Troubleshooting decision trees

Scope: Oracle Solaris 11.4 and, for LDoms, compatible SPARC hardware with Oracle VM Server for SPARC. Examples are educational: verify release, privileges, target names and backups before running changes.

How it works

Service down

Check SMF state, dependency chain and service log before changing configuration.

Storage unavailable

Check ZFS pool health, datasets, mounts, and the underlying device path.

Guest unavailable

Check domain/zone state before diagnosing inside the guest.

System slow

Compare CPU, memory, storage and network at the same time.

Worked examples

Each example explains the question it answers, a reproducible starting point, what to look for, and operational precautions.

1. Service failure

Use this as a starting point for service failure.

svcs -xv
svcs -L svc:/network/ssh:default

Interpretation: Check command output against the expected host configuration; record the before/after state.

Operational note: Run commands in a test environment first; confirm device names, privileges and release-specific options.

2. ZFS problem

Use this as a starting point for zfs problem.

zpool status -v
zfs list

Interpretation: Check command output against the expected host configuration; record the before/after state.

Operational note: Run commands in a test environment first; confirm device names, privileges and release-specific options.

3. Virtualization issue

Use this as a starting point for virtualization issue.

ldm list -l
zoneadm list -cv

Interpretation: Check command output against the expected host configuration; record the before/after state.

Operational note: Run commands in a test environment first; confirm device names, privileges and release-specific options.

4. Performance issue

Use this as a starting point for performance issue.

prstat 1
vmstat 2
iostat -xn 2

Interpretation: Check command output against the expected host configuration; record the before/after state.

Operational note: Run commands in a test environment first; confirm device names, privileges and release-specific options.

Primary documentation

Read the relevant Oracle documentation for exact version-specific flags, supported platforms and limitations: Oracle primary reference ↗.

This field manual is independent, not affiliated with or endorsed by Oracle. Command examples should be adapted to your environment.