Ignite-UX Frequently Asked Questions

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1.8
Q: Can I run make_net_recovery from a PA-RISC server to create an
archive for an Itanium-based client or vice versa?
A: Yes
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1.9
Q: Why does installing or recovering a client via NFS from an HP-UX 11i
v1 Ignite-UX server take so long compared to an 11.00 server?
A: To answer this we need to look at some background before looking at
what options are available for resolving this issue.
If you use 100BT or 1000BT interfaces, you must check the duplex
setting of the port on the switch that the Ignite-UX client is
connected to. When a client boots, the kernel driver automatically
negotiates the speed and duplex settings of 100BT and 1000BT
interfaces.
If autonegotiation fails, the interface defaults to half-duplex (the
speed may vary depending on the speed of the switch port). When a
normal client boots, its startup scripts are used to change the
interface speed and duplex values to match that of the switch port.
If the switch port is set to full duplex, you will have a duplex
mismatch.
This causes a problem for interfaces connected to switches that have
not been set to autonegotiate. These interfaces will run at half
duplex for the duration of the installation. From observation the
duplex value reduces the throughput that NFS over TCP can achieve,
but NFS over UDP performance does not seem to suffer.
Ignite-UX uses an 11i installation kernel with versions Ignite-UX
B.3.x, so if the Ignite-UX server is an 11i system the transport for
NFS will be TCP and performance will suffer. HP-UX 11.00 only used
UDP for NFS by default so the performance problems are not seen.
There are several solutions available:
1. Change the switch duplex setting of the client being installed to
autonegotiate for the duration of the installation.
2. Change the _hp_nfs_mount_opts in the INSTALLFS to force udp to be
used as the protocol. For example:
# instl_adm -d -F /opt/ignite/boot/INSTALLFS > /tmp/installfs.out
Edit /tmp/installfs.out to add the following line:
_hp_nfs_mount_opts="-oproto=udp"
(or change the _hp_nfs_mount_opts variable if it already exists to
add -oproto=udp) then save the changes back into the INSTALLFS
after saving the file:
# instl_adm -F /opt/ignite/boot/INSTALLFS -f /tmp/installfs.out
3. Ignite-UX provides the libraries needed to use the lanadmin -X
option with 100BT and 1000BT interfaces. You can add the lanadmin
options to be applied to a LAN interface with the
_hp_lanadmin_args variable in the INSTALLFS use the same commands
as in option 2. An example of what you would need to add to put a
100BT LAN interface into 100 full duplex mode would be:
(lan[].driver == "btlan")
{
_hp_lanadmin_args="-X 100FD"
}
Please consult the documentation for lanadmin(1M) for more
information about the options that are available.
Note: If the Ignite-UX server is multi-homed and connected to one or
more non-ethernet networking technologies over which it provides
Ignite-UX installation/recovery services, Ignite-UX will attempt to
use the _hp_lanadmin_args settings on the network interface you are
using for installation. (You will see errors from lanadmin if the
options you have provided are not applicable to that interface.)
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