Step by step install of Open Solaris 2008.05 on VBox using Vista as hosting operating system
We are not showing you how to install VirtualBox, all you need is listed below
Download OpenSolaris from OpenSolaris.org, once the site is loaded you will find a [ Quick Download Links ] box at the top right of the page, choose OpenSolaris 2008.05. Download the iso to a convenient location on your HD.
Start VirtualBox
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[ Next ] |
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Type Open Solaris 2008.05 |
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Select Solaris in drop down menu |
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Choose Video Memory size, we have 512 MB so we can dedicate 36MB to the VM (8 MB is OK) |
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[ Next ] |
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Choose expandable |
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Choose the folder where you want to have your Virtual HD |
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Choose the RAM size you can dedicate to VM (we gave 1024MB having 4GB RAM available) |
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[ Next ] |
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[ Next ] |
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Select Settings |
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Double check allocated Base Memory and Video Memory (here you can change your settings). Select Hard Disk from the menu -> |
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Mark [ Mount CD/DVD Drive ], Mark [ ISO Image File ] -> Click search folder icon -> |
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Click [ Add ] Icon on the menu bar -> browse to where the { os200805.iso } file is located, select it and click [ Open ] ->
Make sure { os200805.iso } is highlighted -> Click [ Select ] |
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Audio settings [ Windows Direct Sound & SoundBlaster16 ] should work for all windows systems! If not change the settings at next startup |
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Enable Floppy Drive Driver |
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Here we select our Network connection. Checkmark [ Enable Network Adapter ], in the [ Adapter Type ] drop down menu select the one best suited to you 'Intel Pro/1000MT' (safe but not the fastest. If all goes well you can always try out 'PC Net-Fast III' at next startup.) |
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Click the Network Interface Icon In the { Host Interfaces } pane. VirtualBox does all the work, when finished you should have 'Virtual Host Interface 1' displayed in the { Host Interface } pane. If VirtualBox did not find any, then you will have no connection to the internet (read the VirtualBox user manual and fix this matter) |
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Select Solaris -> Click the [ Start - Button ] |
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VirtualBox boots up and -> select the first option |
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It starts |
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Accept License |
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Solaris is loaded (play and test!). Next we install Solaris on HD. <double-left click> [ Install Solaris - Icon ] |
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HD installation starts -> click [ Next ] |
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Choose your HD size and partition (we leave the options as is) -> click [ Next ] |
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Choose your time zone -> click [ Next ] (Solaris has simplified the Time setting in a very logical way, here you can choose USA -> Time Zone Central, this is a big plus compared to Linux where our company located in Dallas has to choose ?Chicago to be the right time zone!) |
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Choose your language -> click [ Next ] |
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Enter a ' Root ' Password and create a user (Do not miss any of these steps or you will regret it later) |
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Verify one more time all your settings, last chance to make any changes -> click [ Next ] |
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Installation is in progress "have a drink or watch a movie" |
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Installing |
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The HD install is a success and took 23:51 minutes. |
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Go to [ Places ] on VirtualBox menu and dismount CD image |
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click [ Reboot ] |
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After reboot select 3rd option [ Boot from Hard Disk ] |
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Select the available option |
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Login |
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You are in Solaris! Open 'Firefox" and check your internet connection! |
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Next open 'Package Manager' and perform all the updates (go and watch a DVD, this takes forever! Slow repository download, we are running on fiber and it still took over 3 hours). |
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Here how to install the Virtual Box Guest Additions. Hit | Right-Ctrl | to exit Solaris desktop -> go to [ Devices ] -> [ Install Guest Additions ] (last menu item).
This will automatically install the iso on the Solaris Desktop and open the File Browser. In the { File Browser } go to -> File -> Open Terminal.
The Terminal is open as seen on picture. You need to be 'Root' to install Guest Additions. I terminal type " su root" hit | Enter |, you will be asked for your Root password, type it followed by | Enter |
Now we are going to install the package. Type " pkgadd -d ./VBoxSolarisAdditions.pkg" without the quotation marks followed by | Enter |, accept all and yes, the Guest Addition is installed. NB: Solaris might become unstable after the VirtualBox Guest Addition install! Do not install if not absolutely necessary
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Gorgeous GUI. Fast and very stable. True multitasking. Good video card support (helps with Compiz).
Downloads from the repository through the Package Manager are frustratingly slow, this will discourage a lot of people to adopt OpenSolaris as Desktop OS (Sun please fix this! We know that we are non-paying customers, but have compassion with us. Comp-SOS will host a repository for its members if Sun gives us the permission).
Looking into the available packages we figured out that OpenSolaris 2008.05 is not geared toward the home or even office user (at least not yet). OpenOffice.org 2.4 does not come pre-installed and we really do not understand why? No Torrent Application available for download, but everything you need to build a server, Apache, MySQL, Webmin and all the goodies to build a SAN and much more are available!
Very good Graphic drivers for NVidia and ATI are available, we think that OpenSolaris 2008.05 is poised to become a leader as a CAD/CAM workstation (We are in the process of installing OpenSolaris on a M3N-HT Deluluxe / MempipeSystem Asus motherboard equipped with AMD Phenom and three NVidia GeForce 8800 Ultra video cards, we will then run SolidWorks simultaneously on two 30” monitor at a resolution of 2560 x 1600 to see how OpenSolaris 2008.05 performs as a CAD/CAM workstation in a networked CAD/Design environment). We already got the feeling that after some tweaking, this configuration will become a standard.
Some Gnome components are not 100% compatible (Menu/Alacarte is not functional; you need to log out and back in to see changes on the menu). Some other minor details not worth mentioning were found, but can be resolved with ease.
All this said; we can only applaud the OpenSolaris team and a big bow to Jonathan Schwartz.
Please tell us if you want to know more about OpenSolaris 2008.05. We will do our best to accommodate you with tutorials, tips and tricks etc.
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