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Ignite-UX FAQs

Get answers from the Ignite engineering team.
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Ignite-UX Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs are answered here by the Ignite-UX engineering team.
They were last updated September 9, 2008.

At the release of Ignite-UX version C.7.0, all FAQ entries that applied to Ignite versions prior to C.6.0 were removed.



Ignite-UX Known Problems

1-1  I updated my server; now it cannot find /d_cfg_mnt_sb61/monitor_bpr

1-2  Can the Ignite-UX GUI for make_tape_recovery span multiple tapes?

1-3  Why do I get warnings from pax concerning files that are not on the client when I run either make_tape_recovery or make_net_recovery?

1-4  When igniting from an archive, why do I get numerous samreg errors?

1-5  Can an Ignite-UX server install clients on multiple subnets?

1-6  Why do some applications and shells hang over NFS after igniting?

1-7  Why do the iux_postconfig scripts associated with EMS KRM sometimes fail?

1-8  Can I run make_net_recovery from a PA-RISC server to create an archive for an Itanium-based client or vice versa?

1-9; Why does installing or recovering a client via NFS from an HP-UX 11i v1 Ignite-UX server take so long compared to an 11.00 server?

1-10; My VxVM installation has stopped with the message: ERROR: Disk group dg02:cannot create: Disk group exists and is imported. What is the problem and how can I resolve it?

1-11; Is SecurePath (previously known as AutoPath)supported by Ignite-UX during installation or recovery?

1-12; Why is install.log so difficult to read?

1-13; Why is the message Cannot open /dev/vx/rdsk/rootdg/standvol displayed during an Itanium-based installation via golden image?

1-14; Does HP support Ignite-UX through a firewall?

1-15; What do I do when I get file system full messages during installation or recovery when _hp_ignore_sw_impacts is set to 1?

1-16; What do I do when I get an error reading files greater than 2 GB in size?

1-17; Why is the network boot of my Itanium-based system slow?

1-18; How can I work around recovery failure: 'ERROR: A conflict has been detected while attempting to restore the prior device file names?

1-19; Why do I see errors about io.info version 0.5 not being understood and how do I work around it?

1-1  I updated my server; now it cannot find /d_cfg_mnt_sb61/monitor_bpr

A: This is caused by having a mix of Ignite-UX fileset revisions on your server. In most cases it happens when you update only one release bundle (like Ignite-UX-11-23) even though you install other releases from that server.

An easy way to check for this case is to look at the output from the command
swlist Ignite-UX
All the filesets should have the same revision; if not, then you need to install all consistent versions.

If you have boot helper systems, they also need to have the Ignite-UX product updated to match the same revision as the server that they reference.

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1-2  Can the Ignite-UX GUI for make_tape_recovery span multiple tapes?

A: No. We use pax as the tool to create the archive tape and there is no current communication between pax and the GUI to prompt the user on the GUI when pax requests a second tape. You need to use make_tape_recovery on the client to be able to span multiple tapes.

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1-3  Why do I get warnings from pax concerning files that are not on the client when I run either make_tape_recovery or make_net_recovery?

A: If files are removed from the client between the time the list of files to be archived is created and the time the files are actually archived, warnings are generated. For more information, refer to make_tape_recovery(1M) and make_net_recovery(1M).

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1-4  When igniting from an archive, why do I get numerous samreg errors?

A: The problem is that the SAM filesets have not been configured when certain products are trying to register themselves with SAM. The workaround is as follows:

Place this configuration stanza in /var/opt/ignite/config.local or directly in the configuration file with the core sw_source:

sw_source "core"
{
post_load_cmd += "
swconfig -xautoselect_dependencies=false /
-xenforce_dependencies=false SystemAdmin.SAM "
}
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1-5  Can an Ignite-UX server install clients on multiple subnets?

A: There is one known problem with having an Ignite-UX server that is multi-homed (connected to multiple subnets):

The "server " keyword that specifies the IP address for your Ignite-UX server can only correspond to one of the LAN interfaces. If each subnet is routed such that all clients can use the one IP address to contact their server, then the installation will work. However, it is more efficient for the client to use the server's IP address that is connected directly to the client's own subnet. If a client is on a subnet that does not have a route to the IP address specified by "server ", then it will not be able to contact the server after it boots.

The workarounds for this problem are as follows:
  1. Manually correct the server's IP address on the networking screen that appears on the client console when you boot the client.
  2. Use a boot-helper on each subnet. When using a boot-helper, the server's IP address can be specified correctly on each helper system. For more information, refer to the Ignite-UX Administration Guide.
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1-6  Why do some applications and shells hang over NFS after igniting?

A: The reason for the hang is most likely due to a problem with the NFS file locking daemons rpc.statd and rpc.lockd, caused by the action of reinstalling the client.

Many applications use file locking and can hang in this situation. Most common is user home directories that are NFS mounted, in which case sh and ksh attempt to lock the .sh_history file and hang before giving you a prompt.

When a client is running and has an active NFS mount with a server in which files have been previously locked, both the client and server cache information about each other. Part of the information that is cached is what the RPC port number uses to contact the rpc.lockd daemon on the server and client.

This RPC port information is cached in memory of the running rpc.statd/rpc.lockd process on both the server and client sides. The rpc.statd process keeps a file in the directory /var/statmon/sm for each client that it knows to contact in the event that the client reboots (or rpc.statd/rpc.lockd restarts). During a normal reboot or crash, rpc.statd will contact each client in /var/statmon/sm and inform them to flush their caches regarding this client.

When you reinstall a client, the /var/statmon/sm directory is wiped out. In this case, if the reinstalled client tries to re-contact a server that has cached information, the server will try to communicate over an old RPC port. The communication will fail for rpc.lockd and any file locking done by an application over that NFS mount will hang.

There are a several ways to avoid and/or fix the problem if it happens:
  • If you are using bootsys to install clients, use the -s option to allow the client to shutdown normally and thus inform servers that it is going down.
  • If you experience a hang, you can reboot the client, or kill/restart rpc.lockd and rpc.statd on the client. At the point of the hang, the /var/statmon/sm directory will contain the name of the server, and thus rebooting or restarting the daemons will tell the server to flush its cache. If more than one server is involved you may end up doing this multiple times until all servers are notified.
  • As part of the installation, create a file for each server in /var/statmon/sm which contains the server's name. This will cause the first boot to generate a crash recovery notification message to each server, causing them to purge the stale port information. The following is an example post_config_cmd stanza that could be placed in your /var/opt/ignite/config.local file:post_config_cmd += "
    mkdir -p /var/statmon/sm
    for server in sys1 sys2 sys3
    do
    echo $server > /var/statmon/sm/$server
    chmod 0200 /var/statmon/sm/$server
    done
    "
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1-7  Why do the iux_postconfig scripts associated with EMS KRM sometimes fail?

A: On some HP-UX 11.x clients you might see the following errors when recovering a client from a make_tape_recovery tape, or a make_net_recovery image:
Executing:
"/var/adm/sw/products/EMS-KRMonitor/KRMON-RUN/iux_postconfig".
ERROR: Cannot install a dlkm driver.
ERROR: Cannot configure a dlkm driver.
ERROR: The script:
"/var/adm/sw/products/EMS-KRMonitor/KRMON-RUN/iux_postconfig"
failed, exit code was 1.
The reason for this is when the recovery archive was created, the kernel the client was running was not created correctly (the DLKM information was out of sync). You should always use kmupdate to move a new kernel into place after creating it with mk_kernel, this will move the DLKM information into place when the new vmunix is moved into place at the next shutdown.

To solve this problem, create a kernel in the way described above then recreate the recovery tape or network recovery archive. You should not see this message the next time you use the new tape or network recovery archive (the old tape or network recovery archive will always show this problem).

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1-8  Can I run make_net_recovery from a PA-RISC server to create an archive for an Itanium®-based client or vice versa?

A: Yes.

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1-9  Why does installing or recovering a client via NFS from an HP-UX 11i v1 Ignite-UX server take so long compared to an 11.00 server?

A: To answer this we need to look at some background before looking at what options are available for resolving this issue.

If you use 100BT or 1000BT interfaces, you must check the duplex setting of the port on the switch that the Ignite-UX client is connected to. When a client boots, the kernel driver automatically negotiates the speed and duplex settings of 100BT and 1000BT interfaces.

If autonegotiation fails, the interface defaults to half-duplex (the speed may vary depending on the speed of the switch port). When a normal client boots, its startup scripts are used to change the interface speed and duplex values to match that of the switch port. If the switch port is set to full duplex, you will have a duplex mismatch.

This causes a problem for interfaces connected to switches that have not been set to autonegotiate. These interfaces will run at half duplex for the duration of the installation. From observation, the duplex value reduces the throughput that NFS over TCP can achieve, but NFS over UDP performance does not seem to suffer.

Ignite-UX uses an 11i installation kernel with versions Ignite-UX B.3.x, so if the Ignite-UXserver is an 11i system the transport for NFS will be TCP and performance will suffer. HP-UX 11.00 only uses UDP for NFS by default so the performance problems are not seen. There are several solutions available:
  1. Change the switch duplex setting of the client being installed to autonegotiate for the duration of the install.
  2. Change the _hp_nfs_mount_opts in the INSTALLFS to force udp to be used as the protocol, for example: # instl_adm -d -F /opt/ignite/boot/INSTALLFS > /tmp/installfs.out Edit /tmp/installfs.out to add the following line: _hp_nfs_mount_opts="-oproto=udp" (or change the _hp_nfs_mount_opts variable if it already exists to add -oproto=udp) then save the changes back into the INSTALLFS after saving
    the file: # instl_adm -F /opt/ignite/boot/INSTALLFS -f /tmp/installfs.out
  3. Ignite-UX provides the libraries needed to use the lanadmin -X option with 100BT and 1000BT interfaces. You can add the lanadmin options to be applied to a LAN interface with the _hp_lanadmin_args variable in INSTALLFS. Use the same commands as in option 2. An example of what you would need to add to put a 100BT LAN interface into 100 full duplex mode would be: ( lan[].driver == "btlan" )
    {
    _hp_lanadmin_args="-X 100FD"
    }
    Please consult lanadmin(1M) for more information about available options.
NOTE: If the Ignite-UX server is multi-homed and connected to one or more non-ethernet networking technologies over which it provides Ignite-UX installation/recovery services, Ignite-UX will attempt to use the _hp_lanadmin_args settings on the network interface you are using for installation. (You will see errors from lanadmin if the options you have provided are not applicable to that interface.)

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1-10  My VxVM installation has stopped with the message: ERROR: Disk group dg02:cannot create: Disk group exists and is imported. What is the problem and how can I resolve it?

A: This is a known issue with Ignite-UX and VxVM installs involving disk group names that were used on disks in a prior installation though not the current install.

