Deviant Pointer :: Blog

OpenSolaris is an open-source operating system developed by a subset of engineers working for Sun Microsystems, Inc. Throughout the last decade, Sun has pushed through boundaries to do its part to perpetuate open-source software use, founded on standardized practices and polices which are recognized by worldwide standards bodies, as has been the case with its contribution of open document standards and the de-facto UNIX Network File System specifications.

OpenSolaris is also a community-driven effort, where users can report bugs, request for enhancements, write documentation, contribute code, and collaborate with others to develop and extend the one and only fully unadulterated, rich and from-roots open-source AT&T UNIX System V derivative in existence.

Stemming from 1 billion dollars of engineering and a massive effort of Sun’s own engineers, OpenSolaris is based on Solaris, a rock-solid industry-accepted UNIX operating system which powers massive supercomputers, clusters and high-end workstations for top Fortune 500 companies. Available free of charge without any strings attached, this juggernaut can also be used for a suitable desktop or notebook operating system replacement, suited to meet the demands of most individuals and businesses looking to cut costs and shut out traditional lock-in risks.

VMware Fusion is a commercial virtualization product aimed to be performant and compatible for the purpose of migration, software development and isolation of general purpose guest operating systems on the Intel Macintosh platform.

Fusion 2 is capable of running both 32-bit and 64-bit guests on all Intel Mac systems. Core 2 or higher can take advantage of increased memory availability on Leopard. Its sister product, VMware Workstation, is available from VMware for both Linux and Windows operating systems in either 32-bit or 64-bit mode.

Using OpenSolaris under VMware Fusion is an easy way to test-drive all of the advanced features that you may have heard of, such as ZFS, a 128-bit file system capable of boiling the ocean’s water, or DTrace, a handyman’s multi-tool which lets you scrutinize every aspect of program operation, including operating system services using fairly simple scripting. It’s also possible you’re a former Solaris user, tired of the past inadequacies of package management, wanting to give the new Intelligent Package System (IPS) a whirl. By using VMware, your success is a sure bet, and there’s no compromises of usability to make as can be the case with some open-source operating systems on native hardware.

If you’re not satisfied, it’s as easy to undo what has been done using VMware snapshots or ZFS rollback or you can even throw it away with less than a few clicks, you’ve got the power to do so. Keep in mind that only Fusion 2 has the capability of multiple snapshots, though for most 1.x customers the upgrade should had been free.

Prerequisites:
You must first have VMware Fusion 2 installed onto your Intel Macintosh machine running Tiger 10.4.11 or Leopard 10.5.2. You should also preferably have an ISO image for OpenSolaris downloaded to somewhere on your local hard drive so you can use it as an installation source for the OpenSolaris installation. As described on this document, you may if you have not already done so download a copy. Otherwise, a burned copy of OpenSolaris is recommended.

Sun offers all US residents copies of current releases of OpenSolaris, but only for the latest stable build, so please keep in mind if you do not have a fast unlimited broadband connection, you may want to get the ISO while at school or work if possible.

You may click on each image to see a full screen version if you need to.

1.) Visit OpenSolaris.org and click on the Download icon located in the navigation bar on the top right. Under OpenSolaris 2008.11, select a mirror to download the ISO image from (Sun DLC or Genunix HTTP). If you have enough bandwidth, the torrent option benefits the community and Sun by lessening burden on their servers.

2.) Open Fusion by double clicking on the application icon, located in your Applications folder.

3.) Once launcher, Fusion will show you your inventory of virtual machines. You’ll want to click on the new button located on the lower left to start the guest creation wizard.

4.) As it reads, Fusion can detect most operating system media, but in our case it cannot yet detect OpenSolaris even if it’s burned and inserted into your machine, so just click Continue without disk.

5.) In this step, you are free to use an ISO file located on a network share or local disk or the burned copy you made using Disk Utility. Our picture indicates that it will be using the physical copy we made, though you are for speed reasons, especially on portables better off checking the use operating system disk image file bubble, which will ask you where your ISO file is located.

