Operating System - OpenVMS
1748057 Members
5548 Online
108758 Solutions
New Discussion юеВ

Re: Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

 
SOLVED
Go to solution
Stanley F Quayle
Valued Contributor

Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

I have a VAX running VMS V5.5. I have a second system disk that I'd like to "serve" to another VAX so it can network boot that version (V4.7). But I don't want it to cluster with the boot server.

I can do this with LANCP in VMS 6.x with DECnet-Plus (pardon the wrap):

$ MCR LANCP
set node X /addr=08-00-02-xx-xx-xx /file=niscs_load.exe
/root=DISK2:[SYS0.]

However, I can't seem to find the corresponding incantation for VMS 5.5 with DECnet (IV, non-Plus).

http://www.stanq.com/charon-vax.html
22 REPLIES 22
Uwe Zessin
Honored Contributor

Re: Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

I am not surprised...

LANCP appeared in VMS V6.2. It provides an alternate MOP load mechanism when the customer does not want to run DECnet at all.

DECnet-Plus, by the way, has its own built-in MOP load mechanism that does not depend on LANCP (at least that was the case when I last played with it).
.
Stanley F Quayle
Valued Contributor

Re: Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

Going to a new version of VMS isn't an option on this situation.

It's easy to set up a node to boot with @CLUSTER_CONFIG, and I used this as a starting point. I've had a limited success in getting it working -- it will start to boot the alternative operating system, but fail when it doesn't join the cluster.

http://www.stanq.com/charon-vax.html
Ian Miller.
Honored Contributor

Re: Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

If it does not join the cluster then it can't synchronize access to the v4.7 disk with the boot server - you have two unclustered nodes accessing the same disk which sounds like bad news to me. Parhaps thats why it fails when it can't join the cluster - to protect against this.
____________________
Purely Personal Opinion
Bojan Nemec
Honored Contributor

Re: Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

Stanley,

Have you tried with DECnet replacing LANCP:
NCP> SET NODE X HARD ADDR 08-00-02-xx-xx-xx
NCP> SET NODE X LOAD ASSIST AGENT sys$share:niscs_load.exe
NCP> SET NODE X LOAD ASSIST PARAMETER DISK2:[SYS0.]


Bojan
Stanley F Quayle
Valued Contributor

Re: Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

> If it does not join the cluster then it can't synchronize access to the v4.7 disk with the boot server - you have two unclustered nodes accessing the same disk which sounds like bad news to me.

But I can do this with DECnet-Plus and LANCP.

http://www.stanq.com/charon-vax.html
Stanley F Quayle
Valued Contributor

Re: Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

Here's the configuration:

Node Volatile Characteristics as of 8-FEB-2005 16:27:47

Remote node = 1.499 (OFFICE)

Hardware address = 08-00-2B-2A-22-F8
Load Assist Agent = SYS$SHARE:NISCS_LOAD.EXE
Load Assist Parameter = DISK$VMS062:[SYS0.]

---------------------------------------------
Actually, I'm booting a VMS V6.2 image instead of V4.7, but the sequence should be the same.

---------------------------------------------
Here's what shows up on the console:

%%%%%%%%%%% OPCOM 8-FEB-2005 16:28:28.13 %%%%%%%%%%%
Message from user DECNET on SIMH55
DECnet event 0.7, aborted service request
From node 1.400 (SIMH55), 8-FEB-2005 16:28:28.11
Circuit QNA-0, Line open error, File open error, Load file
%SYSTEM-F-ROPRAND, reserved operand fault at PC=0001B0DC, PSL=03C00000
Node = 1.499 (OFFICE), Ethernet address = 08-00-2B-2A-22-F8


The Load Assist Agent is actually run by the boot host. And it can't run the V6.2 image in this case.

So, I tried the following:

NCP>set node office load assist agent sys$library:niscs_load.exe

But it still fails:

%%%%%%%%%%% OPCOM 8-FEB-2005 16:35:55.69 %%%%%%%%%%%
Message from user DECNET on SIMH55
DECnet event 0.7, aborted service request
From node 1.400 (SIMH55), 8-FEB-2005 16:35:55.65
Circuit QNA-0, Line open error, File open error, Load file
%SYSTEM-F-ROPRAND, reserved operand fault at PC=0001B0DC, PSL=03C00000
Node = 1.499 (OFFICE), Ethernet address = 08-00-2B-2A-22-F8
http://www.stanq.com/charon-vax.html
Robert_Boyd
Respected Contributor

Re: Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

There is an inherent problem with your idea -- booting over the network from remotely served disk in the OpenVMS environment requires MSCP access after the initial load of the bootstrap loader image. This means the system booting must join the cluster to maintain the connection to the drive -- unless it is loading a diskless system like ELAN which loads itself in memory and doesn't need the disk drive after the initial load.

You'll want to find yourself a copy of the DECnet Phase IV documentation and read up on how to set up a MOP loader and see if you find any further answers there.
Master you were right about 1 thing -- the negotiations were SHORT!
Stanley F Quayle
Valued Contributor

Re: Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

Over in comp.os.vms, Keith A. Lewis suggested something like the following:

Remote node = 1.499 (OFFICE)
Hardware address = 08-00-2B-2A-22-F8
Load file = VMB.EXE
Load Assist Agent = SYS$SHARE:NISCS_LAA.EXE
Load Assist Parameter = DISK$VMS062:

Unfortunately, that fails with:

%%%%%%%%%%% OPCOM 8-FEB-2005 17:22:45.11 %%%%%%%%%%%
Message from user DECNET on SIMH55
DECnet event 0.7, aborted service request
From node 1.400 (SIMH55), 8-FEB-2005 17:22:45.09
Circuit QNA-0, Line open error, File open error, Load file
%LAA-F-RMTNOTCLS, remote node is not a VAXcluster member
Node = 1.499 (OFFICE), Ethernet address = 08-00-2B-2A-22-F8

*sigh*
http://www.stanq.com/charon-vax.html
Stanley F Quayle
Valued Contributor

Re: Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

> unless it is loading a diskless system like ELAN which loads itself in memory and doesn't need the disk drive after the initial load.

Hmmm. The V4.7 system MOP-downloads embedded MicroVAX II's in test equipment. It's quite possible that they're running VAXELN.

At this moment, I don't have access to the system to determine if the MV II's are running VMS or not.

http://www.stanq.com/charon-vax.html