Care should be taken when creating extra VxVM disk groups other than rootdg via the Ignite-UX GUI. During installation, no validation is done on a disk group name to see if it conflicts with a disk group name already in use for another unused disk on the system. If the name conflicts with another disk group, the attempt to create a disk group of the same name fails. This is a feature of VxVM to prevent the creation of duplicate disk groups. If you do encounter this problem, you are presented with something like the following: * Starting VxVM
* Creating VxVM Disk "c17t13d0" (1/0/12/0/0/4/1.13.0).
* Creating VxVM Disk "c17t12d0" (1/0/12/0/0/4/1.12.0).
* Creating VxVM Disk "c17t11d0" (1/0/12/0/0/4/1.11.0).
* Creating VxVM Disk "c17t10d0" (1/0/12/0/0/4/1.10.0).
* Adding disk "c17t10d0" to rootdg.
* Enabling VxVM
* Creating disk group "dg01".
* Creating disk group "dg02".
vxvm:vxdg:
ERROR: Disk group dg02: cannot create:
Disk group exists and is imported
ERROR: Command "/sbin/vxdg init dg02 dg0201=c17t12d0 dg0202=c17t13d0"
failed.

The configuration process has incurred an error,
would you like to push a shell for debugging
purposes? (y/[n]):
If the affected disk group contains any important volume like /usr, /opt or /var, this installation is unlikely to succeed as those volumes are needed in order to boot and bring a system up. If the volumes are not essential, then it may be possible to ignore all the errors and the system may continue to boot. There may be additional VxVM errors beyond this initial one.
  • To continue and ignore the error, answer y, and at the shell prompt type "exit 2". Then press return.
Or
  • If you do not wish to continue the installation, answer n. The system reboots, and then you must reinstall avoiding the use of duplicate disk group names.


One potential workaround for this problem is to set the control parameter clean_all_disk to true in *INSTALLFS (refer to instl_adm(4) for more information on this keyword). However, this is not recommended in most instances and extreme caution is urged because when this variable is set to true, ALL the disks found on the system are cleaned, which may not be desirable. All data is lost on all disks on the system when this variable is set, even if the disks are not explicitly selected for the install. In a SAN environment or MC/ServiceGuard cluster, the system you are installing may be able to see disks currently used by other systems. Setting clean_all_disks to true removes the data from them as well, which is not a desirable situation. However, this does clean off the disk group data from the other disks on the system, thus eradicating the duplicate disk group names.

Note that LVM has the same sort of problem, but it would be observed when the duplicate group is imported back via vgimport. VxVM is different in that the problem is detected at volume group creation time. VxVM looks at all the disks on the system, and not just those selected for use in the current installation.

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1-11  Is SecurePath (previously known as AutoPath) supported by Ignite-UX during installation or recovery?

A: It depends on what SecurePath is controlling. Ignite-UX does not support active/passive EVA GL (EVA3000/EVA5000) disk arrays because of multiple known issues. For more information about potential issues you may encounter, please read the latest version of the Ignite-UX release notes and search for EVA.

You should note that these issues do NOT affect active/active EVA GL or any EVA XL disk arrays. These disk arrays are fully supported for use with Ignite-UX.

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1-12  Why is install.log so difficult to read?

A: The installation messages that are logged into install.log are obtained by Ignite-UX from multiple sources including the standard output (stdout) and standard error (stderr of Software Distributor and the contents of swagent.log. It is not possible to control how these messages are logged into install.log, thus the file can be confusing.

If you want to verify the installation of a product, HP recommends that you examining the swagent.log file directly, rather than the Ignite-UX install.log file.

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1-13  Why is the message: Cannot open /dev/vx/rdsk/rootdg/standvol displayed during an Itanium®-based installation via golden image?

A: It is caused by the major number change between B.11.23 first release and B.11.23 September 2004 for vxvm volumes. You will see this message if the golden image was created on a system running B.11.23 first release, and then the golden image is installed using version C of Ignite-UX.

You can move the kernel build a little earlier in the process to avoid the message, though the message is not harmful. post_load_cmd += "
unset SW_INITIAL_INSTALL
/usr/sbin/mk_kernel -f -o /stand/vmunix
"
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1-14  Does HP support Ignite-UX through a firewall?

A: HP has not tested Ignite-UX through a firewall.

It should be possible to configure a firewall such that Ignite-UX functions properly. For more information, see the "Configuring Bastille to Operate with Ignite-UX" white paper available in the 11i v2 (B.11.23) documentation collection on http://docs.hp.com

As the white paper above indicates, HP does support Ignite-UX in conjunction with Bastille on HP-UX 11i v2. The white paper describes how to configure Bastille on both Ignite-UX servers and clients.

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1-15  What do I do when I get file system full messages during installation or recovery when _hp_ignore_sw_impacts is set to 1?

A: When installing or recovering a system, Ignite-UX takes a small amount of space (a few MB) in each of the / and /usr file systems to hold some commands that Ignite-UX will use. Some of these commands are used during the installation or recovery of HP-UX, and some are used after the first reboot.

If the / or /usr file systems are nearly full when creating a golden image (and configuration) or recovery archive, or when installing an SD depot where the impacts will leave file systems nearly full, and you have set _hp_ignore_sw_impacts to 1 as follows: init _hp_ignore_sw_impacts=1 It is possible that you may encounter a file system full problem during recovery or installation. Normally, the configuration variable that controls how much free space should be in a file system increases the size of a file system so there is at least 10% free; 10% being the default value. This default value guarantees that there is enough free space for an installation or recovery.

Setting _hp_ignore_sw_impacts to 1 means that Ignite-UX will not resize the file systems according to impacts to guarantee some free space. If you set _hp_ignore_sw_impacts to 1, you must ensure that there is some free space available in / and /usr during installation or recovery (at least 20MB) to avoid file system full issues.

If you do not set _hp_ignore_sw_impacts to 1, you can ignore this information. This issue is most likely to affect you if you create a recovery archive in which you have set _hp_ignore_sw_impacts to 1 in the installation file system or config.local files and you have a nearly full / or /usr file system.

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1-16  What do I do when I get an error reading files greater than 2 GB in size?

A: The C.6.5.61 (December 2005) and newer versions of Ignite-UX contain the B.11.23 patch PHKL_33110 which includes install kernels to resolve an issue where files on ISO9660 media cannot be correctly read if they are 2 GB or greater in size. When encountering this problem the symptoms look like. * Loading software: Begin
* Installing boot area on disk.
* Formatting HP Service Partition.
* Enabling swap areas.
* Backing up LVM configuration for "vg00".
* Processing the archive source (hp client archives).
* Thu Nov 03 12:37:56 EST Starting archive load of the source \
(B.11.23 client archive IA).
* Completed 0% of archive

gunzip: stdin: unexpected end of file
pax_iux: The archive is empty.
ERROR: Cannot load OS archive (B.11.23 client archive IA)

The configuration process has incurred an error
would you like to push a shell for debugging
purposes? (y/[n]):
Patch PHKL_33110 contains the defect fixes for JAGaf44970 and JAGaf67476.

NOTE: Ignite-UX version C.6.8 contains the equivalent fix for HP-UX 11.11.

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1-17  Why is the network boot of my Itanium-based system slow?

A: To reduce the amount of time it takes to perform a network boot, you should use an Ignite-UX server that is running a tftp daemon (tftpd) that supports the "tsize" option.

When the firmware on an Itanium-based system is downloading a file (i.e. booting), it first attempts to determine the size (in bytes) of the file. If the tftp daemon (tftpd) on the server does not support the "tsize" option, the client downloads the file using the following steps:
  1. Download the entire file (not storing the data), counting the bytes
  2. Allocate a buffer which is the exact size of the file
  3. Download the entire file (again) into the allocated buffer.
The B.11.11 patch that enables the "tsize" feature is PHNE_32825, which was posted on 20-Mar-2006.

NOTE: HPVM requires this patch if you are installing a virtual machine from an Ignite-UX server running B.11.11. Not having this patch installed on the server will cause the network boot to fail because of a firmware defect. No tftpd patch is required for B.11.23 onwards as the tftpd daemon supports the "tsize" option from first release.

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1-18  How can I work around recovery failure: "ERROR: A conflict has been detected while attempting to restore the prior device file names"?

A: This error is caused by the way device special files are managed while restoring a prior instance number assignment of the ext_bus class devices (this instance number appears in the device file names for disks following the 'c' character).

For VxVM, the device files must not be renamed prior to the kernel knowing about the new instance assignments, and for LVM/whole disk, they must be renamed prior. So when the system has a mixture of VxVM and LVM/whole-disk there is a chance that device files used by one or the other need to be exchanged resulting in a conflict.

In the case of fibre channel devices, the kernel can sometimes assign different instances for the ext_bus devices each time the system boots Ignite-UX. So in these cases, if you get the error, simply rebooting and retrying may result in success.

If retrying does not resolve the problem, you can work around the problem for recovering a system by doing:
  • When using an Ignite server to do a network recovery, on the Ignite server, do:
    • Edit the "system_cfg" file under the correct directory for the recovery you are doing.
      For example: /var/opt/ignite/clients/{client}/recovery/latest/system_cfg
    • Comment-out (using the '#' char) the "hw_instance_num" keyword for the ext_bus device referenced by the hardware path in the error message.
    • The result of doing this is that disk devices attached to that ext_bus will be assigned a different instance number and have a different device file name than before.
    • It is possible to still run into the problem with just the one line disabled. You can either keep trying and disabling the next entry, or disable all hw_instance_num lines if desired.
  • When using a tape recovery, you cannot disable just the one hw_instance_num value as you can with a network recovery. For tape:
    • From the first UI screen, select the "Advanced Options" menu.
    • From the "Advanced Options" menu, select "Edit (vi) config file"
    • From the vi editor, add one line such as: hw_instance_num = 0 "ioa" "sba" 0
    • This will override the hw_instance_num values from the other config files on the tape.
    • The system will not attempt to restore any prior device file naming because of this.
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1-19  Why do I see errors about io.info version 0.5 not being understood and how do I work around it?

A: If an Ignite-UX version C.6.8 - C.6.10 was used to create a recovery image, and then an Ignite-UX version C.7.1 - C.7.6 was used to recover that image, you might see errors like this: ERROR: 0x40041e30: IOTree::parse_io_info_line:io_info version is not understood: 0.5 ERROR: Fatal error while parsing io.info file ERROR: Cannot initialize I/O data: unable to parse /var/opt/ignite/clients/0x00306E48CE61/io.info file. The cause of these ERROR messages is that versions C.6.8 - C.6.10 of Ignite-UX create a version 0.5 io.info file. When a recovery is attempted with versions C.7.1 - C.7.6 of Ignite-UX, it is unable to parse the old 0.5 version of the io.info file.

