Running OpenSolaris Using VirtualBox

The VirtualBox runs as an application in your operating system, providing an environment, called a virtual machine, which enables you to install other operating systems as “guests” inside the virtual machine.

The VirtualBox software supports the following host operating systems:

Windows
- Windows 2000 – Service Pack 3 at minimum
- Windows XP – All service packs
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows Vista – 32-bit and 64-bit
Linux on 32-bit and 64-bit systems
- Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 at minimum
- Fedore Core 4 at minimum
- Gentoo Linux
- Redhat Enterprise Linux 3 at minimum
- SuSE Linux 9 at minimum
- OpenSuSE 10.1 at minimum
- Ubuntu 5.10 at minimum
- Mandriva 2007.1 and 2008.0
Apple Mac OS X (Intel)

Use these steps to set up OpenSolaris in VirtualBox:

Download the OpenSolaris ISO image.
Download and install VirtualBox.
Set up VirtualBox for OpenSolaris.
Start OpenSolaris inside VirtualBox.

After the VirtualBox software is successfully installed on your machine, you can run the OpenSolaris ISO image as a virtual guest. You do not need to burn a DVD.

How to Download the OpenSolaris Live CD

Before You Begin

The Live CD image requires about 647 Mbytes on your hard drive.

Go to www.opensolaris.com/get site.
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.
Save the Live CD image to a location on your machine.
Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, the download takes several minutes.

How to Download the VirtualBox Application

VirtualBox is available at the Sun Download Center.

Go to the Downloading VirtualBox and select the VirtualBox Binaries option.
Select the platform for your machine from the drop-down menu.
Mark acceptance of the license agreement and click Continue.
Click the link for virtualbox_1.6.
Alternatively, you can use the Sun Download Manager.

Note - The Mac OS X version is now 1.6.
Save the file to your local disk.
When the download is complete, close the browser.

How to Install VirtualBox on a Windows Machine

Navigate to the downloaded VirtualBox installation file.
On Windows, the default location is your desktop.
To start the installation, double-click the VirtualBox installation file and click Next on the pop-up window.
Accept the license agreement and click Next.
In the pop-up window, choose a location for the VirtualBox software.
- Accept the default location, C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\.
- Or click the Browse button and type your preferred location.
Then click Next.
Click the Install button.
When the completion message is displayed, click Finish.

How to Install VirtualBox on a Linux Machine

Note - Download the latest version of VirtualBox as described previously even if your Linux distribution comes with a VirtualBox version preinstalled. The preinstalled VirtualBox software is usually the Open Source Edition (OSE), which might not be suitable for running the OpenSolaris 2008.05 release.

Open a terminal window and become root.
Navigate to the downloaded VirtualBox installation file.
Depending on your Linux distribution, start the installation process by using one of the following commands:
- On rpm-based systems, such as Fedora, SuSE, or Red Hat, type the following:
```
rpm -ihv filename
```
  Replace filename with the name of the downloaded installation file.
- On deb-based systems, like Debian, or Ubuntu, type the following:
```
dpkg -i filename
```
  Replace filename with the name of the downloaded installation file.
Note - You might need to install additional packages to fulfill dependencies.

The installer searches for a precompiled kernel module. If no kernel module is available that is precompiled for your system, the installer attempts to compile and install a kernel module.

Note - You need to have basic build utilities, such as gcc, make, binutils, and kernel header, installed for the installer to be able to build the kernel module. Usually, these utilities are part of the standard installation of your Linux system. If these utilities are not present, the installer will be unable to build the kernel module. In this case, install the build utilities and manually start the kernel module compilation later by running /etc/init.d vboxdrv setup as root.
Add the current user to the vboxusers group.
1. In a terminal window, type:
```
sudo usermod -G vboxusers -a username
```
  Replace username with the name of the current user.
2. Log out and log in again to apply the changes.
Open a terminal window, type VirtualBox, and press Enter to start the VirtualBox.
Accept the license agreement.

