How to Create a Datalink in Non-Global Zone from the Global Zone in Solaris 11 By Devan

How to Create a Datalink in Non-Global Zone from the Global Zone in Solaris 11

Network virtualization is the process of combining hardware network resources and software network resources into a single administrative unit. The goal of network virtualization is to provide systems and users with efficient, controlled, and secure sharing of the networking resources. The end product of network virtualization is the virtual network.

Starting from Oracle Solaris 11.2, you can create datalinks in nonglobal zones from the global zone. This feature enables administrators to dynamically create VNICs, VLANs, and IP-over- InfiniBand partitions directly in the nonglobal zone’s namespace from the global zone. Link names are specified as [zonename]/[linkname] and the links are created directly in the specified nonglobal zone.

The example below shows how to create a VNIC v1 in nonglobal zones zone1 and zone2 from the global zone. The zone1/net0 and zone2/net0 are automatically created VNICs for zone1 and zone2, respectively.

# dladm create-vnic -t -l net1 zone1/v1 
# dladm create-vnic -t -l net1 zone2/v1

# dladm show-link -Z
LINK           ZONE         CLASS     MTU      STATE       OVER 
net1           global       phys      1500     unknown     -- 
net0           global       phys      1500     up          -- 
zone1/net0     zone1        vnic      1500     up          net0 
zone2/net0     zone2        vnic      1500     up          net0 
zone1/v1       zone1        vnic      1500     up          net1 
zone2/v1       zone2        vnic      1500     up          net1

Accessing a Virtual Network Configuration

Shown below are useful commands for accessing your virtual network configuration. The first command (dladm show-link) shows you how to list all the links configured in your system. This includes VNICs and etherstubs. The next command (dladm show-vnic) shows you how to list the VNIC links. The last command (dladm show-etherstub) shows you how to list the etherstubs.

# dladm show-link
LINK     CLASS       MTU      STATE       OVER  
net1     phys        1500     unknown     -- 
net2     phys        1500     unknown     -- 
net0     phys        1500     up          -- 
net3     phys        1500     unknown     --
stub0    etherstub   9000     unknown     --
vnic0    vnic        9000     up          stub0
vnic1    vnic        9000     up          stub0
vnic2    vnic        9000     up          stub0

# dladm show-vnic
LINK     OVER      SPEED    MACADDRESS          MACADDRTYPE     VIDS
vnic0    stub0     40000    2:8:20:61:47:f6     random          0
vnic1    stub0     40000    2:8:20:81:e5:95     random          0 
vnic2    stub0     40000    2:8:20:e9:10:18     random          0

# dladm show-etherstub
LINK 
stub0