Certification Programs:
- What certification programs are offered?
The Oracle Solaris OS Systems Hardware Certification Program enables you to certify the SPARC and x86 systems
as compatible with the Oracle Solaris OS on SPARC and x86 platforms.
Systems include desktop systems, laptops, servers, and integrated components. The Oracle Solaris OS that is running as a guest on the virtual platforms can also be tested.
The component Hardware Certification Program enables you to certify the
following components or device types:
- Network components
- InfiniBand HCA
- Serial I/O components
- Serial Asynchronous Interface (SAI/P)
- Storage components
- SCSI
iSCSI
RAID
Fi/lie channel
SATA
SAS
FCoE
- USB devices
- USB hard disk, solid-state storage device and multimedia card reader device
- USB CD/DVD reader device
USB CD/DVD writer device
USB keyboard device
USB web cam device
- CD-ROM/DVD-ROM
- CD-RW/DVD-RW
- Audio
- Video
- WiFi cards
- Tape Drive
- Motherboard
Note: The motherboard will be listed as Component on the HCL while it requires to run a Oracle HCTS system certification test on it.
- External Storage devices
- Ethernet Network Switch
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Program Changes:
- What has changed since Oracle HCTS 5.7?
- Will Oracle HCTS 5.7 still be available?
No. Oracle HCTS 5.8 includes all the functionalities of Oracle HCTS 5.7.
Only Oracle HCTS 5.8 is available.
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General:
- Where is the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL)?
- Does this program apply for AMD and Intel based systems?
Yes. Oracle supports the Oracle Solaris OS on a range of x86-architecture CPUs,
including the popular Intel Core, Pentium and Xeon families, and AMD Athlon and
Opteron processors. The HCL also lists systems based on the compatible CPUs from
other vendors such as VIA.
- Does this program apply for 64-bit x86 systems?
- What are the potential benefits of certifying systems and components?
There are numerous potential benefits to certify that your products are
compatible with the Oracle Solaris OS.
Benefits to OEMs, system vendors, IHVs, and Oracle partners can include the
following:
- Increased sales. Compete in new markets and help your products stay competitive in current markets.
- Links to your web site.
- Links can be installed from your certified systems on the HCL to direct customers to the Oracle Solaris OS related content on your web site.
- HCL entries can point to your driver download page.
- Included in the HCL. Your certified systems and components will be listed in the HCL, which is often used as a buyer's guide by customers choosing systems and peripherals for x86-architecture platforms.
- Increased exposure. The device drivers and the certified components they support gain increased exposure to customers whose purchasing policy requires them to select certified peripherals.
- Cost-effectiveness. The certification process can be completed quickly and is free of charge.
Benefits to end users include the following:
- Assurance. Certifying a system or component provides confidence that your hardware works well with the Oracle Solaris OS.
- Included in the HCL. You can search the HCL to find additional hardware that is likely to
work well with your system.
- Which companies have certified their products for the Oracle Solaris OS on x86 architectures?
For the latest list of Test Suite Certified products, refer to the
HCL.
- What is the cost of hardware certification?
- How can I learn more?
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Process:
- How long does the Oracle HCTS take to test systems and components? How much of the testing is automated?
Set up your test systems for the type of certification you want to do as
described in the User Guide.
Once the Oracle HCTS gathers information about the test system and verifies that it
meets minimum system requirements, the tests are run.
A successful system certification is expected to run for approximately 12
hours plus 3 hours for each additional storage component.
The Oracle HCTS 5.8 README file
lists the durations of the certification tests provided in Oracle HCTS 5.8.
For run times of other Oracle HCTS tests, see the online help in the GUI or the man page for the hctscli(1M) command.
- When should the systems or components be re-certified for the HCL?
Oracle does not require re-certification for each new release of the
Oracle Solaris OS. See
Statement of
Policy for a detailed description of this policy.
Note: Systems that you want to certify should be designed using
components for which Oracle Solaris OS device drivers exist.
