Installation and Upgrade Guide

B Setting Up and Performing Network Booting
This appendix explains the steps required to enable your system to boot over the LAN using the
OpenVMS InfoServer utility, a software application available on OpenVMS Alpha (Version 8.3
or later) and OpenVMS I64 (Version 8.2-1 or later) systems. It also describes how to boot the
virtual DVD/CD drive from the network.
B.1 About the OpenVMS InfoServer Utility
InfoServer network booting is supported for OpenVMS installations and upgrades on any
OpenVMS Alpha system and on any Integrity servers that support OpenVMS. For OpenVMS
I64 systems, InfoServer network booting is supported on all LAN cards (also referred to as LAN
devices or adapters) that are supported by EFI.
You can use the OpenVMS InfoServer software application on all Version 8.2-1 or later OpenVMS
I64 systems as well as on any OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.3 systems that support a DVD drive.
This support provides the additional advantage of allowing a network administrator to boot
multiple OpenVMS systems on the network from a single copy of the OpenVMS distribution
CD or DVD.
Using the InfoServer utility on Integrity servers for network booting requires several one-time-only
configuration steps unique to OpenVMS I64. Likewise, using the InfoServer utility on OpenVMS
Alpha servers requires an additional, one-time-only software configuration step. Any configuration
procedures that might have been performed for network booting using an InfoServer hardware
system (traditionally used by Alpha systems) are not valid for the OpenVMS InfoServer
application.
Booting from the InfoServer utility for OpenVMS I64 on Integrity servers differs significantly
from booting from the InfoServer hardware system traditionally used by OpenVMS Alpha
systems or from the InfoServer utility on OpenVMS Alpha systems. For example, while Alpha
systems use the Maintenance Operations Protocol (MOP) to request the primary bootstrap file
(APB.EXE) to start the boot, the Integrity server console uses the Intel® Preboot Execution
Environment (PXE) bootstrap protocol in conjunction with the TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS
BOOTP server and TFTP. The Integrity server EFI console first loads the primary bootstrap file
VMS_LOADER.EFI, which is formatted for EFI compatibility. VMS_LOADER.EFI then uses
TFTP to request the primary bootstrap IPB.EXE from the boot server. IPB.EXE is formatted in
OpenVMS ODS file structure and is needed for booting the OpenVMS I64 operating system.
To install or upgrade the operating system over the network, OpenVMS I64 systems must use
the InfoServer utility that is integrated with the OpenVMS operating system. The InfoServer
hardware traditionally used by OpenVMS Alpha systems is not equipped to handle DVD drives
required for the OpenVMS I64 distribution media. Table B-1 summarizes the major differences
between Alpha and I64 InfoServer booting.
Table B-1 InfoServer Booting: Differences Between Alpha and I64 Systems
I64AlphaComponent
PXE (DHCP/BOOTP/TFTP)MOPDownline load
protocol
VMS_LOADER.EFI and IPB.EXE (both files
are version specific)
APB_version (for example, APB_083)Boot file
Only those BOOTP servers having the
network device MAC address defined in the
BOOTP database
Any MOP-enabled system with the specified
file
Boot server
InfoServer application running on OpenVMS
Alpha Version 8.3 or OpenVMS I64 Version
8.2-1 or later
InfoServer hardware, or InfoServer utility
running on OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.3 or
later, or on OpenVMS I64 Version 8.2-1 or later
LAN server
B.1 About the OpenVMS InfoServer Utility 189