Notes on Solaris 2.6 Based Disk Images
# HELLO!
This README covers the Solaris 2.6 images I host on my site https://oldsilicon.com. This text also appears in the README file in the root directory of the image.
I make these images available to help classic workstation enthusiasts get old hardware running more easily. Installing older OS versions can be time-consuming, so the goal of these prototype images is to simplify the process, allowing you to get started quickly and then customize as needed.
Below, you'll find a checklist of tasks to get your machine up and running on your network.
If you end up compiling useful tools and utilities not included in these images, please consider contributing them back to my project for inclusion in future versions.
## SECURITY NOTES
These are very old operating systems. An installation of any of them wouldn't last a minute on the Internet without being hacked, so they should only be used behind a NAT cable modem, firewall or similar device. Most of these images don't use passwords by default, so be cautious and add a password after getting the system running for basic security.
I host a SHA1 hash on my site to verify the image you downloaded before booting it.
Since the SHA1 will become invalid once you boot the image, it's a good idea to verify it right after downloading. If you got this image from another website, I would caution you that one of these images could easily host some code that could infiltrate your home network. Be safe and download a new copy from https://oldsilicon.com
## HOW TO USE THIS IMAGE
This image was taken from my ZuluSCSI SD-CARD. The OS installation was from a CD-ROM image, and modified as described below. I use Zulu RP2040s because they are a bit faster, but I'm sure other devices will work fine as well. Format the SD card to ExFAT and place the image on the card. None of the images require a special Zulu.ini file but I encourage you to leave the final part of the name of the image “_512.img” as tells the Zulu to use 512 by blocks.
This image should also work on a SCSI2SD if you bit copy it and configure the card ahead of time. It should work on an actual hard disk, though I haven't tested this.
## ROOT
There are two accounts on the image: root and user. The root account has no password.
Solaris 2.6 won't let you telnet into the root account, so if you are telnetting in, telnet into the user account, then su to root.
The user account is a prototype that you can rename and use as needed. The user account by default has a password of user
## ROOT SHELL
I've compiled "tcsh" from source, and it’s located i /usr/local/bin. The root account uses this as its default shell. If you want to change the root shell, use the usermod commands to change the shell.
## TELNET
You can telnet into the system using the user account after changing the IP address.
Many modern machines present themselves as xterm-256color. You can add a definition to termcap
if you like. The .cshrc file in both accounts remaps the terminal to xterm for common terminals I log in from, but you can adjust this as needed.
## NETWORKING SETUP
This image is set up for my home network, so you'll need to make some changes for it to work on yours. It's currently set to "192.168.7.x" on the "192.168.7.x" network, with my DNS server at "192.168.7.90".
To adapt this image to your environment, you will need to change the following files:
- /etc/hostname.XX: Replace with the hostname you are giving the machine
- /etc/defaultrouter: Replace "192.168.7.1" with your gateway router.
- /etc/hosts: Update with your desired workstation IP, name, etc
- /etc/netmasks: Replace my network with yours.
- /etc/resolv.conf: Update with your nameserver IP and optionally your search domain
## CDE Environment
Solaris 2.2 uses the CDE xdm login mechanism. Both accounts were setup to use CDE rather than Openwindows. Im sure its easy to change them to OpenWindows but you'll have to google that.
## XSERVER CONFIG
Both accounts have a custom CDE menus script in ~/.dt/dtwmrc. In addition a custom script to start the Xserver is located in /etc/dt/config/Xservers. The last line has been modified to increate increase the keyboard repeat rate and repeat onset. To adjust edit the ar1 and ar2 value in the last line of the script or removed the two values for the default slow response.
## GNU UTILITIES, COMPILERS, AND USEFUL APPS
I'm functional at "vi" but its never been my favorite. I've installed my old standby uemacs (microemacs) in /usr/local/bin. If its good enough for linus torvalds its good enough for me. (https://github.com/torvalds/uemacs)
I built and compiled many common GNU utilities, as well as gcc and g++ up to version 2.95. These are 1990s-era compilers but work great. It was a multi-day effort to get this compiler suite working.
>ls /usr/local/bin id. rvim
autopoint idn screen
base64 infocmp screen-4.0.3
basename infotocap sed
bash install seq
bashbug irc sha1sum
bunzip2 irc-20060725 sha224sum
bzcat ircbug sha256sum
bzcmp ircflush sha384sum
bzdiff ircio sha512sum
bzegrep jcf-dump shred
bzfgrep join shuf
bzgrep jpegtran sleep
bzip2 jv-scan sort
bzip2recover kill sparc-sun-solaris2.6-gcc
bzless less split
bzmore lessecho stat
c++ lesskey stty
c++filt libpng-config sudo
captoinfo libpng12-config sudoedit
cat link sudoreplay
chcon links sum
chgrp ln sync
chill logname tac
chmod ls tack
chown lsof tail
chroot lynx tcsh
cjpeg make tee
cksum md5sum test
clear minigzip tic
comm minigzip64 timeout
cp mkdir toe
cpp mkfifo top
csplit mknod touch
curl mktemp tput
curl-config msgattrib tr
cut msgcat true
date msgcmp truncate
dd msgcomm tset
ddrescue msgconv tsort
df msgen tty
dir msgexec uname
dircolors msgfilter uncompress
dirname msgfmt unexpand
djpeg msggrep uniq
du msginit unlink
echo msgmerge unprotoize
env msgunfmt unzip
envsubst msguniq unzipsfx
eview mv uptime
evim nano users
ex ncurses5-config vdir
expand ngettext view
expr nice vim
factor nl vimdiff
false nohup vimtutor
fmt od vs
fold paste wc
funzip pathchk wget
g++ pinky who
g77 pr whoami
gcc printenv wrjpgcom
gcj printf wserv
gcjh protoize xgettext
gcov ptx xxd
gettext pullconfig yes
gettext.sh pushconfig zcat
gettextize pwd zcmp
groups rdjpgcom zdiff
gunzip readlink zegrep
gview recode-sr-latin zfgrep
gvim reset zforce
gvimdiff rgview zgrep
gvimtutor rgvim zipgrep
gzexe rm zipinfo
gzip rmdir zless
head rnano zmore
hexedit rsync znew
hostid runcon
iconv rview## FINALLY, HELP
Finally, if you find this image helpful and you end up compiling more software using it, please let me know! I would love to keep adding to the image and re-releasing it.
Enjoy!