TOTD #68: Installing Zones in Open Solaris 2008/11 on Virtual Box

The TOTD #64 describes how to install Open Solaris 2008/11 using Virtual Box. This Tip Of The Day (TOTD) is going to explain how to install non-global zones (aka Solaris Containers) on this Open Solaris image. Containers provide an operating-system level virtualization technology.

Thanks for the extensive discussion at zones-discuss forums, Bill Walker for lots of off-line support, and last but not the least Marcelo Arbore's nice blog showing how to install GlassFish in an Open Solaris zone.

This blog is going to focus on installing couple of non-global containers/zones in the Virtual Box image with all gory details. A later blog will show how to leverage these zones to demonstrate GlassFish High Availability.

Lets get started!

To begin with, there is one global zone always installed as shown below (user inputs highligted in bold):

arun@opensolaris:~# zoneadm list -vi   ID NAME             STATUS     PATH                           BRAND    IP    0 global           running    /                              native   shared

Lets install the zone. The IP address is specified in 192.168.0.XXX range ...

arun@opensolaris:~# zonecfg -z zone1 zone1: No such zone configured Use 'create' to begin configuring a new zone. zonecfg:zone1> create zonecfg:zone1> set zonepath=/export/home/zone1 zonecfg:zone1> set autoboot=true zonecfg:zone1> add net zonecfg:zone1:net> set address=192.168.0.99/24 zonecfg:zone1:net> set physical=e1000g0 zonecfg:zone1:net> end zonecfg:zone1> commit zonecfg:zone1> exit arun@opensolaris:~# zoneadm -z zone1 install A ZFS file system has been created for this zone.   Authority: Using http://pkg.opensolaris.org/release/.       Image: Preparing at /export/home/zone1/root ... done.       Cache: Using /var/pkg/download.  Installing: (output follows) DOWNLOAD                                    PKGS       FILES     XFER (MB) Completed                                  52/52   7862/7862   72.41/72.41 PHASE                                        ACTIONS Install Phase                            12939/12939 PHASE                                          ITEMS Reading Existing Index                           9/9 Indexing Packages                              52/52        Note: Man pages can be obtained by installing SUNWman Postinstall: Copying SMF seed repository ... done. Postinstall: Working around http://defect.opensolaris.org/bz/show_bug.cgi?id=741        Done: Installation completed in 165.652 seconds.  Next Steps: Boot the zone, then log into the zone console              (zlogin -C) to complete the configuration process arun@opensolaris:~# zoneadm -z zone1 boot arun@opensolaris:~# zlogin -C zone1 [Connected to zone 'zone1' console] 68/68 Reading ZFS config: done. Mounting ZFS filesystems: (6/6)

Specify the type of terminal ...

What type of terminal are you using?  1) ANSI Standard CRT  2) DEC VT100  3) PC Console  4) Sun Command Tool  5) Sun Workstation  6) X Terminal Emulator (xterms)  7) Other Type the number of your choice and press Return: 1 Creating new rsa public/private host key pair Creating new dsa public/private host key pair Configuring network interface addresses: e1000g0.

Configure NIC ...

- Host Name for e1000g0:1 ------------------------------------------------------   Enter the host name which identifies this system on the network.  The name   must be unique within your domain; creating a duplicate host name will cause   problems on the network after you install Solaris.   A host name must have at least one character; it can contain letters,   digits, and minus signs (-).     Host name for e1000g0:1 zone1 - Confirm Information for e1000g0:1 --------------------------------------------   > Confirm the following information.  If it is correct, press F2;     to change any information, press F4.     Host name: zone1

No Kerberos ...

- Configure Security Policy: ---------------------------------------------------   Specify Yes if the system will use the Kerberos security mechanism.   Specify No if this system will use standard UNIX security.       Configure Kerberos Security       ---------------------------       [ ] Yes       [X] No - Confirm Information ----------------------------------------------------------   > Confirm the following information.  If it is correct, press F2;     to change any information, press F4.     Configure Kerberos Security: No

Specify the name service, domain, and domain resolver ...

