In the Zones blog I posted a few weeks back, a couple of the steps required interactive configuration. In this entry I'm going to create the same zone, however in a much streamlined manner.

Step 1: Create the Zone

In this step we can pass a series of settings to the zonecfg command, bypassing the interactive prompts. I've created a file called myzone.config that contains the following:

bleonard@opensolaris:~$ cat myzone.config
create
set zonepath=/zones/myzone
set ip-type=shared
add net
set address=10.0.1.25/24
set physical=e1000g0
end

Using that file I can quickly create the zone as follows:

pfexec zonecfg -z myzone -f myzone.config

Confirm its configuration:

bleonard@opensolaris:~$ zonecfg -z myzone info
zonename: myzone
zonepath: /zones/myzone
brand: ipkg
autoboot: false
bootargs: 
pool: 
limitpriv: 
scheduling-class: 
ip-type: shared
hostid: 
net:
	address: 10.0.1.25/24
	physical: e1000g0
	defrouter not specified

bleonard@opensolaris:/zones$ zoneadm list -cv
  ID NAME             STATUS     PATH                           BRAND    IP    
   0 global           running    /                              native   shared
   - myzone           configured /zones/myzone                  ipkg     shared

Step 2: Install the Zone

bleonard@opensolaris:/zones$ pfexec zoneadm -z myzone install
   Publisher: Using opensolaris.org (http://pkg.opensolaris.org/release/).
       Image: Preparing at /zones/myzone/root.
       Cache: Using /var/pkg/download.  
Sanity Check: Looking for 'entire' incorporation.
  Installing: Core System (output follows)
DOWNLOAD                                    PKGS       FILES     XFER (MB)
Completed                                  20/20   3021/3021   42.55/42.55 

PHASE                                        ACTIONS
Install Phase                              5747/5747 
  Installing: Additional Packages (output follows)
DOWNLOAD                                    PKGS       FILES     XFER (MB)
Completed                                  37/37   5598/5598   32.52/32.52 

PHASE                                        ACTIONS
Install Phase                              7332/7332 

        Note: Man pages can be obtained by installing SUNWman
 Postinstall: Copying SMF seed repository ... done.
 Postinstall: Applying workarounds.
        Done: Installation completed in 171.102 seconds.

  Next Steps: Boot the zone, then log into the zone console
             (zlogin -C) to complete the configuration process

bleonard@opensolaris:/zones$ zoneadm list -cv
  ID NAME             STATUS     PATH                           BRAND    IP    
   0 global           running    /                              native   shared
   - myzone           installed  /zones/myzone                  ipkg     shared

Steps 3 & 4: Boot and Configure

This is where things really improve for the better. If you look at the original Zones blog, there were a fair amount of steps involved in configuring the system. Like with creating the zone itself, the settings for these configuration steps can be placed in a file that the zone will read on first boot. The file must be named sysidcfg. Here's a version that matches the configuration settings from the original Zones blog:

bleonard@opensolaris:~$ cat sysidcfg
system_locale=C
terminal=xterms
network_interface=PRIMARY {hostname=myzone}
security_policy=none
name_service=NONE
nfs4_domain=dynamic
timezone=US/Eastern
root_password=fto/dU8MKwQRI

Note, the root_password is supposed to be set to a value from your /etc/shadow file. However, beware of the following issue: Zone Preconfiguration Fails with root_password keyword set. The workaround is to use a value from either Solaris 10 or SXCE. The root password used above is 'abc123', so you can just use that and then change it to whatever you like. Or you can just leave out the root_password keyword and you will be prompted to set one.

To further customize the sysidcfg file, see the sysidcfg man page.

The sysidcfg file must be placed in the zone's /etc directory. The zone must first be readied before its file system can be accessed:

pfexec zoneadm -z myzone ready

Now copy the sysidcfg file:

pfexec cp sysidcfg /zones/myzone/root/etc/.

Now, log into the zone and wait for it to boot:

bleonard@opensolaris:~$ pfexec zlogin -C myzone
[Connected to zone 'myzone' console] 

Open a 2nd terminal window and boot the zone:

pfexec zoneadm -z myzone boot 

Then back in the 1st terminal window you'll see the following:

[NOTICE: Zone booting up]


SunOS Release 5.11 Version snv_111b 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.
Hostname: myzone
Loading smf(5) service descriptions: 69/69
Reading ZFS config: done.
Mounting ZFS filesystems: (5/5)
Creating new rsa public/private host key pair
Creating new dsa public/private host key pair
Configuring network interface addresses: e1000g0.

myzone console login: 

You can log in as root. If you used the the root_password setting above, the password is abc123.

myzone console login: root
Password: 
Jul  8 11:09:38 myzone login: ROOT LOGIN /dev/console
Sun Microsystems Inc.   SunOS 5.11      snv_111b        November 2008
root@myzone:~#