HP-UX fs mounted on Linux??

[Jonathan Caplette_1]

Hi guys,

Does somebody know if I can mount and read a HP-UX hfs filesystem on a RedHat 9 (kernel 2.4.20) box??

I need to read some Magneto-Optical disks. If somebody have a clue on how to mount to MO disks on Linux.. Let me know... ;) But big question that I have is "Can I mount hfs (HP-UX) fs on a Linux box???"

Thanks
Jonathan

[Steven E. Protter]

Yes:

On hp box as root

vi /etc/exports

# add the hfs filesystem to export example

/hfsdata

save the file

exportfs -a -v

On Linux, you merely need to mount the target filesystem as a nfs fs.

The particularities of HFS are handled on the HP-UX server.

You need nfs client enabled on Linux which is the default, then its just a mount command

mount hp_ux_hostname://hfsdata /hfsdata

df -h will show the filesystem as available.

I'm attaching a real /etc/exports file as an example to you of the hpux stuff

SEP

[Pete Randall]

Jonathan,

I have no idea whether MO disk would make any difference or not. We routinely mount HP-UX file systems on Linux via NFS, if that's any help. Obviously NFS needs to be running on both, the file system in question needs to be exported from the HP box, then the Linux box should be able to mount it.


Pete

[Mic V.]

Jonathan,

Your HP system has to be set up as an NFS server. Make sure that in /etc/rc.config.d/nfsconf (for most versions) that the correct variable is set (I think it's NFS_SERVER=1 -- or something very similar).

If NFS has not previously been started on your HP, then after you change the above file, you'll need to (as root):

/sbin/init.d/nfs.core start
/sbin/init.d/nfs.server start

Once the NFS server processes are running on the HP server, exportfs -a -v can be run.

You may run into interest permissions/ownership issues with the fact that this is done via NFS. Running NIS (Network Information Service) could help but takes work to implement. Other helps are various mount and export options (on Linux and HP-UX respectively) and manually editing the UIDs in the /etc/passwd files or changing file ownership.

Mic

[Jonathan Caplette_1]

thanks guys... But he nfs solution is not what I'm looking for!!

[Jeff Schussele]

Hi Jonathan,

Yes RedHat-9 does support HFS - see the following:

http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/redhat/9/i386/lib_modules_2.4.20-8_kernel_fs_hfs_Tree.html

Now it's just a matter of getting the MO drive to work with RedHat-9. Unfortunately google searches for that reurn nothing.

HTH,
Jeff

[Rick Beldin]

I don't think that the HFS mentioned in the Linux docs is the same as the HFS used by HP-UX. HFS (hierarchical file system) is used by Macs. HP's HFS is different.

I have a similar scenario with a zx6000 that can dual boot between Linux (RH AS 2.1) and HP-UX 11.23. There is no native filesystem that I have found that is shared between the two. There is some promise that Veritas will work between the two, but that is speculation and costs money to find out if it will work. As it is, I can't access any of the other OS's filesystems from HP-UX or Linux on this box.

[Craig Smith_13]

I beleive that the HFS in linux refers to the Apple Mac version; HP has it's own version of HFS.....

Just in case you access HP HFS media, you would treat them just like another hard drive and the mount command may look like:

mount -v -r -t hfs /dev/scd0 /mnt/optical

where /mnt/optical is a blank directory and using a SCSI MO drive....

[Jonathan Caplette_1]

Guys, I tried everything you said... and I really do believe now that I will need to get HP-UX box to read those MO....

Can I read an HFS fs on a 11i box???

[Pete Randall]

Jonathan,

Absolutely - in fact /stand is (and has to be) an HFS filesystem.


Pete

[Jonathan Caplette_1]

Yeah.. you're damn right!!! I asked a stupid question... :S

[Bill Hassell]

Just some background: HP's HFS is also known as the High Performance Filesystem designed by Marshall McKusick. It is a unique design that does not become fragmented like classic bottom-up file growth designs. As far as compatibility, the front-end of the filesystem is the most difficult to make compatible. Some opsystems (like HP-UX) might use a volume manager like LVM which places unique data elements prior to the beginning of the filesystem. HP-UX can create filesystems on whole disks which eliminates most of that incompatibility, but there is no assurance (read: design and testing) that HP's implementation of the McKusick filesystem is portable to other opsystems.

The same can be said for other opsystems and their methods for handling disk layouts. It's possible that a Veritas volume manager layout on a single MO platter might play OK on another opsystem but I don't think a lot of testing goes into this type of portability.