OpenSolaris

You are not signed in. Sign in or register.

Partitioning a Multiboot System

The Slim Installer uses the open source GRUB bootloader which supports installing multiple operating systems on one drive. Prior to installing, you will need to create a partition for installing the OpenSolaris software. After partitioning and installing the operating systems, one of the operating systems can be deployed by choosing between the different operating systems at boot time.

Partitioning Procedure

  1. Back up your system!

    Backing up your system is strongly recommended before repartitioning your hard drive. See the Backing Up the Disk Media Content demo for step by step instructions.

  2. Create a partition on your hard drive for installing the OpenSolaris OS.

    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).

    If you are installing OpenSolaris on a system that will have more than one OS, use the fdisk command or a third-party partitioning tool to create a new partition or to make adjustments to preexisting partitions. Choose one of the following two options:

    • Use the fdisk command to create or modify a Solaris fdisk partition.

      For instructions, see x86: How to Create a Solaris fdisk Partition.

      Note - If you need to preserve an existing partition of a particular type while you change other partitions of the same type, use the fdisk command. For example, if you want to create a second Solaris partition while preserving an existing Solaris partition, use the fdisk command, as per Example 13–2 in x86: How to Create a Solaris fdisk Partition.

    • Use commercial products or open source tools to partition your hard drive.

      GParted is an open source tool for disk partitioning. The ISO image for the GParted tool can be downloaded from the GParted web site. Use this download to burn a CD that includes the GParted tool.

      See the dual-boot partitioning video. This video provides step-by-step instructions that explain how to shrink a popular desktop operating system to make room for a Linux-swap partition. The procedure is also available at Appendix B: GParted Procedure.

      The partition type for a Linux swap is the same type that is used for the OpenSolaris OS. During the Slim Installation, in the Disk partitioning step, you will be able to change this Linux-swap partition to a Solaris partition.

    Note - Sun is not responsible for the availability of third-party web sites mentioned in this document. Sun does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials that are available on or through such sites or resources. Sun will not be responsible or liable for any actual or alleged damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods, or services that are available on or through such sites or resources.

  3. Use the Slim Installer to install the OpenSolaris OS to the Solaris fdisk partition as described in the next section.

Previous: Preparing for a Multiboot Environment.

Next: Slim Installation.