User guide

12
Console Primer
This chapter describes the Digital Alpha VME 4 console and explains how to use
basic commands to perform console tasks.
The console achieves much of its power and flexibility from its traditional UNIX
functionality. This chapter gives you an understanding of the basic functions
of the UNIX like kernel, various utilities and tools, the user interface, and how
these compare with the structure of the OpenVMS operating system. If you have
a good working knowledge of the OpenVMS operating system, this primer will
help you make a smooth transition from using that operating system to using the
UNIX operating system. Read this chapter and practice some of the examples
before attempting an actual terminal session. If you are already proficient in
using the UNIX operating system, you can start using the console commands
described in Chapter 13.
12.1 About the Console
The Digital Alpha VME 4 console is a hybrid of an OpenVMS console and a
UNIX shell. A shell is a command line interpreter, the interface between the
operator and the firmware. The Digital Alpha VME 4 console’s firmware includes
three OpenVMS components: console, diagnostics, and the virtual monitor boot
(VMB). By cloning some UNIX functions and carrying over some OpenVMS
console functions, the Digital Alpha VME 4 console takes advantage of familiar
commands and avoids, when possible, creating new commands for existing
functions.
12.1.1 Console Features
The console firmware is an extremely powerful, yet simple, environment. It is a
platform of simple tools that handle common services like the following:
• Operator interface
• Operating system bootstrap
• Operating system restarts
Console Primer 12–1