These Oracle Solaris system drivers might be
included in the OS or
might be
provided by the third parties.
If possible, add-in cards and attached peripheral devices that you want to
include in a system for certification should first be certified separately as
individual components.
- What kind of Oracle Solaris OS installation do I need to do?
See the User Guide for information on any customizations you need to make when
you install the Oracle Solaris OS before running Oracle HCTS.
For Oracle Solaris 10 installation details, see the
Release and Installation
Collection for the particular Oracle Solaris 10 release that you want to install.
Start with the Installation Guide: Basic Installations.
For additional help with Oracle Solaris OS installation, see the
Oracle Solaris OS Install web site.
If you are installing the Oracle Solaris 10 OS, you must make the following
customizations:
- Perform at least a Developer group installation.
- Select "None" for "Name Service."
You might want to back up your test systems and reinstall the Oracle Solaris OS
before you install and run the Oracle HCTS.
- Does Oracle HCTS affect data on my test systems?
Oracle HCTS is not recommended for use on production systems. Oracle HCTS should only be
installed on a non-production system on an isolated network segment.
If you have critical data on your test systems, back up that data before you
run Oracle HCTS. The recommended method for running Oracle HCTS is to back up the entire test
system and reinstall the Oracle Solaris OS before you install and run Oracle HCTS.
If the test system contains more than one hard drive, data might be lost.
Any secondary disks that do not contain a slice mounted to /,
/usr, /opt, /var, or /export/home* are
formatted during a system certification or a storage certification.
If a disk is to be formatted, a warning is displayed during the initialization
period of the certification. You have 60 seconds to stop the certification if
you do not want the specified disks to be formatted.
- When will I hear from Oracle after the test results are submitted?
In approximately five business days, depending on the demand for
certification services, you will be notified via email of your test result
audit. If your results cannot be confirmed, Oracle will do its best to help you out in the
troubleshooting.
- How secure are the Oracle HCTS and test results audit?
As the certification tests are conducted at your own facility, you
are protected by your own security measures during the certification process.
The certification process must be carried out on a non-production system on an
isolated network segment. Oracle strongly suggests that you reinstall the systems
before using them for other work. Testing on systems in a production
environment is not recommended. All the test results and Certification agreements
sent to Oracle are kept confidential, on file in a secure facility.
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System Certification:
- How do I see which PC Manufacturers and System Integrators have certified their systems?
- My system already has a very large memory size. Why does the test require a large swap space?
This requirement comes from the I/O benchmark test bonnie. In order to test the real disk I/O, it is necessary to allocate a large swap space to run an auxiliary program to lock the surplus physical memory. The larger the system memory size, the larger the swap space required.
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Component Certification:
- Does HCL accept the virtual USB keyboard submissions?
No. HCL does not accept submission of virtual USB keyboard.
- Are any IHV component products already certified?
Yes, the current list of certified products is on the
HCL.
- Will the certified IHV drivers be integrated with Oracle Solaris software?
Selected IHV drivers, which have passed extensive testing beyond the scope
of this program, are integrated with the Oracle Solaris OS.
- Where can I buy the products listed on the Oracle HCL?
The HCL now contains a wide range of Oracle and
third-party products. Oracle products are available through your normal Oracle
reseller. For non-Oracle products, contact the vendor directly.
- Why are the progress meters of some WiFi test cases not as accurate as other test cases?
The testcase progress meter in Oracle HCTS indicates the longest possible run time of a testcase. A WiFi connection has the characteristic of instability, and it will negotiate connection speed from time to time, based on the surrounding environment. It is possible that the testcases run in your environment for a much shorter time than the maximum allowed, so the progress meter seems not accurate. This does not affect the certification result.
-
When I start a WiFi certification by using the command hctscli certify WiFi in an automatic network setup mode, I received a warning message indicating that the Oracle HCTS randomly picks up one wireless network to connect. How do I make Oracle HCTS connect to the wireless network of my choice, with which I can do the certification test?
