does anyone know how to build a bootable mksysb tape under aix5.2 ? I've read the README re: boot image too large for tape. There's gotta be a way to reduce the bosboot image on the tape. Recently upgraded from 4.3.3 to 5.2. I know you can't uninstall the printer packages, what useless bloat from 5.2 can be uninstalled ?
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5.2 mksysb hangs at boot
- Thread starter mpezeur
- Start date
RMGBELGIUM
MIS
If you have a cdrom drive you don't need a bootable tape.I installed my p5 from cd and tape, with an mksysb that also had a bootimage who was to large
regards,
R.
regards,
R.
CrystalWizard
Technical User
you can remove language filesets if you don't need them. You can remove all the demo software if you don't need them.
And yes you CAN need a bootable mksysb tape even if you have a CD rom.
if you're getting an error about the bootimage being too large for the tape, I believe there's a apar for that error. what maint level are you at?
And yes you CAN need a bootable mksysb tape even if you have a CD rom.
if you're getting an error about the bootimage being too large for the tape, I believe there's a apar for that error. what maint level are you at?
- Thread starter
- #4
5.2 ml6. I tried removing some language sets but they are tied to the printer sets, which can't be removed. The system is a 7026-6h1, called support and they verified there are no apars nor firmware that can be applied to fix this. Just have to boot to a cd and then restore from the tape. Can't believe IBM makes you upgrade from 5.2 to 5.3 just to solve this issue. Unfortunately we can't upgrade to 5.3 because the combo of Oracle/peoplesoft apps aren't totally supported on 5.3
CrystalWizard
Technical User
They are tied to printer sets that cant' be removed.
True
but
you should be able to go ahead, remove them, allow the printers to be removed too then reinstall the printers.
If you really HAVE to have them off of there.
Who'd you speak to in support and what's your main objective? Removing the language sets isn't going to cut down the boot image small enough to allow you to put it on a tape.
True
but
you should be able to go ahead, remove them, allow the printers to be removed too then reinstall the printers.
If you really HAVE to have them off of there.
Who'd you speak to in support and what's your main objective? Removing the language sets isn't going to cut down the boot image small enough to allow you to put it on a tape.
CrystalWizard
Technical User
you can't really remove stuff from the boot image. You can cut down the size of rootvg but the boot image is a fairly small part of a mksysb tape.
bosboot calls mkboot when creating a boot image. Here's the information on mkboot, what it does and how to run it.
mkboot Command
Purpose
Creates the boot image, the boot record, and the service record. This command is NOT a user-level command and is NOT supported in AIX Version 4.2 or later.
Syntax
mkboot -d Device [ -b ] [ -D ] [ -c ] [ -h ] [ -i ] [ -I ] [ -l LVDev ] { -k Kernel | -e Expander } [-L] [ -s ] [ -r ] [ -p Offset ] [ -w ] -f FileSystem
Description
The mkboot command combines a kernel and file system into a boot image. The resulting image is written to standard out. It is copied to a boot device with the appropriate boot record information. The boot image can be made compressed or uncompressed and with or without a boot record at the beginning of the image. An image created for a tape is compressed with the boot record at the start of the image file. A disk boot image may be created without compression and has no boot record. The boot record is written to the first sector of the disk. The record contains information about the size and location of the image after it is written to the boot logical volume on that disk.
If the boot logical volume is mirrored, the mkboot command not only writes the boot image to each copy of the boot logical volume but also writes a boot record to each physical disk comprising the mirror. As long as the mkboot command is able to update at least one of the copies of a mirrored boot logical volume, no error is returned. To enable booting from each copy of a mirrored boot logical volume, each of the physical disks must be specified using the bootlist command. For more information regarding mirrored logical volumes, see Logical Volume Storage Overview in AIX Version 4.3 System Management Concepts: Operating System and Devices.
The mkboot command is usually called by the bosboot command. However, you can run the mkboot command a second time to put expand code at the beginning of a compressed boot image.
Flags
-b Zeros out save-base fields. This flag is optional.
-d Device Specifies the device required for the IPL record. This flag is required.
-c Zeros out the boot record on the device. This flag is optional.
-D Loads the low-level debugger at boot time.
-e Expander Specifies kernel expansion code to create a compressed boot image file. Either the -e flag or the -k flag must be specified.
-f FileSystem Specifies the boot file system. This flag is required.
-h Prevents the mkboot command from updating the boot header. This flag is optional.
-i Writes the normal portion of the boot record.
-I (uppercase i) Invokes the low-level debugger at boot time.
-k Kernel Specifies the kernel in the boot image. Either the -k flag or the -e flag must be specified.
-l (lowercase L) LVDev Specifies the logical volume device that contains the loadable boot code.
-L Enables lock instrumentation for MP systems. This flag has no effect on systems that are not using the MP kernel.
-p Offset Specifies the address to use as boot_pr_start field in the boot record. This flag is used in creating the CD-ROM boot image. This flag is optional.
-r Creates an image that is read-only storage (ROS) emulation code.
-s Writes the service portion of the boot record.
-w Outputs first two blocks of boot logical volume before the boot image. This flag is applicable to disk boot image only.
Security
Access Control: Only the root user can read and execute this command.
