Getting Started with OpenSolaris/Acquiring OpenSolaris

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This guide assumes that you'll be running OpenSolaris via virtualisation. However, the general installation should work on real hardware. Firstly, a you'll need a copy of OpenSolaris

Downloading OpenSolaris

Image of the Live CD available at the time

You can either download the latest preview build (134b), or download the latest preview build (2009.06). If you choose the latter however, you may have trouble updating it.

• Build 134b is available here
• Build 2009.06 is available here

Installation steps are the same regardless, however there may be slight visual differences.

System Requirements

(These are the system requirements for OpenSolaris itself, not for virtualisation of it)

• At least 512MB of RAM, 1GB recommended
• At least 3.2GB of Hard Disk Space, 9GB recommended.

Options for Virtualisation

As OpenSolaris was a Sun product, naturally it runs best on VirtualBox. Indeed, VirtualBox continues to support OpenSolaris (as well as Solaris 10) as a guest, including guest additions. It is possible to run OpenSolaris on either VMware or Qemu, but your results may vary.. I wouldn't even bother with HyperV.

This guide will be using VirtualBox as it is the most convenient solution for this particular OS. Further documentation from the time regarding OpenSolaris installation can be found here

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