Modes: Switching between nPars and vPars Modes (Integrity Only)

Modes

On an Integrity system, you will need to set the mode in order to boot into a specific mode. For vPars usage, there are only two modes:

vPars
Sets the next nPartition boot to boot into the vPars environment. This allows you to boot the vPars Monitor and therefore the virtual partitions in the next nPartition boot. You still need to boot the vPars Monitor and the virtual partitions, but this mode allows you to do this.

nPars

Sets the next nPartition boot to boot into the standalone environment. In this mode, you cannot boot the vPars Monitor and therefore the virtual partitions. However, you can boot any OE instance into standalone mode.




	NOTE: If any of the following conditions occur, the OS must be booted in `nPars` mode: An nPartition is reconfigured, by adding, deleting, or moving CPUs or cells, The nPartition’s NVRAM is cleared, or Hyperthreading is turned on for the first time. Once booted to an HP-UX shell, use the vparenv command, described below, to change the mode to `vPars`.

You can set the mode from the following levels using the corresponding commands:

Location	Command
HP-UX Shell	vparenv
MON>	reboot
EFI	vparconfig, parconfig

Commands to Set the Mode

HP-UX Shell: vparenv [-m mode] where

mode: has the value of either vPars or nPars

Sets the mode for the next nPartition reboot. Note that this may sometimes take a few minutes to process.




	CAUTION: After using vparenv to change the boot mode from `vPars` mode to `nPars` mode, further booting and loading of virtual partitions will fail although the vPars Monitor has not been rebooted. To boot or load virtual partitions, use vparenv to change the boot mode back to `vPars` mode.

Example:

To set the nPartition into vPars mode so that the next nPartition boot allows you to boot the vPars Monitor and therefore the vPars environment:

Set the mode
# vparenv -m vPars
Then, you manually reboot the nPartition:
# shutdown -r
... Shell> fs0: fs0:\> hpux /stand/vpmon ... MON>

vPars Monitor: reboot [mode] where
mode
has the value of either vPars or nPars
Reboots the nPartition into the mode mode. If any virtual partitions are up, this will cause them to be shutdown ungracefully.
EFI: vparconfig [reboot mode] where
mode
has the value of either vPars or nPars
Sets the mode for the next nPartition reboot and then also reboots the nPartition.
Note that vparconfig is not a built-in EFI shell command. You must go to the disk (for example, fs0:) to execute the vparconfig command.
Examples:
- To set the mode to vPars and then immediately reboot the nPartition into vPars mode:
  Shell> fs0: 1 fs0:\> vparconfig reboot vPars 2
  1
  First access the disk.
  2
  Then execute the vparconfig command.
- To set the mode to nPars and then immediately reboot the nPartition into nPars mode
  Shell> fs0: 1 fs0:\> vparconfig reboot nPars 2
  1
  First access the disk.
  2
  Then execute the vparconfig command.

EFI: parconfig [mode[-n]] where

mode: has the value of only nPars. parconfig does not allow you to set the mode to vPars
-n: means no interactive prompts




	NOTE: HP recommends using vparconfig instead of parconfig whenever possible; information on parconfig is provided here as additional information or when vparconfig is not present on the disk. vparconfig is installed only on the boot disks of the virtual partitions when vPars is installed. If the boot disks are removed or you switch boot disks, you may need to use parconfig.

Example To set the nPartition into nPars mode and reboot the nPartition:

First, set the mode:
Shell> parconfig nPars -n
Then, you can reboot the nPartition from either the EFI shell using the reset option:
Shell> parconfig reset

Differences Between vparconfig and parconfig

Table 5-1 vparconfig versus parconfig

	vparconfig	parconfig
EFI shell:	vparconfig is not a built-in EFI shell command, so you must execute vparconfig from the disk.	parconfig is a built-in EFI shell command, so you can execute parconfig from the EFI shell.
syntax:	vparconfig reboot `mode`	parconfig `mode`
nPartition reboot:	vparconfig automatically reboots the nPartition after you set the mode.	parconfig does not automatically reboot the nPartition. You must manually reboot the nPartition.

