platform(4) File Formats platform(4)NAMEplatform - directory of files specifying supported platforms
SYNOPSIS
.platform
DESCRIPTION
The Solaris operating environment release includes the .platform direc‐
tory, a new directory on the Solaris CD image. This directory contains
files (created by Sun and Solaris OEMs) that define platform support.
These files are generically referred to as platform definition files.
They provide a means to map different platform types into a platform
group.
Platform definition files in the .platform directory are used by the
installation software to ensure that software appropriate for the
architecture of the system will be installed.
Sun provides a platform definition file named .platform/Solaris . This
file is the only one that can define platform groups to which other
platform definition files can refer. For example, an OEM platform defi‐
nition file can refer to any platform group specified in the Solaris
platform definition file.
Other platform definition files are delivered by OEMs. To avoid name
conflicts, OEMs will name their platform definition file with an OEM-
unique string. OEMs should use whatever string they use to make their
package names unique. This unique string is often the OEM's stock sym‐
bol.
Comments are allowed in a platform definition file. A "#" begins a com‐
ment and can be placed anywhere on a line.
Platform definition files are composed of keyword-value pairs, and
there are two kinds of stanzas in the file: platform group definitions
and platform identifications.
o Platform group definitions:
The keywords in a platform group definition stanza are:
PLATFORM_GROUP The PLATFORM_GROUP keyword must be the
first keyword in the platform group defi‐
nition stanza. The value assigned to this
keyword is the name of the platform group,
for example:
PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4c
The PLATFORM_GROUP name is an arbitrary
name assigned to a group of platforms.
However, PLATFORM_GROUP typically equals
the output of the uname -m command. PLAT‐
FORM_GROUP value cannot have white space
and is limited to 256 ASCII characters.
INST_ARCH The instruction set architecture of all
platforms in the platform group, for exam‐
ple:
INST_ARCH=sparc
The INST_ARCH keyword value must be the
value returned by the uname -p command on
all platforms in the platform group.
o Platform identifications:
The keywords in a platform identification stanza are:
PLATFORM_NAME The PLATFORM_NAME keyword must be the
first keyword in the platform identifi‐
cation stanza. The PLATFORM_NAME is the
name assigned to the platform, for
example:
PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,SPARCstation-5
Typically, this name is the same as the
value returned by the uname -icommand
on the machine, but it need not be the
same.
The PLATFORM_NAME value cannot have
white space and is limited to 256 ASCII
characters. If it contains parentheses,
it must contain only balanced parenthe‐
ses. For example. the string
"foo(bar)foo" is a valid value for this
keyword, but "foo(bar" is not.
The other keywords in the platform
identification stanza can be in any
order, as long as the PLATFORM_NAME
keyword is first.
PLATFORM_ID The value returned by the uname -i com‐
mand on the machine, for example:
PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,SPARCstation-5
MACHINE_TYPE The value returned by the uname -m com‐
mand on the machine, for example:
MACHINE_TYPE=sun4c
IN_PLATFORM_GROUP The platform group of which the plat‐
form is a member, for example:
IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4c
The platform group name must be speci‐
fied in the same file as the platform
identification stanza or in the plat‐
form definition file with the name
.platform/Solaris .
The IN_PLATFORM_GROUP keyword is
optional. A platform doesn't have to
belong to a platform group. If a plat‐
form is not explicitly assigned to a
platform group, it essentially forms
its own platform group, where the plat‐
form group name is the PLATFORM_NAME
value. The IN_PLATFORM_GROUP value typ‐
ically equals the output of the uname
-m command. IN_PLATFORM_GROUP value
cannot have white space and is limited
to 256 ASCII characters.
INST_ARCH The instruction set architecture of the
platform, for example:
INST_ARCH=sparc
This field is only required if the
platform does not belong to a platform
group. The INST_ARCH keyword value must
be the value returned by the uname -i
command on all platforms in the plat‐
form group.
COMPATIBILITY
The installation program will remain compatible with the old Solaris CD
format. If a Solaris CD image does not contain any platform definition
files, the installation and upgrade programs will select the packages
to be installed based on machine type, that is, the value returned by
the uname -p command.
EXAMPLES
Example 1 Platform Group Definitions
The following example shows platform group definitions from the .plat‐
form/Solaris platform definition file.
#
PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
INST_ARCH=sparc
Example 2 Platform Identification Stanzas
The following example shows platform identification stanzas, which
define systems that belong in a platform group, from the .plat‐
form/Solaris platform definition file.
#
PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,SunFire
PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,SunFire
IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,Ultra-80
PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,Ultra-80
IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
#
PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,SunFire
PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,SunFire
IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
#
PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,Ultra-80
PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,Ultra-80
IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
FILES
The .platform directory must reside as /cd_image/Solaris_vers/.plat‐
form, where
cd_image Is the path to the mounted Solaris CD (/cdrom/cdrom0/s0
by default) or the path to a copy of the Solaris CD on
a disk.
Solaris_vers Is the version of Solaris, for example, Solaris_2.9.
NOTES
Typically, a platform identification stanza contains either a PLAT‐
FORM_ID or a MACHINE_TYPE stanza, but not both.
If both are specified, both must match for a platform to be identified
as this platform type. Each platform identification stanza must contain
either a PLATFORM_ID value or a MACHINE_TYPE value. If a platform
matches two different platform identification stanzas—one which matched
on the value of PLATFORM_ID and one which matched on the value of
MACHINE_TYPE , the one that matched on PLATFORM_ID will take prece‐
dence.
The .platform directory is part of the Solaris CD image, whether that
be the Solaris CD or a copy of the Solaris CD on a system's hard disk.
SunOS 5.11 19 Nov 2002 platform(4)
