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Preparing for a Multiboot Environment

You can install the OpenSolaris OS as a single-boot system. Or, you can install the OpenSolaris OS as part of a multiboot environment. Note the following multibooting specifications for various operating systems.

Table 2 Multiboot Environments

Existing OS

Description

Windows

If you have Windows installed, and you setup enough space to install the OpenSolaris OS, the installation should be straightforward. All versions of the OpenSolaris OS release use the GRUB bootloader. These OpenSolaris releases recognize Windows and ensure that the Windows partitions remain unchanged by default. When the OpenSolaris installation is finished, the GRUB menu gives you the option to boot either the Windows system or the OpenSolaris system.

If you are using VMWare, see Getting Started With OpenSolaris Using VMWare. See also the Release Note, #140 When Booting the Live CD Under VMware, no Network Devices are Discovered by Network Auto-Magic(NWAM).

Note - Windows Vista fdisk program has a new approach to allocation of extra sectors on a disk drive. Vista allocates space in multiples of 2048 sectors. For this release, this change impacts the OpenSolaris multibooting process for some laptops that have Vista pre-installed. The fdisk command reports errors during installation while reading the existing partition table.

If you have Windows Vista installed, see x86: Vista Multiboot Installation Might Fail (6598208).

Linux, or Windows and Linux

If you have Linux installed, or Linux and Windows, installed and you are currently booting through GRUB, save and print out your /boot/grub/menu.1st GRUB menu file from the Linux system before installing the OpenSolaris OS. You must edit this information back into the /boot/grub/menu.1st file when you finish booting.

Note - If you are installing the OpenSolaris OS on a multiboot system that also contains the Linux OS, the Solaris partition must precede the Linux swap partition.

Solaris 10 OS

The Slim Installer cannot be used to multiboot the OpenSolaris OS. However, the Slim Installer can be used to replace instances of Solaris 10 1/06 and later, and instances of Solaris Express, in an existing multiboot Solaris system.

If you want to create a second Solaris partition while preserving an existing Solaris partition, see Example 13–2 in x86: How to Create a Solaris fdisk Partition.

Extended Partitions

If you have another OS on an extended partition, the existing extended partition is not changed and is not lost during an OpenSolaris release installation. Existing extended partitions are not visible during the OpenSolaris release installation, but the primary fdisk partition in which the extended partition resides is visible. No data in these partitions is lost due to the installation. The OS on an extended partition is not displayed on the GRUB menu. To update the GRUB menu, see the GRUB overview at x86: Administering the GRUB Bootloader. See also menu.1st file specifics at x86: Booting a Solaris System with GRUB.

Previous: Limitations for OpenSolaris Developer Previews.

Next: Partitioning a Multiboot System.