Installation guide

4.4 System Configuration
When you install the DIGITAL UNIX system, the distribution software
includes the files that the system needs to create and build the core kernel
and the kernel subsystems. You might need to reconfigure your system, on
occasion, to align and tune it to meet the changing conditions of your site.
The DIGITAL UNIX configuration procedure is similar in many ways to the
ULTRIX procedure. The procedure consists of the Berkeley Standard
Distribution Version 4.3 (BSD 4.3) configuration scheme, which includes
the mechanism for configuring a kernel according to the definitions found
in the static system configuration file, /sys/conf/
NAME , where NAME is the
name of your system, in uppercase letters. The kernel calls the
autoconfig routine at startup time to configure physical devices that are
defined in the configuration file and are connected to the system. Devices
that are defined in the configuration file, but are not connected to the
system, are not configured and cannot be used. Other subsystems (file
systems and network protocol families, for example) are initialized and
configured if they are defined in the /sys/conf/
NAME file, and if the
corresponding subsystem framework is present and activated.
Like the ULTRIX configuration file, the DIGITAL UNIX configuration file
contains a number of parameters that you can use to tune your system.
The parameters on the DIGITAL UNIX system differ from the ULTRIX
parameters. For information about using the DIGITAL UNIX parameters,
see the System Administration manual.
As with ULTRIX, you build a new kernel on the DIGITAL UNIX system
automatically by using the doconfig program. You can also build a new
kernel manually by using the config program. The only difference is that
the config program on DIGITAL UNIX systems is in the /sys/bin
directory. On ULTRIX systems, the program is in the /etc directory. When
you build a kernel on the DIGITAL UNIX system, the doconfig or config
program places the newly built kernel in the directory /sys/
NAME , where
NAME is your system name. For more information about building a new
kernel, see the System Administration manual.
4.5 System Security Features
The DIGITAL UNIX system has elementary features that allow you to
control access to your system. For example, you can create and remove
accounts and set permissions for files and directories. These system
security features included in the DIGITAL UNIX system are the traditional
UNIX security features. For information about using these security
features, see the System Administration manual.
Overview of DIGITAL UNIX System and Network Administration 4–5