6.) This step allows you to select the closest matching supported guest operating system, where in our case Solaris 10 would be the best current option.

7.) If you have a Core 2 or higher system running Leopard and more than 2GB of memory (All from the factory post mid-2007 do) 64-bit might be a better choice for you to make. Select Solaris 10 64-bit if this is the case.

8.) At this step, you could simply click the Finish button to use the recommended defaults. Though these are typically too modest for OpenSolaris because of ZFS memory requirements. It is highly recommended that Customize Settings is selected instead, so immediate changes may be made right after the window closes.

9.) When Customize Settings is opted, Fusion will ask you where to save the guest bundle file, which is where all of the VMware files will go. The default name of Solaris 10 64-bit in our case might not be as clear as OpenSolaris 2008.11.

10.) After the files have been saved, the guest preference pane will appear, allowing you to customize resources and other options.

11.) Under the processor area, you may increase the amount of memory allocated to your guest in addition to granting another core or more. 768MB of memory is the minimal needed for a GUI install, with 1GB recommended for any serious work.

12.) On a dual, quad, or dual quad core system you may assign up to 4 processors to the guest with this drop-down menu.

13.) Under the network area, changes to the network model can be made. NAT in practice is an isolated but internet able option. Bridged being an exposed but independent and server-worthy way of connecting your guest to the LAN without restrictions. Host-only mode completely disconnects your guest from everything except direct contact with the host.

14.) Under the media section, you may mount your ISO file with the Use Disk Image option.  In our case, the burned CD has been detected.

15.) This is VMware Fusion booting up a guest.

16.) The GRUB menu allows you to boot into console mode when you do not have the minimal 768MB of ram to run the graphical installer.  If you do have enough, just press enter.

17.) Select your keyboard type.  On VMware (Fusion or Workstation) you’d typically want US English [41] since internationalization support passed to the guest is limited somewhat.  Although if you’ve opted to be fancy, a USB keyboard in your layout may be used with the guest.

18.) Select your preferred language to be used for the installation by typing the corresponding numbers, then press enter.

19.) This is an OpenSolaris LiveCD desktop.

20.) Most users will want to change their screen resolution for the guest, because out of the box it’s a bit strange.  You can find the program under the System menu.

21.) Selecting a resolution higher than can be ran on your monitor is not recommended.  A reasonable selection on widescreen setups is to use 1280×720.

22.) Start the OpenSolaris installer by double clicking on the desktop Install OpenSolaris icon.

23.) Here you can allocate space to be used by OpenSolaris.  The default on VMware guests is to use all available space.  Keep in mind that for serious use, you will want to have about 10GB of space, 12GB if you’re a developer using Sun Studio, GCC and friends.

24.) Select your timezone so the clock will work correctly.  Hovering over the globe, then selecting the bullet closest to your location may be done, or use the drop-down to do so.

25.) Select the language to be used for the installed version of OpenSolaris.

26.) Enter your root password and user information so that an account may be created.

27.) Confirm the installation after making sure the settings chosen are what you wanted.

28.) This is the OpenSolaris installer showing progress.

29.) After the installation finishes, you can either continue to use the LiveCD, or reboot into your newly created instance of OpenSolaris.

30.) The GRUB menu as it appears when booting from the virtual hard disk instead of CD media.

31.) Shown above is OpenSolaris’ console showing all core services are done initializing.  Wait another minute for the login manager to come up.

32.) Enter your username and then corresponding password to login to your desktop.

33.) This is the default desktop you’ll be using.  You are free to customize it, which is documented by the System -> Help entry or visit http://www.gnome.org for more information.

34.) Now that it has been about an hour or more, I’m sure you’ve taken in at least 1000 calories of cream, sugar, coke, and junk food. It’s probably time for you to stop putting out carbon and bounce in your chair for a while.

Notes:
This document is currently still under development and will be refactored over time as new builds of OpenSolaris come down the pipe. Please bookmark this page if you find it interesting and contact us if you have found bugs or omissions.

