nPartition Administrator's Guide

a. The service processor provides a copy of the relevant Complex Profile data to the cells
assigned to the nPartition.
This data includes a copy of the Stable Complex Configuration Data and a copy of the
Partition Configuration Data for the nPartition. For details see “Complex Profile”
(page 37).
b. The service processor releases BIB for all cells assigned to the nPartition that have a "y"
use-on-next-boot value and complete the cell boot phase in time.
The service processor does not release BIB for any cell with a "n" use-on-next-boot value,
or for any cell that did not complete the cell boot phase within ten minutes of the first
cell to do so.
Once BIB is release for a cell, the cell is considered to be active.
c. nPartition rendezvous begins, with the system firmware on each active cell using its
copy of complex profile data to contact other active cells in the nPartition.
d. The active cells in the nPartition negotiate to select a core cell.
e. The chosen core cell manages the rest of the nPartition boot process. A processor on the
core cell runs the nPartition system boot environment (BCH on HP 9000 servers, EFI
on HP Integrity servers). The core cell hands off control to an operating system loader
when the OS boot process is initiated.
You can view progress during the cell and nPartition boot phases by observing the Virtual Front
Panel for an nPartition, which is available from the service processor (MP or GSP) Main menu.
Common nPartition Boot Commands and Tasks
The following summary briefly describes the main nPartition boot commands and tasks. For
more summaries and details see Table 5-1 (page 96).
• Service processor (MP or GSP) support for managing nPartition booting includes the
following commands, which are available from the service processor Command menu.
— RS — Reset an nPartition.
On HP Integrity servers you should reset an nPartition only after all self tests and
partition rendezvous have completed.
— RR — Reset and perform a shutdown for reconfig of an nPartition.
On HP Integrity servers you should reset an nPartition only after all self tests and
partition rendezvous have completed.
— BO — Boot the cells assigned to an nPartition past the "waiting at BIB" state and thus
begin the nPartition boot phase.
— TC — Perform a transfer of control reset of an nPartition.
— PE — Power on or power off a cabinet, cell, or I/O chassis.
On HP Integrity rx8620 servers, rx8640 servers, rx7620 servers, and rx7640 servers,
nPartition power on and power off also is supported to manage power of all cells and
I/O chassis assigned to the nPartition using a single command.
• EFI Shell support for managing nPartition booting includes the following commands. (EFI
is available only on HP Integrity servers.)
— bcfg — List and configure the boot options list for the local nPartition.
— autoboot — List, enable, or disable the nPartition autoboot configuration value.
— acpiconfig — List and configure the nPartition ACPI configuration setting, which
determines whether HP-UX, OpenVMS, Windows, or Linux can boot on the nPartition.
To boot HP-UX 11i v2 (B.11.23), HP-UX 11i v3 (B.11.31), or HP OpenVMS I64, the ACPI
configuration setting must be set to default.
34 Getting Started with nPartitions