[comp.unix.ultrix] ultrix 3.0 on a VAXstation2000 with an RD32

smart@ditmela.oz (Robert Smart) (07/04/89)

Can you boot Ultrix 3.0 off an RD32 (root and swap on the RD32)? The
answer is yes. You need an ultrix system with a tape around temporarily
to get you going. Setting it up probably wouldn't be too hard for a
unix guru, but it took a VMS guru a few days [I tried ris first but
that didn't work]. It took me quite a while to work out that you have
to ifconfig the ethernet interface before you nfs mount /usr! When you
boot diskless this isn't necessary: presumably the kernel has already
done that to nfs mount the root and swap areas.

I have also worked out how to do the equivalent of a level 0 dump of the
RD32 that can be restored. I will boot it as a diskless VMS workstation
[that's more or less what it was before, and it's still licensed] and
do a backup/physical of the disk. Well, of course I should have tried all
that while I still had an ultrix 3.0 system around to do a diskless
ultrix boot off. I didn't even try a reboot, and now I'm not game.
I have uncommented the fsck in /etc/rc. Is that all I have to do to
reasonably expect the thing to reboot after a crash? Also if I use the
VMS backup/physical to save the disk, and later restore it that way,
will I get the boot block and all that stuff?

Bob Smart <smart%ditmelb.oz.au@uunet.uu.net> or <uunet!munnari!ditmelb!smart>