OpenSolaris

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Installing OpenSolaris on the New Partition

Determine Where Ubuntu Sits on the Hard Drive

  1. Click on the Applications button from the taskbar, click Accessories, and open Terminal.

    The Terminal window opens.

  2. Sign in for administrator privileges.

    $ sudo

  3. At the prompt, enter your password.

    For the remainder of this session, you are designated as an administrator.

  4. Open the GRUB menu text file. The contents of the GRUB menu.lst file determines which operating systems are displayed in the list of available operating systems when you boot the system.

    # vi /boot/grub/menu.lst

    The menu.lst file prints to the screen.

  5. Write down this information. Check it, character-by-character, and put it to the side.

  6. Toward the very end of the file is the information you will need to add Ubuntu Linux back to the boot registry, after you install Solaris. Pay particular attention to the first stanza after the ## ## End Default Options ## line break. This step might require knowing a bit about how to use vi, the text editing program. The information you need should look something like the information below:

    title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
    root (hd0,0)d
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=b-661784b5-8dbf-451b-b1a8-c1b1f375cb6a ro quiet splash
    initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
    quiet

  7. Exit to command mode

    Press Shift and :

  8. Exit vi without saving.

    # q!

Create an OpenSolaris Live CD

  1. Download an ISO file of the OpenSolaris Developer Preview 2 from one of the following locations:

HTTP/FTP:

BitTorrent:

  1. Burn the ISO file onto a CDR to make a bootable CD.

    Follow the steps you took to make a bootable CD for GParted.

Boot Your Computer From the OpenSolaris Live CD

  1. Insert the OpenSolaris Live CD and reboot the primary computer.

    The computer reboots.

  2. To ensure that your computer boots from the CD drive, rather than the system drive, press F9 as the computer launches, select Boot from the CD, and press Enter.

    The GNU GRUB appears.

  3. Select OpenSolaris Developer Preview 2 and press enter.

    A short setup for the OpenSolaris Developer Preview launches.

  4. Select a keyboard layout.

    United States English is the default.

  5. Read the Users Agreement, and then close it.

    Our lawyers made us say that.

  6. Explore the OpenSolaris Developer Preview environment.

    The Live CD boots to a fully functional GNOME desktop environment, akin to recent releases of Ubuntu.

Delete the Partition to be Taken by OpenSolaris

  1. Right-click the desktop and select Open Terminal.

    The Terminal window opens.

  2. Claim user privileges and examine the computer's available hard drives.

    $ pfexec format

  3. At the prompt, enter the password.

  4. The machine searches for disks, and then prompts you to specify one. The screen might look something like this:

    AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:

    0. c8t0d0 <drive type unknown>

    /pci@0, 0/pci103c, 30c1@1f, 2/disk@o, 0

    Specify disk (enter its number):

    The name of the disk in this example is c8t0d0. Write down the name of your hard disk.

  5. Quit the format utility.

    : ^c

    The above notation means hold down the Control button and press c.

  6. Load the disk formatting utility with the fdisk command. The disk that you plan to partition is used as an argument, with p0 added to the end to specify the entire disk. For example:

    # fdisk /dev/rdsk/c8t0d0p0

    The fdisk utility loads.

  7. Determine which partition upon which you plan to install OpenSolaris.

    For reference, the Ubuntu partition should already be active. The partitions' size and architecture are also useful guides.

  8. Open the Delete a partition function.

    : 3

  9. Specify which partition to delete and confirm your choice.

    The partition to delete is the number from step six. y confirms your choice.

Create a Solaris2 Partition

  1. Open the Create a partition function.

    : 1

    A list of partition types appears.

  2. Create a Solaris2 partition. We will do this one more time before the partition is actually created. This is just an intermediate step, so you can find out how much room on the disk is available for the Solaris2 partition.

    : 1

  3. Specify the percentage of the disk to be used for the Solaris2 partition. Because you do not know how much of the space is available for the partition, trick the system by choosing the entire disk.

    : 100

    An error message, similar to the one below, appears:

    fdisk: Maximum percentage available is 45.

  4. Again, open the Create a partition function.

    : 1

    A list of partition types appears.

  5. Create a Solaris2 partition.

    Once again, you are asked to specify how much of the disk is to be used for the Solaris2 partition.

  6. Type in a number equal to, or less than, the number specified by the maximum percentage available, specified in step three.

    A query about whether to make the Solaris2 partition the active partition appears.

  7. Make the Solaris2 partition active.

    : y

  8. Save your changes and exit the fdisk tool.

    # 5

  9. Close the terminal and return to the desktop.

Launch the OpenSolaris Installation Wizard

  1. Execute the OpenSolaris installer by clicking on the Install OpenSolaris icon near the top left of the desktop.

    The OpenSolaris installer opens.

  2. Move forward by clicking Next, on the bottom right corner.

    Disk management options are presented.

  3. Select “Use existing Solaris partition,” and then click Next.

    Clock and calendar options are presented.

  4. Select the correct time zone, time, and date, and then click Next.

    User account options are presented.

  5. Fill in the appropriate boxes, and then click Next.

    A summary of user input is displayed.

  6. Click Install.

    A progress bar indicates the percentage of completion of the installation. Once complete, a window announces that installation is finished.

  7. Click Reboot, on the bottom right.

    The GNU GRUB appears.

Add Ubuntu Linux Back to the GRUB Menu

  1. Select Boot from Hard Disk, and press Enter.

  2. Select `OpenSolaris Developer Preview 2, and press Enter.

    OpenSolaris boots. The system cycles through some first-time startup tasks, so this might take more time than usual. Sign-in screens prompt you to enter your username and password.

  3. Enter your username and password.

    The computer boots to a clean desktop.

  4. Right click on the desktop and select Open Terminal from the drop-down list.

    The Terminal window opens.

  5. Claim user priviliges and navigate to the GRUB menu.

    $ pfexec cd /rpool/boot/grub

  6. Open the GRUB menu text file. The contents of the GRUB menu.lst file determines which operating systems are displayed in the list of available operating systems when you boot the system.

    # vi menu.lst

    The GRUB menu.lst file displays, looking something like this:

    splashimage /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
    timeout 30
    default 0
    #---------- ADDED BY BOOTADM - DO NOT EDIT ----------
    title OpenSolaris Developer Preview 2 snv_79b X86
    kernel$ /platform/i86pc/kernel/$ISADIR/unix -B $ZFS-BOOTFS
    module$ /platform/i86pc/$ISADIR/boot_archive
    #------------------- END BOOTADM --------------------
    -
    -
    -

  7. Add Ubuntu Linux back to the GRUB menu file by entering the boot information copied from your machine's menu.lst file while in Ubuntu, in Step 1. This step requires knowing a bit about how to use vi, the text editing program. It should end up looking similar to this example:

    splashimage /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
    timeout 30
    default 0
    #---------- ADDED BY BOOTADM - DO NOT EDIT ----------
    title OpenSolaris Developer Preview 2 snv_79b X86
    kernel$ /platform/i86pc/kernel/$ISADIR/unix -B $ZFS-BOOTFS
    module$ /platform/i86pc/$ISADIR/boot_archive
    #------------------- END BOOTADM --------------------
    -
    title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
    root (hd0,0)d
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=b-661784b5-8dbf-451b-b1a8-c1b1f375cb6a ro quiet splash
    initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
    quiet
    -
    -

  8. Save and quit vi.

  • Press Shift and :

    # wq!

  1. Reboot the computer.

    The GRUB menu displays. It should list both OpenSolaris and Ubuntu Linux.

  2. Select the operating system of your choice and press Enter.

    Enjoy.