Contents
Installing Solaris 7 into a Virtual Machine
It is possible to run Solaris 7 inside a virtual machine, even though it is
not possible to install it into a virtual machine using the VMware Workstation software
on a Windows host. There are two possible workarounds for getting Solaris 7 to run
within a virtual machine.
Note: The following workaround methods should be undertaken only by
advanced users.
Method 1 - Windows Host
This method requires that you configure a virtual machine to boot from a raw
disk. If your host system has only SCSI drives, or IDE drives without free space,
this method cannot work for you; try method 2 instead.
- Shut down the host operating system if it is running the Windows host operating
system.
- Install Solaris 7 Intel Edition directly onto a raw disk partition of the
host system. The host system should be setup as a dual-boot (or multiple-boot)
system allowing both Windows and Solaris 7 to boot natively one at a time.
- Boot the host system into Windows. If you haven't already done so, install
VMware Workstation.
- Run the VMware Workstation software and configure a virtual machine to boot from the existing disk
partition where Solaris 7 was installed.
Method 2 Windows or Linux Host
This method requires that you use VMware Workstation on a Linux host to install
Solaris 7 on a virtual disk. You can then use VMware Workstation on a Windows host
to configure a virtual machine to boot from that virtual disk.
- On a Linux host computer, run VMware Workstation and configure a virtual machine
with a virtual disk.
- Install Solaris 7 Intel Edition as a guest operating system on the virtual
machine's virtual disk.
- You can now run the Solaris 7 virtual machine on the Linux host. To run this
virtual machine on a Windows host, you must take several additional steps.
- After the guest operating system has been installed, transfer the virtual
disk file to a partition where the Windows host operating system can access it.
- Boot the physical machine where you plan to run the Windows host operating
system. If you haven't already done so, install VMware Workstation on that machine.
- Run VMware Workstation on the Windows host and configure a virtual machine to use
the virtual disk on which Solaris 7 was installed.
Known Issues
No VMware Tools package exists for Solaris 7 guest operating systems; therefore, Solaris 7 is limited to VGA mode graphics and it is always necessary to use the Ctrl-Alt key combination to release the mouse from the virtual machine.
Back to top
© 2002 VMware, Inc.
All rights reserved.