HP OpenVMS 8.x Setting Up and Performing Network Booting, About the OpenVMS InfoServer Utility

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-1summarizes the major differences between Alpha and I64 InfoServer booting.

Table B-1 InfoServer Booting: Differences Between Alpha and I64 Systems

Component	Alpha	I64
Downline load	MOP	PXE (DHCP/BOOTP/TFTP)
protocol
Boot file	APB_version (for example, APB_083)	VMS_LOADER.EFI and IPB.EXE (both files
		are version specific)
Boot server	Any MOP-enabled system with the specified	Only those BOOTP servers having the
	file	network device MAC address defined in the
		BOOTP database

LAN server	InfoServer hardware, or InfoServer utility
	running on OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.3 or
	later, or on OpenVMS I64 Version 8.2-1 or later

InfoServer application running on OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.3 or OpenVMS I64 Version 8.2-1 or later

B.1 About the OpenVMS InfoServer Utility 189