Why /vmunix?
B.M. Buck
called "/vmunix"? Are there any unices that use "/unix", or any other
name?
I know that Xenix (at least, Xenix 386 2.3.2) used /xenix. Along those
lines, I would have thought that Ultrix machines might use /ultrix, or
SunOS machines would use /sunos (or something like that), but it both
use /vmunix.
Apparantly this is common enough for jokes to be made about the emacs
program vmunix.el, etc.
I haven't looked at any straight AT&T unices, just Xenix and BSD
derivatives. I suppose that it might be a Berkeleyism, but I can't be
certain.
I assume it stands for "Virtual Memory UNIX", but are there any
non-virtual memory unices still in use? Was it important to make the
distinction at some point in time?
Later,
BP
--
-----
Buddha Buck bmb...@ultb.isc.rit.edu
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Russell Street
>I was wondering, why is the boot image of UNIX on most unices I've used
>called "/vmunix"? Are there any unices that use "/unix", or any other
>name?
IRIX has /unix
HP-UX uses /hp-ux (just to be different!)
Russell
Colm Buckley
>> == bmb...@ultb.isc.rit.edu (B.M. Buck)
>>I was wondering, why is the boot image of UNIX on most unices I've used
>>called "/vmunix"? Are there any unices that use "/unix", or any other
>>name?
>IRIX has /unix
>HP-UX uses /hp-ux (just to be different!)
SCO has /unix....
--
Colm.
+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------+
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+-------------------------------------+----------------------------------+
Scott Telford
/vmunix probably first appeared in 3BSD, when virtual memory was added
to Bell's 32V. Maybe Ozalp called it that while he was developing it
to distinguish it from 32V kernels, and the name just stuck.
Presumably, /unix was the original Bell Labs convention, - it's in
AT&T SVR3 and most derived Unices, I think. Anything derived from
4BSD (SunOS 4 etc) is likely to have /vmunix. The HJ Lu release of
Linux calls the kernel /vmlinux, though I don't think that's a
standard Linux convention.
--
Scott Telford, Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre, <s.te...@ed.ac.uk>
University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Rd, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK. (+44 31 650 5978)
------- Rollin' over like a big, big cloud, Walkin' out in the Big Sky! -------
Rui Pedro Mendes Salgueiro
: I was wondering, why is the boot image of UNIX on most unices I've used
: called "/vmunix"? Are there any unices that use "/unix", or any other
: name?
:
: I know that Xenix (at least, Xenix 386 2.3.2) used /xenix. Along those
: lines, I would have thought that Ultrix machines might use /ultrix, or
: SunOS machines would use /sunos (or something like that), but it both
: use /vmunix.
I think this comes from Berkeley and most of the derivates keep it.
Curiously (sp? I need a dictionary in this room) the system on this
computer (BSD/386) don't use /vmunix, it uses /bsd.
I suppose there is a legal reason (this system doesn't have code from
the death star).
: Apparantly this is common enough for jokes to be made about the emacs
: program vmunix.el, etc.
: I haven't looked at any straight AT&T unices, just Xenix and BSD
^-- You are better of that way
(except for xenix of course).
Ever tryed to use a shell in which the only way to correct a mistake
is typing the whole line again ?
: derivatives. I suppose that it might be a Berkeleyism, but I can't be
: certain.
:
: I assume it stands for "Virtual Memory UNIX", but are there any
: non-virtual memory unices still in use? Was it important to make the
Probably.
: distinction at some point in time?
The last time I have used regulary a Sys V derivative * (1987-1990),
it was a Plexus P/75 (or maybe P/95). It had a 68020 + 68881.
His unix didn't have PAGED virtual memory. Of course it had a primitive
kind of virtual memory (when it didn't have enough space for all processes
it swaped out a COMPLETE process (I should know how this is called,
having teached operating systems recently, but I guess I'm having
a memory fault :-))
It was especially interesting when someone was trying to use standard ML
(a functional language) and the poor computer said:
panic: out of swap space .
