nPartition Administrator's Guide

From HP-UX use the setboot command to configure the local nPartition boot paths, or
use the parmodify -p# -b... -s... -t... command to set boot paths for a specified
nPartition (-p#, where # is the partition number).
On an HP 9000 server you can use the BCH Main menu PATH command to configure boot
paths. On an HP Integrity server you can use the EFI Shell bcfg command to configure boot
paths.
Also see “Configuring Boot Paths and Options” (page 155).
For more details and summaries see Table 6-1 (page 166).
Basics of nPartition Booting and Resetting
This section gives a brief overview of the boot process for cells and nPartitions and lists the main
nPartition boot commands and tasks.
For more details see Chapter 5 (page 87).
Boot Process for Cells and nPartitions
The nPartition boot process, on both HP 9000 servers and HP Integrity servers, includes two
phases: the cell boot phase and the nPartition boot phase.
1. Cell Boot Phase of the nPartition Boot Process The cell boot phase occurs when cells are
powered on or reset. The main activities that occur during the cell boot phase are
power-on-self-test activities. During this phase each cell operates independently of all other
cells in the complex. Cells do not necessarily proceed through this phase at the same pace,
because each cell may have a different amount of hardware to test and discover, or cells
might be reset or powered on at different times. The main steps that occur during the cell
boot phase are:
a. A cell is powered on or reset, and the cell boot-is-blocked (BIB) flag is set.
BIB is a hardware flag on the cell board. When BIB is set, the cell is considered to be
inactive.
b. Firmware on the cell performs self-tests and discovery operations on the cell hardware
components. Operations at this point include processor self-tests, memory tests, I/O
discovery, and discovery of interconnecting fabric (connections between the cell and
other cells, I/O, and system crossbars).
c. After the firmware completes cell self-tests and discovery, it reports the cell hardware
configuration to the service processor (GSP or MP), informs the service processor it is
"waiting at BIB", and then waits for the cell BIB flag to be cleared.
2. nPartition Boot Phase of the nPartition Boot Process The nPartition boot phase occurs when
an nPartition is booted, after its cells have completed self tests. During this phase "nPartition
rendezvous" occurs, however not all cells assigned to an nPartition are required to participate
in rendezvous. A minimum of one core-capable cell that has completed its cell boot phase
is required before the nPartition boot phase can begin. By default, all cells assigned to the
nPartition that have a "y" use-on-next-boot value are expected to participate in rendezvous,
and the service processor will wait for up to ten minutes for all such cells to reach the "waiting
at BIB" state. Cells that have a "n" use-on-next-boot value do not participate in rendezvous
and remain waiting at BIB. The main steps that occur during the nPartition boot phase are:
Overview of Managing nPartitions 33