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Learn how to install Oracle Solaris 11.4 on Intel and AMD x86-64 hardware with this step-by-step guide covering ZFS, installation options, and post-install best practices.
Oracle Solaris 11.4 is a modern UNIX operating system designed for enterprise-grade reliability, security, and performance. Built for mission-critical workloads, Solaris offers advanced features such as ZFS, DTrace, Zones, Predictive Self-Healing, and a fully integrated lifecycle management system. While often associated with SPARC systems, Solaris 11.4 runs exceptionally well on Intel and AMD x86-64 hardware, making it a powerful option for labs, servers, and virtualization hosts.
This guide walks through a complete, practical installation of Oracle Solaris 11.4 on x86-64 hardware, structured to be clear, search-friendly, and suitable for both first-time and returning Solaris users.
Before installing, it helps to understand what makes Solaris unique on Intel/AMD systems:
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Solaris 11.4 is especially attractive for administrators who value robustness, compliance, and observability over rapid-release Linux distributions.
📋 Minimum Hardware Requirements |
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Architecture | 64-bit Intel or AMD (x86-64) |
| CPU | 2 cores recommended |
| RAM | 4 GB minimum (8 GB+ recommended) |
| Disk | 20 GB minimum (ZFS benefits from more) |
| Firmware | BIOS or UEFI |
| Network | Ethernet or supported NIC |
For demonstration purposes, we’ve configured our Solaris server as follows:
| Hostname | RAM | Cores | Storage / Operating System (OS) |
| solaris.dev.naijalabs.net | 8 | 4 | 150 GB / Oracle Solaris 11.4 X86 |
🔹Supported Platforms |
Solaris 11.4 supports a wide range of commodity servers and virtual machines, including:
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Oracle Solaris installation media is available from Oracle’s official website. Download the text installer ISO image for x86_64 systems.
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📝 Note: You must have an Oracle account and accept the Oracle License Agreement to access and download the Oracle Solaris 11.4 ISO. |
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sudo dd if=sol-11_4-text-x86.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync
Replace /dev/sdX with your USB device. Or, you can burn a DVD or use virtualization (e.g., virt-manager, VirtualBox) and mount the ISO directly.
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You will be presented with the Oracle Solaris Welcome screen and prompted with the following options:
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🔹Disk and ZFS Configuration |
Solaris uses ZFS as the root filesystem, which is one of its strongest advantages.
🔹ZFS Pool Layout Options |
| Layout | Description |
|---|---|
| Single Disk | Simple and fast (labs, VMs) |
| Mirror | Redundancy (recommended for servers) |
| RAID-Z | Data protection with capacity efficiency |
Example pool layout preview:
rpool
├─ rpool/ROOT/solaris
├─ rpool/VAR
└─ rpool/export
📝 Note: Solaris automatically creates Boot Environments, allowing safe upgrades and rollbacks. |
🔹System Configuration |
You will be prompted to enter a computer name (hostname). If applicable, provide a fully qualified domain name (FQDN):
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🔹Network Configuration |
Next, select your wired network connection and press the F2 key to continue.
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Decide whether to use DHCP to automatically configure the network interface or to configure it manually. If you choose manual configuration, you must provide a unique IPv4 address that is not already in use on your network.
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🔹DNS and Name Service Configuration |
Next, choose whether to configure DNS. If you enable DNS, you will need to provide the appropriate nameserver IP address and search domain.
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The same applies when selecting a name service (such as LDAP or NIS). The chosen name service can be used in conjunction with your DNS configuration.
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🔹Configure Timezones, Regions and Layouts |
The next sections cover time zone, region, and locale settings. These options are largely self-explanatory and should be selected based on your environment.
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It also includes confirming the date and time (UTC by default) and selecting your keyboard layout and language:
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🔹System and User Account Settings |
Finally, define a root password for the system and create a primary user account for yourself. You may also provide an email address to receive security updates from My Oracle Support, or press F2 to continue with the default settings.
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📝 Note: Solaris encourages non-root administration using |
Review the installation summary before proceeding. Press F3 to go back and make changes, or press F2 to start the installation.
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The installation process typically takes 15–40 minutes, depending on the hardware.
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Once completed, the system will prompt you to reboot—press F8 to restart into your new Oracle Solaris installation.
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Congratulations! Your Oracle Solaris 11.4 installation is complete. You can now log in using your administrative credentials and begin the post-installation tasks outlined in the next section.
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Log in as your user or root.