- Name Service -----------------------------------------------------------------   On this screen you must provide name service information.  Select the name   service that will be used by this system, or None if your system will either   not use a name service at all, or if it will use a name service not listed   here.   > To make a selection, use the arrow keys to highlight the option     and press Return to mark it [X].       Name service       ------------       [ ] NIS+       [ ] NIS       [X] DNS       [ ] LDAP       [ ] None - Domain Name ------------------------------------------------------------------   On this screen you must specify the domain where this system resides.  Make   sure you enter the name correctly including capitalization and punctuation.     Domain name: sfbay.sun.com - DNS Server Addresses ---------------------------------------------------------   On this screen you must enter the IP address of your DNS server(s).  You   must enter at least one address.  IP addresses must contain four sets of   numbers separated by periods (for example 129.200.9.1).     Server's IP address: 10.0.2.3     Server's IP address:     Server's IP address:

The value of IP address for your DNS server is copied from "/etc/resolv.conf" in the global zone. Specify DNS search list and confirm the information ...

- DNS Search List --------------------------------------------------------------   On this screen you can enter a list of domains that will be searched when a   DNS query is made.  If you do not enter any domains, DNS will only search   the DNS domain chosen for this system.  The domains entered, when   concatenated, may not be longer than 250 characters.     Search domain:     Search domain:     Search domain:     Search domain:     Search domain:     Search domain: - Confirm Information ----------------------------------------------------------   > Confirm the following information.  If it is correct, press F2;     to change any information, press F4.           Name service: DNS            Domain name: sfbay.sun.com     Server address(es): 10.0.2.3

No need to create an address entry for the zone ...

- Name Service Error -----------------------------------------------------------   Unable to find an address entry for zone1 with the specified DNS   configuration.       Enter new name service information?       -----------------------------------       [ ] Yes       [X] No

Specify and confirm NFSv4 domain name ...

- NFSv4 Domain Name ------------------------------------------------------------   NFS version 4 uses a domain name that is automatically derived from the   system's naming services. The derived domain name is sufficient for most   configurations. In a few cases, mounts that cross domain boundaries might   cause files to appear to be owned by "nobody" due to the lack of a common   domain name.   The current NFSv4 default domain is: "sfbay.sun.com"       NFSv4 Domain Configuration       ----------------------------------------------       [X] Use the NFSv4 domain derived by the system       [ ] Specify a different NFSv4 domain - Confirm Information for NFSv4 Domain -----------------------------------------   > Confirm the following information.  If it is correct, press F2;     to change any information, press F4.     NFSv4 Domain Name:  << Value to be derived dynamically >>

Timezone ...

- Confirm Information ----------------------------------------------------------   > Confirm the following information.  If it is correct, press F2;     to change any information, press F4.     Time zone: Pacific Time                (US/Pacific)

Specify the root password and then see the comment as:

System identification is completed.

This comment indicates successful creation of the zone.

Login to "zone1" as:

zone1 console login: root Password: Feb  8 16:12:10 zone1 login: ROOT LOGIN /dev/console Sun Microsystems Inc.   SunOS 5.11      snv_101b        November 2008

Check the network configuration ...

root@zone1:~# ifconfig -a lo0:1: flags=2001000849<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,VIRTUAL> mtu 8232 index 1         inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 e1000g0:1: flags=201000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,CoS> mtu 1500 index 2         inet 192.168.0.99 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255 root@zone1:~#

After "zone1" is completely installed, then it can be viewed as:

arun@opensolaris:~$ zoneadm list -vi   ID NAME             STATUS     PATH                           BRAND    IP    0 global           running    /                              native   shared    1 zone1            running    /export/home/zone1             ipkg     shared

And then install "zone2" using the steps described above and check it's network configuration as:

root@zone2:~# ifconfig -a lo0:2: flags=2001000849<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,VIRTUAL> mtu 8232 index 1         inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 e1000g0:2: flags=201000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,CoS> mtu 1500 index 2         inet 192.168.0.98 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255 root@zone2:~#

And it's shown in the list of zones as:

arun@opensolaris:~# zoneadm list -vi   ID NAME             STATUS     PATH                           BRAND    IP    0 global           running    /                              native   shared    1 zone1            running    /export/home/zone1             ipkg     shared    2 zone2            running    /export/home/zone2             ipkg     shared

OK, so we installed 2 non-global zones in an Open Solaris image running as guest in Virtual Box.

Typing "~." takes you back to the global zone.

Please leave suggestions on other TOTD (Tip Of The Day) that you'd like to see. A complete archive of all tips is available here.

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