rds95@leah.Albany.Edu (Robert Seals) (08/09/89)
Hello, The recent dicussion of getting a bootable kernel on tape has lead me wonder just how this is done. I have a 6250 9-track and a tk50 on a microvax-II (and an ra81); obviously, 9-track is preferable |-@. So, can I just "dd" my /vmunix onto a 9-track, and then if the root filesystem gets clobbered, boot from tape thusly b mua1 or something? rob By the way, we WILL eventually be upgrading to the current version of ultrix, but until then, I be stuck with v1.2.
grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (08/09/89)
In article <1942@leah.Albany.Edu> rds95@leah.Albany.Edu (Robert Seals) writes: > > Hello, > The recent dicussion of getting a bootable kernel on tape has lead > me wonder just how this is done. I have a 6250 9-track and a tk50 on > a microvax-II (and an ra81); obviously, 9-track is preferable |-@. > So, can I just "dd" my /vmunix onto a 9-track, and then if > the root filesystem gets clobbered, boot from tape thusly Actually, I'd be less concerned with generating a "bootable" tape, than with knowing how to use the installation tools / procedures to get the system up to where you can use the normal utilities. This varies from release to release, however as of the 1.2 release, the first file on the distribution tape is a "dd" dump of a file system that you copy to the swap partition on your system drive. Once you boot from this temporary system, you can mount your root partition and make repairs or do a restore. You may have to make some /dev entries or use non-standard names to access devices. The "console media" supplied with 1.2 includes the standalone copy/format/boot programs. This was the setup for 9-track tape, it may differ a bit for the tk50 version, but the idea is probably the same. Later releases include some sort of image of a standalone unix system on the (multiple) console media. In theory this should again get you to a standalone system you can use to repair/reload the system, though life may be more complicated and you should check out this territory before you find yourself needing it. If you have multiple drives, a *very* wise thing to do is periodically copy your root partition to the 'a' parition of a second drive. It is *much* quicker to boot from a second drive than messing around with console media... -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@uunet.uu.net Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
melanie@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu (08/10/89)
to make a bootable tk50 (or 9trk, though i have no way to try it) you need to write vmb.exe and the generic standalone kernel on the tape, in that order. if you have real ultrix 3.x or the ultrix 3.x "server kit", vmb.exe is located in / and the standalone vmunix is located in /usr/sys/SAS.net. use dd to write the tape (attached are my notes to myself): To make a SAS tape, insert a writable TK50, then issue the following commands: dd if=/vmb.exe of=/dev/rmt0h obs=512 # write vmb mt rewind # just to be sure mt fsf 1 # skip over vmb dd if=/usr/sys/SAS.net/vmunix of=/dev/rmt0h obs=512 # write generic Ultrix then boot from the tape with the b mua0 you could also dd the first two files off of your bootable tk50 and then write them on another tape. you can also do this under vms (!!) by mounting the tape /rec=512 /block=512 and using the vms copy command. melanie anderson beckman institute university of illinois 217/244-1079 #include std_disclaimer.h