man8/man8.alpha/boot.8

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.\"     @(#)boot_hp300.8        8.2 (Berkeley) 4/19/94
.\"
.Dd February 17, 2017
.Dt BOOT 8 alpha
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm boot
.Nd Alpha system bootstrapping procedures
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Tn DEC
.Tn Alpha
systems can have either of two different firmware systems:
.Tn ARC
.Pq a.k.a. Tn AlphaBIOS ,
and
.Tn SRM .
Some
.Tn Alpha
systems have both in their flash
.Tn RAM
and can switch between them on command.
.Tn ARC
is used to bootstrap Microsoft Windows NT for
.Tn Alpha .
.Tn SRM
is used to bootstrap
.Tn OpenVMS
and
.Tn Ultrix .
.Nx
requires
.Tn SRM .
.Pp
.Tn SRM
can bootstrap from supported local storage devices, e.g.,
.Tn IDE
disks or
.Tn CD-ROM
drives,
.Tn SCSI
disks or
.Tn CD-ROM
drives, and floppy drives.
.Tn SRM
can also network bootstrap via supported
.Tn Ethernet
interfaces, using
.Tn BOOTP
or
.Tn MOP .
The particular capabilities of
.Tn SRM
will vary from system to system.
.Pp
When
.Tn SRM
boots the system, it performs a Power On Self Test
.Pq Tn POST ,
probes the system busses to identify devices, and initializes them.
.Tn SRM
includes an x86 instruction emulator in order to run the
.Tn BIOS
initialization routines found in the
.Tn PROM
of any video cards found.
In this way, most generic
.Tn PCI
video cards can work in
.Tn Alpha
systems that have
.Tn PCI
bus slots.
.Pp
.Tn SRM
then examines the state of one of several variables:
.Ev auto_action .
If the value of
.Ev auto_action
is
.Qq halt
then
.Tn SRM
will stop, print its prompt:
.Qq >>>
and wait for commands to be entered on the console.
If the value of
.Ev auto_action
is
.Qq boot
then
.Tn SRM
will automatically bootstrap the operating system specified by
various non-volatile environment variables.
.Pp
.Tn SRM
device names are not the same as in
.Nx ,
e.g.,
.Sy ewa0
is a
.Tn DEC
.Qq tulip
.Tn Ethernet
interface,
.Sy dka0
is a
.Tn SCSI
disk on a recognized controller,
.Sy dqa0
is an
.Tn IDE
disk on a recognized controller.
The
.Ic show device
command will list all the devices that
.Tn SRM
can bootstrap from.
.Ss SRM Commands
.Tn SRM
is somewhat
.Ux Ns No -like
in that it incorporates a simple pipe and I/O redirection,
which allows command sequences like:
.Pp
.Bd -literal -offset indent
show config | more
show * | more
.Ed
.Pp
An essential but incomplete list of
.Tn SRM
commands follows:
.\" .Pp
.\" .Bl -tag -width "boot [-file filename] [-flags value] [-protocols enet_protocol] [device]"
.\" .It Ic boot Oo Fl file Ar filename Oc Oo Fl flags Ar value Oc Oo Fl protocols Ar enet_protocol Oc Op Ar device
.Pp
.Ic boot
.Op Fl file Ar filename
.Op Fl flags Ar value
.\" .Op Fl protocols Ar enet_protocol
.Op Ar device
.Pp
Boot an operating system.
The default arguments for this command are taken from the
.Tn SRM
environment variables:
.Pp
.Bl -tag -compact -width "boot_osflags" -offset indent
.It Ev boot_file
file name to bootstrap.
.It Ev boot_osflags
flags to pass to the secondary bootstrap program.
.It Ev bootdef_dev
default bootstrap device.
.El
.\" .It Ic help Op Ar command
.Pp
.Ic help Op Ar command
.Pp
Invoke the
.Tn SRM
help system.
.\" .It Ic set Ar variable Ar value
.Pp
.Ic init
.Pp
Reset the
.Tn SRM
console, and take actions as specified by
.Tn SRM
variables.
.Pp
.Ic set Ar variable Ar value Op Fl default
.Pp
Set an
.Tn SRM
variable, e.g.,
.Bd -literal -offset indent
set auto_action boot
set bootdef_dev dka0
set ewa0_mode auto
.Ed
.Pp
If the
.Fl default
flag is used, the variable will be set to its default value.
.\" .It Ic show Ar variable or subsystem
.Pp
.Ic show Ar variable or subsystem
.Pp
Show
.Tn SRM
variables and values, or show system state or configuration.
If a wildcard is used, then all matching
.Tn SRM
variables are shown, e.g.,
.Pp
.Bl -tag -width "show device" -compact -offset indent
.It Ic show \&*
will display all
.Tn SRM
variables.
.It Ic show b*
will display all variables whose names begin with
.Em b .
.It Ic show config
will display the complete system configuration.
.It Ic show device
will display all bootable devices.
.It Ic show memory
will display the system's memory configuration.
.El
.\" .El
.Ss SRM Variables
.Bl -tag -width "ew*0_protocols"
.It Ev auto_action
What
.Tn SRM
will do at system startup or reset:
.Bl -tag -width boot
.It Ar boot
automatically bootstrap the operating system.
.It Ar halt
after
.Tn POST ,
prompt the user on the console for commands to execute.
.El
.Pp
Some
.Tn Alpha
systems
.Pq e.g., Tn AlphaServer 800
have a
.Qq halt
switch, which if set, will override the action of this variable, and cause
.Tn SRM
to stop after
.Tn POST
and prompt the user for commands to execute.
