Plan9 on Qemu on Windows

-as of Sat Apr 25 16:18:58 EDT 2009-

Quick and dirty guide for running plan 9 under qemu Virtual Machine in windows xp (and possibly 2000+):

Required Skill: Advanced: Networking experience is mandatory

01. Download "qemu-0.9.0-windows.zip", "openvpn-2.0.9-install.exe" and "plan9.iso.bz2".

02. Extract "plan9.iso" and "qemu-0.9.0-windows" to the same directory.

03. Install "openvpn-2.0.9-install.exe".

04. Rename the new network connection (found in Network Connections) to "TAP_OpenVPN".

05. Bridge "TAP_OpenVPN" and your WAN/LAN Connection (usually "Local Area Connection", should be enabled and has packet changes when downloading) - This is done by choosing both connections and then in the properties menu choosing "Bridge".

06. Notice your configurations now reside in the new "bridge connection" instead of "Local Area Connection".

07. Use: "qemu.exe -L -m 128 -cdrom ..\plan9.iso -boot d -net nic,model=rtl8139 -net tap,ifname=TAP_OpenVPN -soundhw sb16 -localtime" to start plan9, this command can be inserted into a batch file.

08. In the VM (referred to as "guest machine") : In the boot options choose to boot from the CD or See installing plan 9 on qemu.

09. Guest: You can press "return/enter" for the rest of the questions presented by in the boot sequence - default will suffice.

10. Done. Please read through the notes...

#**** plan9.ini content starts here ******

partition=new

mouseport=ps2

vgasize=800x600x8

monitor=xga

distname=plan9

ether0=rtl8139

audio0=sb16 port=0x220 irq=7 dma=5

bootargs=local!#S/sdD0/data

bootfile=sdD0!cdboot!9pccd.gz

adisk=/dev/sdD0/cdboot

cdboot=yes

#**** plan9.ini content ends here *****

this will reduce the questions to one "press return", the cmd line will be: "qemu.exe -L -m 128 -fda plan9.flp -cdrom ..\plan9.iso -boot d -net nic,model=rtl8139 -net tap,ifname=TAP_OpenVPN -soundhw sb16 -localtime"

This strategy is unnecessary in hd boot.

ToDo:

1. Sound.

2. Boot with no q&a: When not installing but rather using the live boot, you are presented whenever you start the machine with a series of questions (monitor, res, mouse), I managed to set plan9.ini in the floppy image so that only one question will be presented, but that is still one question too much.

3. spellcheck, factcheck, sanitycheck, check to self ;-)

Ram Kromberg

ramkromberg@mail.com