Lab: Install Oracle Solaris 11 on Oracle VM VirtualBox

In this lab you will learn how to install the Oracle Solaris 11 Image for Oracle VM VirtualBox, the easiest way to get up and running with Oracle Solaris 11.

Prerequisites

This lab is the first is a series of labs for Oracle Solaris 11.  All of the labs in the series have these prerequisites in common:

• Windows, OS X, Linux or Oracle Solaris on x86
• 2GB of RAM
• Install VirtualBox:
  • Installing on Windows hosts
  • Installing on Mac OS X hosts
  • Installing on Linux hosts
  • Installing on Oracle Solaris hosts
• Download the VirtualBox Extension Pack and follow the instructions at Installing VirtualBox and extension packs

Exercise 1: Download the Oracle Solaris 11 VM for Oracle VM VirtualBox

1. Download the Oracle Solaris 11 VM for Oracle VM VirtualBox. It's 1.8 GBs.
2. Extract the archive. This step will vary based on the host OS and can usually be accomplished through the desktop interface or the command line. Below is an example of extracting the archive from the Oracle Solaris 11 command line:

   bleonard@solaris:~/Download$ unzip OracleSolaris11_11-11_VM.zip
   Archive:  OracleSolaris11_11-11_VM.zip
     inflating: OracleSolaris11_11-11.mf
     inflating: OracleSolaris11_11-11.ovf
     inflating: OracleSolaris11_11-11-disk1.vmdk
     inflating: README.txt
   

Exercise 2: Import the Oracle Solaris 11 VM into VirtualBox

In this exercise, we will import the Oracle Solaris 11 VM into VirtualBox.

1. Start VirtualBox
2. Select File > Import Appliance (or Ctrl+I):
   
3. Browse to the location where you downloaded the Oracle Solaris 11 VM and select the OracleSolaris11_11-11.ovf:
   
   
4. Click Next and set the RAM to 1536 MB (if you only have 2 GBs of RAM, leave it at the default of 1024 MB):
   
5. Wait while the appliance is imported, which will only take a couple of minutes

Exercise 3: Start the Oracle Solaris 11 Express VM

In this exercise we will run Oracle Solaris 11 for the first time - getting a basic understand of what's there:

1. Select Machine > Start or click the Start icon on the VirtualBox tool bar.

1. Wait while Oracle Solaris boots up.
2. System Configuration Tool runs automatically and walk you through system configuration. Press F2 to continue.

3. Select Automatically when prompted for network configuration:

4. Select Time Zone (press F2 to continue on each screen). Select region first.

Then select the country.

and the correct time zone

5. Choose root password. Do not create user account, it is already created for you in this virtual image. If you install Oracle Solaris you must create user account. Now you just import an appliance with Oracle Solaris preinstalled.

6. Review the summary page and if it is correct, press F2 to finish the configuration.

7. Wait for login prompt.

8. When prompted, enter the username oracle and the password oracle

You'll find an icon in the top panel to open a terminal:

Note, the VirtualBox Guest Additions are pre-installed:

    oracle@solaris:~$ pkginfo -l SUNWvboxguest
   PKGINST:  SUNWvboxguest
      NAME:  Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions
  CATEGORY:  application
      ARCH:  i386
   VERSION:  4.1.2,REV=r73507.2011.08.15.14.54
   BASEDIR:  /
    VENDOR:  Oracle Corporation
      DESC:  Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions for Solaris guests
    PSTAMP:  vboxguest20110815145457_r73507
  INSTDATE:  Nov 03 2011 08:15
   HOTLINE:  Please contact your local service provider
     EMAIL:  info@virtualbox.org
    STATUS:  completely installed
     FILES:       68 installed pathnames
                   3 linked files
                   4 directories
                  19 executables
               30146 blocks used (approx)

The Solaris guest additions allow for tighter integration between the host OS and Oracle Solaris. For example, you can cut and paste text between the 2 operating systems. You can also put Oracle Solaris into Fullscreen mode. Do this now by selecting Machine > Switch to Fullscreen.

Exiting full screen mode is most easily accomplished by moving your mouse cursor to the bottom middle of the screen, which will cause a menu to appear as follows. You can either exit via the Machine menu or the blue window icon to the right:

Other items of note, we have 63.5 GB of hard disk space (this is a potential, the image does not consume that much at the moment):

oracle@solaris:~$ zpool list rpool
NAME    SIZE  ALLOC   FREE  CAP  DEDUP  HEALTH  ALTROOT
rpool  63.5G  5.19G  58.3G   8%  1.00x  ONLINE  -

Finally, it would probably help to know the root password. It is exactly what you setup earlier at system configuration stage.

Actually, the user oracle can be in the /etc/sudoers file, so you don't really need the root password. To have user oracle in /oracle/sudoers file, please do the following:

oracle@solaris:~$ su
Password: <root password you entered on configuration stage>
# cat >> /etc/sudoers
oracle ALL=(ALL) ALL

<Ctrl-D>
#

Please note that there are two > signs after cat in the command above.

Now you can check sudo command works for you.

oracle@solaris:~$ sudo su

We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
Administrator. It usually boils down to these three things:

\#1) Respect the privacy of others.
\#2) Think before you type.
\#3) With great power comes great responsibility.

Password: oracle
root@solaris:/home/oracle#

Exercise 4: Take a Snapshot

Now that we have our virtual machine in a clean state, let's take a snapshot in case we want to roll back. You can take the snapshot while the machine is running.

1. From the VirtualBox menu, select Machine > Take Snapshot. Give the snapshot a name and optional description:

That's it. Now you have an environment in which you can begin to learn about all the great features in Oracle Solaris 11. And with VirtualBox's snapshot feature, you never have to worry about messing anything up as you can always rollback to a prior state.

References

For additional information about Oracle Solaris 11 and the technologies used in this lab, please see the following links:

Taking Your First Steps with Oracle Solaris 11