Examining Software and Hardware Components

Before beginning an installation or upgrade, be sure you have all the required hardware and software components, as described in the following sections.

Hardware Components

Before you begin an installation or upgrade, do the following:

Be sure the hardware has been installed and checked for proper operation. For detailed information, see the hardware manuals you received with your computer.
For initial installations on Integrity servers, your console terminal requires a standard PC-to-PC file transfer cable (also known as a null modem cable; 9-pin female connectors at each end) to connect a PC, laptop, or similar device that includes terminal emulation software. For information about setting up your system console, see “Selecting Your OpenVMS Console for the Integrity Server System”.
Be sure you know how to turn on and operate the components of your system, including the system unit, console, monitor, drives, terminals, and printers. If necessary, read the hardware manuals that came with these components.
Make sure you record the installation procedure. You need a transcript if a problem occurs during installation. If you are using terminal emulation software, set the software to log the session. Otherwise, set up your system to record the installation procedure on either a hardcopy terminal or a printer attached to the console terminal. (See your hardware manuals for more details about connecting those components to your system.)

Software Components

Before you begin an installation or upgrade, do the following:

Be sure you have all the items listed on the bill of materials contained in the distribution kit. If your distribution kit is incomplete, notify HP Customer Support and request priority shipment of any missing items.
Before installing the OpenVMS operating system software, review all cover letters and release notes.

OpenVMS Alpha Operating System CD

Included in your OpenVMS Alpha kit is the OpenVMS Alpha operating system CD, which you use to install or upgrade the operating system, or to perform operations such as backing up the system disk. The CD is labeled similar to the following:

CD label	HP OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.3 Operating System
Volume label	ALPHA083

The CD label is the printed label on the CD. The volume label is the machine-readable name that the OpenVMS Alpha operating system and InfoServer systems (or utilities) use to access the CD.

OpenVMS for Integrity Servers Operating Environment (OE) DVD

Included in your OpenVMS I64 kit is the OpenVMS for Integrity Servers OE DVD, which you use to install the operating system or to perform operations such as backing up the system disk. The DVD is labeled similar to the following:

DVD label	HP OpenVMS Version 8.3 for Integrity Servers Operating Environment
Volume label	I64083

The DVD label is the printed label on the OE DVD. The volume label is the machine-readable name that the OpenVMS I64 operating system uses to access and identify the DVD.

Firmware on Alpha Systems

OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.3 performs a firmware check each time the system is booted. When you boot the OpenVMS Alpha operating system CD, the system automatically checks the version of console firmware that is running on your computer. The system also provides information about how to update the firmware.

If you do not have the required version of console firmware, the system displays a message similar to the following:

   %SYSBOOT-F-FIRMREV, Firmware rev.nnn is below the absolute minimum of nnn.
          Please update your firmware to the recommended revision nnn,            
            Alpha Systems Firmware Update Vn.n.

If you do not have the recommended version of console firmware, the system displays a message similar to the following:

   %SYSBOOT-W-FIRMREV, Firmware rev.nnn is below the recommended minimum of nn.
          Please update your firmware to the recommended revision,
          which can be found on the firmware CD labeled:   
            Alpha Systems Firmware Update Vn.n.

The latest firmware CD is included with your OpenVMS Alpha media kit. It includes system firmware for current and recent Alpha systems and some I/O adapters. Firmware for older hardware might not be included on the current CD but can be found on previous CDs or online at:

http://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware/

HP recommends updating to the latest released firmware for all systems and I/O adapters. Firmware is released more often than the OpenVMS Alpha operating system. The firmware version recommendations included in OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.3 might be superseded before the next version of the OpenVMS Alpha operating system is released.

Firmware on Integrity Server Systems

HP Integrity servers include several firmware components (varying with system type), any of which might need updating. For the minimum versions recommended, see the HP OpenVMS Version 8.3 Release Notes.

To update entry-class Integrity server firmware, follow the instructions provided in this section; for cell-based servers (midrange and high-end), contact HP Customer Support.

To update your firmware, perform the following steps:

Determine the current firmware versions on your Integrity server (see “Checking Firmware Version ”).

Create a firmware update CD on any system equipped with a CD or CD/DVD-recordable drive (see “Creating a Firmware Update CD”).




	NOTE: HP continuously strives to improve firmware update methods. In a coming release, HP will provide a method that can be initiated from the running operating system. You will not have to update the firmware offline from a CD. To receive notification of new firmware releases for the Integrity server you own, you can subscribe (free of charge) for drivers and software alerts, as instructed in “Checking Firmware Version ”.

Update the firmware on your Integrity server (see “Updating Your Firmware from the Firmware Update CD”).

Checking Firmware Version

To determine the firmware version in place on your Integrity server, use the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) info fw command at the EFI Shell> prompt, as in the following example (for cell-based servers, check the firmware at the nPartition console). If MP is available, use the MP sysrev command.

