Overview of OpenSolaris 2008.05

The OpenSolaris 2008.05 release is an OpenSolaris binary distribution. This release provides a Live CD for x86 platforms. This Live CD includes a basic core operating system and GNOME desktop environment, with the option to install the OpenSolaris operating system from the Live CD. Or, you can mount the OpenSolaris OS on a VirtualBox. After the OpenSolaris OS has been mounted or installed, additional packages, including developer tools, can be downloaded to the system by using the Image Packaging System (IPS). A new beadm utility enables you to manage multiple boot environments.

Live CD and Installer

The Live CD boots to a functional GNOME desktop. The desktop includes Firefox, Thunderbird, and other core applications. nwamd(1M) Man Page is enabled to automatically manage your network interfaces.

For a general description of the purpose and function of a Live CD, see What is a Live CD?

To download the Live CD image, go to the http://www.opensolaris.com/get/ site and select a link to download OpenSolaris 2008.05.

Note - At this site, you can choose between a complete installation with all available languages, or a “slimmer” installation with selected languages and faster installation time.

Note the following Live CD options:

You can choose another language for the Live CD. OpenSolaris has language support for more than forty languages. Input and output support for these additional languages can be activated on the Live CD as follows:
1. Log out of the Live CD desktop.
2. Use the Option button on the login screen to choose the desired language.
3. Log in to the Live CD.
If you are prompted to log in to the Live CD, both the user name and password are jack.
Root login is not enabled either on the Live CD or on the installed system. You must log in as the user that you created during the installation. After you log in, you can then become superuser to configure the system. Because root is a role, open a terminal window and use the su command to assume the role, or the pfexec sh command to run commands in a privileged shell. The root password for the Live CD is opensolaris.
For further information, see Login and Root Specifications.
You can install the OpenSolaris 2008.05 release from the Live CD.
Start the installer by selecting the Installer icon on the Live CD desktop. The installer enables an initial installation of the CD's contents to an x86 system. The installed root(/) file system is ZFS.

Caution - The installer can perform an initial installation into a Solaris partition or use an entire disk. Installation overwrites all software and data on the selected target.

See the complete installation instructions at Roadmap.
To mount the OpenSolaris OS in a VirtualBox, see instructions for Running OpenSolaris Using VirtualBox.
To upgrade an existing OpenSolaris OS, do not use the installer. Instead, see the instructions at Upgrading a Boot Environment.

Image Packaging System (IPS)

The OpenSolaris 2008.05 release includes the Image Packaging System. With IPS, you can select versioned builds of components to manage or create your own custom OpenSolaris distribution.

IPS packages that are not included in the initial installation image, including developer tools such as NetBeans 6.0.1, OpenOffice.org, and Sun Studio Express 5/08, can be downloaded after the installation. IPS commands access packages from network repositories and install them to your image. Both IPS packages and SVR4 packages are supported.

For information, see Chapter 2, Getting Started With the Image Packaging System. This documentation includes general instructions about IPS and specific instructions that describe how to download developer tools using IPS.

Upgrading and Managing Your Boot Environments

The OpenSolaris 2008.05 release provides new and enhanced tools that enable you to upgrade an existing OpenSolaris system and to manage multiple boot environments (BEs).

You can upgrade an installed boot environment by using the Image Packaging System. Use the pkg image-update command to update all installed packages in the current image to the latest available version.

In the OpenSolaris 2008.05 release, you can use a new BE utility to create and manage snapshots and clones of your BEs. The BE utility enables you to efficiently manage your boot environments. This new utility is particularly useful for managing multiple OpenSolaris boot environments on a single system.

For information, see Chapter 3, Upgrading and Managing Your Boot Environments.

OpenSolaris Documentation

For more information about the OpenSolaris environment, see the following sites.

Table 1-1 Additional Documentation

Resource	Topic
Chapter 1, Getting Started With OpenSolaris 2008.05	A local copy of this introductory document is available on the Live CD desktop.
OpenSolaris Documentation Hub	Highlights key documentation for the OpenSolaris 2008.05 release.
OpenSolaris Documentation Index	Lists complete documentation for all OpenSolaris releases, including documents targeted for developers, system administrators, and end users.
ZFS Documentation	Main hub for ZFS documentation in the OpenSolaris community.
xVM Documentation	Main hub for xVM hypervisor documentation in the OpenSolaris community
Release Notes	Release Notes for the OpenSolaris 2008.05 release.