Managing Systems and Workgroups: A Guide for HP-UX System Administrators

Configuring a System
Reconfiguring the Kernel (Prior to HP-UX 11i Version 2)
Chapter 3282
Reconfiguring the Kernel
(Prior to HP-UX 11i Version 2)
NOTE This section applies to releases of HP-UX prior to 11i version 2. See
“Reconfiguring the Kernel (HP-UX 11i Version 2)” on page 315 for the
procedures for 11i version 2 and beyond.
For most systems, the default kernel configuration included with HP-UX
will be sufficient for your needs. However, in each of the following
instances you need to reconfigure the kernel:
• Adding or removing device drivers
See Configuring HP-UX for Peripherals for full instructions on
adding peripherals.
You may also want to remove a driver from your kernel if your
system no longer uses any peripherals of that type. This is not
required, but can be desirable if a smaller, more efficient kernel is
needed. However, before you remove the driver, ensure that other
drivers are not dependent on it by checking the files in the directory
/usr/conf/master.d/ for a table of driver dependencies in the
section DRIVER_DEPENDENCY. The file core-hpux will have the most
definitions, but other files in the directory can contain definitions as
well.
If the peripheral is controlled by a loadable device driver, see
“Managing Dynamically Loadable Kernel Modules” on page 287 for
information on adding or removing the peripheral.
Modifying system parameters
You may need to change one or more tunable system parameters,
such as to accommodate a specialized application or an exceptionally
large number of users.
Historically, all tunables have static, but as of HP-UX 11i, a tunable
may be either static, dynamic, or automatic.
❏ A static tunable is one whose value cannot be changed without
rebooting the system. Usually a kernel rebuild is also required.