References:
Getting Started with OpenSolaris 2008.11
VMware Fusion Documentation

OpenSolaris is an open-source operating system developed by a subset of engineers working for Sun Microsystems, Inc. Throughout the last decade, Sun has pushed through boundaries to do its part to perpetuate open-source software use, founded on standardized practices and polices which are recognized by worldwide standards bodies, as has been the case with its contribution of open document standards and the de-facto UNIX Network File System specifications.

OpenSolaris is also a community-driven effort, where users can report bugs, request for enhancements, write documentation, contribute code, and collaborate with others to develop and extend the one and only fully unadulterated, rich and from-roots open-source AT&T UNIX System V derivative in existence.

Stemming from 1 billion dollars of engineering and a massive effort of Sun’s own engineers, OpenSolaris is based on Solaris, a rock-solid industry-accepted UNIX operating system which powers massive supercomputers, clusters and high-end workstations for top Fortune 500 companies. Available free of charge without any strings attached, this juggernaut can also be used for a suitable desktop or notebook operating system replacement, suited to meet the demands of most individuals and businesses looking to cut costs and shut out traditional lock-in risks.

VMware Workstation is a commercial virtualization product aimed for professionals who demand performance, compatibility, and rock-solid operation for migration, product testing and software development tasks.

It currently runs on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows and Linux operating systems. Its sister product, VMware Fusion, is available from VMware for Intel Macintosh systems as well.

Using OpenSolaris under VMware Workstation is an easy way to test-drive all of the advanced features that you may have heard of, such as ZFS, a 128-bit file system capable of boiling the ocean’s water, or DTrace, a handyman’s multi-tool which lets you scrutinize every aspect of program operation, including operating system services using fairly simple scripting. It’s also possible you’re a former Solaris user, tired of the past inadequacies of package management, wanting to give the new Intelligent Package System (IPS) a whirl. By using VMware, your success is a sure bet, and there’s no compromises of usability to make as can be the case with some open-source operating systems on native hardware.

If you’re not satisfied, it’s as easy to undo what has been done using VMware snapshots or ZFS rollback or you can even throw it away with less than a few clicks, you’ve got the power to do so.

You may click on each image to see a full screen version if you need to.

1.) Visit OpenSolaris.org and click on the Download icon located in the navigation bar on the top right. Under OpenSolaris 2008.11, select a mirror to download the ISO image from (Sun DLC or Genunix HTTP). If you have enough bandwidth, the torrent option benefits the community and Sun by lessening burden on their servers.

2.) Start VMware Workstation by navigating your start menu or through your respective applications menu, selecting the Create Virtual Machine button.

3.) You may select either typical or custom configuration types, but in this case should more appropriately select custom.

4.) Unless you are using this VM with ESX server, you are safe to chose version 6 or 6.5.

5.) Select your ISO image or if you’ve burned a copy of OpenSolaris it should default to your CD/DVD drive.

6.) Typical configurations should chose the Sun Solaris category and the Solaris 10 operating system item.

7.) On 64-bit systems, you would want to select the Solaris 10 64-bit option instead.

8.) The name may freely be chosen and may generally include any ASCII character plus parenthesis. Try to make it concise and clear if you’re managing a lot of virtual machines.

9.) Most modern machines have dual-core or quad-core processors. By selecting any number more than 1, your installation and virtual machine operation should be faster in general.

10.) The minimal amount required for OpenSolaris is 768MB in most cases, and should be a respectable amount such as 1GB if you want to leverage the advanced performance features of ZFS such as caching, or if you’re a software developer.

11.) Most individuals would want to select Bridged Networking as it allows the guest to have its own IP on your subnet. Corporate and business users should chose NAT instead due to typical security policies which may prevent operation when Bridged.

12.) Normally you’d want to create a virtual disk, but if you have a native installation or want to play dangerous and install on an external drive you can chose Use a physical disk instead.

12.) LSI Logic is recommended over BusLogic for compatibility reasons, though they should both work except on 64-bit setups where BusLogic will be grayed out for Solaris guests.

14.) Despite VMware recommending IDE over SCSI disk type, you’re safe and probably more advantageous to use SCSI with OpenSolaris.

