Working With the Solaris™ Management Console (Tasks)

This chapter provides an overview of the Solaris management tools used to perform system administration tasks. Topics include starting the Solaris Management Console (console), setting up Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to use with the console, and working with the Solaris management tools in a name service environment.

For information on the procedures associated with performing system management tasks with the Solaris Management Console, see:

• Using the Solaris Management Tools With RBAC (Task Map)

• Using the Solaris Management Tools in a Name Service Environment (Task Map)

For information on troubleshooting Solaris Management Console problems, see Troubleshooting the Solaris Management Console.

Solaris Management Console (Overview)

The following sections provide information about the Solaris Management Console.

What Is the Solaris Management Console?

The Solaris Management Console is a container for GUI-based management tools that are stored in collections referred to as toolboxes. The console includes a default toolbox with many basic management tools, including tools for managing users, projects, and cron jobs; for mounting and sharing file systems; and for managing disks and serial ports. For a brief description of each Solaris management tool, see Table 2-1.

You can always add tools to the existing toolbox, or you can create new toolboxes.

The Solaris Management Console has three primary components:

• The Solaris Management Console Client

  Called console, this is the visible interface and contains the GUI tools used to perform management tasks.

• The Solaris Management Console Server

  This component is located either on the same machine as the console or remotely, and provides all the back end functionality that allows management through the console.

• The Solaris Management Console Toolbox Editor

  This application, which looks similar to the console, is used to add or modify toolboxes, to add tools to a toolbox, or to extend the scope of a toolbox. For example, you would add a toolbox to manage a name service domain.

The default toolbox is visible when you start the console.

Solaris Management Console Tools

This table describes the tools included in the default Solaris Management Console toolbox and provides cross-references to background information for each tool.

Table 2-1 Solaris Management Console Tool Suite

Context-sensitive help is available after you start a tool. For broader, more in-depth online information than the context help provides, see the expanded help topics, which you can reach from the console Help menu.

Why Use the Solaris Management Console?

The console provides a set of tools with many benefits for administrators. The console does the following:

• Supports all experience levels

  Inexperienced administrators can complete tasks by using the graphical interface, which includes dialog boxes, wizards, and context help. Experienced administrators will find that the console provides a convenient, secure alternative to using vi to manage hundreds of configuration parameters spread across tens or hundreds of systems.

• Controls user access to the system

  Although any user can access the console by default, only superuser can make changes in the initial configuration. As described in "Role-Based Access Control (Overview)" in System Administration Guide: Security Services, it is possible to create special user accounts called roles that can be assigned to users, typically administrators, who are permitted to make specific system changes.

  The key benefit of RBAC is that roles can be limited to only those tasks that are necessary for doing their jobs. RBAC is not required for using the Solaris management tools. You can run all tools as superuser without making any changes.

• Provides a command line interface

  If preferred, administrators can operate the Solaris management tools through a command-line interface (CLI). Some commands are written specifically to mimic the GUI tool functions, such as the commands for managing users. These new commands are listed in Table 1-6, with the names and brief descriptions of each command. There is also a man page for each command.

  For those Solaris management tools that have no special commands, such as the Mounts and Shares tools, use the standard UNIX commands.

For in-depth information about how RBAC works, its benefits, and how to apply those benefits to your site, see "Role-Based Access Control (Overview)" in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

To learn more about using RBAC with the Solaris management tools, see Using the Solaris Management Tools With RBAC (Task Map).

Organization of the Solaris Management Console

In the following figure, the console is shown with the Users Tool open.

The main part of the console consists of three panes:

Figure 2-1 Solaris Management Console - Users Tool

• Navigation pane (at the left) - For accessing tools (or sets of tools), folders, or other toolboxes. Icons in the navigation pane are called nodes and are expandable if they are folders or toolboxes.

• View pane (at the right) - For viewing information related to the node selected in the navigation pane, shows either the contents of the selected folder, subordinate tools, or data associated with the selected tool.

• Information pane (at the bottom) - For displaying context-sensitive help or console events.