🟢 Verify Solaris Version |
uname -a
SunOS solaris.dev.naijalabs.net 5.11 11.4.0.15.0 i86pc i386 i86pc
cat /etc/release
Oracle Solaris 11.4 X86
Copyright (c) 1983, 2018, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Assembled 16 August 2018
🟢 Check ZFS Pool Status |
zpool status
pool: rpool
state: ONLINE
scan: none requested
config:
NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
rpool ONLINE 0 0 0
c1d0 ONLINE 0 0 0
errors: No known data errors
🟢 List Boot Environments |
beadm list
BE Name Flags Mountpoint Space Policy Created
------- ----- ---------- ----- ------ ----------------
solaris NR / 3.02G static 2026-01-03 18:30
🟢 Update the System |
Solaris uses the Image Packaging System (IPS):
pfexec pkg update
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This safely creates a new boot environment before applying updates.
🟢 Install Common Utilities |
pfexec pkg install vim wget sudo
🟢 Enable Network Services |
Solaris uses Service Management Facility (SMF). If it’s not already enabled, run the following commands:
svcs -a
STATE STIME FMRI
legacy_run 19:57:52 lrc:/etc/rc2_d/S89PRESERVE
disabled 19:57:30 svc:/system/device/mpxio-upgrade:default
disabled 19:57:30 svc:/system/labeld:default
disabled 19:57:31 svc:/network/firewall:default
disabled 19:57:31 svc:/network/ipsec/ike:default
disabled 19:57:31 svc:/network/ipsec/ike:ikev2
disabled 19:57:31 svc:/network/ipsec/manual-key:default
disabled 19:57:31 svc:/network/ldap/client:default
disabled 19:57:31 svc:/network/nis/client:default
disabled 19:57:31 svc:/network/nis/domain:default
disabled 19:57:31 svc:/system/name-service-cache:default
...omitted for brevity...
svcadm enable ssh
Check service status:
svcs ssh
STATE STIME FMRI
online 19:57:44 svc:/network/ssh:default
🟢 Privilege Management |
Instead of using sudo everywhere, Solaris uses RBAC:
pfexec zfs list
NAME USED AVAIL REFER MOUNTPOINT
rpool 9.31G 137G 4.32M /rpool
rpool/ROOT 3.27G 137G 31K none
rpool/ROOT/solaris 3.27G 137G 2.65G /
rpool/ROOT/solaris/var 571M 137G 429M /var
rpool/VARSHARE 34.5M 137G 2.77M /var/share
rpool/VARSHARE/kvol 27.7M 137G 31K /var/share/kvol
rpool/VARSHARE/kvol/dump_summary 1.22M 137G 1.02M -
rpool/VARSHARE/kvol/ereports 10.2M 137G 10.0M -
rpool/VARSHARE/kvol/kernel_log 16.2M 137G 16.0M -
rpool/VARSHARE/pkg 63K 137G 32K /var/share/pkg
rpool/VARSHARE/pkg/repositories 31K 137G 31K /var/share/pkg/repositories
rpool/VARSHARE/sstore 3.86M 137G 3.86M /var/share/sstore/repo
rpool/VARSHARE/tmp 31K 137G 31K /var/tmp
rpool/VARSHARE/zones 31K 137G 31K /system/zones
rpool/dump 4.00G 137G 4.00G -
rpool/export 98K 137G 32K /export
rpool/export/home 66K 137G 32K /export/home
rpool/export/home/Admin 34K 137G 34K /export/home/Admin
rpool/swap 2.00G 137G 2.00G -
To assign roles:
roleadd sysadmin
usermod -R sysadmin username
🟢 ZFS Snapshots |
zfs snapshot rpool/ROOT/solaris@baseline
Rollback if needed:
beadm activate solaris-1
reboot
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| No disks detected | Check SATA/AHCI mode in BIOS |
| Installer freezes | Disable unsupported graphics, use text installer |
| No network | Manually configure NIC during install |
| Boot failure | Verify UEFI/Legacy boot consistency |
💡Note: Solaris is conservative with drivers, so newer consumer hardware may require virtualization. |
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👉 When to Use Solaris on x86-64 |
| Use Case | Why Solaris is Ideal | Notes / Considerations |
|---|---|---|
| Mission-critical workloads | Strong filesystem guarantees, predictable patching, and long-term stability | Best for servers or enterprise environments |
| Learning UNIX internals | Advanced observability with DTrace and RBAC | Excellent for labs or education |
| Enterprise security | Built-in RBAC, immutable system components, and robust user management | Security-focused deployments benefit the most |
| Virtualization with Zones | Lightweight OS-level virtualization with low overhead | Can reduce need for full VMs |
| Long-term system stability | Reliable updates, ZFS boot environments, and Predictive Self-Healing | Ideal for production or archival systems |
| Not ideal | Gaming, cutting-edge consumer hardware, cloud-native container focus | Solaris may lack drivers or support for very new hardware |
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