It has happen a lot, and the only way out of it was to reboot the machine
each time .
All the others systems that I have used extensively are Berkeley derived
and handle that situation (shortage of memory) much better (they don't
crash but it may become difficult to get enough memory to run ps,
discover the offending process and kill it).
* This does not include SGI, which is a SYsV derivative, but with enough
Berkeleyms to be usable (and Dogfight (the flight simulator), of course :-).
If only it had zoneinfo and not terminfo (speaking as a Sysadmin) would
be near-perfect.
--
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r...@matuc2.mat.uc.pt | Universidade de Coimbra | It's so easy to hate
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'Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that
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out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.' "
Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings
Rev. Ben A. Mesander
bmb...@ultb.isc.rit.edu (B.M. Buck) writes:
: I assume it stands for "Virtual Memory UNIX", but are there any
: non-virtual memory unices still in use? Was it important to make the
Probably.
: distinction at some point in time?
The last time I have used regulary a Sys V derivative * (1987-1990),
it was a Plexus P/75 (or maybe P/95). It had a 68020 + 68881.
His unix didn't have PAGED virtual memory. Of course it had a primitive
kind of virtual memory (when it didn't have enough space for all processes
it swaped out a COMPLETE process (I should know how this is called,
having teached operating systems recently, but I guess I'm having
a memory fault :-))
SunOS has other kernels, like munix (memory UNIX) that don't page so when
you spam the root fs you can load munix off of tape into swap space, boot
off swap (so you can't page...) mount up and fix the root filesystem, then
reboot on the real root. I always thought SunOS called it vmunix so you could
keep it separate from munix.
--ben
Andy Bolton
Andy.
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Ken Nakata CIS stnt
>> == russ...@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Russell Street)
>>> == bmb...@ultb.isc.rit.edu (B.M. Buck)
>>>I was wondering, why is the boot image of UNIX on most unices I've used
>>>called "/vmunix"? Are there any unices that use "/unix", or any other
>>>name?
>
>>IRIX has /unix
>>HP-UX uses /hp-ux (just to be different!)
>
>SCO has /unix....
386BSD has /386bsd and Mach386 has /mach....
(I heard that VM of /vmunix stands for virtual memory but am not sure...,
sorry)
>--
>Colm.
Ken Nakata
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Damien Neil
: I was wondering, why is the boot image of UNIX on most unices I've used
: called "/vmunix"? Are there any unices that use "/unix", or any other
: name?
Linux has /Image. (Ususally a link to /usr/src/linux/Image.)
--
Damien Neil dp...@po.cwru.edu "Until somebody debugs reality, the best
Case Western Reserve University I can do is a quick patch here and there."
CMPS/EEAP double majoring masochist - Erik Green
James Michael Chacon
>B.M. Buck (bmb...@ultb.isc.rit.edu) wrote:
>: I was wondering, why is the boot image of UNIX on most unices I've used
>: called "/vmunix"? Are there any unices that use "/unix", or any other
>: name?
>Linux has /Image. (Ususally a link to /usr/src/linux/Image.)
>--
Actually, linux has whatever you feel like using, you just have to tell
your boot loader what it is. Mine is called /vmlinux, and /vmlinux.old.
But, I could just call it /booga.booga for all anything could care.
James
James W. Birdsall
>I haven't looked at any straight AT&T unices, just Xenix and BSD
>derivatives. I suppose that it might be a Berkeleyism, but I can't be
>certain.
>
>I assume it stands for "Virtual Memory UNIX", but are there any
>non-virtual memory unices still in use? Was it important to make the
>distinction at some point in time?
Well, I have a AT&T 3B1, which most assuredly has virtual memory but
still uses "unix". I also have two ancient non-virtual-memory wonders which
both use "unix". I suspect "vmunix" (which my Sun -- the only
Berkeley-related machine I have -- uses) is a Berkeleyism. Weren't they the
first ones to use virtual memory? In fact, wasn't that one of the main
tasks of the project?
