IntroductionThis document describes the process of creating and installing a Solaris 10 image build from physical system and migrate it into a virtualized operating system environment using the Oracle Solaris 10 Zones Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) capability.Using an example and various scenarios, this paper describes how to take advantage of theOracle Solaris 10 Zones Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) capability with other Oracle Solaris features to optimize performance using the Solaris 10 resource management advanced storage management using Solaris ZFS plus improving operating system visibility with Solaris DTrace. The most common use for this tool is when performing consolidation of existing systems onto virtualization enabled platforms, in addition to that we can use the Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) capability  for other tasks for example backup your physical system and move them into virtualized operating system environment hosted on the Disaster Recovery (DR) site another option can be building an Oracle Solaris 10 image repository with various configuration and a different software packages in order to reduce provisioning time.Oracle Solaris ZonesOracle Solaris Zones is a virtualization and partitioning technology supported on Oracle Sun servers powered by SPARC and Intel processors.This technology provides an isolated and secure environment for running applications. A zone is a virtualized operating system environment created within a single instance of the Solaris 10 Operating System.Each virtual system is called a zone and runs a unique and distinct copy of the Solaris 10 operating system.Oracle Solaris Zones Physical-to-Virtual (P2V)A new feature for Solaris 10 9/10.This feature provides the ability to build a Solaris 10 images from physical system and migrate it into a virtualized operating system environmentThere are three main steps using this tool1. Image creation on the source system, this image includes the operating system and optionally the software in which we want to include within the image. 2. Preparing the target system by configuring a new zone that will host the new image.3. Image installation on the target system using the image we created on step 1. The host, where the image is built, is referred to as the source system and the host, where theimage is installed, is referred to as the target system. Benefits of Oracle Solaris Zones Physical-to-Virtual (P2V)Here are some benefits of this new feature:  Simple- easy build process using Oracle Solaris 10 built-in commands.  Robust- based on Oracle Solaris Zones a robust and well known virtualization technology.  Flexible- support migration between V series servers into T or -M-series systems.For the latest server information, refer to the Sun Servers web page. PrerequisitesThe target Oracle Solaris system should be running the latest version of the patching patch cluster. and the minimum Solaris version on the target system should be Solaris 10 9/10.Refer to the latest Administration Guide for Oracle Solaris for a complete procedure on how todownload and install Oracle Solaris. NOTE: If the source system that used to build the image is an older version then the targetsystem, then during the process, the operating system will be upgraded to Solaris 10 9/10(update on attach).Creating the Image Used to distribute the software.We will create an image on the source machine. We can create the image on the local file system and then transfer it to the target machine, or build it into a NFS shared storage andmount the NFS file system from the target machine.Optional  before creating the image we need to complete the software installation that we want to include with the Solaris 10 image.An image is created by using the flarcreate command:Source # flarcreate -S -n s10-system -L cpio /var/tmp/solaris_10_up9.flarThe command does the following:  -S specifies that we skip the disk space check and do not write archive size data to the archive (faster).  -n specifies the image name.  -L specifies the archive format (i.e cpio). Optionally, we can add descriptions to the archive identification section, which can help to identify the archive later.Source # flarcreate -S -n s10-system -e "Oracle Solaris with Oracle DB10.2.0.4" -a "oracle" -L cpio /var/tmp/solaris_10_up9.flarYou can see example of the archive identification section in Appendix A: archive identification section.We can compress the flar image using the gzip command or adding the -c option to the flarcreate commandSource # gzip /var/tmp/solaris_10_up9.flarAn md5 checksum can be created for the image in order to ensure no data tamperingSource # digest -v -a md5 /var/tmp/solaris_10_up9.flar Moving the image into the target system.If we created the image on the local file system, we need to transfer the flar archive from the source machine to the target machine.Source # scp /var/tmp/solaris_10_up9.flar target:/var/tmpConfiguring the Zone on the target systemAfter copying the software to the target machine, we need to configure a new zone in order to host the new image on that zone.To install the new zone on the target machine, first we need to configure the zone (for the full zone creation options see the following link: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E18752_01/html/817-1592/index.html  )ZFS integrationA flash archive can be created on a system that is running a UFS or a ZFS root file system.NOTE: If you create a Solaris Flash archive of a Solaris 10 system that has a ZFS root, then bydefault, the flar will actually be a ZFS send stream, which can be used to recreate the root pool.This image cannot be used to install a zone. You must create the flar with an explicit