HP-UX HB v13.00 Ch-17 - vPars

HP-UX Handbook – Rev 13.00 Page 11 (of 46)
Chapter 17 Virtual Partitions (vPars)
October 29, 2013
 vparenv: Unix shell command that allows you to set the mode (vPars or nPars) for
the next reboot of the nPartition or to set the memory granularity unit size in the
firmware.
 vparconfig: EFI command that allows you to set the mode (vPars or nPars) and
forces a reboot of the nPartition. Note: vparconfig is not a built-in EFI command;
you will need to go to the fsN:\> disk prompt to execute this command.
 vparconfig is installed in the EFI partition of the root disk when vPars is installed.
Specifically, the file vparconfig.efi is installed in \efi\hpux.
PA-RISC only
 vparreloc
 vparutil
There is quite a comprehensive chart about the differences between vPars on PA-RISC and
Integrity in the manual Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions for all OS versions; it
covers aspects like boot, commands, configuration, etc.
Processor and Cell-Based Systems with vPars
Processor-based systems (PA-RISC only)
Only rp5430, rp5470, and rp7400 (L1500, L3000, N4000) can be partitioned into virtual
partitions. The administrator selects CPUs, LBAs and memory as resources for the vPars. The
vPars share the SBAs and physical console, although the core I/O must be assigned to a vPar
(usually the first).
Cell-based systems (PA-RISC and Itanium)
The CPUs and memory modules are located in cells. I/O is accessed through the cell physically
connected to the I/O chassis. A cell can be physically connected to one I/O chassis, and an I/O
chassis can be physically connected to one cell. The LBA is located in the I/O chassis.
Virtual Partitions can use resources only within their nPar. Not all nPars of a cell-based System
need to be running vPars.
The number of vPars per nPar is limited by the number of CPUs and the number of LBAs. At
least one LBA per vPar is required to host a LAN and a mass storage combo interface.
With a virtually partitioned nPars you can boot the OS into either the nPar (giving all resources
to a single kernel) or the vPars.