HPUX Boot Process
The boot process on a HP server is reduce to three steps
| PDC | HPUX system come with firmware installed called Processor Dependent Code (PDC) The PDC run self-test operations and initialises the processor. The interface to the PDC commands is called the Boot Console Handler (BCH) |
| ISL | The Initial System Loader is run after the PDC, there are a number of commands that can be run from the ISL |
| hpux | utility that manages loading the HP-UX kernel and gives control to the kernel. Commands can be gven to the kernel. Sometimes this is called the Secondary System Loader (SSL) |
PDC
The PDC can be used to obtain hardware information regarding the server i.e firmware, etc. using the BCH interface a number of commands can be used:
| all | Display the collection of all information provided by other display commands typically resident in information menu |
| auto | used to display or set status autoboot, autosearch or autostart flags |
| boot | initiate boot sequence |
| bootid | display of modify boot id for the present processors |
| bootinfo | display the PDC-level info about configured parameters used for system boot |
| boottimer | sets a delay value in the system to wait for external mass storage device to come online |
| cache | display the information about the acahe memory portion of all installed processors |
| chassiscodes | display a queue of the most recent chassis codes |
| chiprevisions | used to display the revisions of major very large scale integration (VLSI) in the system |
| clearpim | used to clear (zero) the contents of the processor internal memory (PIM) |
| configuration | used to enter the configuration submenu |
| coprocessor | display information about all coprocessors |
| cpuconfig | all the user to configure or deconfigure processors in the system |
| default | et the system to pre-defined settings |
| fan | display or set the speed of the fan |
| fastboot | display or set the fastboot flag |
| fwrversion | displat the revision of the currently installed firmware |
| help | returns help info for the command given |
| information | used to access the information menu |
| io | display I/O interface on all I/O modules in the system |
| lanaddress | allows the user to display the station address |
| lanconfig | configure the lan card |
| main | user interface for PDC |
| memory | display memory info for total amount of physical memory as well as configured memory in system |
| memread | used to read memory locations |
| monitor | allows the user to view and change the monitor type for graphics card |
| path | used to set/display the system paths from stable storage |
| pdt | display/clear the page deallocation table (PDT) |
| pim | displays processor internal memory (PIM) info |
| processor | displays info about the processor in the system |
| reset | resets the machibe state |
| search | search for boot devices in the system |
| secure | display/set the secure node flag |
| service | allows the user to go to the service menu |
| time | read/set the real time clock in GMT |
| warnings | display any warning messages that may have resulted from the previous PDC self test execution |
ISL
There are a number of commands that you can use with the ISL:
| help | help facility |
| ls | list ISL utilites |
| autoboot | set/clear autoboot flag in stable storage |
| autosearch | set/clear autosearch flag in stable storage |
| primpath | modify primary boot path |
| altpath | modify alternate boot path |
| conspath | modify system console path |
| display | display boot and console paths |
| lsautofl | list contents of autoboot file |
| fastsize | set/display fastsize |
| 800support | boots the s800 support kernel from the boot device |
| 700support | boots the s700 support kernel from the boot device |
| readnvm | display contents of one word of nvm |
| readss | display contents of one word of stable storage |
| lsbatch | list contents of batch file |
| batch | execute commands in batch file |
| lsest | list contents of extended self test (EST) file |
| est | execute commands extended self test (EST) file |
Secondary System Loader (hpux)
hpux can have a number of arguements:
| automatic boot | No interaction - autoboot sequence |
| hpux -is | bring up system in single user |
| hpux | default boot sequence |
| hpux vmunix.test | boot object file vmunix.test |
| hpux (52.5.0.0)/stand/vmunix | boot from /stand/vmunix on the disk at path 52.5.0.0 |
| hpux lan(32)/stand/vmunix | boot from the network |
| hpux -v | get hp-ux version numbers |
| hpux ll /stand | list contents of /stand on root disk |
The part of the boot that takes place after the hpux command is issued is in the four following parts
The following components are included in the startup/shutdown of hpux:
| execution scripts | these scripts are located in /etc/init.d |
| configuration variable scripts | these files are located in /etc/rc.config.d |
| link files | these files are located in the directory for the appropriate run level, sch as /sbin/rc0.d for run level 0 and /sbin/rc1.d for run level 1, etc |
| sequencer scripts | this script invokes execution scripts based on run-level transition. This script is located in /sbin/rc |