cpio or paxarchive when the system has a ZFS root.Use the flarcreate command with the -L archiver option, specifying cpio or pax as themethod to archive the files. (For example, see Step 1 in the previous section).Optionally, on the target system you can create the zone root folder on a ZFS file system inorder to benefit from the ZFS features (clones, snapshots, etc...).Target # zpool create zones c2t2d0 Create the zone root folder:Target # chmod 700 /zones Target # zonecfg -z solaris10-up9-zonesolaris10-up9-zone: No such zone configuredUse 'create' to begin configuring a new zone.zonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone> createzonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone> set zonepath=/zoneszonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone> set autoboot=truezonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone> add netzonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone:net> set address=192.168.0.1zonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone:net> set physical=nxge0zonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone:net> endzonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone> verifyzonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone> commitzonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone> exit Installing the Zone on the target system using the imageInstall the configured zone solaris10-up9-zone by using the zoneadm command with the install -a option and the path to the archive.The following example shows how to create an Image and sys-unconfig the zone.Target # zoneadm -z solaris10-up9-zone install -u -a/var/tmp/solaris_10_up9.flarLog File: /var/tmp/solaris10-up9-zone.install_log.AJaGveInstalling: This may take several minutes...The following example shows how we can preserve system identity.Target # zoneadm -z solaris10-up9-zone install -p -a /var/tmp/solaris_10_up9.flar Resource management Some applications are sensitive to the number of CPUs on the target Zone. You need tomatch the number of CPUs on the Zone using the zonecfg command:zonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone>add dedicated-cpuzonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone> set ncpus=16DTrace integrationSome applications might need to be analyzing using DTrace on the target zone, you canadd DTrace support on the zone using the zonecfg command:zonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone>setlimitpriv="default,dtrace_proc,dtrace_user" Exclusive IP stack An Oracle Solaris Container running in Oracle Solaris 10 can have a shared IP stack with the global zone, or it can have an exclusive IP stack (which was released in Oracle Solaris 10 8/07). An exclusive IP stack provides a complete, tunable, manageable and independent networking stack to each zone. A zone with an exclusive IP stack can configure Scalable TCP (STCP), IP routing, IP multipathing, or IPsec. For an example of how to configure an Oracle Solaris zone with an exclusive IP stack, see the following example zonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone set ip-type=exclusivezonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone> add netzonecfg:solaris10-up9-zone> set physical=nxge0 When the installation completes, use the zoneadm list -i -v options to list the installedzones and verify the status.Target # zoneadm list -i -vSee that the new Zone status is installedID NAME STATUS PATH BRAND IP0 global running / native shared- solaris10-up9-zone installed /zones native sharedNow boot the ZoneTarget # zoneadm -z solaris10-up9-zone bootWe need to login into the Zone order to complete the zone set up or insert a sysidcfg file beforebooting the zone for the first time see example for sysidcfg file in Appendix B: sysidcfg filesectionTarget # zlogin -C solaris10-up9-zoneTroubleshootingIf an installation fails, review the log file. On success, the log file is in /var/log inside the zone. Onfailure, the log file is in /var/tmp in the global zone.If a zone installation is interrupted or fails, the zone is left in the incomplete state. Use uninstall -F to reset the zone to the configured state.Target # zoneadm -z solaris10-up9-zone uninstall -FTarget # zonecfg -z solaris10-up9-zone delete -FConclusionOracle Solaris Zones P2V tool provides the flexibility to build pre-configuredimages with different software configuration for faster deployment and server consolidation.In this document, I demonstrated how to build and install images and to integrate the images with other Oracle Solaris features like ZFS and DTrace.Appendix A: archive identification sectionWe can use the head -n 20 /var/tmp/solaris_10_up9.flar command in order to access theidentification section that contains the detailed description.Target # head -n 20 /var/tmp/solaris_10_up9.flarFlAsH-aRcHiVe-2.0section_begin=identificationarchive_id=e4469ee97c3f30699d608b20a36011befiles_archived_method=cpiocreation_date=20100901160827creation_master=mdet5140-1content_name=s10-systemcreation_node=mdet5140-1creation_hardware_class=sun4vcreation_platform=SUNW,T5140creation_processor=sparccreation_release=5.10creation_os_name=SunOScreation_os_version=Generic_142909-16files_compressed_method=nonecontent_architectures=sun4vtype=FULLsection_end=identificationsection_begin=predeploymentbegin 755 predeployment.cpio.ZAppendix B: sysidcfg file sectionTarget # cat sysidcfgsystem_locale=Ctimezone=US/Pacificterminal=xtermssecurity_policy=NONEroot_password=HsABA7Dt/0sXXtimeserver=localhostname_service=NONEnetwork_interface=primary {hostname= solaris10-up9-zonenetmask=255.255.255.0protocol_ipv6=nodefault_route=192.168.0.1}name_service=NONEnfs4_domain=dynamicWe need to copy this file before booting the zoneTarget # cp sysidcfg /zones/solaris10-up9-zone/root/etc/