Installation guide

Introduction 1-7
There are hardware, firmware, and software requirements and restrictions to
meet before you can run logical partitions. Chapter 2 describes the major
hardware configuration rules as of this printing. However, you should check the
Systems and Options Catalog for the most up-to-date information on the hard-
ware, firmware, and software required. The Systems and Options Catalog also
lists hardware that is not supported for partitioned systems and must be re-
moved from your system before partitions will run. The Systems and Options
Catalog is available on the web at http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/.
Defining logical partitions involves setting certain environment variables. Set-
tings for these environment variables are discussed in Chapter 3.
A sequence of console commands must be issued to set environment variables
and to initialize logical partitions before installation of an instance of the oper-
ating system in each partition. These commands are described in Chapter 4.
See also the information on logical partitioning in the Tru64 UNIX System Ad-
ministrator’s Guide for information on how to initialize logical partitions and
boot and install the operating system.
Once partitions are up and running separate instances of an operating system,
maintenance and troubleshooting will likely be done from each partition’s con-
sole terminal. For example, a hardware error may cause one instance of the
operating system to crash. If the proper installations have been made, you can
run DECevent from the problem partition to debug.
However, some conditions (such as upgrading your system’s console firmware,
or to include new modules or other hardware) require shutting down each in-
stance of the operating system and disabling partitions temporarily until the
situation is taken care of. This procedure is described in Chapter 5.