When WiFi certification is started using the command hctscli certify WiFi in an automatic network setup mode, the following error message is displayed:
You are running WiFi card (wireless NIC) test in automatic network setup mode without select target card to test and/or wireless network to connect to.
Oracle HCTS is going to test all detected WiFi cards. For each testable WiFi card, Oracle HCTS will randomly pick one wireless network to connect to.
If this is not what you want, stop the test now and modify Oracle HCTS settings.
If you just switched Oracle HCTS from manual network setup mode to automatic network setup mode, make sure you rescan the system before start a WiFi card test.
Oracle HCTS 5.8 CLI allows you to run a certification or test without selecting the device to run on. But there is no way for WiFi certification or test program to know which wireless network is the one that can communicate with the Test Manager (TM) if there is more than one wireless network which is not encrypted. In this case, you must select a wireless network to connect to. Otherwise, the Oracle HCTS framework randomly picks up a wireless network and proceeds to the WiFi certification or test program, which might result in failure of the connection.
If you are using automatic network setup for WiFi certification or test, you can omit the selection of wireless network on CLI only when you are sure that each interface to be tested can find one wireless network which is not encrypted and can connect to the TM. In this case, all the detected WiFi cards are certified or tested.
Otherwise, use any of the following commands to customize and start the WiFi certification:
hctscli certify -d WiFi
or
hctscli test-component -d WiFi_IPv6
Use the following command to get the available wireless network IDs:
hctscli list-device WiFi|WiFi_IPv6
-
Other than the wireless network interface that is going to be certified, I have another wireless interface in SUT that was connected to an AP using static IP address before the beginning of the WiFi certification. But after the certification finished, I found that the wireless interface that was not involved in the testing was unplumbed. Why is the wireless interface not involved in testing affected, and why would it not be restored?
It is most likely that the wireless network interface not involved in the testing is using an IP address which is in the same network segment that the Oracle HCTS uses. If an interface has an IP address which is in the same network segment that the Oracle HCTS uses, Oracle HCTS will unplumb that interface to avoid interference from it. You need to manually set up the wireless connection if needed. Be sure not to run this certification on a production system; only use this test on a machine dedicated for testing purposes.
-
The wireless network generated by my AP does not appear on the Oracle HCTS UI. What is the reason and how can I make it available on the UI for me to choose?
This is likely because the name of the wireless network contains special characters such as :, ?, and \. Check the WiFi probe log file in var/hcts/logs directory for more information. Some special characters have certain meanings in the the Oracle Solaris OS and will be handled differently. If such a character appears in the name of a wireless network, Oracle HCTS might behave abnormally. Although some special characters might be valid for your AP, it is highly recommended to use an alphanumeric string as the name of the wireless network for Oracle HCTS test. Refer to the User Guide to see how to set up the WiFi testing environment.
- If my system has more than one IB HCA, what can I do if I want to certify one of them?
Due to the function limitation of Oracle HCTS 5.8 InfiniBand certification, you can certify only one IB HCA at a time. If there is more than one IB HCA in your system with the drivers in Oracle Solaris OS, none of them can be certified. You can take one of them down and restart the test to certify the remaining one.
- Why can't I start the Storage certification?
Storage certification requires SUT must have at least one non reserved disk. A non reserved disk is the disk which does not contain any slice mounted to the /, /usr, /opt, /var, or /export/home* directory.
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Troubleshooting:
-
Why did I get "syntax error" when I set a string which has space(s) and/or tab(s) in it to a text type variable using CLI even if I have used quote mark to quote the string?
This is a limitation in Oracle HCTS 5.8 CLI, for a text type variable. It only accepts the string that does not have space or tab in it and even the quote mark will not
work in this case.
- How do I generate the package if I find that there is no package generated after the completion of test?
Check the file xtf.log that is located in /var/hcts/diagnosis
directory. If "Not enough space" IOException is found in this file, add more swap space to the System Under
Test. Ensure that you have more than 2GB swap space. Restart your
test.
