Kool Aid Served Daily

Okay, my snv 73 box is now a snv 85 box. Everything is working except for my punchin, but only because I need to bypass my Sun Ray 1G (and the Sun Ray Server 4.0 was dead easy to install). But the vnic_setup.sh script is still not working:

# ./vnic_setup.sh 0:1:4a:f2:31:34
Invalid link name: LINK
# LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/VirtualBox:/opt/VirtualBox/qtgcc/lib:. ; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
# ./vnic_setup.sh 0:1:4a:f2:31:34
Invalid link name: LINK
# ./vnic_setup.sh 0:1:4a:f2:31:34 vnic1
vnic1
# ifconfig -a
lo0: flags=2001000849 mtu 8232 index 1
	inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 
bge0: flags=201000843 mtu 1500 index 2
	inet 192.168.2.130 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.2.255
	ether 0:a:e4:34:2f:da 
lo0: flags=2002000849 mtu 8252 index 1
	inet6 ::1/128 

Well the VirtualBox manual tells me how to do it manually:

# /usr/lib/vna bge0 0:1:4a:f2:31:34
vnic0
# ifconfig vnic0 plumb
# ifconfig -a 
lo0: flags=2001000849 mtu 8232 index 1
	inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 
bge0: flags=201000843 mtu 1500 index 2
	inet 192.168.2.130 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.2.255
	ether 0:a:e4:34:2f:da 
vnic0: flags=201000842 mtu 1500 index 3
	inet 0.0.0.0 netmask 0 
	ether 0:1:4a:f2:31:34 
lo0: flags=2002000849 mtu 8252 index 1
	inet6 ::1/128 
#  /usr/lib/vna bge0 0:1:4a:f2:31:36
vnic1
# /usr/lib/vna bge0 0:1:4a:f2:31:38
vnic2
# ifconfig vnic1 plumb
# ifconfig vnic2 plumb
# ifconfig vnic0 192.168.2.150 destination 192.168.2.160 netmask 255.255.255.0 up
# ifconfig vnic1 192.168.2.151 destination 192.168.2.161  netmask 255.255.255.0 up
# ifconfig vnic2 192.168.2.152 destination 192.168.2.162 netmask 255.255.255.0 up
# ifconfig -a
lo0: flags=2001000849 mtu 8232 index 1
	inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 
bge0: flags=201000843 mtu 1500 index 2
	inet 192.168.2.130 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.2.255
	ether 0:a:e4:34:2f:da 
vnic0: flags=201000851 mtu 1500 index 3
	inet 192.168.2.150 --> 192.168.2.160 netmask ffffff00 
	ether 0:1:4a:f2:31:34 
vnic1: flags=201000851 mtu 1500 index 4
	inet 192.168.2.151 --> 192.168.2.161 netmask ffffff00 
	ether 0:1:4a:f2:31:36 
vnic2: flags=201000851 mtu 1500 index 5
	inet 192.168.2.152 --> 192.168.2.162 netmask ffffff00 
	ether 0:1:4a:f2:31:38 
lo0: flags=2002000849 mtu 8252 index 1
	inet6 ::1/128 

And when the system comes up, it has an IP of 192.168.2.29. And I can't ping any of the 3.

It looks like I need to learn the CLI for VirtualBox. Here is a related article: Internal network does not work for OpenSolaris guests

As mentioned, I have a minimal install for my OpenSolaris test machines. Evidently I am missing something quite important for getting a host network up and running:

# ./vnic_setup.sh 0:1:4a:f2:31:34
./vnic_setup.sh: line 42: /usr/lib/vna: No such file or directory

Hmm, I can either load the iso and get the real files or learn how to work with the NAT mode.So either I do a complete reinstall or I figure how to get just a couple of files over. Sounds like I should learn about NAT anyway.

