Communicator 3000 MPE/iX Release 6.0 (Platform Software Release C.60.00) (30216-90269)

50 Chapter 3

System Management

Overview of HP Stage/iX

Your operating system resides in what HP Stage/iX refers to as the

Base. This is the set of ﬁles laid down by the last system installation or

update (from tape). HP Stage/iX creates and manages staging areas,

which are ﬁle containers on disk that hold versions of ﬁles that are

different from the Base. (A staging area is actually an HFS directory

which holds all the ﬁles associated with that staging area.) More than

one staging area can exist at a time. Each staging area contains the

difference, or delta, between the Base Operating System and a patched

OS.

When a staging area is activated on the next boot, the ﬁles in the

staging area's directory are moved (renamed) into their natural

locations. (For example, the staged version of the NL is moved into

NL.PUB.SYS.) At the same time, the Base versions of the ﬁles are saved

into an HP Stage/iX archive directory. When the staging area is backed

out (when the system is booted back to the Base), the converse takes

place, and the system is restored to its original state.

When an active staging area is committed to the Base, the staging

area's directory is deleted, and all archived Base ﬁles are purged. The

ﬁles that were switched into their natural locations when the staging

area was activated remain there as part of the new Base. This releases

any disk space that was used by the staging area.

HP Stage/iX (with the help of HP Patch/iX) allows new patches to be

staged and applied in a cumulative fashion. If you create a new staging

area while a staging area is active, the new staging area will contain all

the changes between the Base and the active staging area, plus the new

patches applied to the new staging area.

Installing and Initializing HP Stage/iX

HP Stage/iX is part of the Fundamental Operating System (FOS), and

is therefore automatically installed when you update to OS version 6.0

or later. To be able to use HP Stage/iX you must:

1. Update or install your system software to version 6.0.

2. Install HP Patch/iX.

This step is required to manage your qualiﬁed patches.

3. Initialize HP Stage/iX using the STAGEMAN utility.

Refer to the HP 3000 MPE/iX System Software Maintenance

Manual Release 6.0 and follow the directions in the manual for

updating or installing your system software, and managing patches

by staging areas.