To work around this issue, you can do ONE of the following:
  1. Run Actions -> Refresh Client from the Ignite user interface.
  2. Use "Boot Client" from the Actions menu to boot the client in preparation for installing from the Ignite user interface.
  3. Use the client's console to boot from the Ignite-UX server.
  4. Delete the io.info file in the client's directory.


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Server Setup

2-1  Should I use DHCP or bootp?

2-2  Why did it call my client hostname.0x080009.... ?

2-3  How can I set the timezone for messages during the install?

2-1  Should I use DHCP or bootp?

A: As with anything, there are some advantages and disadvantages to both BOOTP and DHCP. In general, DHCP allows you to specify more complete networking information. However, there are no really good tools to manage the database so that you can enforce the LLA <-> IP-address mapping ahead of time. By its very design, DHCP dynamically allocates addresses.

You will probably want to use the Ignite-UXGUI to set up the range of IP addresses that you will want your server to manage with DHCP, if you have not already done so. You need to use SAM to make any future changes to the DHCP address pool.

If you are dealing with multiple subnets you will either need to have one DHCP server on each subnet or set up bootprelay agents.

See question 5-4 also.

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2-2  Why did it call my client hostname.0x080009.... ?

A: If your client has multiple LAN interfaces, and you have previously installed the client using one interface, and then later chose to use the other interface during the install, then the client name will have the LLA (link level address) appended to the hostname so that it does not conflict with the prior hostname left from the prior install.

This may also happen if you had to replace the LAN interface in your client since the last time you installed it. The LLA number is attached to the LAN interface, not the client.

It is only the name of the icon that has been renamed. You can use the Ignite-UX GUI Action menu to Change icon name to rename one or both of the clients.

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2-3  How can I set the timezone for messages during the install?

A: The HP-UX install kernel defaults to eastern US timezone. If you would like the log messages to come out in some other timezone, you can set the "TZ" environment variable within the *INSTALLFS files using instl_adm. Doing this will not impact the very first message that Ignite-UX produces, but it will take effect as soon as Ignite processes that variable setting. For example, to set TZ to mountain timezone: # instl_adm -d > /tmp/installfs.out
# echo 'env_vars += "TZ=MST7MDT"' >> /tmp/installfs.out
# instl_adm -f /tmp/installfs.out
NOTE: The "timezone" keyword in the Ignite-UX config file determines what timezone is actually applied to the system after the installation is complete. Setting the TZ env variable as shown above is only used during the installation. (See instl_adm(4) for the "timezone" keyword.)

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Configuration Files

3-1  What should go in which configuration file? Also, what should go in INSTALLFS?

3-2  How do I preview configuration file changes?

3-3  Is there a way to set the configuration files to ignore the disk warnings, which can prevent automated installs?

3-1  What should go in which configuration file? Also, what should go in INSTALLFS?

A: Here is a short description of the common uses of the various configurations. Obviously, there can be situations that are not common and variations will occur:
  • INSTALLFS (accessed/modified via instl_adm(1M)) - Information that is needed at boot, such as GUI controls and networking.
  • /var/opt/ignite/config.local - Information that should be globally applied to all clients and defines thepost_[load/config]_scripts run on all clients.
  • /opt/ignite/data/Rel*/config - This file sets the definitions for that release and should not be modified.
  • /var/opt/ignite/date/Rel*/*_cfg - Information regarding software selections/sources. These files should be created by make_config(1M) (run against an Software Distributor depot) or in the archive case, edited versions of the examples in /opt/ignite/data/examples/[core|noncore].cfg
When Ignite-UX is run for a client, all of these configuration files are combined and parsed. If there are conflicting or duplicate definitions, the order in which the files appear in the INDEX file determines the precedence with the last file listed (typically config.local) having precedence over all but the INSTALLFS definitions.

A potential breakdown can occur if the client was previously installed and the per client directory in /var/opt/ignite/clients exists and is populated with the previously resolved configurations. In this case, the previously resolved config.full has precedence.

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3-2  How do I preview configuration file changes?

A: 
DESCRIPTION: Fixing syntax problems with mod_kernels results in statements of the following form:

mod_kernel += "maxdsiz " + ${_maxdsiz}

There does not seem to be a way to preview the effects of these types of statements. Can a comment be added to the config.full with the string that was being output?

SOLUTION: The config.full file has the variable values replaced with the real values so if you review this file, you should be able to see what the real mod_kernel statement has become. In this case, you would see the following:

mod_kernel += "maxdsiz 0"

Another option would be to have the configuration file push a shell prior to the kernel build using a post_load_cmd:

post_load_cmd += "/sbin/sh;"

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3-3  Is there a way to set the configuration files to ignore the disk warnings, which can prevent automated installs?

A: We do have an environment variable which should do what you need. Look in instl_adm(4) for INST_ALLOW_WARNINGS. This can be used to keep you from going interactive when warnings are received. You will need to put the setting of this environment variable in INSTALLFS for it to have effect. The line you would add to allow an automated installation to proceed after the warning is as follows:

env_vars += "INST_ALLOW_WARNINGS=10"

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Recovery

4-1  We tried running the recovery system option from a client booted in Ignite-UX, which generated errors. What files need to be accessible for tftp?

4-2  How do I duplicate a tape made with make_tape_recovery?

4-3  How do I deal with hot-swappable disk devices during recovery?

4-4  What is the maximum amount of data that a make_tape_recovery tape can hold?

4-5  How do I boot correctly from a recovery tape on a V-class system?

4-6  How do I include all volume/disk groups into a recovery tape?

4-7  Are multi-byte characters supported in file names in Ignite-UX?

4-8  Can you move a volume that was created in a non-root volume to the root volume during recovery?

4-9  How can I create empty volume groups during system restoration?

4-10 During the installation of a recovery archive, the process stopped with a message from pax_iux complaining of a file with % at the start of its name: pax_iux:/sbin/%sh text busy, would you like to push a shell for debugging? What should I do if I encounter this message?

4-11 How do I perform two-step recovery?

4-12 How do I retain custom minor number for device files?

4-1  We tried running the recovery system option from a client booted in Ignite-UX, which generated errors. What files need to be accessible for tftp?

A: Only /opt/ignite and /var/opt/ignite are needed for tftp access.

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4-2  How do I duplicate a tape made with make_tape_recovery?

A: For this information, refer to copy_boot_tape(1M). For information on how to copy a recovery tape for an HP Integrity server, see the document KBNL00000970 in ITRC titled, "How do I duplicate a recovery tape from a HP Integrity server?"

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4-3  How do I deal with hot-swappable disk devices during recovery?

A: Ignite-UX only supports hot-swappable disks that are completely installed and present when creating a recovery image. Proper software and hardware procedures must be used for hot swap disk removal or replacement before or after recovery, but not during. The LVM command lvlnboot used by save_config does not work when a disk is removed and the system is in this transitional state. If this command is not working, then recovery has no chance of succeeding. Please also refer to the discussion regarding SAS disks in the Ignite-UX release notes for version C.6.8.

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4-4  What is the maximum amount of data that a make_tape_recovery tape can hold?

A: make_recovery tape can hold as much data as will fit on the tape. If make_recovery is run in the foreground it prompts for more tapes if they are necessary.

Note that to include files larger than 2GB but less than 8GB you may need to install patches. On HP-UX 11i v1 (B.11.11) you must have PHCO_28414 or later installed. On HP-UX 11i v2 (B.11.23) you should have PHCO_31634 or later installed. Otherwise files will be limited to being less than 4GB in size.

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4-5  How do I boot correctly from a recovery tape on a V-class system?

A: When booting from a recovery tape on a V-class system using an incorrect boot string, it is possible that the following errors are generated: Command: bo 4/2/0.1.0 VINSTALL
Device : 4/2/0.1.0
File : hpux
Arguments : hpux VINSTALL
Loading : hpux.....175984bytes Loaded
110448 + 65536 + 865264 start 0xd01c88
Boot
:tape(4/2/0.1.0;0)VINSTALL
tape(4/2/0.1.0;0)VINSTALL:cannot open, or executable
Exec failed : No such file or directory
The correct method for booting any kernel from a tape is to add a colon (:) to the start of the kernel name. The colon tells the bootloader that it must read the kernel from the LIF at the start of the media. Without the colon, the bootloader attempts other methods to read the kernel, but it does not attempt to install it from a LIF. The above errors are the result of the bootloader attempting to read the kernel from an HFS filesystem, which on a tape is not possible.

Older releases of the bootloader prepended a colon (:) to the VINSTALL kernel name. The bootloader for 11i v1 does not allow for this behavior. In this case, the correct boot string would be:

bo 4/2/0.1.0 :VINSTALL

Not

bo 4/2/0.1.0 VINSTALL.

For machines other than the V-class, always use :INSTALL to represent the installation kernel when manually booting from tape or an installation CD. The bootloader automatically changes it to :WINSTALL on systems that require a 64-bit kernel for installation.

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4-6  How do I include all volume/disk groups into a recovery tape?

A: To include all volume and disk groups on the system into a recovery tape (which can also be used with make_net_recovery) use the following command:

make_tape_recovery -A -x inc_cross=/

The make_tape_recovery manpage defines inc_cross as follows: -x inc_cross=file|dir
Includes the file or directory in the recovery archive and
crosses mount points to access any directories that are
mounted or files contained in directories that are mounted.
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4-7  Are multi-byte characters supported in file names in Ignite-UX?

A: At this time, multi-byte characters are not supported in file names.

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4-8  Can you move a volume that was created in a non-root volume to the root volume during recovery?

A: When you recover a system using a recovery archive, you can extend the existing logical volume size in the File System tab of the Ignite-UX GUI. However, the current tool does not allow you to create a new logical volume instead of using the old one.

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4-9  How can I create empty volume groups during system restoration?

A: When using make_*_recovery tools in an off-site disaster recovery situation, you may desire to have all the volume groups on the system recreated during the restore operation even though only the root volume group data is backed up with make_*_recovery. This may be the case when you use other tools (such as fbackup/frecover, Veritas netbackup, Omniback, etc.) for backing up the non-root data. This can be accomplished by specifying at least one file in each non-root volume group to be included in the backup.

The way the make_*_recovery works is that if any files from a volume group are included, the restoration process will recreate that volume group during the recovery. So if only one file is specified for inclusion from the volume group, the entire group will be recreated, and, of course, that one file will be restored.

A more complicated command line would be necessary to accomplish this, and -A would no longer be an option (which is what is used today).

An example would be: make_net_recovery -x inc_entire=vg00 \
-x include=/myDataVolume/anyFile ...
This would backup the entire vg00 volume group and the one file anyFile from the directory myDataVolume. Assuming that myDataVolume is on the other volume group, the layout of the other volume group will be saved and restored during recovery (along with anyFile).

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4-10  During the installation of a recovery archive, the process stopped with a message from pax_iux complaining of a file with % at the start of its name: pax_iux:/sbin/%sh text busy, would you like to push a shell for debugging? What should I do if I encounter this message?