How to Install VirtualBox on a Macintosh (Intel) Machine

Navigate to and mount the downloaded VirtualBox .dmg disk image file.
To start the installation, double-click the VirtualBox .mpkg file and click Continue.
Accept the license agreement and click Continue.
Select the destination volume and click Continue
Click Install to install VirtualBox in the default Applications folder, or click Change Install Location to install in another location.
Enter your user password.
When the completion message displays, click Close.

How to Set up VirtualBox for Use with OpenSolaris

Start VirtualBox by using one of the following steps:
- On Windows, click the Start button, and select VirtualBox from the list of programs.
- On Linux, open a terminal window, type VirtualBox, and press Enter.
- On Mac OS X, open Applications in the Finder and double-click VirtualBox.
On the first start of VirtualBox, type your registration information and click Confirm.
The main VirtualBox window appears.
Click the New icon on the left side of the GUI, and click Next in the pop-up window.
Type a name for your virtual machine, and select Solaris as the operating system, from the drop-down list. Click Next.
Select the amount of RAM to allocate to the OpenSolaris installation inside VirtualBox. Click Next.
Note - 512 Mbytes is the recommended minimum size. If you have 2 Gbytes or more of memory on your machine, you should choose 1 Gbytes for optimum performance. See the substep C in the following step.
Add a Virtual Disk Image (vdi) by selecting a name or adding a new name to the list. For the initial installation, follow these substeps:
1. Select New and click Next.
2. Accept the default Dynamically Expanding Image and click Next.
3. Accept the default name, or type a path and name, and allocate space for the image.
4. When you've completed the settings, click Next.
5. Click Finish to create the disk image.
When the initial Virtual Disk Manager GUI appears with your new vdi file selected, click Next.
Review the Summary GUI and Click Finish.
The main VirtualBox window appears. Your virtual OpenSolaris machine is displayed in the left panel, and is ready to use as a virtual machine.
Click the CD/DVD-ROM link on the right-hand side, in the Details tab.
Check Mount CD/DVD Drive and select ISO Image File.
In the drop-down list, select the downloaded OpenSolaris ISO image. If the ISO image is not in the list, add the image as follows:
1. Click the Select icon in the right of the drop-down list.
2. Click the CD/DVD Images tab.
3. Click the Add icon.
4. Navigate to the downloaded OpenSolaris ISO image file and click Open.
5. Click Select and close the Settings screen.

How to Start OpenSolaris 2008.05 Using VirtualBox

Start VirtualBox by using one of the following options:
- On Windows, click the Start button and select VirtualBox from the list of programs.
- On Linux, select VirtualBox from the System Tools menu (GNOME desktop) or from the System menu (KDE desktop).
- On Mac OS X, open Applications in the Finder and double-click VirtualBox.
Double-click your virtual machine icon or select it and click Start.
Caution - Unless you have the ISO on a CD, click the CD/DVD-ROM link and verify that the OpenSolaris ISO image file is selected.

The GRUB boot menu with three options is displayed. Then a SunOS Release message is displayed. Finally, a list of languages appears.
When the list of keyboard layouts appears, type the number for your keyboard layout. For example, type 41 for US-English. Then press Enter.
Note - When you click inside the VirtualBox window with your virtual machine running, the mouse cursor is trapped inside the virtual desktop. Use the Host Key to release the mouse cursor again. The Host Key is indicated at the lower right corner of the VirtualBox window. By default, the Host Key is the right Ctrl key on Windows and Linux, and the left Cmd key on Mac OS X.
Select the language for the desktop and press Enter.
Review and close the licensing agreement.
When the desktop screen appears, you are “in the box” and running OpenSolaris 2008.05 in Live CD mode.
To install OpenSolaris 2008.05 on your virtual hard disk, click the Install OpenSolaris icon on the desktop.
See Installing OpenSolaris 2008.05 for installation instructions.