With two machines and NAT, they are both getting the same address. I could use the Internal Network option, but I'm still going to have to reinstall. Hmm, when I do a machine, I select Core Configure and add the following:

BIND DNS Name server and tools
BIND Name server Manifest
Filebench
Freeware Compression Tools
Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions
Freeware shells
Freeware Other Utilities
GLIB
XCU4 Utilities
GNU Autotools
Secure Shell
GNU which
gcmn - Common GNU package
gdb
ggrep
gtar
Lint Libraries (root)
Lint Libraries (usr)
GNU binutils
GNU diffutils
Perl 5.6.1 (core)
Perl 5.6.1 (non-core)
GNU textinfo
Libevent
Get all of System and Network Admin
Live Upgrade Software
MDB (root)
Programming Tools
resource pool (root)
Resource Pools in core software for resource pools
Solaris Zones
Vi IMproved
autoconf
bcc
coreutils
rsync
ROCSEC_GSS
Kerberos V5 KDC (root)
Kerberos V5 Master KDC (root)
Kerberos Version 5 support (kernel)
NIS Server for Solaris (root)
NIS Server for Solaris (usr)
Interprocess Communication

Time to find what I need to add. First we need to look in the ISO image:

[tdh@warlock ~]> sudo lofiadm -a /zoo/isos/x86/snv85/solarisdvd.iso 
/dev/lofi/1
[tdh@warlock ~]> sudo mount -F hsfs /dev/lofi/1 /mnt
[tdh@warlock Product]> cd /mnt/Solaris_11/Product/
[tdh@warlock Product]> grep lib/vna */pkgmap
SUNWcsu/pkgmap:1 f none usr/lib/vna 0555 root bin 12592 13767 1204942578

Hmm, wait, I need to find that on my host system and not the guest machine. D'Oh!

[tdh@warlock lib]> uname -a
SunOS warlock 5.11 snv_73 i86pc i386 i86pc
[tdh@warlock lib]> sudo lofiadm -d /zoo/isos/x86/snv7
snv79/ 

I have the DVD, but 73 is ancient! But I'll check:

[tdh@warlock Product]> grep lib/vna SUNWcsu/pkgmap
[tdh@warlock Product]> 

Ugh, the biggest hassle is that I use this machine as a Sun Ray Server. Okay, time for a reinstall!

RTFM - at least the one which comes with the distribution. I think the online one does not have OpenSolaris support. And, I am right it does not.

Anyway, you do not need to retrieve the qt libraries and build, as I just did, it is supplied for you.

cd /opt/VirtualBox
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/VirtualBox:/opt/VirtualBox/qtgcc/lib:. ./VirtualBox

Downloading and installing VirtualBox on my OpenSolaris box was a snap. Running and installing on it was a bit harder. First off, you need qt installed. Easy instructions are at VirtualBox on OpenSolaris. Then you need to tell it that something other than Right-Ctrl is your host key - you need to do this because Sun keyboards do not have that key . I chose my Right-Meta key. Imagine VirtualBox has your mouse and keyboard, your screensaver kicks in, and you can't get the system to understand you want to bring it to life.

Telling the tool how to load my OpenSolaris iso image was a bit counterintuitive. But the biggest problem I ended up having was only giving 8M to my graphics card. The Developer's install seemed okay with that, but the normal graphical install would puke on it. I was able to do a text install, until the point the install decided I was doing a NFS install and did not like the path I was giving. It also would not see the attached iso as a cdrom.

Kicking both tyres together - VirtualBox and Indiana was very helpful for this issue, Alan casually mentions you need 32M of Video Ram. I gave the system that and could then do the graphical install. And it correctly identified the iso as a cdrom. I'll bring that value down once I finish the install. I'm not going to install a GUI on this machine.

I should be sleeping, but instead I created a Damn Small Linux VM. At first I downloaded a VMware image, but I eventually created a virtual disk and installed on it. I followed the directions at both HD Install :: How to Install DSL in VMware 6 and Installing to the Hard Disk.

