mkboot(1M)

NAME

mkboot, rmboot − install, update, or remove boot programs from a disk device

SYNOPSIS

/etc/mkboot [-b boot_file_path] [-c] [-f] [-h] [-s series] [-u] [-v] device
/etc/mkboot [-b boot_file_path] [-i included_lif_file] [-l] [-p preserved_lif_file] [-s series] [-v] device
/etc/mkboot [-a auto_file_string] [-s series] [-v] device
/etc/rmboot device

DESCRIPTION

mkboot is used to install or update boot programs on the specified device file.

Options

mkboot recognizes the following options:

-a auto_file_string This option is valid only for series 800 boot programs. If the -a option is specified, mkboot creates an autoexecute file AUTO on device if none exists. mkboot deposits auto_file_string in that file. If this string contains spaces, it must be quoted so that it is a single parameter.

-b boot_file_path If this option is given, boot programs in the pathname specified by boot_file_path are installed on the given device.

-c This option is valid only for series 700 boot programs. If this option is specified, mkboot checks the available space on the device. If the boot programs can fit in the available space, mkboot exits with a zero status. If the boot programs are too large to fit in the available space, mkboot exits with a status code of 1. If the verbose option is selected along with this option, a message is also displayed to the standard output.

-f This option is valid only for series 700 boot programs. This option should only be used when the system is in the single user state. Specifying this option modifies the LIF contents to reflect the information contained in the boot_file_path on the named device. This option is provided as a means for forcing the information contained in boot_file_path to be placed on the specified device without regard to the current swapping status. Its intended use is to allow the boot area to grow without having to boot the system twice (see the -h option). This could be a dangerous operation because swap space that is already allocated and possibly in use will be overwritten by the new boot program information. A message is also displayed to the standard output stating that the operator should immediately reboot the system to avoid system corruption and to reflect new information on the running system.

-h This option is valid only for series 700 boot programs. Specifying this option shrinks the available space allocated to swap in the LIF header by the amount required to allow the installation of the new boot programs specified by boot_file_path. After the LIF header has been modified, reboot the system to reflect the new swap space on the running system. At this point, the new boot programs can be installed and the system rebooted again to reflect the new boot programs on the running system. This is the safe method for accomplishing the capability of the -f option.

-i included_lif_file This option is valid only for series 800 boot programs. If the -i option is specified one or more times, mkboot copies each included_lif_file specified and ignores any other LIF files in boot_file_path. The sole exceptions to this rule are the files ISL and HPUX, which are copied without regard to the -i options. If included_lif_file is also specified with the -p option, the -i option is ignored. If the -i option is used with LABEL as its argument and the file LABEL does not exist on boot_file_path, then if device is an LVM physical volume or the -l option is used, mkboot creates a minimal LABEL file on device which will permit the system to boot on device, possibly without swap or dump.

-l This option is valid only for series 800 boot programs. If this option is used, mkboot treats device as an LVM physical volume, regardless of whether or not it is currently set up as one.

-p preserved_lif_file
This option is valid only for series 800 boot programs. If the -p option is specified one or more times, mkboot keeps each specified preserved_lif_file intact on device. If preserved_lif_file also appears as an argument to the -i option, that -i option is ignored. This option is typically used with the autoexecute file AUTO and with the LVM and SwitchOver/UX file LABEL. If preserved_lif_file is not on device, mkboot fails.

-s series If this option is specified, boot programs for the given series are installed on the given device. series must be 300, 700, or 800. Note that in this context, Series 400 is treated as being identical to Series 300. If 700 is specified, mkboot by default installs boot programs from file /usr/lib/uxbootlf.700. If 800 is specified, mkboot by default installs boot programs from file /usr/lib/uxbootlf. If 300 is specified, mkboot by default installs boot programs from /etc/boot. These defaults are overridden by the -b option. If the -s option is not specified, mkboot defaults to the series of the current machine.

-u This option is valid only for Series 700 boot programs. If -u is specified, mkboot uses the information contained in the LIF header to identify the location of swap area, boot area, and raw I/O so that installation of the boot programs does not violate any user data. Normally, the LIF header information is overwritten on each invocation of mkboot. This option is provided to allow modification of boot programs on a Series 700 disk that is also actively supporting swap and/or raw I/O.

-v This option is meaningful only for Series 700 boot programs. If this option is specified, mkboot displays its actions including the amount of swap space available on the specified device.

device Install the boot programs on the given device special file. The specified device can identify either a character-special or block-special device. However, because of the operations performed on the specified device file, mkboot requires that both be present. mkboot attempts to determine whether a device is character- or block-special by examining the corresponding specified path name. For this reason, the complete path name must be supplied. If mkboot is unable to determine the corresponding device file, a message is written to the display, and mkboot exits.

rmboot removes the boot programs from the boot area.

AUTHOR

mkboot and rmboot were developed by HP.

WARNINGS

On Series 700 systems, in order for mkboot to determine the layout of the disk, a file system must reside on the device being modified.

Since the boot area is taken from swap space on the series 700, mkboot cannot increase the amount of space allocated to boot programs on a disk where swap and/or raw I/O are currently enabled.

When executing from a recovery system, the mkboot command (if used) must be invoked with the -f option; otherwise it will not be able to replace the boot area on your disk.

If device is, or is intended to become an LVM physical volume on a Series 800 system, device must specify section 2.

DEPENDENCIES

Series 300/400:

The -a, -c, -f, -h, -i, -l, -p, and -u options are not supported.

Series 700:

The -a, -i, -l, and -p options are not supported.

Series 800:

The -c, -f, -h, and -u options are not supported. Boot programs are stored in the boot area in Logical Interchange Format (LIF), which is similar to a file system. In order for a device to be bootable, the LIF volume on that device must contain at least the ISL (the initial system loader) and HPUX (the HP-UX bootstrap utility) LIF files. If, in addition, the device is an LVM physical volume, the LABEL file must be present (see lvlnboot(1M)).

FILES

/usr/lib/uxbootlf file containing series 800 boot programs

/usr/lib/uxbootlf.700 file containing series 700 boot programs

/etc/boot file containing series 300 boot programs

ISL initial system loader

HPUX HP-UX bootstrap and installation utility

AUTO defines default/automatic boot behavior (see hpux(1M))

LABEL used by SwitchOver/UX and LVM

RDB diagnostics tool

IOMAP diagnostics tool

Museum

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