Create a 10 GB ZVOL for storage:
pfexec zfs create -V 10g rpool/f12d0
Install Fedora 12 domU:
pfexec virt-install -n f12 -r 512 --vcpus=4 -f /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/f12d0 -b e1000g0 --os-type=linux -p --nographics --os-variant=fedora11 -l http://fedora-12-mirror/fedora/linux/releases/12/Fedora/i386/os/
-n f12 – domU’s name
-r 512 – allocate 512 MB memory
–vcpus=4 – number of virtual CPUs allocated (make sure this number is lower or equal to the number of CPUs available)
-f /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/f12d0 – ZVOL block device
-b e1000g0 – bridged networking to e1000g0 interface
-p – paravirtualized guest
–os-variant=fedora11 – “hack” until fedora12 OS-Variant will be integrated into xVM
-l http://fedora-12-mirror/fedora/linux/releases/12/Fedora/i386/os/ – replace fedora-12-mirror with a near Fedora 12 mirror, replace i386 with x86_64 for 64-bit domU
After you bring up the network, do a VNC installation.
Until xVM supports ext4 boot, make sure to create an ext3 /boot partition (or just a big ext3 / filesystem)
After installation, start the domU:
pfexec xm start -c f12
You will be presented the pygrub menu, just press Enter to boot.
Log into the domU and change the default timeout=0 to a different value (e.g. 5 seconds) in /boot/grub/grub.conf. Now you can use virsh start / shutdown commands.
To auto-start the guest on host boot:
virsh autostart f12
Tested on OpenSolaris 2010.02 preview snv_127.