Make sure that when you create the virtual disk, you select IDE and not SCSI! This means changing away from the default. If you do chose SCSI, cfdisk will not see the disk. You can fix that by:

• Halting the VM, you can do that from the VMware console.
• That gets you to the Summary View.
• Select 'Edit Virtual Machine settings'.
• Click on the 'Hard Disk' and then select 'Remove'.
• Then click on 'Add' and select 'Hard Disk'->'Next'->'Create a new virtual disk'.
• Switch 'Virtual Disk Type' to be 'IDE' instead of 'SCSI'.
• And follow the normal steps to finish it off.
• Restart the VM and now cfdisk should work.

After the dsl-hdinstall script reboots the VM, it will ask you to configure your X server. Do not accept the default value of USB mouse. You need to instead select IMPS/2 as the mouse. If you select the USB mouse, your mouse will not do anything. Follow these steps to fix it:

• Hit CTRL-ALT-BKSP to get you out of the window manager.
• This drops you back into your login terminal.
• Run /usr/sbin/xsetup.sh, which will redo the setup.
• You can run startx to get back into the window manager, but it didn't come up for me all the way.
• Instead I rebooted - hey it comes back really quick.

You shouldn't have to worry about permissions just then, after all, you just gave new passwords for root and dsl. If needed, you can use sudo to get access.

I also followed the steps to rename my VM (Changing the Hostname) and to set it to use static IP (How can I enter and save my static IP settings?). And that is it for now...

Wow, I'm on a roll today. My mouse was not scrolling in my VMWare Workstation VMs. I went so far as looking into the manual - no luck. I couldn't find any options in the configuration files.

Time for google! Hmm, this one worked: Mouse wheel scroll not working in 6.10. It was in an Ubuntu forum and my Linux VM is Ubuntu. I went with the last answer from Mahmoud, who was quoting VMware Tools breaks mouse wheel on Ubuntu Edgy Eft guest.

Anyway, he said:

Change ps/2 to IMPS/2 in /etc/X11/xorg.conf and restart X
This solution worked for me.

Well it worked for both Ubuntu and Solaris!

In ZFS disks, VMWare, and WinXP disk management I talked about how I took my physical drives out of the VMWare Workstation configuration in order to clone a Solaris VM. That was a mistake. I've never got the ZFS pool back online. I get this:

# zpool import
  pool: tank
    id: 5099778507182773508
 state: UNAVAIL
status: One or more devices are missing from the system.
action: The pool cannot be imported. Attach the missing
        devices and try again.
   see: http://www.sun.com/msg/ZFS-8000-6X
config:

        tank        UNAVAIL  missing device
          c2d0      ONLINE

        Additional devices are known to be part of this pool, though their
        exact configuration cannot be determined.

And format is very informative:

# format
Searching for disks...done


AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
       0. c1t0d0 
          /pci@0,0/pci1000,30@10/sd@0,0
       1. c2d0 
          /pci@0,0/pci-ide@7,1/ide@0/cmdk@0,0
       2. c2d1 
          /pci@0,0/pci-ide@7,1/ide@0/cmdk@1,0

c2d1 is not being recognized as a VMware drive. BTW: My backup policy sucks right now. I need to get at that data.

I went into the VM configuration and noticed that Physical drive 1 was 190G. It should be 233G like the other drive. Okay, the only drive I have that small is my WinXP one. Oh crap, is that what killed my root MBR? I'll find out when I reboot. :-> Anyway:

# format
Searching for disks...done


AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
       0. c1t0d0 
          /pci@0,0/pci1000,30@10/sd@0,0
       1. c2d0 
          /pci@0,0/pci-ide@7,1/ide@0/cmdk@0,0
       2. c2d1 
          /pci@0,0/pci-ide@7,1/ide@0/cmdk@1,0
# zpool import
  pool: tank
    id: 5099778507182773508
 state: ONLINE
action: The pool can be imported using its name or numeric identifier.
config:

        tank        ONLINE
          c2d0      ONLINE
          c2d1      ONLINE

And I'm able to import it with '-f' and the band went crazy. Now to back up that data!