There are two methods to add swap space:
Method 1: Add the swap space manually:
Suppose your system has the UFS filesystem, execute the following commands as root:
mkfile 2g /export/home/swap.file
swap -a /export/home/swap.file
Suppose your system has the ZFS filesystem, execute the following commands as root:
zfs create -V 2048m rpool/swapvol
swap -a /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/swapvol
Note: If you reboot this system, the swap space added in this way will be lost.
Method 2: Re-install the System Under Test and re-allocate the swap space.
Restart the test after adding the swap space.
You can generate the package manually by executing the pkg_result command.
For example:
/opt/SUNWhcts/prgs/pkg_result /var/hcts/packages/ Oracle_HCTS5.8_Test_Result
The package Oracle_HCTS5.8_Test_Result.tar.gz is generated in the /var/hcts/packages/ directory.
- Why is my CD-ROM/DVD-ROM test running for so long during the system certification?
The run time of the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM test fluctuates depending on the amount
of data on the disk that you are using for the test. The average run time that the
documentation shows for the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM test is based on using a nearly full
capacity CD. If you are using a full capacity DVD, the test can take up to 4
hours. In addition, you can use the make_mixed_mode_cd utility that is available
at /opt/SUNWhcts/bin in order to create one mixed-mode CD that qualifies for
use in the certification process. See the Oracle HCTS man page for more information.
- Why are my network settings not completely restored when a test finishes?
Oracle HCTS is not recommended to be used on the productive systems. Oracle HCTS should only be
installed on a non-productive system on an isolated network segment.
The recommended method for restoring your test system is to reinstall the
Oracle Solaris OS after all the Oracle HCTS tests are completed.
To ensure that Oracle HCTS operates in a stable manner, not all the network
configuration is restored after a test has been finished. System configuration files
related to the network, network interfaces with static IPs, and the logical
interfaces attached to those static IP interfaces are restored. Other network
configuration, such as DHCP interfaces, can be restored by rebooting the system.
- How can I connect my TM and SUT if I do not want to use back-to-back network connections?
Oracle HCTS should only be installed on a non-productive system on an isolated network segment.
Oracle HCTS uses a set of predefined IP addresses when automatically
configuring the network setup between the Test Manager system (TM) and the
System Under Test (SUT). See
System Requirements for the description of these IP addresses. Any network devices
between the Test Manager system and the System Under Test must be configured to
allow these IP addresses.
- What can I do if my TM and SUT fail to connect?
In a two-system certification, if your network setup fails, use the
ifconfig command to check your interface connections.
On the TM, enter the following command to ensure that all the interfaces are
marked with the "RUNNING" flag:
# ifconfig -a
On the SUT, enter the following command for each interface to manually
plumb all the interfaces:
# ifconfig interface_name plumb
Finally, use ifconfig -a again to check whether all the interfaces are
marked with the "RUNNING" flag.
If at least one port is not marked "RUNNING," make sure the physical
connection is working for that port. Check the network cable and the LEDs on
the RJ45 jack.
- Why is the SUT acting abnormally or hung after connecting to the TM?
Make sure that the Test Manager system (TM) and the System Under Test (SUT) are connected back-to-back or through a private switch. Make sure you have followed all the instructions in System Requirements. If NIS was enabled on the System Under Test, make sure NIS is disabled before the System Under Test is connected to the Test Manager system. See System Requirements for instructions on disabling the NIS.
- Why is my NIC not detected? Why is my WiFi device detected as NIC?
Oracle HCTS might fail to detect some NICs that have non-standard class codes. Meanwhile, if a WiFi
device uses the standard class code of NIC (00020000), it will be detected as a NIC. In these cases,
you can gather information and send it to Oracle HCTS support as described in the following steps:
- On the System Under Test, execute the following commands as user root:
# /usr/sbin/prtconf -pv > prtconf.out
# /opt/SUNWhcts/prgs/bin/all_devices -c > all_devices_c.out
# /opt/SUNWhcts/prgs/bin/all_devices -t ddi_network > all_devices_t.out
- Attach these three files to an email message to
hcts-support_ww_grp@oracle.com.