A: Answer yes to push a shell, then move the file aside to a new name that will not conflict with any other file name. For example: # mv "/sbin/%sh" "/sbin/%sh.remove" Then continue the recovery installation process by typing exit 2 and then pressing Return. If you move the files to a name that has something in common, they will be easier to find and remove post-recovery.

NOTE: Files starting with % (such as /sbin/%sh) are created by Ignite-UX during a recovery or installation session. These files remain on a system if an error occurred during the last recovery or installation before they could be cleaned up. Problems during recovery or installation should be investigated immediately; failing to do so can cause problems with subsequent recoveries.

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4-11  How do I perform two-step recovery?

A: When recovering an Itanium-based system from a recovery image created with make_tape_recovery that does not support Itanium®-based tape boot, you must perform a two-step recovery. This requires both a recovery tape of the system and bootable CD or DVD containing the same revision of Ignite-UX; for example, C.6.6.x.

If you are using a version of Ignite-UX that does not have a corresponding set of Operating Environment media, you must create a custom bootable CD or DVD to recover from the recovery tape. Instructions on how to create this bootable media are available from the following locations:
  • In the "Creating Your Own Installation Media" chapter of the Ignite-UX Administration Guide, available in the Information Library.
  • In the Ignite-UX Custom Configuration Files document, available in the Information Library, locate the following section:

    "How do I create the CD equivalent of a tape created by make_tape_recovery?".
NOTE: make_media_install, found in /opt/ignite/data/scripts/examples, is an example script delivered with Ignite-UX C.6.2.x and greater. You can use this script as a guideline to create a bootable CD or DVD that may be used for dual-media recovery.

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4-12  How do I retain custom minor number for device files?

A: Ignite-UX provides no functionality to allow you to retain custom settings for minor numbers in device files. A significant fraction of device files are recreated using the insf -e command after a recovery or golden image installation. This includes the /dev/async device file (which will be used in the examples below).

You do have several options:
  1. Change your per-system post recovery instructions to remind you to look at the setting of /dev/async (the minor number) to ensure it is as it should be for this system.
  2. Write a startup script that looks at /dev/async and verifies that it has the minor number you would expect. If it is not the expected value, recreate it in the startup script.
It is important to note that anyone can run the insf -e command that would create this device file, not just Ignite-UX during a recovery.

NOTE: If the /dev/async device file needs to be customized, make the change before the database starts.

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General Installation

5-1  How does Ignite-UX estimate needed file system sizes? Does it do anything other than add up the impacts statements?

5-2  When does Ignite-UX configure software?

5-3  How do I set the client's final networking information?

5-4  I do not want to use DHCP, can I still have Ignite-UX automatically determine networking information for all my clients?

5-5  How can I make software in a depot available for installations?

5-6  FDDI software is included in my archive, yet Ignite-UX requires that I select it. Why?

5-7  How many clients can I install simultaneously or in parallel?

5-8  My installations are hanging; what is going on?

5-9  How large can I create a single swap space using Ignite-UX?

5-10 Why do the text fields in the Ignite-UX TUI not accept my input, and the dialogs re-open or loop?

5-1  How does Ignite-UX estimate needed file system sizes? Does it do anything other than add up the impacts statements?

A: Ignite-UX adds in minfree (normally 10%) to the amount required by the software impact.

You may have software bundles that have overlapping contents: filesets and/or files. The make_config command makes sw_impact statements for each bundle without doing anything special to guard against over-counting when the bundles overlap.

For example, the Ignite-UX-11-XX bundles all overlap so when you install all of them using Ignite-UX it estimates too much space.

You should be able to add the sw_impact of all the sw_sels that you are installing and to calculate the required file system size.

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5-2  When does Ignite-UX configure software?

A: The Software Distributor configuration and Ignite-UX post_config_cmd and post_config_script scripts are run after all software has been installed and the client has booted the final kernel from the target disk.

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5-3  How do I set the client's final networking information?

A: This can be done from the System tab of the Ignite-UX GUI, or using the keywords in the configuration files (refer to instl_adm(4)).

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5-4  I do not want to use DHCP, can I still have Ignite-UX automatically determine networking information for all my clients?

A: Yes. If you want more control over the allocation of IP addresses and their mappings to your clients, you can configure entries in /etc/bootptab for each client. Because BOOTP is a subset of DHCP, the client's request for a DHCP server is satisfied with the BOOTP response.

If you also specify a boot file (bf) of /opt/ignite/boot/boot_lif in the bootptab entries, then you do not need any additional entries in /etc/opt/ignite/inst_boottab. In this case, you would then boot the clients using boot lan instead of boot lan install. Only clients known in /etc/bootptab would be able to boot if you do not use instl_boottab. sysname:\
hn:\
vm=rfc1048:\
ht=ether:\
ha=080009352575:\
ip=15.1.51.82:\
sm=255.255.248.0:\
bf=/opt/ignite/boot/boot_lif
NOTE: There is a known problem using this mechanism that you should review, see this question.

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5-5  How can I make software in a depot available for installations?

A: You should change to the release directory that is appropriate for the software in the depot, then run make_config against the depot. After the configuration is created, run manage_index to make it visible in the Ignite-UX GUI. For example, for the following situation:

SD depot machine: sdsource
SD depot: /var/application_depot
For release: 11.23

You would execute the following:

cd /var/opt/ignite/data/Rel_B.11.23
make_config -s sdsource:/var/application_depot -c app_name.cfg
manage_index -a -f /var/opt/ignite/data/Rel_B.11.23/app_name.cfg \
-c "HP-UX B.11.23 Default"


NOTE: The make_config command only works on bundles. If the software is not contained within a bundle, you must either create bundles for it using the make_bundles command or manually create configuration files for your software.

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5-6  FDDI software is included in my archive, yet Ignite-UX requires that I select it. Why?

A: Ignite-UX generates an error indicating that you must select the FDDI software for installing if the following conditions exist:
  • You are using an FDDI interface during the installation.
  • There is a sw_sel defined in a configuration file that has the string FDDI in the description.
Ignite-UX provides the error prior to starting the configuration phase to avoid the client being unable to complete the installation due to the lack of the FDDI drivers. Ignite-UX does not have any way of detecting the inclusion of FDDI software in an archive so it assumes that it is not.

If you have the FDDI software in the archive, you can avoid the error by removing it from your depot then re-running make_config to reflect the removal in the associated configuration file.

Alternatively, you can select the FDDI software, which causes the swinstall command to skip installing it since it is already on the client.

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5-7  How many clients can I install simultaneously or in parallel?

A: Although there are no set limits in Ignite-UX, you will find that performance decreases as you reach the limits of your network and server bandwidth.

Most users have found that installing about 20 clients at a time, from a single server, is the limit while maintaining reasonable performance and avoiding network errors. This seems to be a reasonable number for you to keep track of and test when the installations complete. Also, you may find it useful to stagger the installations so that they are not all doing the same operation at the same time, thus do not all complete at the same time.

Using the NFS access method to access archives is suggested in order to avoid a problem that occurs when installing many clients using the ftp access method. When many ftpand tftp processes are running to a server at once, the tftp commands start generating the following error:

tftp: recvfile: recvfrom: Can't assign requested address

NOTE: You may need to make SD configuration changes to cope with a large number of concurrently installing clients. Please read the section on performance considerations for SD-UX based installs in the manual "Ignite-UX Custom Configuration Files" available at:
http://docs.hp.com/en/IUX/infolib.html

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5-8  My installations are hanging; what is going on?

A: In certain circumstances installations may hang and could be due to a problem with swagentd. If you are using an operating system archive, the hang occurs after the following message appears in: Running '/opt/upgrade/bin/tlinstall -v' and correcting transition link
permissions.
If you are using swinstall only, the hang occurs after the following message appears in install.log: Setting primary boot path to some hardware path At this point in the process, Ignite-UX attempts to start swagentd. Because of a signal problem with swagentd, the parent process waits infinitely for a signal from the child process which cannot occur. If you press CTRL-C on the client console, you a message similar to the following appears: NOTE: run_cmd: Process: 223 (/usr/sbin/swagentd) : killed by signal: 2.
ERROR: swagentd returned an error.
You are asked if you want to push a shell, and you should answer yes. You can exit, and then ask Ignite-UX to ignore the problem to continue the installation. Ignite-UX falsely believes that swagentd has not started and attempts to start it whenever it does a subsequent swinstall. This results in an error because the child process is in fact running. Assuming no other problems occur, the installation should complete successfully.

Ignite-UX has incorporated patched versions of swagentd into its SYSCMDS archives. However, if you are using an operating system archive the archive may contain an older unpatched swagentd that gets deposited on top of the SYSCMDS version. This older, unpatched version then gets used and the hang may occur. In this case, the operating system archive requires a patched swagentd to fix the problem, and then it must be rebuilt. If this is not possible, you can instead use a post_load_cmd script to copy a fixed swagentd from the Ignite-UX server onto the client after the archive is unpacked.

NOTE: Note that changing seemingly unrelated things like disk drives, file system layout, language choice, and so forth, may eliminate the hang though this is not guaranteed.

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5-9  How large can I create a single swap space using Ignite-UX?

A: On HP-UX 11.23 and above, the restriction on swap spaces being less than or equal to 32GB has been removed. The same is not true of HP-UX 11.11, Ignite-UX will limit the size of a swap space to be 32GB or less.

To fully enable any amount exceeding 32GB on HP-UX 11.11, it requires adjustment of the kernel parameters swchunk and maxswapchunks post installation.

There are individual size restrictions on the primary swap and all dump logical volumes that depend on operating system revision and firmware limitations in disk controllers. These volumes are limited in how far they can span from the beginning of the physical disk. The limits for HP-UX 11.11 and later are 4GB or limited only by size of disk, depending on firmware (Most PCI controllers and more modern systems do not impose specific limits. Older systems, like K and D series, do have restrictions on dump.)

If these limits are exceeded, Ignite-UX produces an error message and the installation is not allowed to proceed.

To use a large amount of swap, you must ensure that you have sized the swap related kernel parameters to allow for the total swap space configured. Ignite-UX automatically increases the kernel tunable maxswapchunks up to its maximum of 16384 to allow for more swap.

If the amount of swap created is more than 32GB, you must increase the kernel tunable swchunk from its default of 2048. Ignite-UX will not do this automatically. If there is insufficient kernel resources configured to allow you to use the swap being created, a message appears indicating this during the installation process. This message may not be accurate if you change swchunk using a configuration file as Ignite-UX assumes that swchunk is 2048 and does not take into account any changes to its value.

You can manually increase swchunk once the installation process is complete using SAM. To increase swchunkduring an Ignite-UX installation you can place a line like the following in the Ignite-UX configuration: mod_kernel += 'swchunk 4096' With swchunkset to 4096 you are able to utilize up to 64GB of swap, assuming that Ignite-UX had to set maxswapchunks to its maximum value of 16384.