Today is not my day - the accident last night, the falling branches (really mini-trees) on the house due to ice, and the roaming brown-outs. I decided to turn off my WinXP desktop. When I turned it back on, it wouldn't load the OS. It would boot off of the DVD drive, but not off of the disk. Well, every tool I used told me that the partition was bad.

Now I'm in a quandary with the machine - I'm ready to go to a Linux distro except for the facts that:

• I just paid for VMWare Workstation for Windows.
• I'm not too sure that I'd like the gaming performance under VMWare Workstation for Linux.

As much as it pains me, I can't have Solaris as the main OS - the system is designed for gaming first and foremost. It is a nice home desktop as well.

The good news is that I was ready for this to happen. I had been toying with getting more memory to push me past 4G and running Vista as the host OS. I just couldn't choke down all of the reviews I've read on Vista. But, I had made backups of everything I cared for - except those two Dan Hart Christmas songs I got two nights ago.

I'm also suspicious about whether or not I had an IM virus on the machine. Every night a IM chat window would pop open with some XML looking code in it. My virus scans and spy ware scans turned up nothing.

So I'm ready to put the full power of virtualization to use to protect my system. I'll run pidgin from inside an Ubuntu VM.

In VMWare and 4 physical hard drives I talked about how I couldn't get VMWare Server to use the 4 physical drives I had my ZFS pool on. I ended up archiving the contents (which was mainly blowing away duplicate copies or previous archives to get to the core of what I needed) and recreating the pool on 2 drives.

I wanted to clone my build 77 Solaris image, but I didn't have enough space. Since I had a couple of extra disks sitting there in my system, I thought I would go ahead and move my virtual machines to all of that free space. And there the problems started.

If we look at the Disk Management snapin under WinXP, we can first see that VMWare must be capping the physical drives at 128G:

Okay, I can live with that for right now, but why can't I right-click on either of the two free drives and do anything? Anything at all!

If you look carefully, you will see that the disks are labeled as 'Healthy (GPT Protective Partition)'. And that is what is keeping me from doing anything with them. Microsoft has this to say about Windows and GPT FAQ. And wiki defines GPT as GUID Partition Table. But I found both of these much later. And I only found this Microsoft TechNet note now: Change a GUID partition table disk into a master boot record disk.

In short, the Disk Management snapin is not going to be able to do anything with these GPT disks.

I tried to use QTParted off of a Knoppix live disk to fix the problem, but Knoppix refused to see the disks. So I booted into a nevada b77 dvd and selected a single user shell. I then used fdisk to blow away the partitions on the two disks. Finally, I rebooted and the Disk Management snapin could manipulate the disks:

I then started off a copy of the VMWare simulators to the new disk area.

For someone who develops cutting edge system software, I'm actually a late adopter of technology. I fought GUI mail clients forever (or perhaps it was just Microsoft Exchange I was fighting) - I stayed with elm and mutt long past their shelf lives. (And I still prefer mail spools which can be grepped.) But now I use Thunderbird on every system I own.

I finally broke down and bought VMWare Server. And it was a snap to configure and install Ubuntu (I need a Linux NFSv4 test machine) and Solaris Nevada 77. With the first one, I installed Ubuntu off of a DVD. With the Solaris install, I did it off of an ISO.

And I got to thinking, why do I need to dual boot at all? I've got WinXP and Nevada 77 dual booting, and why waste that additional space for Solaris. And, I already love how ZFS lets me preserve my data across Solaris re-installations. My plan is to nuke the raw Nevada partition and run my home directories straight off of the ZFS pools I have created.

The four disks are totally committed to ZFS. And I'm able to add them one at a time to the VMWare Workstation virtual machine. Until I get to the last one that is!

I just checked, it doesn't seem to be something specific with the 4th drive. I added the 4th drive okay as the 3rd drive in the system, but when I tried to add the 3rd drive as the 4th one in the system, I got the very mysterious "Fatal Application Error: reason unknown (type unknown)".

A quick search on google.com didn't reveal the issue. Perhaps I'll have to rephrase my query. Anyway, more to come as it develops.