High-level steps to build a guest domain

1. Define domain

Create the domain entry (name) and assign CPU + memory.

2. Attach storage & network

Provide virtual disks and virtual NICs from the service/I/O domain.

3. Bind & install OS

Bind the domain, power it on, then install Solaris inside like a normal SPARC machine.

Planning tips

Decide CPU and memory sizing based on workload.
Plan ZFS layout for domain disks (root, data, logs, etc.).
Design IP and VLAN for vnets beforehand.

Commands and examples

1. Create a guest domain skeleton

ldm add-domain defines a new domain name.

terminal — guest domain

ldoms-lab

[root@primary ~]# ldm add-domain ldg1
 
[root@primary ~]# ldm list
NAME             STATE      FLAGS   CONS    VCPU  MEMORY   UTIL  UPTIME
primary          active     -n-cv   SP      8     32G      4%    3d
ldg1             inactive   ------  5000    0     0        0%    0s

2. Assign vCPUs and memory

ldm set-vcpu and ldm set-memory assign resources to the guest.

terminal — guest domain

ldoms-lab

[root@primary ~]# ldm set-vcpu 4 ldg1
[root@primary ~]# ldm set-memory 8G ldg1
 
[root@primary ~]# ldm list ldg1
NAME             STATE      FLAGS   CONS    VCPU  MEMORY   UTIL  UPTIME
ldg1             inactive   ------  5000    4     8G       0%    0s

3. Provide a virtual disk (backed by ZFS volume or file)

Export a backend device from service domain and assign it as vdisk.

terminal — guest domain

ldoms-lab

# On service/primary domain:
[root@primary ~]# zfs create -V 50G rpool/ldoms/ldg1-root
 
# Add vdsdev (backend) to virtual disk service primary-vds0
[root@primary ~]# ldm add-vdsdev /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/ldoms/ldg1-root     ldg1-root@primary-vds0
 
# Add vdisk to guest
[root@primary ~]# ldm add-vdisk vdisk0 ldg1-root@primary-vds0 ldg1

4. Provide a virtual network interface

Create vsw on physical NIC, then add vnet to the guest.

terminal — guest domain

ldoms-lab

# Create virtual switch on net0 (one-time)
[root@primary ~]# ldm add-vsw net-dev=net0 primary-vsw0 primary
 
# Add vnet to guest
[root@primary ~]# ldm add-vnet vnet0 primary-vsw0 ldg1

5. Bind and start install (from ISO or network)

Bind finalizes the configuration; then start install (e.g. from virtual DVD).

terminal — guest domain

ldoms-lab

# Bind the domain
[root@primary ~]# ldm bind ldg1
 
# Start domain (for OS install)
[root@primary ~]# ldm start ldg1
 
# Connect to console
[root@primary ~]# telnet localhost 5000
# or using 'ldm console ldg1' on some versions
 
# Inside OBP, boot from network or virtual DVD to install Solaris.