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

HP-UX Handbook – Rev 13.00 Page 8 (of 46)
Chapter 17 Virtual Partitions (vPars)
October 29, 2013
Daemons and vPar states
The daemon vpard is started with the script /sbin/init.d/vpard. It synchronizes the master
database and the local disk databases for all vPars in state “up”, at a default interval of 5
seconds. The vpard daemon also helps to manage communications for the virtual console.
The daemon vphbd is started with the script /sbin/init.d/vparhb. It provides a heartbeat
status, written to the local disk. The default for “sleeping” between heartbeats is 360 seconds (6
minutes). If 10 heartbeats are missed, the vPars is considered “hung”. This state is maintained
within the master database.
Once the Monitor is booted, the selected database (/stand/vpdb by default, or, the database
specified when booting the monitor) is copied into memory and becomes the master copy. The
master copy is used to compare and synchronize the other vPars in run state. If the database
does not exist on a vPar as it boots, it will be created. The daemon vpard communicates with the
monitor to ensure the local databases are properly synchronized. Updates occur every 5 seconds
by default.
The state of a virtual partition is monitored by the vpmon and reported by the vparstatus
command. States are defined as follows:
Up
The vPar has notified the monitor that it is up. This is the
normal state of a running virtual partition. However, it does
not necessarily mean that the vPar has completed its
initialization and is fully operational.
Down
The virtual partition is fully halted. This could be a result of a
normal /sbin/shutdown –h command, a vparreset –h sent
to the vPar, or of a partition with its AUTOBOOT attribute set
to “manual”. It is also the initial state of a virtual partition
immediately after the virtual partition monitor is started.
Load
The monitor is loading the kernel image of the virtual
partition. This state precedes the boot state.
Boot
The virtual partition has been launched, but has not yet
completely booted.
Crash
The virtual partition is shutting down ungracefully (either a
panic or a reset).
Shut
The virtual partition is shutting down gracefully.
Hung
The virtual partition has stopped sending heartbeat messages
to the Monitor.
N/A
The virtual partition is in an alternate database file, and shows
no state.