mkboot -a argument

[Michael D. Zorn]

In some places, it says do

mkboot -a "hpux (;0)/stand/vmunix" .....

and in others,

mkboot -a "hpux -lq" ......

I think I understand the "lq" - it's for boot volumes, where you want it to come up even if the other one isn't working.

But what do the different forms of "hpux" do?

And why doesn't it appear in the notes for the long hpux path, since that's also in a section on mirroring boot volumes?

(From the "Administering a System" doc.)

[A. Clay Stephenson · Accepted solution]

You are (partially) correct in that -lq allows you to boot if the "other" disk isn't available. It is more accurate to say that "-lq" allows the boot to continue if there are not enough disks (> 50%) available in the boot volume group to establish quorum. Generally the boot VG consists of just 2 disks but there are cases where there might be 4 or more. In any event, you want to assert the "-lq" option on all boot disks (not just the alternate) because unless you do, you actually make the system less likely to boot unattended.

Rather than having me explain all the hpux combinations and permutations (and undoubtedly missing some), I suggest that you do a "man hpux". It will explain far better than I. It also indicates how hpux "fills in" any missing components.

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

Different forms of hpux? What exactly do you mean?

hpux can be booted a a few ways:
-is single user mode
-lm logical volume maintenance

Perhaps that is what you ask.

SEP

[TorstenT]

"hpux" is the secondary boot loader and will load the kernel into the memory. For detailed information see "man hpux". Several options can be given to the loader (e.g. -ls to list the content of /stand or "hpux -i1" to boot to run-level 1 or even "hpux showautofile" ).

mkboot -a will set the options. You can review the content of this file by

# lifcp /dev/rdsk/cxtydz:AUTO -

(this will copy the file named "AUTO" from the LIF area of the disk to the screen)

Some admins like to configure the "-lq" options, because the system will boot up automatically even if a disk is failed. Others don't want it, because they will see the system don't boot and can investigate immediatly.

[Michael D. Zorn]

Stephen: I was unclear - I meant "different forms of the argument that starts 'hpux' ".

[Senthil Kumar .A_1]

Hi Michael,

Most of the options are already mentioned to recap,

hpux -is : Boot into single user mode, Used when you do not need any user related intervention when you are fixing some issues with system. This mode also has minimum number of FS mounted. You can mount the FS based on your discretion.

hpux -lq : Low quorum boot mode, Used when the server finds that quorum is not satisfied to activate vg00. For a VG to be activated the quorum requirement is (>50% PV).

hpux -lm : LVM maintenance mode, Used when server is not able to boot because not being able to activate VG00 during normal boot. The mode of boot is pursued to fix any LVM related issues which causes the system boot to fail.

Now this mode is not yet mentioned in this thread. Due to the VXVM rootability feature was added to versions 11.23 and above , a new boot mode has evolved to assist the users. It is called VXVM maintenance mode.

hpux -vm : VXVM maintenance mode, Used when activation of rootdg causes the system to fail and in general any VXVM related issue that might be hindering the normal boot of the hpux server specific to rootability subsection.

Regards,
Senthil Kumar .A

(p.s: For more info, try searching the google with key words, e.g. "hpux vxvm maintenance mode" etc...