Kernel build

[Yann Lambret]

Hi all,

I need to generate a new kernel on a HP-UX 11.11 server.

I'd like to know if it's safe enough to save both /stand/vmunix and /stand/system or if I have to backup more files in order to put things back the way they were. I checked HP docs and I couldn't get accurate information about this specific point.

Thanks for your help.
Yann

[Deoncia Grayson_1]

Making sure you have a copy of /stand/vmunix and /stand/system before you make any changes because if you cannot boot off your newly compiled kernel then you can always boot off the old one by interrupting the boot process and interacting with your IPL to boot off your saved copy of /stand/vmunix.prev.

[Arunvijai_4]

Hello Yann,

You can check this thread for how to rebuild the kernel, read Michael Tully's reply,

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=63788

-Arun

[A. Clay Stephenson · Accepted solution]

Normally, yes, those two files are all you need; however, if in your kernel build you also have custom device drivers (not common these days) then you would also need the system.d directory and possibly the build directory.

In general, as long as you have a vmunix.prev that is known to be bootable, you can safely boot if things go terribly wrong. Normally, vmunix.prev gets overwritten with each kernel build so its a good idea to have something like "vmunix.SAFE" as a known good fallback. Once you have copied your current vmunix to vmunix.SAFE, the best possible way of insuring that you can put things back just like they were is to tar or cpio the entire /stand directory tree.

[Yann Lambret]

Thanks for your answers. I close this thread.

[Yann Lambret]

Ok, this time I REALLY close this thread :)