Shell> info fw




	NOTE: The info fw command at the EFI> Shell prompt cannot be used while OpenVMS is running. You can use the MP interface to check firmware on your system while OpenVMS is running. EFI Shell commands are not case sensitive. However, in this manual, EFI and other Integrity server interface commands are displayed in lowercase to help distinguish them from OpenVMS DCL commands.

If MP is available, use the MP sysrev command.

For more information about the latest firmware for your Integrity server, check the HP OpenVMS Version 8.3 Release Notes. In addition, see the information and resources provided on the HP Support Web site by following these steps:

Go to the following Web site:
http://www.hp.com/support/itaniumservers
Select the appropriate server in the provided list.
The HP Support page that appears provides a list of tasks and services to choose. To automatically receive drivers and support alerts from HP (free of charge), select “Signups: drivers and support alerts” from the list of services, and fill out the forms as instructed.
To find more information about firmware for your Integrity server, select “Download drivers and software” from the list of tasks, and continue with the next step.
From the “Download drivers and software page”, select “Cross operating system (BIOS, Firmware, Diagnostics, etc)”.
From the resulting page, locate the appropriate firmware (look for the latest update; previous versions might also be listed along with the latest), select the link for the firmware in the “Description” column.
Select the “Release Notes” tab and read the information about the current version of firmware and the instructions for determining the firmware in currently in place on your Integrity server. Compare your installed version with firmware versions listed in the release notes.

Creating a Firmware Update CD

To create a firmware update CD for your entry-class Integrity server, you need a CD-recordable drive and software, plus a blank CD-R or CD-RW disk. (For updating firmware on a cell-based server, you must contact HP Customer Support.)




	NOTE: The following instructions are for recording a DVD on an OpenVMS system. You can record the DVD on any system or PC, such as a Microsoft Windows computer, a Linux system, or an HP-UX system. Note that in a future update, a tool will be available from HP that enables you to update the firmware while the operating system is running. To receive notification of new firmware releases for the Integrity server you own, you can subscribe (free of charge) for drivers and software alerts, as instructed in “Checking Firmware Version ”.

Follow steps 1 through 3 from the preceding section.
Locate the appropriate ISO-image firmware file (look for the latest update; previous versions might also be listed along with the latest), select the link for that file and read the instructions for the file included in the release notes, and then download the ISO-image firmware (zip-compressed) file to your system (to access the release notes, see step 5 in the preceding section).
Unzip the firmware file into the corresponding .ISO file. The .ISO file is a block copy of the firmware disk for the Integrity server system. On OpenVMS systems, you can obtain the INFO-ZIP utility from the OpenVMS Freeware CD and use the UnZip utility provided with INFO-ZIP. The following example shows the command for unzipping an .ISO image of the latest firmware for an rx2600 system (the file name changes with each update of the firmware available on the Web site):
$ UNZIP PF_CPEAKSYS0nnn.ZIP Archive: SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSMGR]PF_CPEAKSYS0nnn.ZIP inflating: PF_CPEAKSYS0nnn.ISO

Record the data on the CD, specifying the .ISO file as the source for the CD. For instructions on doing this, enter the following command:

$ @SYS$MANAGER:CDRECORD HELP




	NOTE: OpenVMS software includes the CD recording tool CDRECORD. For online help, enter the @SYS$MANAGER:CDRECORD HELP command at the OpenVMS DCL prompt as shown previously. For source files, check the OpenVMS Open Source Tools CD supplied with your OpenVMS I64 OE DVD. For more information about the software, visit the following Web site: `http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/`

Updating Your Firmware from the Firmware Update CD

You update the firmware of an entry-class Integrity server from the firmware update CD created in the preceding section. For instructions, see the release notes provided for the firmware you downloaded.




	IMPORTANT: To update Integrity server firmware on cell-based servers, contact HP Customer Support.

Device-Naming Conventions

When you perform specific operations, you are asked to specify a device name for the source drive and one for the target drive. When specifying those device names, note the following naming conventions:

When the source drive is a local CD or DVD drive, the device name is similar to the following:
DQA0
When the target drive is a local disk, the device name is similar to the following:
DKA0:
Note the following device name conventions:
- DQ or DK is the device code of the boot device.
- A is the boot device controller designation.
- 0 is the unit number of the boot device.
When the source drive is a virtual DVD drive served by the InfoServer, the device name is typically the following:
DAD1
On OpenVMS systems configured in certain OpenVMS Cluster or HSx environments, the device naming convention is similar to the following:
DUA20.14.0.2.0
The values you specify identify components such as the boot device, controller, unit number of the boot device, HSx controller node number, and channel numbers. Because these values vary depending on your specific hardware configuration, see the owner, operator, and technical service manuals that came with your computer for detailed information.