Installing and Running Minix in Virtual Machines

Minix Installation Choices

Working with Minix in a virtual machine is more convenient if networking can be setup in the virtual machine.

Then you can use an ssh client such as Putty on windows or ssh on a Mac or Linux to have a large terminal window for which you can set the size, font, background and foreground colors, etc.

Some versions of Minix cause problems with getting networking to function depending on which virtual machine software is used and/or whic host operating system.

Virtual Machines

VMWare Player is free for Windows.

Sun's VirtualBox is free for a variety of platforms including Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Minix Versions

The Minix3 web site, http://www.minix3.org lists several recent versions available for download and suggests that version 3.1.3a is the current stable version.

However, this and earlier versions have problems with networking. Various instructions for "fixing" the network problem work for some virtual machines and host operating systems and not for others.

Version 3.1.4, however, seems to have corrected the problem.

For this reason it is probably better for our purposes to use 3.1.4.

Download Minix 3.1.4

Download Minix 3.1.4 from the Minix site

http://www.minix3.org/download/minix3_1_4_ide_r4817.iso

This file is a disk image and can be used directly by VMWare (and also by VirtualBox). It isn't compressed and doesn't need to be burned to a disc when used with VMWare or VirtualBox.

Minix 3.1.4 on VMWare

VMWare Player is free and runs on Windows.

  1. Download and install VMWare Player.

    VMWare Player can run a virtual machine (with virtual network card, virtual hard disk, etc.) But it doesn't allow you to create the virtual machine.

  2. Create a virtual machine for use with VMWare at

    EasyVMX (Select the Super Simple Virtual Machine choice)

    A zip file containing the files needed by VMWare Player will be created by EasyVMX. Download and unzip this file in some directory.

  3. Start VMWare Player and open the .vmx file in the directory where you unzipped the virtual machine from EasyVMX.

  4. Under the Devices tab click on the CD/DVD to uncheck it. Then click on it again to get a submenu to connect the virtual CD/DVD to the minix .iso file you downloaded. If the virtual machine has halted before you are able to do this, just find Troubleshooting under the VMWare Player menu and select Reset. The machine will now boot from the .iso image in the virtual CD/DVD.

  5. Follow setup instructions to install Minix files from the .iso disk image to the virtual hard disk of the virtual machine.

  6. Shutdown. Change the device boot order so that from then on, the virtual machine will boot from the virtual hard disk.

  7. Create password for root; create a user account for yourself.

Minix Version 3.1.4 on VirtualBox

Link to the detail steps of Installing and Running Minix on VirtualBox are below. Here is a summary of the steps.

  1. Download and install VirtualBox

  2. VirtualBox lets you create a virtual machine.

  3. Connect the virtual CD/DVD to the Minix .iso file.

  4. Start the virtual machine. It boots from the .iso file.

  5. Follow setup instructions to install Minix files from the .iso disk image to the virtual hard disk of the virtual machine.

  6. Shutdown. Change the device boot order so that from then on, the virtual machine will boot from the virtual hard disk.

  7. Create password for root; create a user account for yourself.

Minix Installation Details on VMWare or VirtualBox

The Minix UsersGuide has installation and setup instructions for Minix, including specifics about installing and running Minix on VMWare and on VirtualBox.

  1. Minix UsersGuide
  2. Setting UP and Running Minix under VMWare
    1. Skip step 2.2 (for VMWare Workstation)
    2. Skip step 3. After running setup and shutting down, VMWare will boot from the virtual hard disk
    3. Skip step 5. Minix version 3.1.4 should have the networking fix for the lance network driver and so step 5 should not be necessary.
  3. Setting UP and Running Minix under VirtualBox
    1. Instead of step 3, with the machine shut down, click on settings and change the boot order so that the hard disk comes before the CD/DVD.
    2. Skip step 6. Minix version 3.1.4 should have the networking fix for the network driver and so step 6 should not be necessary.

The setup procedure copies files from the .iso file to the virtual hard disk in your virtual machine and after that you will boot from the virtual hard disk. However, keeping the CD/DVD "loaded" with the .iso file enables additional packages to be installed later without having to download those packages from the internet.

Earlier Version 3.1.2a

The class web site also has a prebuilt Minix version 3.1.2a (e.g. already installed on a virtual hard disc rather than an .iso file).

  1. Only works on VMWare Player (on Windows)
  2. Minix is pre-installed on a virtual hard disk, no setup.
  3. Networking may or may not work
  4. Has a vmw command installed that allows copy/paste to/from the host machine's clipboard.