Download Java in MOS

Oracle offers patches for their software products through My Oracle Support (MOS). The issue is the way Oracle handles Java patches. If you don't have a software contact, then Oracle will not let you directly download the latest Java patch. This can be extremely frustrating, given the fact that the patch is part of both the CPU patchset and 10 Recommend patchset, for Solaris 10. Also if you have a Premier Hardware Support contract, then you get software support for the Solaris operating system. So why Oracle makes it hard is beyond me.

If you don't have a Software support contract then you can't download Java as a Java patch. You can however download a Java patch as system patch. It is actually the same patch ether way. So what matters is the approach you use to get the patch. Follow the steps below to download the latest Java patch as a system patch.

Fig. 1 - Patch Search

Steps
1) Login  to MOS.

2) Go to the Patches and Upgrade tab.

3) Choose the Product or Family (Advanced).
At this point you should be at figure 1.

Fig. 2 - Example of processor types

4) For the Product field input Solaris Operating System.

5) For the Release drop down menu. Pick the Solaris Operating system version you need.
Look at figure 2 as an example.

6) For the next drop down choose Platform.

Fig. 3 - Example of finished search fields

7) For the next drop down pick the Solaris Operating system processor  type you need.

8) Then choose Description.

9) type in javase in the last box.

10) Check the Exclude Superseded patches. 

At this point your search should look like figure 3.

I hope this helps you out.
You can also use this method to download other patches form Oracle such as OpenSSL.
If you have any comments please post them below.

Java PATH need to run the ILOM Remote console

From time to time there is something you only set once. For example Oracle's Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) has a web interface. Which has remote console feature. This feature uses Java running in a web browser. The first time it asks for the path to launch the program . Below I have displayed  the path the Java needs for the remote console feature.


For UNIX & Linux computers:  /usr/bin/javaws
For Windows computers: C:\Program Files\Java\jre\bin\javaws 

I hope this helps someone.

Make Firefox load ILOM pages, part II

Fig 1. ILOM Certificate error

This is part two of my Make Firefox load ILOM pages. The first post was how to get Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) to load right using Firefox. Part one is focused on getting the ILOM to display properly on a blade or a normal server. This post focuses on getting the ILOM page for the chassis to work.


The issue is when you have logged into the ILOM on the chassis and then try to connect to a individual blade. Figure one shows the error that comes up when you try to connect. Basically the certificate is not excepted by Firefox because it is self-signed.

Fig 2. The fix

This happens when you connect to the blade directly, via the ILOM interface. The issue here is that the button that usually appears that allows you to except the certificate is not there. To get it to where you can load the certificate you need to load the the page outside of the frame. You do this by right clicking on the frame. In the menu select. This Frame and click on Show Only this Frame.


At this point the frame will appear outside the frame. Accept the certificate to load the blades LOM page. To get the frame back go back 2 pages in Firefox. The ILOM page should look like figure 3 when your done. Do this for each blade you need access too.

Fig 3. Finished product

Why does this matter? If you can access the blades ILOM directly then accessing them though the chassis may not be an issue for you. But lets say you don't have your blade cabled up. Many work places don't allow you to connect servers to the network that have not been hardened first. By having the a way to get to the server remotely via the ILOM chassis you can build the server in place and then connect the server to the network after you harden the blade. It is also a good practice to have the ILOMs on there own network.

I can't take credit for this fix. I got this fix from My Oracle Support which means that this is the oracle supported fix. I hope this helps someone. Please feel free to comment below.

Make Firefox load ILOM pages

I had this issue where Firefox wouldn't load ILOM pages right. I've also noticed that I'm not the only one with this issue. So I'm posting this little how-to for people who are still struggling with this. Basically the content section of the ILOM webpage will not display.

For those who don't know ILOM stands for Integrated Lights Out Manager. It is a web interface that helps you remotely manage servers. This interface is good for monitoring hardware issues and can can send out SNMP traffic. The ILOM can also give you console access. Meaning that you get a console or window that stays connected even during a reboot. Basically it is as if you are physically standing in front of the server with a keyboard and monitor.

Each user will have to add the following file to their home directory.
In ~/.mozilla/firefox/profile_id.default/chrome add a file called userContent.css@media print {
}

@namespace url(http:www.w3.org/1999/xhtml);
#mainpage { visibility: visible !important; }
Note - The profile_id.default will be the only file with .default at the end in the firefox directory. You may have to create the chrome directory.

I originally posted this fix at the forum linked to below, under the user name cyberninja.
https://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=10283552
I also provided this fix to Oracle tech support and if you put in a trouble ticket to My Oracle Support this is the solution they will provide you. So in other words, this is the Oracle supported fix.

I have a second part to this post, where I fix a connection issue between the chassis and their blades.

Adding a new user to a UNIX based system

This page is all about adding users to your system using the command line. All the all steps in account creation will be explained. On this post I will go over adding the user to the system with the useradd and adduser commands. Then I will use the passwd command to set the users password on the system. I also mention the usermod command that modifies existing system accounts.

This page is a work in progress if you have an input post below and I may add the content to this blog.

The useradd and adduser commands add new user to the UNIX based system.
Affected files:
/etc/passwd
/etc/shadow
/etc/usr_attr
/etc/groups

Some System Administrators add accounts to there systems by editing the above files by hand or with a script. It can be done this way without any problems, but using the useradd and adduser commands are better because they copy the default files to the new users home directory and set the proper permissions
useradd command syntax
useradd [options] {username}
Example:

root@earth> useradd -u 25 -g staff -G ftp,users -m -d /export/home/newuser -c "newuser" -s /bin/bash newuser

Explained

-u	Sets users ID to 25
-g	Sets primary group membership to staff
-G	Sets secondary groups memberships to ftp,users
-m	Makes the uses home directory
-d	Sets path to home directory
-s	Puts in a comment into the /etc/passwd file.
-s	Sets users default shell
newuser	Put the name of the account at the end
-f	Sets the number days the account can be inactive before it is locked (Solaris). For Linux systems it sets the number of days after the users password expires before the account is locked.
-e	Sets account expiration date

In many Linux distros you need only to do is this.
useradd  newuser
The OS will fill in the rest for you based on the system default.

adduser [-u uid [-o]] [-g group] [-G group,...]
[-d home] [-s shell] [-c comment] [-m [-k template]]
[-f inactive] [-e expire mm/dd/yy] [-p passwd] [-n] [-r] name
adduser -D [-g group] [-b base] [-s shell] [-f inactive] [-e expire mm/dd/yy]

If you make a mistake then you can use usermod to modify an existing account. The usermod command works just like useradd,

passwd command changes the password of a user account.

passwd username

Remove password hash in /etc/shadow for a user.
passwd -d username

passwd newuser

• Note: if you don't put a user name at the end of the passwd command then it will change the root password.