NOTE: Ignite-UX does not detect any changes you make to swchunk, it limits the total size of all swap space to 32 GB.

To calculate how much swap can be utilized you multiply swchunk by maxswapchunks, for example: 16384 * 4096 = 67108864. Since swchunk is measured in KB 67108864 / (1024*1024) = 64 GB.

Ignite-UX lets you configure more space in swap space than what the kernel can use so getting swchunk and maxswapchunks set correctly for a large configuration is important.

Currently the maximum supported value of swchunk is 16384. This gives a total of 256GB of addressable swap with both swchunkand maxswapchunks set to 16384.

Try not to over configure the amount of swap that can be addressed when setting values for maxswapchunks and swchunk. These values are used to allocate kernel memory that is used to keep track of swap resources, setting them too large wastes memory. To efficiently use kernel memory keep swchunk as a power of 2 (for example: 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384).

When choosing values try to keep swchunk to the lowest value that you can, and then choose the value needed for maxswapchunks to address the swap needed. On a system that actively swaps memory to a swap space there may be performance implications when increasing swchunkpast its default of 2048.

The HP-UX Memory Management White Paper (mem_mgt.txt located in /usr/share/doc) contains detailed information about how swap is controlled inside the kernel.

Additionally, to create logical volumes as unused logical volumes rather than swap logical volumes you can configure them to be used for swap after the installation process has completed. This is only important if you need the swap spaces allocated in a particular order.

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5-10  Why do the text fields in the Ignite-UX TUI not accept my input, and the dialogs re-open or loop?

A: The text fields within the Ignite-UX TUI do not recognize keyboard input when the Insert key is active. Make sure that the the Insert key is inactive when entering data in the TUI by pressing it.

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Network Installation

6-1  When the client searches for bootable devices, the Ignite-UX server does appear on the list. When I try to boot, I get the error: IPL error: bad LIF magic. Why?

6-2  I set control_from_server=true and run_ui=false in the INSTALLFS, but I still get prompted for information on the client. What is wrong?

6-3  The bootsys command seems to work in reverse: if we typed bootsys -w client the client did not wait for the server, and if we typed bootsys client, the client waited for the server. Why?

6-4  When executing search lan install on the client , the Ignite-UX server does not appear in the list. Why?

6-5  The bootsys command fails due to insufficient space in the /stand volume. Why?

6-6  Can I have the Ignite-UX server and client on different subnets?

6-7  My Itanium-based client fails to boot with a PXE-E16 error. Why?

6-8  Does Ignite-UX support Auto-Port Aggregation (APA)?

6-9  Does Ignite-UX support IPv6?

6-1  When the client searches for bootable devices, the Ignite-UX server does appear on the list. When I try to boot, I get the error: IPL error: bad LIF magic. Why?

A: Typically, this has been caused by one of the following situations:
  • Not having tftp access to /opt/ignite and /var/opt/ignite, the /etc/inetd.conf file on the server should have an entry similar to: tftp dgram udp wait root /usr/lbin/tftpd tftpd /opt/ignite \
    /var/opt/ignite
    If not, fix inetd.conf and run inetd -c. Kill any tftpd processes that may be running. installing Ignite-UX should set inetd.conf.
  • Using a tftp entry for the client that is referencing a non-existent boot file (bf).
  • A corrupted /opt/ignite/boot/boot_lif file.
  • Some remnants of the old cold installation product are conflicting with Ignite-UX. For example, an old instl_bootd is running.
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6-2  I set control_from_server=true and run_ui=false in the INSTALLFS, but I still get prompted for information on the client. What is wrong?

A: Review the following possible answers dependent on the prompt that you received:
  • If the screen is showing the client name in an editable field and a Cancel button at the bottom of the screen, then all is well and there should be an icon waiting for you in the Ignite-UX server GUI. The text screen allows you to change the icon name, or switch to a client-side installation.
  • If the screen is showing two or more LAN interfaces to select from, there was not enough information in the configuration files to tell it which LAN to use. Once you select a LAN, and then select HP-UX and the installation continues.
  • If the screen is prompting you for networking information, then either DHCP did not respond or there is not an entry in /etc/bootptab for the client. Enter the network information, select Install HP-UX and continue the installation.
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6-3  The bootsys command seems to work in reverse: if we typed bootsys -w client the client did not wait for the server, and if we typed bootsys client, the client waited for the server. Why?

A: This is probably you ran through the GUI once on the Ignite-UX server prior to running bootsys. The server drops the instruction for the client to start installing and the next time the client boots it uses this dropped instruction. The message Ignite-UX generates attempts to tell you that the installation will happen the next time that bootsys -w is used, but does not indicate that it happens automatically.

It is likely that the next time you executed a bootsys command, you had not used the GUI without the client being booted from the Ignite-UX server.

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6-4  When executing search lan install on the client , the Ignite-UX server does not appear in the list. Why?

A: Check the following on the Ignite-UX server that you are trying to boot from:
  • Messages from instl_bootd in /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log. If you need to add more IP addresses to /etc/opt/ignite/instl_boottab, messages are written to syslog.log similar to the following: instl_bootd: Denying boot request for host:
    080009F252B3 to avoid IP address collision.
    Try booting again in 214 seconds, or add
    more IP addresses to /etc/opt/ignite
  • A message in syslog.log that indicates that you have no IP addresses in /etc/opt/ignite/instl_boottab similar to the following: instl_bootd: No available IP address found in:
    /etc/opt/ignite/instl_boottab
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6-5  The bootsys command fails due to insufficient space in the /stand volume. Why?

A: The bootsys commands needs to copy the two files:

/opt/ignite/boot/Rel_<release>/*INSTALL
/opt/ignite/boot/Rel_<release>/*INSTALLFS

where <release> is the operating system release, from the server into the client's /stand directory. This error indicates that there is not enough space in /stand on the client. To correct the error, you may need to remove any backup kernels. Additionally, check for kernels in the /stand/build directory (like vmunix_test).

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6-6  Can I have the Ignite-UX server and client on different subnets?

A: Yes. It requires that you setup a boot-helper on the remote subnets, or limit yourself to using the bootsys command.

Because the network boot firmware uses a broadcast BOOTP packet to find an Ignite-UX server to boot from, these packets do not normally cross over subnets. This limits clients to booting from Ignite-UX servers only on their local subnet.

When your Ignite-UX server is on a remote subnet, you have basically three options:
  • Set up a boot-helper system on the client's subnet that has the IUX.MinimumRuntime product installed. This boot-helper system provides the client with the ability to boot the INSTALL kernel, and then contact the server once it is booted. For more information, refer to the Ignite-UX Administration Guide.
  • Use the bootsys command from the Ignite-UX server to initiate the installation of the client. The bootsys command copies the INSTALL and INSTALLFS files to the client's local disks and instructs it to boot from them. This option avoids the need to do a network boot.
  • Create a minimal bootable tape or CD to boot from, and then point the client to the Ignite-UX server once it is booted. For more information, refer to make_medialif(1M).

    On HP Integrity servers, use direct boot profiles (if your system supports them) and directly contact a remote Ignite server without needing a boot helper.
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6-7  My Itanium-based client fails to boot with a PXE-E16 error. Why?

A: A "PXE-E16: Valid PXE offer not received" error indicates that the client did not receive a valid message from either a BOOTP or DHCP server.

Itanium®-based clients differ from PA-RISC clients because the Ignite-UX instl_bootd boot protocol server can not be used. The Configure Booting IP Addresses button on the Server Configuration tab of the Ignite-UX GUI and the /etc/opt/ignite/inst_boottab file do not apply to Itanium®-based clients.

Instead, a BOOTP/DHCP server such as HP-UX bootpd must be configured and /etc/bootptab entries made for each client. If this Ignite-UX server has been configured and the client still does not boot, the following is a checklist of items to verify.

Check inetd for the following:
  • Check /etc/inetd.conf to make certain bootps and tftp entries have been uncommented.
  • Was inetd restarted or given an option to re-read the configuration files (inetd -c), after they were edited? Is the inetd process running?
  • Check for entries in /var/adm/inetd.sec that may cause inetd to deny service to certain clients.
  • Check /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log to make certain inetd was restarted, and that no bad messages were found. Check for messages from bootpd and tftpd.
Check bootpd for the following:
  • Check the /etc/bootptab entry. Make certain the MAC address matches the client MAC address. Use dhcptools -v to validate the format of the /etc/bootptab file.
  • Check for entries in /etc/dhcpdeny to insure that bootpd is not set up to deny service for particular clients.
  • Check /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log for a message from bootpd that indicates it was started when a bootpd packet was received.
Check tftpd for the following:
  • Check the tftp line in /etc/inetd.conf to make certain /opt/ignite an /var/opt/ignite directories are listed.
  • Check the tftpd connection manually by using the tftp command, for example: prompt% tftp [server-name]
    tftp> get /opt/ignite/boot/nbp.efi /tmp/nbp.efi
    Received n bytes in s seconds
    > quit
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6-8  Does Ignite-UX support Auto-Port Aggregation (APA)?

A: No. Clients whose primary LAN is configured with HP Auto-Port Aggregation, APA, bundle tag J4240AA, can only be successfully installed with /opt/ignite/bin/bootsys if the LAN is deaggregated during the bootsys process. During the HP-UX installation process, the APA software is not present and therefore the virtual LAN configuration is not valid.

Also, on systems that only have an APA network interface, during an Ignite-UX recovery operation the Ignite user interface (itool) will not display any networking information.

If a system has an auto port aggregate (APA) configured, Ignite-UX does not support cloning using that recovery archive. It is only supported to recover the archive to the system on which it was created. This assumes that the lan interfaces are still configured for APA, on the switch they are connected to, in exactly the same way as when the archive was created.

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6-9  Does Ignite-UX support IPv6?

A: No. Ignite-UX does not currently support installation over IPv6.

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Media Installation

7-1  Why do I get DCE/RPC errors (RPC exceptions) during the configuration stage?

7-2  How can I put an operating system archive on multiple CDs?

7-3  Which HP-UX releases support install using vMedia?

7-4  How can I use Intergrated Lights-Out (iLO) vMedia with Ignite-UX?

7-1  Why do I get DCE/RPC errors (RPC exceptions) during the configuration stage?

A: In addition to these errors, there is a 10+ minute hang at the end of the SD configure stage and a failure message appears at the end of the installation.

There is an apparent problem with certain SD operations (for example, swacl) when only loopback networking is enabled. This occurs if the media-only installation option is selected. The workaround is to install using the media with networking enabled option and set up these networking parameters: hostname, IP address, netmask, routing, etc. This allows the Software Distributor operations to complete normally.

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7-2  How can I put an operating system archive on multiple CDs?

A: If the archive you want to put onto a CD is too large, you should consider using a DVD instead. If your system only has a CD writer, you should then consider creating multiple independent archives, each of which fits on a CD.