.It Ev bootdef_dev
The default bootstrap device, e.g.,
.Sy dka0 ,
.Sy dqa0 ,
.Sy ewa0 .
The
.Ic show device
command will list the available and recognized bootable devices.
.It Ev boot_file
The file to bootstrap from; this is a null string by default.
.It Ev boot_osflags
The flag passed to the secondary bootstrap program, and the
.Nx
kernel:
.Bl -tag -width "XXXX"
.It Sy a
.Pq automatic
multi-user mode bootstrap.
.It Sy c
crash dump immediately after
.Xr autoconf 4 ,
if the
.Nx
kernel is compiled with
.Dv DEBUG ;
See
.Xr options 4 .
.It Sy d
break into the debugger ASAP, if the
.Nx
kernel is compiled with
.Dv DDB
or
.Dv KGDB ;
See
.Xr options 4 .
.It Sy h
on a reboot request from the
.Nx
kernel, halt the system instead of rebooting.
.It Sy i
the
.Nx
secondary bootstrap program will stop and prompt for the
.Nx
kernel file name to bootstrap.
.It Sy n
the
.Nx
kernel will ask for the root file system's device, the kernel core
dump device, and the path to
.Xr init 8 .
.It Sy q
bootstrap quietly.
.It Sy s
single-user mode bootstrap.
.It Sy v
bootstrap verbosely.
.El
.Pp
These may be used in combinations that are not mutually exclusive.
These options are case-insensitive to be compatible with
.Tn DEC
operating systems.
.It Ev console
What type of console device
.Tn SRM
and
.Nx
will use:
.Bl -tag -width "graphics"
.It Ar graphics
use a video card for output, and a
.Tn PC
keyboard for input.
.It Ar serial
use the first serial port for console.
.El
.Pp
Just as with
.Tn Sun
systems,
.Tn Alpha
systems will use the first serial port as a console if there is no
keyboard plugged into the keyboard port, even if
.Ev console
is set to
.Qq graphics .
.It Ev ew*0_mode
The media and speed for
.Tn DEC
.Qq tulip
Ethernet interfaces
.Po
e.g.,
.Tn DECchip
21040, 21140, 21143
.Pc ;
possible values are:
.Ic auto
.Po
.Tn IEEE
802.3u
.Qq Nway
negotiation
.Pc ,
.Ic BNC ,
.Ic AUI ,
.Ic Twisted-Pair ,
.Ic FastFD
.Pq Fast Full Duplex .
.It Ev ew*0_protocols
The protocol to use when netbooting, i.e.,
.Tn MOP
.Pq Maintenance Operations Protocol ,
or
.Tn BOOTP
.Pq Bootstrap Protocol .
.Pp
The
.Tn Alpha
.Tn SRM
firmware is picky about
.Tn BOOTP
responses; the
.Xr dhcpd.conf 5
on the server needs the
.Pp
.Bd -literal -offset indent
always-reply-rfc1048 on;
.Ed
.Pp
directive in the section for netbooting
.Tn Alpha
systems.
.It Ev os_type
This determines which system firmware will be used after the next
power-cycle, if both
.Tn ARC
and
.Tn SRM
are present in
.Tn Flash RAM .
This should be set to any of
.Qq Ux ,
.Qq osf ,
or
.Qq vms
to select the
.Tn SRM
console required for
.Nx .
.Tn OSF
refers to the Open Software Foundation.
.El
.Ss After bootstrap
Once the
.Nx Ns Tn /alpha
kernel is booted normally
it initializes itself and proceeds to start the system.
An automatic consistency check of the file systems takes place,
and unless this fails, the system comes up to multi-user operation.
.Pp
The proper way to shut the system down is with the
.Xr shutdown 8
command.
.Pp
If the system crashes, it will enter the kernel debugger,
.Xr ddb 4 ,
if it is configured in the kernel.
If the crash occurred during initialization and the debugger is
not present or is exited, the kernel will halt the system.
.Pp
If the crash occurred during normal operation and the debugger
is not present or is exited, the system will attempt a dump to the
configured dump device (which will be automatically recovered with
.Xr savecore 8
during the next bootstrap cycle), and after the dump is complete (successful
or not) the kernel will attempt a reboot.
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width /usr/mdec/bootxx_cd9660 -compact
.It Pa /boot
.Nx
secondary bootstrap program
.Pq installed
.It Pa /netbsd
default
.Nx
system kernel
.It Pa /usr/mdec/bootxx_cd9660
primary bootstrap for
.Dq cd9660
.Pq Tn ISO 9660
file system
.It Pa /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffs
primary bootstrap for
.Dq ffs
file system
.Pq Berkeley Fast File System
.It Pa /usr/mdec/boot
secondary bootstrap
.It Pa /usr/mdec/netboot
network bootstrap
.It Pa /usr/mdec/ustarboot
.Dq ustar
disk and tape bootstrap
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr ddb 4 ,
.Xr alpha/mkbootimage 8 ,
.Xr alpha/setnetbootinfo 8 ,
.Xr diskless 8 ,
.Xr init 8 ,
.Xr installboot 8 ,
.Xr rc 8 ,
.Xr reboot 8 ,
.Xr savecore 8 ,
.Xr shutdown 8
.Rs
.%T "Alpha Architecture Reference Manual Third Edition"
.%Q "Alpha Architecture Committee"
.%I "Digital Press"
.%D 1998
.Re
.Sh BUGS
The device names used by
.Nx Ns Tn /alpha
and the
.Tn SRM Console
often have no relation to each other.