--
James W. Birdsall jwbi...@picarefy.picarefy.com
Compu$erve: 71261,1731 GEnie: J.BIRDSALL2
"For it is the doom of men that they forget." -- Merlin
Colm Buckley
>Actually, linux has whatever you feel like using, you just have to tell
>your boot loader what it is. Mine is called /vmlinux, and /vmlinux.old.
>But, I could just call it /booga.booga for all anything could care.
Mmmm. Most UNIXes will allow you to boot whatever image you want - for
example, on my SCO box I have /unix (the default), /unix.ok (for
emergencies when I've been messing with device drivers or whatever and
something nasty happens), and /unix.small (optional extras cut out for
space, speed and debugging). I simply type the name of the image I want at
boot time, or press return to get the one specified in /etc/default/boot.
HOWEVER, if the kernel which is loaded is not called /unix, some programs
which expect to look up kernel symbols (monitor programs, for example) will
fail, because they will generally open /unix... I don't know if other
unixes have some mechanism for finding out which kernel is the booted one -
most programs I've seen will always use /unix (or whatever the machine's
default is).
Any comments?
Faisal Nameer Jawdat
> In article <1993Mar30.2...@ultb.isc.rit.edu> bmb...@ultb.rit.edu () writes:
> >I haven't looked at any straight AT&T unices, just Xenix and BSD
> >derivatives. I suppose that it might be a Berkeleyism, but I can't be
> >certain.
> >
> >I assume it stands for "Virtual Memory UNIX", but are there any
> >non-virtual memory unices still in use? Was it important to make the
> >distinction at some point in time?
Now this is just a guess based on hazy memories of the origins of bsd
unix, but as I recall, the designers of bsd unix originally either
implemented it themselves on a vax, or saw it implemented by someone
else on a vax, so instead of vms they load vmunix? Okay, so it's a
stretch, but...
-- faisal jawdat | "Certainly the game is rigged.
email: fj...@andrew.cmu.edu | Don't let that stop you;
if mail handler barfs | if you don't bet, you can't win."
fj...@andrew.cmu.edu | -Lazarus Long
Faisal Nameer Jawdat
> Any comments?
yeah, keep a copy of all three /unixes and have it boot off one of the
copies, then have the /etc/rc or whatever runs your bootsequence copy
the appropriate one to /unix so that programs that look for symbols in
/unix get the right info
DoN. Nichols
>In article <1993Mar30.2...@ultb.isc.rit.edu> bmb...@ultb.rit.edu () writes:
>>I haven't looked at any straight AT&T unices, just Xenix and BSD
>>derivatives. I suppose that it might be a Berkeleyism, but I can't be
>>certain.
>>
>>I assume it stands for "Virtual Memory UNIX", but are there any
>>non-virtual memory unices still in use? Was it important to make the
>>distinction at some point in time?
>
> Well, I have a AT&T 3B1, which most assuredly has virtual memory but
>still uses "unix". I also have two ancient non-virtual-memory wonders which
>both use "unix". I suspect "vmunix" (which my Sun -- the only
>Berkeley-related machine I have -- uses) is a Berkeleyism. Weren't they the
>first ones to use virtual memory? In fact, wasn't that one of the main
>tasks of the project?
Well, I have a Tektronx 6130, which is BSD-4.2 derived, and it uses
/vmunix, while my old COSMOS CMS-16/UNX (version 7 on 68000 in multibus)
uses just plain /unix. All the Suns that I have checked use /vmunix, at
least as far back as SunOs 3.2 (on my 2/120). I just recently got some more
2/120s, (don't ask why :-), and included were distribution tapes for:
1) SunOs 2.0
2) SunOs 3.0
3) SunOs 3.2
4) Upgrade to SunOs 3.4
Perhaps I should take the time to load the 2.0, and see if that also uses
/vmunix. It is only two tapes, in contrast to the four for 3.0 and 3.2. I
guess I will try it in the process of testing the systems, but don't expect
quick reports. :-)
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DoN. Nichols
>cbuc...@unix1.tcd.ie (Colm Buckley) writes:
>> Any comments?