15.) OpenSolaris requires 3GB of hard drive space, and for proper operation should have triple that factor, especially if you’re leveraging ZFS snapshot features to prevent fatal configuration changes or unforeseen data corruption incidents which ZFS is designed to tackle.

16.) As with the guest name, you’re free to chose what you like as long as it has the .vmdk extension.

17.) After configuration has finished, you’ll be brought back to the summary page for the guest, where you’ll want to click the Edit Virtual Machine Settings text.

18.) As shown, this is a summary of your newly created guest.

19.) Under the guest settings window, you’ll most likely want to remove the legacy floppy device which was added by VMware as it is not needed and will create compatibility problems where the host machine physically lacks a floppy drive. You may also want to change the allocated memory if things don’t work right for you when 768MB was opted for during the wizard.

20.) Here you may do a defragmentation of your virtual disk, but that’s about all.

21.) If you burned an OpenSolaris disc after you created your guest, you can chose to use the local CD/DVD drive instead of an ISO, or inversely the CD image can be selected by clicking the Browse button.

22.) As explained by our Fusion post, NAT is restricted but internet capable, while Host-Only is only capable of direct file sharing with the host, and Bridged will let you use your guest as a server, but is more exposed.

23.) Solaris hdaudio will work with the VMware sound device, and you can tell it to pipe out of a different sound card if you happen to have a USB headset or a dummy device that you mix with

24.) The display area lets you cap the resolution that a guest is capable of using so that it does not use a larger resolution than your screen or workspace, depending on how big your host operating system’s widgets and sprockets are in terms of screen real estate.

25.) If you want to give your machine access to more than one core or socket, it will definitely help performance. It is assumed that during the wizard the selection was made to use a second CPU, but otherwise you can turn it on and off as OpenSolaris does not care either way.

26.) When you click the green start button at the top VMware toolbar, a VMware boot screen will appear.

27.) After the boot screen disappears, VMware will boot from your CD/DVD-rom media (Or mounted ISO image) and display the OpenSolaris GRUB menu.

28.) Once all of the system services have booted, OpenSolaris will ask you what type of keyboard you have, and in most cases it’s safe to use the default [41] (US English) as VMware’s keyboard emulation is quite generic.

29.) You may now select the language you’d like for the OpenSolaris LiveCD desktop to run as by typing the respective number, hitting the enter key to confirm.

30.) Your live desktop is now ready to be used, and you may now install OpenSolaris onto the guest hard drive.

31.) In most cases, VMware’s ability to guess the guest resolution may be off, in which event you’ll want to open Screen Resolution which is located under the System -> Preferences menu.

32.) The OpenSolaris screen resolution program will let you change your virtual screen size so that there is more space to work. The Refresh Rate drop-down may show 0 Hz, which is due to the fact that a VMware guest is not actually running on a real computer monitor, but is rather emulated.

33.) By clicking the Install OpenSolaris icon located in the left center screen, you can now begin the install, at which point a welcome message will greet you.

34.) OpenSolaris will detect free space and assign the space for its use.

35.) Select your time zone and location to your liking.

36.) Select your preferred language so you can use it by default with OpenSolaris.

37.) Fill in the blanks so the installer can create your user and allow you to do administrative tasks.

38.) Confirm the installation and sit back for a while.

39.) OpenSolaris installer showing you the installation progress and a slide show.

40.) When the installation has completed, you may reboot or continue to use the live session.

41.) This is GRUB booting from the virtual disk instead of the LiveCD.

42.) The new progress bar will keep you entertained for a while until the system has completely loaded.

43.) Once the system has fully booted, the login manager will wait for you to enter your credentials.

44.) After logging in, a desktop will be presented, where you can open Firefox and surf the web, install OpenOffice.org through the package manager to get some real work done, or get a respectable developer environment up.

45.) Now that it has been about an hour or more, I’m sure you’ve taken in at least 1000 calories of cream, sugar, coke, and junk food. It’s probably time for you to stop putting out carbon and bounce in your chair for a while.

References:
Getting Started with OpenSolaris 2008.11
VMware Workstation Documentation