Appendix CInstalling and Using TFTP

NOTE

HP recommends that you do not update the HP TopTools

 

Remote Control card firmware if the link between the TFTP

 

server and the HP NetServer is a dial-up network connection.

 

A disconnection during an update can leave the HP TopTools

 

Remote Control card partially updated and you would need to

 

repeat the update before proceeding.

 

 

A firmware update takes approximately one minute over a 10Base-T LAN connection. After the update has completed, the HP TopTools Remote Control will be reset in order to start the new firmware.

Using the HP TopTools Remote Control Remote Boot Feature

You can use the HP TopTools Remote Control to remotely boot the HP NetServer in which you have installed the HP TopTools Remote Control card. The card boots the HP NetServer using a boot floppy image located on a TFTP server.

Starting an HP NetServer from a remote boot image requires that you have already created an alternate bootable floppy image file and that this image is available in the base directory used by the TFTP server. After the HP TopTools Remote Control processes a remote reboot, the feature is disabled automatically so that the next boot will be a local boot.

You use the HP Copydisk utility to create a floppy image file. The 1.44MB file created contains a sector-by-sector copy of the floppy plus a 32-byte copydisk header; you can also use generic floppy image files (no header) created with other utilities. The image file (usually with the extension .DSK), when accessed via TFTP, is interpreted by the HP NetServer with the HP TopTools Remote Control card as if it were a local floppy disk image. Thus, the HP NetServer boots using this image as if it were accessing a bootable disk stored in floppy drive A.

The ability to create a floppy boot image opens up powerful remote administration possibilities. A system administrator can create boot floppy images to:

∙update the server BIOS

∙change and/or update software drivers

∙boot your various diagnostic utilities

∙boot virus-checking software

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