- Why is the Oracle HCTS certification test getting blocked by the Create Login Keyring pop-up window on the Oracle Solaris 11 OS?
While running the Oracle HCTS network-related tests on the Oracle Solaris 11 OS, the test might be blocked by the Create Login Keyring pop-up window.
The pop-up window prompts for the log in Password. Click the Cancel button on this window within 60 seconds to continue with the Oracle HCTS test. Otherwise, the Oracle HCTS test fails.
The Oracle HCTS operations that are affected by this problem are system certification, network certification, WiFi card certification, serial I/O certification, InfiniBand HCA certification, IPv6 component test,
WiFi-IPv6 component test, network custom test plan, IPv6 custom test plan, WiFi custom test plan, and WiFi-IPv6 custom test plan.
To fix this problem, perform the following steps to disable the GNOME Keyring Daemon Wrapper on the Oracle Solaris 11 OS.
- Select Systems -> Preferences -> Sessions on the Oracle Solaris 11 OS. The Sessions Preferences window is displayed.
- Un-check the GNOME Keyring Daemon Wrapper item. Close the window.
- Reboot the system.
- Certification failed with an error message: Unable to access SSH service on Test Manager. What should I do?
Perform one of the following steps:
- Check whether you are having a problem with the GNOME keyring Daemon wrapper. If so, please refer FAQ 38 for more details.
- Ensure that the Test Manager system has been properly set up as per the guidelines mentioned in the Oracle HCTS User Guide document.
- If you are running Oracle HCTS on the Oracle Solaris 11 OS, ensure that you have logged in as a root in the Test Manager system. If you can not log in as a root, type pfexec rolemod -K type=normal root in the terminal of the Test Manager and restart the system.
- Why do I need to input the password during System or Network certification on Oracle Solaris 10?
Perform the following steps to disable the pkcs11 engine for ssh and sshd services:
- Add the following line to the /etc/ssh/ssh_config and /etc/ssh/sshd_config files:
UseOpenSSLEngine no
- Restart the ssh service.
# svcadm restart ssh
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Support:
- How will Oracle support systems listed on the HCL?
- Will Oracle support the driver used during certification of my components?
Oracle supports only those drivers that are integrated with the Oracle Solaris OS.
Third-party drivers are supported by the IHVs that have developed them.
- What developer education and support is available?
- Is there any sample code available for IHVs who want to start writing drivers for x86-based systems?
The following sites provide developer information and sample code:
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SPARC Based Systems:
- How can peripherals be certified for SPARC platforms?
Peripheral certification is available for SPARC based systems manufactured
by Oracle and by the IHVs. For further details, visit the
I/O Technologies and Solutions
web site.
- How do I write a driver that supports both SPARC and x86-based systems?
Since the release of the Solaris 2.5.1 OS, it has been possible to
design device drivers to use a single source for SPARC and x86 platforms.
This source is independent of the architecture, and includes support for both
big-endian and little-endian binaries. More information is available at the
Oracle Solaris Developer Site
site and in the
Writing Device Drivers book.
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Glossary
IHV
- Independent Hardware Vendor. An IHV is a manufacturer of a component such as an HBA card.
OEM
- Original Equipment Manufacturer
SUT
- System Under Test. This is the system that you want to certify, or the system that has the device you want to certify.
system
- Systems to be tested include desktop systems, laptops, servers, custom
built systems, and integrated components.
TM
- Test Manager system. This system is used by the SUT to test network, InfiniBand, WiFi, and serial I/O devices. For system, network, InfiniBand, WiFi, and serial I/O testing, you must use both TM and the SUT. See the User Guide for instructions. The TM should be a system that is already listed on the HCL as Test Suite Certified.
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