HP-UX 11i v3 Installation and Update Guide, March 2009 (Update 4 Release)

HP-UX 11i v3 Device Special File (DSF)
In a similar way to hardware paths, there are two types of DSFs for mass storage: legacy
DSFs and persistent DSFs. Both can be used to access a given mass storage device
independently, and can coexist on a given system. These DSFs are described below.
• A legacy device special file was the only type of mass storage DSF in releases prior
to HP-UX 11i v3, so it is associated with the legacy view. It is locked to a particular
physical hardware path, or lunpath, and does not support agile addressing. Each
lunpath requires a different DSF, so a multi-pathed LUN has multiple DSFs, one
for each lunpath.
• A persistent device special file is associated with a LUN hardware path, and is
seen in the agile view. Because it is based on the LUN hardware path, rather than
the lunpath, it transparently supports agile addressing and multipathing. Like the
LUN hardware path, the binding of device special file to device persists across
reboots, but is not guaranteed to persist across installations.
Device Files: Installing and Updating
If you cold-install HP-UX 11i v3, both legacy and persistent DSFs are automatically
created. By default, the installation process will configure system devices like the boot,
root, swap, and dump devices to use persistent DSFs. This means that configuration
files such as/etc/fstab, /etc/lvmtab, and others will contain references to persistent
DSFs.
If you update from HP-UX 11i v2 to 11i v3, existing legacy DSFs are retained, and
persistent DSFs will be created.
In addition, legacy DSFs are completely backward compatible, and will not be affected
by any persistent DSFs on the same server. A device can be simultaneously accessed
via legacy and persistent DSFs. For more information on the new mass storage stack,
see the white paper called, The Next Generation Mass Storage Stack: HP-UX 11i v3 at
http://docs.hp.com/en/MassStorageStack/The_Next_Generation_Mass_Storage_Stack.pdf
Security Considerations
HP-UX Bastille (HPUXBastille) is included as recommended software on the
Operating Environment media and can be installed and run with Ignite-UX or
Update-UX, (see “Predefined Security Levels” (page 38)).
HP-UX Bastille is a security hardening and lockdown tool that can be used to enhance
security of the HP-UX operating system. It provides customized lockdown on a
system-by-system basis by encoding functionality similar to Bastion Host and other
hardening and lockdown checklists.
NOTE: For more information about HP-UX Bastille, refer to the HP-UX 11i v3 Release
Notes and the HP-UX System Administrator’s Guide.
HP-UX 11i v3 Device Special File (DSF) 37