How to Configure the Zone

Note that the only required elements to create a native non-global zone are the zonename and zonepath properties. Other resources and properties are optional. Some optional resources also require choices between alternatives, such as the decision to use either the dedicated-cpu resource or the capped-cpu resource. See Zone Configuration Data for information on available zonecfg properties and resources.

You must be the global administrator in the global zone to perform this procedure.

1. Become superuser, or assume the Primary Administrator role.

   To create the role and assign the role to a user, see Using the Solaris Management Tools With RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.

2. Set up a zone configuration with the zone name you have chosen.

   The name my-zone is used in this example procedure.

   global# zonecfg -z my-zone

   If this is the first time you have configured this zone, you will see the following system message:

   my-zone: No such zone configured Use 'create' to begin configuring a new zone.

3. Create the new zone configuration.

   This procedure uses the Sun default settings.

   zonecfg:my-zone> create

4. Set the zone path, /export/home/my-zone in this procedure.

   zonecfg:my-zone> set zonepath=/export/home/my-zone

5. Set the autoboot value.

   If set to true, the zone is automatically booted when the global zone is booted. Note that for the zones to autoboot, the zones service svc:/system/zones:default must also be enabled. The default value is false.

   zonecfg:my-zone> set autoboot=true

6. Set persistent boot arguments for a zone.

   zonecfg:my-zone> set bootargs="-m verbose"

7. Dedicate one CPU to this zone.

   zonecfg:my-zone> add dedicated-cpu

   1. Set the number of CPUs.

      zonecfg:my-zone:dedicated-cpu> set ncpus=1-2

   2. (Optional) Set the importance.

      zonecfg:my-zone:dedicated-cpu> set importance=10

      The default is 1.

   3. End the specification.

      zonecfg:my-zone:dedicated-cpu> end

8. Revise the default set of privileges.

   zonecfg:my-zone> set limitpriv="default,sys_time"

   This line adds the ability to set the system clock to the default set of privileges.

9. Set the scheduling class to FSS.

   zonecfg:my-zone> set scheduling-class=FSS

10. Add a memory cap.

    zonecfg:my-zone> add capped-memory

    1. Set the memory cap.

       zonecfg:my-zone:capped-memory> set physical=50m

    2. Set the swap memory cap.

       zonecfg:my-zone:capped-memory> set swap=100m

    3. Set the locked memory cap.

       zonecfg:my-zone:capped-memory> set locked=30m

    4. End the memory cap specification.

       zonecfg:my-zone:capped-memory> end

11. Add a file system.

    zonecfg:my-zone> add fs

    1. Set the mount point for the file system, /usr/local in this procedure.

       zonecfg:my-zone:fs> set dir=/usr/local

    2. Specify that /opt/local in the global zone is to be mounted as /usr/local in the zone being configured.

       zonecfg:my-zone:fs> set special=/opt/local

       In the non-global zone, the /usr/local file system will be readable and writable.

    3. Specify the file system type, lofs in this procedure.

       zonecfg:my-zone:fs> set type=lofs

       The type indicates how the kernel interacts with the file system.

    4. End the file system specification.

       zonecfg:my-zone:fs> end

    This step can be performed more than once to add more than one file system.

12. (Optional) Set the hostid.

    zonecfg:my-zone> set hostid=80f0c086

13. Add a ZFS dataset named sales in the storage pool tank

    zonecfg:my-zone> add dataset

    1. Specify the path to the ZFS dataset sales.

       zonecfg:my-zone> set name=tank/sales

    2. End the dataset specification.

       zonecfg:my-zone> end

14. (Sparse Root Zone Only) Add a shared file system that is loopback-mounted from the global zone.

    Do not perform this step to create a whole root zone, which does not have any shared file systems. See the discussion for whole root zones in Disk Space Requirements.

    zonecfg:my-zone> add inherit-pkg-dir

    1. Specify that /opt/sfw in the global zone is to be mounted in read-only mode in the zone being configured.

       zonecfg:my-zone:inherit-pkg-dir> set dir=/opt/sfw

       ---

       Note –

       The zone's packaging database is updated to reflect the packages. These resources cannot be modified or removed after the zone has been installed using zoneadm.

       ---

    2. End the inherit-pkg-dir specification.

       zonecfg:my-zone:inherit-pkg-dir> end

    This step can be performed more than once to add more than one shared file system.

    ---

    Note –

    If you want to create a whole root zone but default shared file systems resources have been added by using inherit-pkg-dir, you must remove these default inherit-pkg-dir resources using zonecfg before you install the zone:

    • zonecfg:my-zone> remove inherit-pkg-dir dir=/lib

    • zonecfg:my-zone> remove inherit-pkg-dir dir=/platform

    • zonecfg:my-zone> remove inherit-pkg-dir dir=/sbin

    • zonecfg:my-zone> remove inherit-pkg-dir dir=/usr

    ---

15. (Optional) If you are creating an exclusive-IP zone, set the ip-type.

    zonecfg:my-zone> set ip-type=exclusive

    ---

    Note –

    Only the physical device type will be specified in the add net step.

    ---

16. Add a network interface.

    zonecfg:my-zone> add net

    1. (shared-IP only) Set the IP address for the network interface, 192.168.0.1 in this procedure.

       zonecfg:my-zone:net> set address=192.168.0.1

    2. Set the physical device type for the network interface, the hme device in this procedure.

       zonecfg:my-zone:net> set physical=hme0

    3. (Optional, shared-IP only) Set the default router for the network interface, in this procedure.

       zonecfg:my-zone:net> set defrouter=10.0.0.1

    4. End the specification.

       zonecfg:my-zone:net> end

    This step can be performed more than once to add more than one network interface.

17. Add a device.

    zonecfg:my-zone> add device

    1. Set the device match, /dev/sound/* in this procedure.

       zonecfg:my-zone:device> set match=/dev/sound/*

    2. End the device specification.

       zonecfg:my-zone:device> end

    This step can be performed more than once to add more than one device.

18. Add a zone-wide resource control by using the property name.

    zonecfg:my-zone> set max-sem-ids=10485200

    This step can be performed more than once to add more than one resource control.

19. Add a comment by using the attr resource type.

    zonecfg:my-zone> add attr

    1. Set the name to comment.

       zonecfg:my-zone:attr> set name=comment

    2. Set the type to string.

       zonecfg:my-zone:attr> set type=string

    3. Set the value to a comment that describes the zone.

       zonecfg:my-zone:attr> set value="This is my work zone."

    4. End the attr resource type specification.

       zonecfg:my-zone:attr> end

20. Verify the zone configuration for the zone.

    zonecfg:my-zone> verify

21. Commit the zone configuration for the zone.

    zonecfg:my-zone> commit

22. Exit the zonecfg command.

    zonecfg:my-zone> exit

    Note that even if you did not explicitly type commit at the prompt, a commit is automatically attempted when you type exit or an EOF occurs.

Using Multiple Subcommands From the Command Line

The zonecfg command also supports multiple subcommands, quoted and separated by semicolons, from the same shell invocation.

global# zonecfg -z my-zone "create ; set zonepath=/export/home/my-zone"