Examples
1. To create an uncompressed boot image, using the kernel /usr/lib/boot/unix and the /tmp/bootfs file system for the device /dev/hdisk0, enter
mkboot -d /dev/hdisk0 -k /usr/lib/boot/unix -f /tmp/bootfs \
-b -i -s > /tmp/boot.image
2. To clear the boot record but leave the PVID for disk hdisk0, enter:
mkboot -d /dev/hdisk0 -c
3. Although the mkboot command combines a kernel and a random access memory (RAM) file system to create one boot image, you can run the mkboot command a second time to put expand code at the beginning of a compressed boot image. For example, enter:
mkboot -b -d /dev/rmt0 -k unix -f ramfs | compress > /tmp/image
mkboot -b -i -s -d /dev/rmt0 -k bootexpand -f /tmp/image \
> bootfile
for a bootable tape where:
unix Specifies the kernel.
ramfs Specifies the RAM disk file system.
compress Specifies the compression or compact routine.
bootexpand Specifies the expansion or kernel uncompact routine.
Files
/usr/include/sys/bootrecord.h Specifies the structure of the boot record.
Related Information
The bosboot command, and lockstat command.
bosboot calls mkboot when creating a boot image. Here's the information on mkboot, what it does and how to run it.
mkboot Command
Purpose
Creates the boot image, the boot record, and the service record. This command is NOT a user-level command and is NOT supported in AIX Version 4.2 or later.
Syntax
mkboot -d Device [ -b ] [ -D ] [ -c ] [ -h ] [ -i ] [ -I ] [ -l LVDev ] { -k Kernel | -e Expander } [-L] [ -s ] [ -r ] [ -p Offset ] [ -w ] -f FileSystem
Description
The mkboot command combines a kernel and file system into a boot image. The resulting image is written to standard out. It is copied to a boot device with the appropriate boot record information. The boot image can be made compressed or uncompressed and with or without a boot record at the beginning of the image. An image created for a tape is compressed with the boot record at the start of the image file. A disk boot image may be created without compression and has no boot record. The boot record is written to the first sector of the disk. The record contains information about the size and location of the image after it is written to the boot logical volume on that disk.
If the boot logical volume is mirrored, the mkboot command not only writes the boot image to each copy of the boot logical volume but also writes a boot record to each physical disk comprising the mirror. As long as the mkboot command is able to update at least one of the copies of a mirrored boot logical volume, no error is returned. To enable booting from each copy of a mirrored boot logical volume, each of the physical disks must be specified using the bootlist command. For more information regarding mirrored logical volumes, see Logical Volume Storage Overview in AIX Version 4.3 System Management Concepts: Operating System and Devices.
The mkboot command is usually called by the bosboot command. However, you can run the mkboot command a second time to put expand code at the beginning of a compressed boot image.
Flags
-b Zeros out save-base fields. This flag is optional.
-d Device Specifies the device required for the IPL record. This flag is required.
-c Zeros out the boot record on the device. This flag is optional.
-D Loads the low-level debugger at boot time.
-e Expander Specifies kernel expansion code to create a compressed boot image file. Either the -e flag or the -k flag must be specified.
-f FileSystem Specifies the boot file system. This flag is required.
-h Prevents the mkboot command from updating the boot header. This flag is optional.
-i Writes the normal portion of the boot record.
-I (uppercase i) Invokes the low-level debugger at boot time.
-k Kernel Specifies the kernel in the boot image. Either the -k flag or the -e flag must be specified.
-l (lowercase L) LVDev Specifies the logical volume device that contains the loadable boot code.
-L Enables lock instrumentation for MP systems. This flag has no effect on systems that are not using the MP kernel.
-p Offset Specifies the address to use as boot_pr_start field in the boot record. This flag is used in creating the CD-ROM boot image. This flag is optional.
-r Creates an image that is read-only storage (ROS) emulation code.
-s Writes the service portion of the boot record.
-w Outputs first two blocks of boot logical volume before the boot image. This flag is applicable to disk boot image only.
Security
Access Control: Only the root user can read and execute this command.
Examples
1. To create an uncompressed boot image, using the kernel /usr/lib/boot/unix and the /tmp/bootfs file system for the device /dev/hdisk0, enter
mkboot -d /dev/hdisk0 -k /usr/lib/boot/unix -f /tmp/bootfs \
-b -i -s > /tmp/boot.image
2. To clear the boot record but leave the PVID for disk hdisk0, enter:
mkboot -d /dev/hdisk0 -c
3. Although the mkboot command combines a kernel and a random access memory (RAM) file system to create one boot image, you can run the mkboot command a second time to put expand code at the beginning of a compressed boot image. For example, enter:
mkboot -b -d /dev/rmt0 -k unix -f ramfs | compress > /tmp/image
mkboot -b -i -s -d /dev/rmt0 -k bootexpand -f /tmp/image \
> bootfile
for a bootable tape where:
unix Specifies the kernel.
ramfs Specifies the RAM disk file system.
compress Specifies the compression or compact routine.
bootexpand Specifies the expansion or kernel uncompact routine.
Files
/usr/include/sys/bootrecord.h Specifies the structure of the boot record.
Related Information
The bosboot command, and lockstat command.
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