The first archive should contain the core HP-UX directories; the remaining archives would contain the rest of the system. Use the following procedure to create these archives:
  • Determine what large (non-essential) directories can be omitted from the core-operating system archive, and included in subsequent archives. In this example, we are assuming that the /opt directory will be put into a second archive. It may require some trial and error to exclude enough data to make an archive small enough to fit on the CD. In addition, keep in mind that the LIF data on the first CD requires space.
  • Create the first core-operating system archive, use the make_sys_image command and use the -f option to specify a file that contains a list of directories that should be excluded. For example, if you want to exclude /opt from the archive, create a file (/tmp/specific_files) that contains: + NO_ARCHIVE
    /opt
  • Run make_sys_image as follows:
    /opt/ignite/data/scripts/make_sys_image  \
    -f /tmp/specific_files -s local -d /var/tmp 
  • Create your second archive containing the rest of the system (in this example, the /opt directory). Note that the archive content must not contain absolute paths. This is especially true for core-operating system archives, but is a good idea for other archives as well. Using pax to create the tar archive:
    cd /
    pax -wx ustar -f - opt | gzip > /var/tmp/archive2.tar.gz
  • Copy and edit the configuration file template /opt/ignite/data/examples/core11.cfg for the first core-operating system archive.
  • Copy and edit the /opt/ignite/data/examples/noncore.cfg template file for the other archives. In addition to the changes required to make it work with a CD, make sure to change the sw_source definition in this file, to add the line: change_media=TRUE
Now you can put these archives and configuration files on the CDs. The first CD contains the LIF data created using make_medialif as well as all the configuration files referencing all your archives. For more information, refer to make_medialif(1M) and the Ignite-UX Administration Guide chapter on creating your own installation media.

The second and subsequent CDs need to only contain a file system containing the archive. Do not use instl_combine on the subsequent CDs as they should not have a LIF area.

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7-3  Which HP-UX releases support install using vMedia?

A: HP-UX 11i v3 (B.11.31) for September 2007, HP-UX 11i v2 (B.11.23) for December 2007, or a later release is needed for vMedia install.

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7-4  How can I use Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) vMedia with Ignite-UX?

A: If vMedia and the HP-UX kernel perform a very fast, simulated USB DVD device attach during boot, installation will work as if the vMedia DVD were a build-in DVD device.

It is much more likely the HP-UX kernel will not discover the boot source device and Ignite-UX will complain that the source device is not found: WARNING: Could not find Q_BOOT device. \
Cannot determine what the boot device was.
ERROR: Could not get io-device data (ioscan)
WARNING: Could not find source device in ioscan output. You must select
from the list of devices below to use for the source device:
A few seconds after these messages are displayed, a USB attach message will show on the console. Use the r (rescan) option to request Ignite-UX to repeat I/O inventory to allow discovery of the vMedia device. After rescan, select the vMedia device from the list of possible source devices. This is required because the kernel will not determine the boot source during rescan. After selection of the source device, installation will then continue normally.

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Archive Installations (Golden Images)

8-1  What does the following gunzip error indicate?

8-2  The /etc/nsswitch.conf and /etc/resolv.conf files from my archive do not end up on the client. Why?

8-3  What do these errors mean: pax_iux: X: Cross-device link, pax_iux: X: File exists, or pax_iux: X : Device busy?

8-4  What applications are tested for use with Ignite-UX?

8-1  What does the following gunzip error indicate?

A:  gunzip: stdin: unexpected end of file
pax_iux: The archive is empty.
ERROR: Cannot load operating system archive (HP-UX Core
Operating System Archives)
It appears that the NFS mount succeeded, but the file was not accessible from the client. Check the following possibilities:
  • The file has a different name so check your configuration files for errors.
  • The file has the wrong permissions such that it is not readable so check your /etc/exports file.
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8-2  The /etc/nsswitch.conf and /etc/resolv.conf files from my archive do not end up on the client. Why?

A: There are certain files which Ignite-UX modifies during the configuration process, among them resolv.conf and nsswitch.conf. To end up with the archive versions of these modified files on your clients, Ignite-UX provides two scripts called os_arch_post_l and os_arch_post_c to aid you. These scripts are delivered in the /opt/ignite/data/scripts directory. You will probably only need to modify os_arch_post_l to achieve your goal. Copy this file to a new name in the same directory and then edit it searching on resolv.conf and nsswitch.conf for instructions regarding what must be changed.

After the script has been changed, modify your configuration file that describes the archive so that it points to the new script.

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8-3  What do these errors mean: pax_iux: X: Cross-device link, pax_iux: X: File exists, or pax_iux: X : Device busy?

A: Both of these errors may occur when installing a client from an archive that does not have the same file system partitioning as the client on which the archive was created.

The first error, _iux: X: Cross-device link, is caused when two files exist as hard links in the archive, and if these two files would reside in separate file systems. For example, if you created an archive on a client that did not use LVM the root file system is all one file system and the files, /usr/local/bin/f1 and /opt/myprod/bin/f2, are hard linked. If you make an archive of this client then try to apply it to a client that uses LVM and has /usr and /opt as separate file systems this error occurs.

The second and third errors, pax_iux: X: File exists and pax_iux: X : Device busy, can occur when the archive has a symbolic link (symlink), or regular file that is named the same as a directory or mount point that exists when the archive is installed. For example if the original client on which the archive was made has a symlink like /opt/myprod -> /extra/space, and when you are installing a client from the archive you decide to create a mounted file system as /opt/myprod. The pax command fails to create the symlink because a directory exists in it's place.

You can recover from this failure when the error happens because, on the client's console, you are asked if you want to push a shell. Answering yes, and then typing exit 2 from the shell you can ignore the error and continue the installation.

Once the client is up, you can more easily determine what to do with the paths that created the errors.

To avoid the errors, the client that the archive is created from should not contain soft links between directories that are likely to be created as separate file systems.

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8-4  What applications are tested for use with Ignite-UX?

A: HP applications that have been tested with Ignite-UX have an OD1 option on the HP Corporate Product List (CPL), which indicates the factory integrate option. This option directs HP factories to install the software on the your client before it leaves the factory. HPmanufacturing installs the software from a depot using the Ignite-UX process.

You can install all HP applications identified with an OD1 ordering option from a depot.

No applications are tested for proper installation or operation when included in a golden image archive that is installed with Ignite-UX. They may work fine in this mode but it is up you to verify proper installation and operation. Running swconfig -x reconfigure=true \* after installation may cause some software to properly configure itself after installing from a golden image archive.

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Obtaining Ignite-UX

9-1  What is different about the Web version?

9-2  Is Ignite-UX available on media?

9-3  How do I update my Ignite-UX server to a new version?

9-4  How much of Ignite-UX do I need to install?

9-5  How can I copy Ignite-UX from media to a local depot such that Ignite-UX from this new local depot will be installable on all HP-UX B.11.* systems?

9-1  What is different about the Web version?

A: Usually nothing, other than the software may be available prior to the media release. Additionally, you can download one depot containing all supported operating system releases. On some occasions, the web release will contain additional fixes not present in the media release.

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9-2  Is Ignite-UX available on media?

A: If you have subscription service for the Application Media Release then Ignite-UX is available to you on the media without a codeword. In other words, free.

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9-3  How do I update my Ignite-UX server to a new version?

A: In general, each new version of Ignite-UX is compatible with any scripts or configuration files that were delivered with older versions.

If you follow some simple guidelines, updating to a new version of Ignite-UX involves running swinstall to install the new version; this is the same procedure as installing it for the first time. There is no need to remove the old version. If you are unsure of exactly what to install to perform the update, please read the white paper, "Installing and Updating Ignite-UX" available from the following URL:
http://docs.hp.com/en/IUX/infolib.html

Updating to a new version of Ignite-UX preserves any changes you have made to files under the /var/opt/ignite and /etc/opt/ignite directories. Changes to any files under /opt/ignite are LOST during the update. HP does not recommend changes to any files under /opt/ignite.

Guidelines for ensuring easy updates:
  • Do not modify any files under the /opt/ignite directory. If you need to modify any configuration files under /opt/ignite, copy them to an equivalent directory under /var/opt/ignite then modify the INDEX file to use them in the new location instead. Some files and scripts contain comments that describe the recommended modification procedure to use.

    If you must modify files under /opt/ignite, then save a copy of your changes so you can restore the changes to the new files after updating Ignite-UX if necessary.
  • Make sure you install all of the Ignite-UX filesets you had previously so you do not end up with a mixture of old filesets and new filesets.
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9-4  How much of Ignite-UX do I need to install?

A: Depending on what you are using Ignite-UX for, you may be able to reduce the disk space usage by not installing the full product. Below is a list of typical usages and a list of what parts of Ignite-UX you need. If you are not concerned with disk space, it is easiest just to install the bundles for the HP-UX releases you plan to work with. For all cases the IUX.IGNT-ENG-A-MAN fileset can be omitted or removed if you do not want on-line documentation.
  • Ignite-UX server to install HP-UX on clients - install the Ignite-UX bundles for each HP-UX release which you plan to install onto clients.
  • Ignite-UX server to support network recovery for clients - Install the full Ignite-UX bundle for each version of HP-UX that your clients are running. It may be easier to install the B5725AA bundle (for versions of Ignite-UX before C.7.0) or IGNITE (for versions of Ignite-UX from C.7.0), note that the IGNITE bundle is the same as the B5725AA bundle - it is only a new name.
  • Using only make_tape_recovery on clients - Create the recovery commands depot on your Ignite server and install the HP-UX release specific bundle applicable to your system, or if you have downloaded Ignite-UX from the Web, install the release specific version of Ignite-UX from that depot. that bundle contains everything required to create a recovery tape.
  • Using only make_net_recovery on a client - The filesets a client needs are normally installed by the Ignite-UX GUI to each client from the depot created by pkg_rec_depot(1M). The bundle IUX-Recovery should be installed from the recovery commands depot to support.
  • A network boot helper system - To setup a client on a remote subnet that is used just to allow clients to boot from the network, and then contact a remote Ignite-UX server, all you need is Ignite-UX.MinimumRuntime.
Keep in mind that it is not a good idea to install a mixture of different versions of Ignite-UX filesets on a client. So if you decide to update just a subset of Ignite-UX, you may want to use swremove to remove the portions you no longer need.

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9-5  How can I copy Ignite-UX from media to a local depot such that Ignite-UX from this new local depot will be installable on all HP-UX B.11.* systems?

A: The media versions of Ignite-UX have the os_release attribute set to match the revision of the media (i.e., B.11.11 or B.11.23 or B.11.31). A user may copy the Ignite-UX bundles from media into a local depot and run swmodify to change the value of the os_release attribute to be wide open (i.e., it will then be installable on all HP-UX B.11.* systems).

