search files and directories, using case-insensitive (-i), recursive (-r), and pattern options (-l, -n, -w, -a, -b, -v) to debug and locate text, IPs, or errors.

Master essential Unix commands for system administration, including df for disk usage, cat and grep for text, tail for live logs, and alias creation for daily tasks.

Explore editing files on linux with vim, vi, and nano, noting vim’s coloring and arrow-key navigation. Learn insert mode, save and quit, delete, copy, and edit ssh config.

Learn linux and unix permissions by reading ls -l output, identifying owner, group, size, date, and file type (directory, file, link) and the role of hard links and shortcuts.

Learn how Unix file permissions work: user, group, and others with read, write, and execute bits; use chmod to set or remove permissions and protect server configurations.

Master Unix file permissions by learning read, write, execute bits, numeric chmod codes (4, 2, 1, 6, 5, 7), and the dangers of recursive 777 changes on files and directories.

Explain Unix permissions and group-based access control, showing how to manage directory access by creating groups, adding or removing members, and applying permissions to simplify administration.

Learn how to set file and directory ownership and groups using chown and change permissions with chmod, including recursive changes and root privileges.

Master transferring files between Linux/Unix and Windows using SFTP or SCP, with FileZilla for clients and OpenSSH; practice server-to-server and client-to-server transfers with jump hosts.

Learn how image package repository works in Oracle Solaris, compare to app stores, and manage packages with IPS and local repositories.

Master the pkg command to manage Solaris packages, search local and remote repositories, install and remove software like telnet, and verify ports through practical testing.

Set up and activate a local Solaris package repository, install and manage packages offline from a local store, and run installation scripts across connected machines.

Create a directory for packages, set execute permissions, and resolve Windows line-ending issues while preparing to add disk space for storage.

Address a storage issue by adding a new disk to the Unix box, set up a local repository on the new drive, and update surfaces and publishers.

Set up a local repository for multiple servers by configuring a single local publisher and pointing all servers to the local repo, switching from online when needed.

Explore boot environments in Unix Solaris: learn how to clone and snapshot system states, safely deploy patches and upgrades, and roll back to a previous boot environment if issues arise.

Learn to manage boot environments, clone the current setup, upgrade in a new environment, and rollback to the old one after reboot if the upgrade fails.

Explore zpool and zfs to create flexible file system storage by pooling multiple disks in Unix, allocate slices for directories, and remove disks without data loss.

Explain RAID 0, 1, and 5 in Unix and Linux storage, detailing speed in RAID 0, redundancy in RAID 1, and spare-based data survival when a disk fails in RAID 5.

Learn how to manage hard disks in unix solaris, including adding physical or virtual disks, creating pools, and configuring storage across on-prem and cloud environments.

Learn how hard disk naming works in unix solaris, including disk numbers, controllers, partitions, and the naming conventions for d0, c0, t0, and z pool setup.

Create and manage zpool pools by adding and removing disks, checking pool status, and using commands like create, list, add, and remove to build flexible storage.

Learn how to create and partition a ZFS pool, mount and format storage, and manage quotas and reservations on datasets like Yahoo and Google, with snapshots and rollback.

Explore Unix user management, distinguishing users and roles, creating and granting role-based access to services like SMB, NFS, and HTTP, with UID ranges and LDAP considerations.

Master the su command to switch to other users, including root, and understand password requirements and the effects of dash versus without dash on home directories.

Create and assign a role to a user to control specific services, ensuring restricted access. Define role actions, set defaults, and test permissions.

learn to create, delete, and modify users and groups, set passwords, and manage permissions in unix and solaris. understand account lock and unlock and the group-based access model.

Explore how sudo governs privileged actions on Unix systems, comparing roles and the sudoers file, and configuring password prompts, timeouts, and group-based permissions for secure administration.

Explore the concept of services in Unix and Linux, including how to start, stop, refresh, reload, disable, and enable firewall and other network services without rebooting the server.

Learn how to manage Unix Solaris services, including viewing status, enabling or disabling at startup, restarting, refreshing after config changes, and troubleshooting with process checks and maintenance mode.