How-to change the IP address on a Solaris server

This post is a how to, for changing an IP address on a Solaris operating system. I will show you how to change the IP address and sudnet mask for both a global zone and a full root zone. For the examples on this page I will be using the Solaris 10 operating system. The global zone will be called earth and the zone will be called moon.


Solaris 10 
root@earth> ifconfig [interface] x.x.x.x/x
The /x at the end is used to set the netmask and is optional. If the netmask is not set Solaris will use the default /24 for a class C address, if the IP address is a class C address.

root@earth> ifconfig [interface] plumb x.x.x.x/x up
This command sets the IP adddress and brings up the interface.

Note this is not a permanent fix. The server will revert back to the old IP address after a reboot. To prevent this, perform the steps below.
root@earth> echo x.x.x.x/x > /etc/hostname.[interface]

Add the IP address and hostname to the /etc/hosts file.

Use this command to restart the service instead of rebooting the server.
root@earth> svcadm restart network/physical

Change the IP address of a Solaris 10 zone.
The steps above can be used to change the IP address from within the zone. Though if the NIC is controlled by the global zone, ie a shared interface. Then steps below will show you how to change the IP address of the zone, from the global zone.
root@earth> zonecfg -z moon
zonecfg:moon> select net address=x.x.x.x/x
zonecfg:moon:net> set address=x.x.x.x/x
zonecfg:moon:net> set physical=[interface]
zonecfg:moon:net> set defrouter=x.x.x.x/x
zonecfg:moon:net> end
zonecfg:moon> verify
zonecfg:moon> commit
zonecfg:moon> exit

You may have to remove the the old IP address first. If so follow the steps below.
root@earth> zonecfg:moon> remove address=x.x.x.x/x
zonecfg:moon> add net
zonecfg:moon:net> set address=x.x.x.x/x
zonecfg:moon:net> set physical=[interface]
zonecfg:moon:net> set defrouter=x.x.x.x/x
zonecfg:moon:net> end

Now reboot the zone and check the zone status.root@earth> zoneadm -z moon  reboot
root@earth> zoneadm list -cv

ID NAME	STATUS	PATH	BRAND	IP
global	running	/	native	shared
moon	running	/export/zones/moon	native	shared

I hope this helps someone. If you have an suggestions or questions please post below.