>
>yeah, keep a copy of all three /unixes and have it boot off one of the
>copies, then have the /etc/rc or whatever runs your bootsequence copy
>the appropriate one to /unix so that programs that look for symbols in
>/unix get the right info
I found out the hard way that the system won't boot off a symbolic
link to a kernel. :-) I generally keep each kernel as a name like
/vmunix.SYSTEMNAME.3 or /vmunix.GENERIC or whatever, and do a
'ln /vmunix.whatever /vmunix'
except I had been doing a lot of work with symlinks that particular day, and
I typed
'ln -s /vmunix.whatever /vmunix'
Then, I had to remember just what I *had* called the real kernel so I could
boot from it and replace the symlink with a real one.
Steve McKinty - Sun ICNC
>
> Well, I have a Tektronx 6130, which is BSD-4.2 derived, and it uses
> /vmunix, while my old COSMOS CMS-16/UNX (version 7 on 68000 in multibus)
> uses just plain /unix. All the Suns that I have checked use /vmunix, at
> least as far back as SunOs 3.2 (on my 2/120).
Now that SVr4 is the 'in' flavour, its changed again. SVr4 (Sun's Solaris 2.0
included) now boots /kernel/unix
Steve
--
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SUN Microsystems ICNC
38240 Meylan, France
email: smck...@france.sun.com BIX: smckinty
Jonathan H. N. Chin
> I found out the hard way that the system won't boot off a symbolic
>link to a kernel. :-) I generally keep each kernel as a name like
>/vmunix.SYSTEMNAME.3 or /vmunix.GENERIC or whatever, and do a
morpock# ls /vm*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root daemon 25 Oct 14 03:42 /vmunix -> vmunix.MORPOCK_loadsadisk*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root daemon 1540165 Apr 2 1991 /vmunix.GENERIC*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root daemon 1444913 Dec 14 05:56 /vmunix.MORPOCK_loadsadisk*
I have no trouble booting my Sun IPC with this. What am I doing wrong
with my symbolic links?
-jonathan
--
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\ University of Reading \
shr...@uk.ac.rdg.susssys1 \ Box 225, Whiteknights \ < Rosenstock-Huessy >
cyb...@uk.ac.reading.cyber \ Reading, RG6 2AY, U K \
Jim Frost
>dnic...@d-and-d.com (DoN. Nichols) writes:
>> I found out the hard way that the system won't boot off a symbolic
>>link to a kernel. :-) I generally keep each kernel as a name like
>>/vmunix.SYSTEMNAME.3 or /vmunix.GENERIC or whatever, and do a
>morpock# ls /vm*
>lrwxrwxrwx 1 root daemon 25 Oct 14 03:42 /vmunix -> vmunix.MORPOCK_loadsadisk*
>-rwxr-xr-x 1 root daemon 1540165 Apr 2 1991 /vmunix.GENERIC*
>-rwxr-xr-x 1 root daemon 1444913 Dec 14 05:56 /vmunix.MORPOCK_loadsadisk*
>I have no trouble booting my Sun IPC with this. What am I doing wrong
>with my symbolic links?
It all depends on how good the boot program is. If it can traverse a
symlink then it'll work, but in some OS's where symlinks were hacked
into an existing FS it isn't surprising when the boot program wasn't
similarly updated. Thus it works on some systems but not on others.
Were I to hazard a guess (which I will :-) I'd say that it it works on
most BSD-derived systems (eg SunOS) but not on some or all
SysV-derived systems. Sun's been dealing with symlinks for a long
time, whereas AT&T just got into the act. SysV3.X vendors often
hacked symlinks into the FS because AT&T hadn't done so, and most of
these systems do lack some support you'll find in BSD-derived UNIXes.
jim frost
ji...@centerline.com