Booting the New OpenVMS System Disk

After you have successfully installed the OpenVMS operating system, the next step is to set up the new system disk as the default boot device. For OpenVMS Integrity server systems, this step may already have been done (see step 22 of the installation procedure in Section ), in which case you can boot the OpenVMS Integrity servers system disk by performing the steps in Section . To set up the OpenVMS system disk as the default boot device and then boot it, see Section .

Booting the OpenVMS Alpha System Disk

For booting the OpenVMS Alpha system disk, first designate the new system disk as the default boot device by performing the steps in Section . Then, to boot the disk, perform the steps in Section .

Specifying the Default Boot Device on OpenVMS Alpha Systems

Before you boot the new system disk, perform the following steps:

  1. Halt the system by pressing either Ctrl/P or Halt. For more information about halting your Alpha computer, see Appendix 1.

  2. At the console prompt (>>>), enter the SET BOOTDEF_DEV command in the following format:

    SET BOOTDEF_DEV target-drive

    Substitute the device name of the system disk for target-drive. The SET BOOTDEF_DEV command tells the system which disk to boot from. For example, if the system disk has the device name DKA400, enter the following command and press Enter:

    >>>  SET BOOTDEF_DEV DKA400

    If the system disk is connected to a hierarchical storage device (HSx), the format for specifying that drive is different. For example, on a DEC 7000 series system connected to an HSC device, the command is similar to the following:

    >>>  SET BOOTDEF_DEV DUA20.14.0.2.0

    For more information about setting and showing the default boot device, see Appendix 1 .

How to Boot the New System Disk

To boot the system disk, enter the following command and press Enter:

>>>  BOOT -FLAGS 0,0

When the system starts booting, the initial informational messages displayed are similar to the following:

OpenVMS (TM) Alpha Operating System, Version 8.4

Installing required known files...

Configuring devices...
(c) Copyright 1976-2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

Booting the OpenVMS Integrity servers System Disk

The following steps explain how to boot your new OpenVMS Integrity servers system disk. For more information about this and special booting operations, see Section . You can also use vMedia to boot an OpenVMS system disk; see Section .


NOTE: Make sure you remove the DVD from the DVD/CD drive before booting the system disk.


The actions you take to boot the system disk depend on whether you have configured your system with a boot option for your system disk:

  • If you have configured your system with a boot option for your system disk, your system disk is displayed as a boot option in the EFI Boot Manager menu. Select your system disk and press Enter. If your system disk is the first option in the EFI Boot Manager menu, it might boot automatically after the 10-second countdown.

  • If you have not configured your system with a boot option for your disk, follow these steps:

    1. Press Enter or any other key. (You might see text that instructs you to "hit any key to cold reboot.") The machine displays several boot-related messages and then displays the EFI Boot Manager menu.

    2. Go to the EFI Shell prompt by selecting the EFI Shell [Built-in] option from the EFI Boot Manager menu. (This might be selected automatically if you do not make a selection before the EFI countdown completes.) A display similar to the following appears. An explanation of the two types of devices shown (blk and fs) follows the example.

      EFI Display of Boot Options
      fs

      The fs devices are file-structured logical partitions on physical disks that are included with your Integrity servers system. One or more fs device exists for each volume with a bootable partition or diagnostic partition. Generally, fs0: corresponds to the target disk on which you installed OpenVMS Integrity servers (unless the DVD was not removed, in which case fs1: corresponds to the target disk). For example, if the target disk is DKA0, then fs0: most likely corresponds to the target disk. On the other hand, if the target disk is a DKA100 or DKB200 or similar, the corresponding EFI device depends on what partitions are configured on the target disk.

      blk

      The blk devices are block devices. Multiple blk devices exist for each volume that has a bootable partition or diagnostic partition. These devices may include the DVD device as well as the diagnostic partitions on OpenVMS system disks. Diagnostic partitions are intended and reserved for use by HP Services. (For more information about this partition, see Appendix 10.)

    3. To boot the OpenVMS Integrity servers system disk, enter the following command at the EFI Shell prompt, where fsn: is the device associated with the system disk (probably fs0:):

      Shell> fsn:\efi\vms\vms_loader.efi

      The OpenVMS Integrity servers operating system now starts booting. A display similar to the following appears, followed by the prompt for user name and password:

       HP OpenVMS Industry Standard 64 Operating System, Version 8.4
        (c) Copyright ... Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

      HP Integrity servers maintain a system event log (SEL) within system console storage, and OpenVMS Integrity servers automatically transfers the contents of the SEL into the OpenVMS error log. On certain machines, during a successful boot operation while using a console, you might see a message indicating that the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) SEL is full. You can safely continue when the BMC SEL is full by following the prompts; OpenVMS processes the contents of the SEL.

Next Steps

When you boot OpenVMS from a new system disk, a special startup procedure runs that does the following:

  • Gives you the opportunity to configure the system for standalone or OpenVMS Cluster operation (see Section ).

  • Runs AUTOGEN to evaluate your hardware configuration, estimate typical workloads, and set system parameters (see Section ).

  • Reboots your system with the new parameters (see Section ).

After the system is rebooted with the new parameters, you can log into your SYSTEM account, as explained in Section . On Integrity servers, if you did not allow the OpenVMS installation procedure to create a boot option for your system disk, you can set up such an option now, as explained in Section . Appendix 2 includes additional information regarding setting up and booting HP Integrity servers.