recommended bootlist sequence

Don Davis

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Jan 29, 2003, 5:33:04 PM1/29/03

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need input on best bootlist sequence for normal and/or service mode
I have rootvg mirrored on hdisk0 and hdisk1. Current normal sequence is

hdisk0
hdisk1
cd0
rmt1 Ultrium LTO Tape
rmt0 8mm Tape

Do others have cd0 first? Can system pSeries 6F1 be made to
boot from cd even though hdisk0 and hdisk1 both have boot lv's?
Any input welcomed.

Mark Taylor

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Jan 30, 2003, 7:14:51 AM1/30/03

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hello,

you want all your removable media devices before you harddisks in the
bootlist.. otherwise you will find a bootstrap on your hdisk and boot
from that.. hitting f5 at bootime should load the default bootlist ...

i.e
fd0
cd0
rmt0 ... rmt1 etc
hdisk0
hdisk1

Some say that you shoudl not have the cd or tape devices in the bootlist
for normal mode as someone will be able to boot from media and get into
normal mode.. but like i said, you can get the default bootlist by
hitting f5 anyway..

i personally would only have the hdisks in the bootlist and have a
password on SMS so if i need to boot from another device i can do this
via SMS etc..

that is only personal choice though..

Rgds
Mark

--
Posted via http://dbforums.com

Dale Talcott

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Jan 30, 2003, 8:27:31 AM1/30/03

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aix...@yahoo.com (Don Davis) writes:

>need input on best bootlist sequence for normal and/or service mode
>I have rootvg mirrored on hdisk0 and hdisk1. Current normal sequence is

>hdisk0
>hdisk1
>cd0
>rmt1 Ultrium LTO Tape
>rmt0 8mm Tape

My two cents is to have only hdisk0 and hdisk1 in the normal mode
bootlist. First, the disks must be first in the normal list to prevent
accidental booting from the wrong device. Suppose you insert a CD to
examine the READMEs or other documentation. Now, suppose there is a
power failure. When the power comes back, the system boots from the
CD. Not what you want. The same thing can happen during the middle of
a mksysb to tape. Thus, the normal bootlist should start with your
rootvg boot disks.

Next, I would not put anything else in the normal list. If the machine
is so broken that neither the primary nor mirror copy of the boot volume
works, it is quite unlikely I would want the machine to boot at all. I
would want a chance to fix hardware first. At that point, I can use
SMS to get precise control over the boot device.

I don't think it matters much for service mode, so long as tape and cd
are ahead of disk. I just use the default.

--
Dale Talcott, IT Research Computing Services, Purdue University
a...@quest.cc.purdue.edu http://quest.cc.purdue.edu/~aeh/

Norman Levin

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Feb 1, 2003, 10:01:04 AM2/1/03

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"Don Davis" <aix...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f45a2235.03012...@posting.google.com...

Normal is what you want normally, Do you normally boot from your A drive when
you bring up your home pc? no, it is for emergency or service situations.

So, if rootvg is on hdisk0, thats it.
if rootvg is on hdisk1, thats it.
If you have rootvg mirrored on hdisk0 and hdisk1, thats it.

Now to service - that's when you are having problems and you want to boot from
external media.
cd0 is clearly the best choice for number 1 - you installed from it - it is
bootable.
Next - are you making system backup with MKSYSB? What drive do you use?
WhatEVER it is, it should be 2nd.
Do you make system backups on both of the tape drives? Then include both of them
next.
Have the harddrives from the normal list now named. It is one way of getting
into a diagnostics mode.
You might even want to name you built in ethernet adapter as the last item if you
are going to load your system using NIM.
norm

Richard D. Latham

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Feb 1, 2003, 6:00:10 PM2/1/03

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Mark Taylor <membe...@dbforums.com> writes:

The primary reason for not having the removable media in the normal
bootlist is to let the machine automatically recover from a temporary
power failure.

If, for example, you have a documentation CD in the drive, and the
site has a temp powerfail over the weekend, your machine won't be able
to reboot successfully.

--
Richard D. Latham
richard...@verizon.net (home)
lat...@us.ibm.com (work)

Mark Taylor

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Feb 2, 2003, 7:28:13 AM2/2/03

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>If, for example, you have a documentation CD in the drive, and the
>site has a temp powerfail over the weekend, your machine won't be able
>to reboot successfully.

haha.. if you are dumb enough to leave a doc cd in the drive with the cd
1st in the bootlist... then you don't deserve to be an AIX admin :)

(or a mksysb tape in the drive with prompts set to NO and the tape
before the disk in the bootlist.......... stoopid... but it happen)

Norman Levin

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Feb 3, 2003, 12:08:33 AM2/3/03

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"Mark Taylor" <membe...@dbforums.com> wrote in message
news:2471909.1...@dbforums.com...

The doc CD is not bootable. Next item in bootlist should be searched.
norm