Usage Scenarios

If you are running HP-UX in nPars mode (standalone), use the following vPars command to switch to vPars mode:
OS-Prompt> vparenv -m vPars 1 OS-Prompt> reboot
1
Sets the mode for the next nPartition reboot for the system to boot into vPars mode.
If you are at the vPars Monitor prompt, use the following vPars Monitor command to switch to nPars mode:
MON> reboot nPars
The reboot nPars command sets the mode and reboots the system.
If you are at EFI shell prompt, use the following EFI utility to switch to either nPars or vPars mode:
Shell> fsN: fsN:\> vparconfig reboot mode
Since vparconfig is not a built-in EFI shell command, you must go to the disk to execute vparconfig. For example, to switch to vPars mode:
Shell> fs0: 1 fs0:\> vparconfig reboot vPars 2
1
Access the EFI partition of the disk.
2
Set the mode and reboot the system.
NOTE: vparconfig is an EFI utility which gets installed in the EFI partition during the installation of the vPars product.
If you are at EFI shell prompt in vPars mode and you do not have vPars installed on any of your disks, you can use the built-in EFI command parconfig to switch to nPars mode:
Shell> parconfig nPars Shell> parconfig reset
Note: Remember to issue a parconfig reset after setting the mode. parconfig nPars only sets the mode to nPars. You must issue the parconfig resetto reset the system so that it boots into nPars mode.
Note: parconfig does not support switching to vPars mode. In other words, you can use parconfig to set the mode to nPars, but you cannot use parconfig to set the mode to vPars.
During a cold-install of the OE and vPars software, the following general steps could occur:
1. Boot and install the OE and vPars software as well as create the vPars database onto the intended boot disk of a virtual partition.
2. Set the mode to vPars so that you can boot the nPartition into the vPars environment.
  # vparenv -m vPars
3. Reboot the nPartition into the vPars environment and load the first virtual partition.
4. From the first virtual partition, use vparboot -I to install the OE and vPars software onto the remaining boot disks of the remaining virtual partitions.
For detailed steps on how to do the installation, see “Installing vPars with Ignite-UX on Integrity”.
Suppose you have booted to the vPars Monitor prompt but are unable to load any vPars databases. You can boot the system into nPars (standalone) mode and attempt to look into the database without the vPars Monitor running. To do this:
1. Set the mode to nPars and reboot the nPartition:
  MON> reboot nPars
2. During the nPartition bootup process, boot into standalone mode by booting the vmunix kernel instead of the vPars Monitor:
  Shell> fs0: fs0:\> hpux.efi /stand/vmunix # vparstatus -v -D /stand/vpdb




	CAUTION: When you set the mode to `vPars` for the first time on a system, you must use vparenv. When a vPars database does not exist on a system, first boot into `nPars` (standalone) mode, create the vPars database, and then use vparenv -m vPars to switch the mode to `vPars`. If vparconfig reboot vPars is used and vparenv -m vPars has not previously been executed on the system, it may not be possible to boot vPars. Changing the mode to `vPars` should be performed using vparenv instead of vparconfig whenever possible.

NOTE:

When the system is at the EFI shell prompt in vPars mode, you can use either one of the following commands to reset the nPartition:
- EFI_Shell> parconfig reset
- EFI_Shell> fsx: fsx:\> vparconfig reboot vPars
The standard EFI Shell command reset should not be used to reset the system or nPartition when it is in vPars mode.
If the desired mode is not set, you will not be able to boot into that mode. For example, you will not be able to boot the vPars Monitor (/stand/vpmon) when you are in nPars mode. Likewise, you will not be able to boot into standalone mode when you are in vPars mode.
On an Integrity system which has vPars software installed but does not have the correct firmware version installed, you will see the following behavior depending upon the mode of operation:
- If the current mode is nPars, booting vmunix works as expected. Booting vpmon exits with an unsupported environment message.
- If the current mode is changed to vPars using vparenv or vparconfig, the hpux loader does not allow boot of either the vpmon or vmunix. In this case, you should use vparconfig to change mode back to nPars and reboot the system. You should then install the required firmware. See the HP-UX Virtual Partitions Ordering and Configuration Guide for information on the required firmware.

Modes: Switching between nPars and vPars Modes (Integrity Only)

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Modes

Commands to Set the Mode

Example:

Differences Between vparconfig and parconfig

Usage Scenarios