See the sample script at: /opt/ignite/data/scripts/examples/open_media_iux

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Loading Patches

10-1 How do I prevent backup copies of patched files from being saved?

10-2 Why are patches left in an installed state when I install the Support Plus patch bundle along with HP-UX 11.x from CD?

10-1  How do I prevent backup copies of patched files from being saved?

A: When installing HP-UX patches from SD depots, the normal behavior is that the patched files are saved in case you want to remove the patch at a later date. However, this takes up additional space in the /var directory so you may want to turn that feature off.

This feature is controlled by an option to the swinstall command as follows:
-xpatch_save_files=false|true

You can use the sd_command_line keyword either at the global level, or within individual sw_source clauses depending on whether you want it to be specified for all installs or just certain ones.

Be aware that for patches in the core depot, this option is specified by the /opt/ignite/date/Rel.B.11.*/hw_patches_cfg file. It is controlled by the configuration file variable, _hp_patch_save_files, and made visible to the user in the Additional tab of the Ignite-UX GUI.

To specify this option at the global level (for example in the /var/opt/ignite/config.local file), you can add the following line: sd_command_line += "-xpatch_save_files=false" To set the default variable that controls the core patches to "NO", add the following line to config.local (which must be listed after hw_patches_cfg in the INDEX file):
init_hp_patch_save_files = "NO"

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10-2  Why are patches left in an installed state when I install the Support Plus patch bundle along with HP-UX 11.x from CD?

A: When Ignite-UX installs the core-operating system and patch bundle from the Installation CD, it installs the software with the SD-UX option defer_configure set to true, and then the Support Plus patch bundle is installed. Ignite-UX can install patches that supersede patches installed as part of the core-operating system patch bundle. Superseded patches cannot be moved into a configured state by swconfig when it is eventually performed. This is because the superseded patches now on the client are no longer applicable to that patch, it is only applicable to the patch that superseded it. To correctly determine if a patch is really in an installed state you should look at the setting of both patch_state and state in the swlist output. For example: swlist -l patch -a state -a patch_state | grep PH
If the patch_state is applied (the patch has not been superseded) and the state is installed, this may indicate an issue and you should configure the patch with the swconfig command. If the patch_state is superseded or committed, you do not have to worry about the state. However, if you remove any patches and a previously superseded patch changes to have a patch_state of applied, you must run swconfig manually to configure the patch if its state attribute is installed.

NOTE: Do not manually modify the state attribute of an installed or committed patch to be configured with the swmodify command.

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Network Recovery

11-1 How can I learn more about network recovery?

11-2 How can I clone a client using make_net_recovery?

11-3 How can I tell which files will be included in the archive created by make_net_recovery??

11-4 How can I tell which disks or volume groups get re-created during an installation from a make_net_recovery configuration?

11-5 How can I use make_net_recovery if I need to be able to recover from a tape?

11-6 Which files does Ignite-UX change during an installation from a make_net_recovery configuration?

11-7 How can I keep archives from being deleted by make_net_recovery when new archives and configurations are created by subsequent invocations of make_net_recovery?

11-8 How can I make configuration file additions to all recovery configurations for a given client?

11-9 How can I select from the standard file system layouts during a recovery?

11-10 I replaced the client machine and the LAN address is now different. How can I restore the new machine from the old client network recovery archive?

11-11 Dealing with hot swappable disks during recovery?

11-12 Why does archive_impact fail during make_net_recovery?

11-13 How can I restore VxVM DCO log volume groups?

11-14 Are the layered/striped/mirrored VxVM volumes included in the recovery archive when a client recovery archive is created?

11-15 Can I run make_tape_recovery/make_recovery in single user mode? If so, how?

11-16 Why are there invalid disk device files left behind after some recoveries?

11-17 How can I install additional software from depots during a recovery?

11-18 Why am I getting this message: Warning: untrusted X11 forwarding setup failed?

11-1  How can I learn more about network recovery?

A: In addition to the information in this FAQ, there are several other sources of information on network recovery:
  • The System Recovery chapter in the Ignite-UX Administration Guide.
  • The following manpages are applicable to network recovery:
    • make_net_recovery(1M)
    • make_boot_tape(1M)
    • pkg_rec_depot(1M)
    • instl_adm(1M)
    • instl_adm(4)
    • ignite(5)
  • The Ignite-UX Release Notes that detail new features, enhancements and known problems with the product. It is located in Information Library and in the /opt/ignite/share/doc/release_note directory.
  • The recovery white papers, "Successful System Cloning using Ignite-UX" and "Successful System Recovery using Ignite-UX" at:
    http://docs.hp.com/en/IUX/infolib.html
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11-2  How can I clone a client using make_net_recovery?

A: The recovery configurations and archives created by make_net_recovery are stored in a separate directory on the Ignite-UX server for each client.

Using the configuration and archive created by make_net_recovery on one client to install a different client involves manually copying some configuration files, and allowing NFS access to the source client's archive.

The steps to clone a client using make_net_recovery are as follows:
  1. Use make_net_recovery or the Ignite-UX GUI to create a recovery archive of the source client.
  2. Login to the Ignite-UX server.
  3. If the client to be installed does not currently have a directory in /var/opt/ignite/clients on the Ignite-UX server but is up and running, then use the Ignite-UX GUI to create that directory using the Add New Client for Recovery task.

    If the client is not running, you either need to boot the client from the Ignite-UX server or for a tape made with make_boot_tape so that this directory is created.
  4. Copy the CINDEX file and recovery directory from the source client to the target client directory. Note that if the client has previously used make_net_recovery then it already has a CINDEX file. If a CINDEX file for the target client exists, you may want to save a copy or hand edit the file to add the desired entries from the source client.

    The following commands copy the required files. You can specify src-client and client using either the MAC addresses (for example, 0x0060B04AAB30) or the client's hostname which is symbolically linked to the MAC address.

    cd /var/opt/ignite/clients/src-client
    find CINDEX recovery | cpio -pdvma ../target-client
  5. Give the target client NFS access to the archive of the source client by logging into the Ignite-UX server that holds the archive.

    Typically each client has its own directory for storing the archives, and the directory is exported only to the individual client. For Ignite-UX servers running releases prior to 11.31, you must edit the /etc/exports file to allow access to both the source and target clients as follows:
    1. #vi /etc/exports
    2. Append tt class="computeroutput">:target to the end of the source client's line.
    3. #exportfs -av
    where target is the hostname of the target system. See exports(4) for more information.

    For Ignite-UX servers running 11.31 or later, you must edit the /etc/dfs/dfstab file to allow access to both the source and target clients as follows:
    1. #vi /etc/dfs/dfstab
    2. Append ,ro=target to the -o argument of the source client's line.
    3. #shareall -F nfs
    where target is a fully qualified client name. Note that since this client should not be creating an archive, the client will not have write access to the archive directory. See dfstab(4) for more information.
  6. Now, boot the client from the Ignite-UX server using any method you wish. When you install the client, you can select from the recovery configurations of the source client.
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11-3  How can I tell which files will be included in the archive created by make_net_recovery??

A: Execute /opt/ignite/lbin/list_expander as described in the next FAQ question, replacing the -d option (which lists the disks and/or volume groups) with the -l option, which lists the individual directories and files that will be included in the archive).

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11-4  How can I tell which disks or volume groups get re-created during an installation from a make_net_recovery configuration?

A: Execute the following from the client: /opt/ignite/lbin/list_expander -d -f<input_file> where <input_file> specifies what is to be archived. Refer to make_net_recovery(1M) for details on the format of <input_file>. The make_net_recovery command can take input from an input file, no input, or input from the command line with the x option. The list_expander command can take input from an input file, or no input, but does not have an x option like make_net_recovery does. To see the result of using x options, put them in a file and passlist_expander the file name.

If you used the Ignite-UX GUI to specify what is to be included in the archive, then the input file can be found on the Ignite-UX server in: /var/opt/ignite/clients/client/recovery/archive_content You can copy this file from the server to the client, then run list_expander against that file.

Omitting the -f input_file causes list_expander to use only the essential files as input. This shows which disks or volume groups are re-created for the minimal archive.

The following is an example of the output:
In? dsk/vg name minor# Associated disks
0 d /dev/dsk/c0t3d0
1 v /dev/vg00 0x00 /dev/dsk/c0t6d0 /dev/dsk/c0t4d0
0 v /dev/vg01 0x01 /dev/dsk/c0t1d0
0 v /dev/vg02 0x02 /dev/dsk/c0t2d0>
The first column shows, for each disk or volume group, if it will be:

2 = included in full (INC_ENTIRE dsk/vg specified); the disk or volume group is re-created and files from the archive are restored.

1 = included in part (some files included, some not); the disk or volume group is re-created and files from the archive are restored.

0 = not included at all (no files from this dsk/vg are included); the disk or volume group will NOT be touched.

The second column shows that the client has one whole disk (d) and three volume groups (v). The third column gives the names of the disks and volume groups.

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11-5  How can I use make_net_recovery if I need to be able to recover from a tape?

A: There are two ways you can recover from a tape with make_net_recovery. The following method that you choose depends on your needs:
  • The first method is useful when you want to create a totally self-contained recovery tape. The tape will be bootable and contain everything needed to recover your client, including the archive of your client. During recovery, no access to an Ignite-UX server is needed.
  • The second method is useful when you do not have the ability to boot the client using the network, but are still able to access the Ignite-UX server using the network for your archive and configuration data. This could happen if your client does not support network boot or if is is not on the same subnet as the Ignite-UX server. In these cases, use make_boot_tape to create a bootable tape with just enough information to boot and connect with the Ignite-UX server. The configuration files and archive are then retrieved from the Ignite-UX server. For more information, refer to make_boot_tape(1M)
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11-6  Which files does Ignite-UX change during an installation from a make_net_recovery configuration?

A: During a client recovery, Ignite-UX strives to restore the client back to the way it was. However, Ignite-UX is a general purpose installation tool and as such it has the capabilities of modifying many client configuration files.

When you run make_net_recovery, client configuration information is gathered and saved in configuration files that are used later when the client is recovered. During the client recovery you are allowed to make changes to this information, then Ignite-UX makes the appropriate changes to the client configuration. If you do not make any changes, then Ignite-UX simply re-applies the last installation information and makes no changes to the client's configuration.

Most of the client configuration files that Ignite-UX modifies are listed in the script: /opt/ignite/data/scripts/os_arch_post_l.

The os_arch_post_l script checks for the client recovery case by checking the $RECOVERY_MODE variable. When this variable is true, the os_arch_post_l script causes some configuration files to be protected from modification by using the save_file function. The os_arch_post_l script uses the merge_file function on files into which Ignite-UX knows how to intelligently merge information.

The files operated on by merge_file, as well as those that have a commented out save_file line are those that are likely to be modified by Ignite-UX. Comments in this file explain any exceptions.

