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

Administering a System: Booting and Shutdown
Booting Systems
Chapter 5 489
Automatic Versus Manual Booting
PDC sets up the boot and console devices using the Boot Console
Handler (BCH). Which actions the BCH takes once the console and boot
devices have been initialized depend on whether or not the operator
manually interrupts an autoboot, and on the state of two flags in
nonvolatile memory: autoboot and autosearch.
Overriding an Automatic Boot To override an automatic boot, hit
any key on the console keyboard within the autoboot delay period
(usually 10 seconds). The Boot Console Handler will display its main
menu and allow you to interact with it.
Enabling / Disabling Autoboot HP 9000 systems running HP-UX are
usually set up to boot automatically when their power is turned on. This
is an important feature when systems are installed in locations that are
not always attended by an operator or system administrator. Should the
power fail at the computer site, the system can (usually) reboot itself
without input from an operator. The autoboot feature is also a
convenience.
There are times when you do not want systems to automatically boot
themselves, such as when you want to boot from a different device or
kernel file. See “Booting from an Alternate Device” on page 494 or
“Booting from an Alternate Kernel” on page 496.
The following table describes how the autoboot and autosearch flag
settings affect the boot sequence:
Table 5-1 How autoboot and autosearch Flag Settings Affect the Boot
Sequence
autoboot autosearch
Boot
Type
What happens
OFF OFF Manual
Boot
The BCH interacts with the user to
obtain the bootable device path
OFF ON Boot
Search
The BCH searches for all bootable
devices, then interacts with the user
to select one