Tell me more ×
Unix & Linux Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for users of Linux, FreeBSD and other Un*x-like operating systems.. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

I have installed OpenSolaris.2009.06 on a server a few month ago, and have been working with it. Now I wanted to install Ubuntu 11.04. I have a large amount of sensitive data on OpenSolaris. Is there anyway to install Ubuntu 11.04 without causing any problems to the existing data on the OpenSolaris. Like creating another partition etc. I have also tried googling, but almost all the sources are showing how to dual boot Opensolaris and Ubuntu from the scratch. Could someone help me in this, please?

share|improve this question

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote accepted

I think the easiest path would be to simply install a second hard drive in the computer, for exclusive use by Ubuntu.

The problem is that OpenSolaris uses the ZFS filesystem by default, and as far as I know, there are no partition editing tools that know how to resize a ZFS partition on the fly. ZFS itself is a very dynamic filesystem, but it's geared more for splitting existing ZFS pools into multiple mount points, or taking over whole new disks/volumes by adding them to the pool. I don't believe ZFS knows how to give up part of a disk it is on.

If installing a second drive for Ubuntu is out of the question, your second best option is probably to back up your OpenSolaris installation and rebuild everything. You could look at it as an opportunity to try OpenIndiana or another of the post-OpenSolaris forks.

share|improve this answer
Thank you. I have developed some tools based on the libcpc and libpctx libraries of OpenSolaris.2009.06. Are there any major changes of these libraries in OpenIndiana? Please let me know. – samarasa Oct 5 '11 at 8:48
1  
I woudln't know. I can say that in my OI 148 installation, they both have .so.1 endings to their file names. If yours are also .1 versions, they should be completely compatible, even without relinking. – Warren Young Oct 5 '11 at 9:05
Thank you so much. – samarasa Oct 5 '11 at 15:46
1  
I just upgraded my OI VM to 151, and these libraries are still versioned .1. – Warren Young Oct 6 '11 at 5:13

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.