Because the list of files modified by Ignite-UX may change from release-to-release, it is best to look at the os_arch_post_l script on the client to see which files are saved as-is and which are merged with information from the Ignite-UX configuration files.

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11-7  How can I keep archives from being deleted by make_net_recovery when new archives and configurations are created by subsequent invocations of make_net_recovery?

A: You may want to prevent known good archives from being deleted from your client. The make_net_recovery tool provides the -n option, which allows you to specify the number of archives to save. To preserve disk space, the oldest archives are removed as new archives are created. The number of archives that are removed is based on the number of archives you specified to be saved using the make_net_recovery -n. One way to ensure that known good archives are saved is to specify the number of archives to save to be greater than the maximum number of archives you plan to store on the client at any given time. This method has the potential to use a great deal of disk space.

An alternative, better approach to saving known good archives is to rename the archive and edit the configuration file to include the new archive name. The following procedure explains this process in detail:
  1. Login to the system where the archive is being stored; this system could be different from your Ignite-UX server.
  2. Rename the archive. The name of the archive to save can be anything unique, but it should be outside the naming convention: yyyy-mm-dd,hr:min

    For example: cd /var/opt/ignite/recovery/archives/system_name
    mv old_archive_name saved_archive_name
    mv 1999-05-11,15:14 Recovery_Archive.0511.save
  3. If the archive server is different from the Ignite-UX server, login to the Ignite-UX server.
  4. Edit the following file to reference the new archive name: /var/opt/ignite/clients/client/recovery/old_archive_name/archive_cfg Change the archive_path variable inside the (source_type == "NET") conditional to the name of the saved archive. For example: (source_type == "NET") {
    archive_path = "Recovery_Archive.0511.save"
    } else {
    archive_path = "1"
    }
  5. Optionally, you can edit the cfg entry in the file: /var/opt/ignite/clients/client/CINDEX so the that configuration is unique and descriptive when it is viewed using the Ignite-UX GUI. For example, change: cfg "1999-05-13,06:51 Recovery Archive" {
    description "Weekly System Recovery Archive"
    .
    .
    .
    }
    to: cfg "Saved Recovery Archive" {
    description "Weekly System Recovery Archive"
    .
    .
    .
    }
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11-8  How can I make configuration file additions to all recovery configurations for a given client?

A: Create a new Ignite-UX configuration file called /var/opt/ignite/clients/0xLLA/recovery/config.local. This config.local file is automatically included into your recovery configuration for this client each time you run the make_net_recovery command. The make_net_recovery command is run for you when you use the Ignite-UX GUI for network recovery.

If you already have recovery configurations for this client and would like them to include the config.local file, edit the /var/opt/ignite/clients/0xLLA/CINDEX file to include a reference to recovery/config.local in all of the configuration clauses.

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11-9  How can I select from the standard file system layouts during a recovery?

A: It is possible to change the way your disks are configured when you recover from an image saved by make_net_recovery. To do so, you must modify the /var/opt/ignite/clients/0xLLA/CINDEX file for the client you are recovering.

The CINDEX file contains one or more configuration clauses that refer to the recovery images you have previously created with make_net_recovery. Add a new configuration file entry to the clause that you intend to recover from. If you want to add the HP standard file system choices, add the file: /opt/ignite/data/Rel_release/config where release is the operating system release on the client you intend to recover. For example, /opt/ignite/data/Rel_B.11.23/config would be added for a client with the HP-UX 11.23 operating system. This new configuration file entry should be the first entry in the clause you are modifying.

When you launch the Ignite-UX during recovery, select the file system type you wish to use on the Basic tab.

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11-10  I replaced the client machine and the LAN address is now different. How can I restore the new machine from the old client network recovery archive?

A: Ignite-UX uses a separate directory for each client under /var/opt/ignite/clients. Each subdirectory is named based on the client's LAN address (MAC address, LLA, etc.)

If you replace the client hardware or the LAN card that the old LAN address was based on, then it can no longer access the same directory on the Ignite-UX server.

The simplest solution is to obtain the new LAN address, which you can do from the boot-ROM console using a command like LanAddress (the actual command may vary depending on the hardware architecture). Once you have the new address then manually rename the directory under /var/opt/ignite/clients. You may remove the symbolic link to the hostname because it is recreated automatically. The LAN address must be all in upper-case and begin with 0x.

If you have already booted the client from the server, which caused it to create a new directory, you can remove that directory before renaming the old directory. Be careful not to remove the original directory or you will lose the recovery information.

For example: cd /var/opt/ignite/clients
mv 0x00108300041F 0x00108300042A
rm oldhostname
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11-11  Dealing with hot swappable disks during recovery.

A: See question 4-3

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11-12  Why does archive_impact fail during make_net_recovery?

A: The PHCO_21185 patch issued for ksh(1M) causes corrupt parameter processing. The corruption occurs when archive_impact is run as a part of a make_net_recovery command.

Software patch PHCO_21185 has been superseded by PHCO_22020. Remove patch PHCO_21185 and install PHCO_22020 to correct this failure.

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11-13  How can I restore VxVM DCO log volume groups?

A: The make_net_recovery/make_tape_recovery tools will create a recovery archive for a client with preserving the configurations for all VxVM ( VERITAS Volume Manager) volumes except data change object (DCO) log volumes. After recovering from the archive, the DCO log volume configurations will be lost and must be reconfigured using VxVM commands.

There are basically two methods of reconfiguring lost DCO log volumes; choose the method that is appropriate for your situation:
  • Wait until the client is recovered and then execute the following VxVM command:

    vxassist -g rootdg addlog homevol logtype=dco

    Repeat execution of this command until all the DCO volumes are restored.
Or,
  • Manually create an Ignite-UX configuration file that executes the VxVM commands as part of the actual recovery process. This method integrates the VxVM commands into an Ignite-UX configuration file.

    For make_net_recovery, create a new Ignite-UX configuration file called /opt/ignite/clients/0x{LLA}/recovery/config.local; while for make_tape_recovery, create a new file called /var/opt/ignite/recovery/config.local. The respective config.local file is automatically included in your recovery configuration for this client each time make_net_recovery/make_tape_recovery is run.

    An example of a config.local file that restores DCO log volumes after the recovery completes follows: ###### Begin user changes to add DCO log volumes #######

    post_config_cmd +="
    vxassist -g rootdg addlog homevol logtype=dco
    "
    ###### End user changes to add DCO log volumes ######
    After creating this config.local file, it is a good practice to run instl_adm -T -f config.local to ensure that the syntax is correct.

    Commands in post_config_cmd are executed automatically after the client is restored.
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11-14  Are the layered/striped/mirrored VxVM volumes included in the recovery archive when a client recovery archive is created?

A: No. The make_tape_recovery and make_net_recovery tools do not back up the layered/striped/mirrored VxVM volumes. You need to perform the following actions during and after the recovery:
  • During recovery, since the volume definition for layered/striped/mirrored volumes may not exist, you may need to manually define a volume for recovery and resize other volumes appropriately. Ignite-UX may have adjusted the size of other volumes so the client could be recovered. However, this may fail due to a lack of disk space and force an interactive recovery. In any event, you should choose an interactive recovery then verify that the VxVM volume layout will be appropriate after recovery.
  • After recovery you need to recreate the original volume configuration. In other words, set up the previous layered/striped/mirrored VxVM volume configuration.
For more information, refer to VERITAS Volume Manager documentation at the HP Technical Documentation Web site.

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11-15  Can I run make_tape_recovery/make_recovery in single user mode? If so, how?

A: Yes. You can use these tools after booting or shutting down to single user mode. Choose the appropriate procedure for your situation:

After you have booted to single user mode, use this procedure:
  1. Mount all file systems:
    /sbin/mountall
  2. Disable DNS so that /etc/hosts is used:
    mv /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf.save
  3. Set your client's hostname, where hostname is the name of your client:
    /sbin/rc1.d/S320hostname start
  4. Set up loop back networking:
    /sbin/rc2.d/S008net.init start
  5. Start the networking daemon:
    swagentd
  6. Start the recovery tool you intend to use make_[tape|net]_recovery:
    make_[tape|net]_recovery

    NOTE:The -s option of make_tape_recovery is not supported in the single user mode.
  7. When complete, return the resolv.conf file to it's original location:
    mv /etc/resolv.conf.save /etc/resolv.conf
After you have shutdown to single user mode, use this procedure:
  1. Mount all file systems:
    /sbin/mountall
  2. Start the SD-UX daemon:
    swagentd -r
  3. Start the recovery tool you intend to use make_[tape|net]_recovery:
    make_[tape|net]_recovery

    NOTE: The -s option of make_tape_recovery is not supported in the single user mode.
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11-16  Why are there invalid disk device files left behind after some recoveries?

A: When Ignite-UX performs a recovery operation, it can create device files for disks that are discovered when the client boots from the installation kernel. During the recovery process, Ignite-UX performs actions to preserve the original instance numbers of those disks. After the final client boot, the disks will have the original instance numbers. However, Ignite-UX does not attempt to clean up disk devices which no longer have hardware devices associated with them.

The existence of these device files presents no problem to HP-UX. This is only known to cause problems with one third party product as it expects all disk devices to have hardware associated with them. To remove the device files that no longer have hardware associated with them, the following commands should be executed:
# lssf /dev/*dsk/* | grep '\?\?\?'
# rmsf names of files found with the previous command
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11-17  How can I install additional software from depots during a recovery?

A: In situations where a system needs additional software installed to support restoring a recovery archive onto a different hardware platform, or perhaps a vPar or HPVM, you can load additional software from a depot during the recovery.

To do this, generate a config file using make_config for the depot containing the additional software. Then add the path to that config file to each recovery clause desired in the /var/opt/ignite/clients/<client>/CINDEX file. The example below will create a config file and add it to all entries in the client's CINDEX file. # make_config -s <depot> -c /var/opt/ignite/data/Rel_B.XX.YY/sw.cfg # manage_index -a -f /var/opt/ignite/data/Rel_B.XX.YY/sw.cfg \ -i /var/opt/ignite/clients/<client>/CINDEX You may instead choose to save the config file for the client in the path "/var/opt/ignite/clients/0x<LLA>/recovery/config.local". In which case each time a new recovery archive is made, the config.local file will be automatically added to the new CINDEX entry. (See FAQ item 11-8.)

During a system recovery, the software bundles available in the depot will be available for selection from the user interface.

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11-18  Why am I getting this message: Warning: untrusted X11 forwarding setup failed?

A: If you try to initiate a recovery session on a client from the Ignite-UX server GUI and you see the following warning: Warning: untrusted X11 forwarding setup failed: xauth key data not generatedWarning: No xauth data; using fake authentication data for X11 forwarding. check the setting of the "ForwardX11Trusted" variable in /opt/ssh/etc/ssh_config on the server. If it is "no," try setting it to "yes."

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