5    Full Installation Prerequisite Tasks

This chapter describes the preinstallation tasks to be performed before starting a Full Installation.

Summary of Prerequisite Tasks:

1. Check the hardware to make sure it meets the requirements for a Full Installation.

2. Check the Software Distribution Kit to make sure you have the right CD-ROMs and documents.

3. Read the Release Notes, especially the chapters about installations and hardware, for last minute software, firmware, or hardware changes that are not documented in this manual.

4. Optionally switch console types if you are migrating your system from Windows NT for Alpha to Tru64 UNIX

5. Optionally prepare and position CDFs or user-supplied files to invoke during the Full Installation or to clone the installation or configuration from another system.

6. Back up the user data on the operating system as a safety precaution. This step is not required for brand new systems.

7. Shut down or power up the system to the console mode to prepare to update the firmware and then boot the system from the distribution media.

8. Update the firmware to the version that is compatible with the new version of the operating system.

9. Optionally run hardware configuration utilities depending upon the type of hardware you have.

10. Optionally connect peripheral devices if you intend to add new devices to your system.

5.1    Task 1: Check Hardware

Ensure that you have the hardware needed for an installation. You must know the location and function of the controls and indicators on your hardware. Verify that all cables and connectors are hooked up and that the system is plugged in. Refer to your hardware owner's documentation for more information.

Table 5-1 lists the minimum hardware requirements to install the operating system software.

Table 5-1:  Hardware Required for an Installation

In addition to these required items, you may want an additional disk or disks for data storage that is separate from the disk on which file systems will reside. This arrangement lets you add additional storage space without changing the system disk configuration.

5.2    Task 2: Make Sure You Have These Items

You should have received a Software Distribution Kit that contains the CD-ROMs and documents you need to perform a Full Installation. A Part Listing information sheet is included in the box and lists the contents of the Software Distribution Kit.

Before beginning any installation, you should have in your possession the items shown in Table 5-2 and Table 5-3. If you are missing any one of the items listed in Table 5-2 or Table 5-3, contact your support representative.

If your system is connected to an EISA bus, you must run the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU) before installing the operating system. The ECU is third-party software that is shipped on diskette. You should have received the ECU diskette with the original receipt of your hardware. If you do not have a current ECU diskette in your possession, contact your support representative or an authorized vendor for a replacement before beginning the installation.

The Software Distribution Kit contains the following CD-ROMs:

Table 5-2:  CD-ROMs Shipped in the Software Distribution Kit

The Software Distribution Kit contains the following documents:

Table 5-3:  Documents Shipped in the Software Distribution Kit

5.3    Task 3: Read the Release Notes

It is recommended that you read the Release Notes before beginning any software installation procedure, particularly the Installation and Hardware chapters. The Release Notes describe important changes to the software, firmware, and hardware that are not covered in standard documentation. This information might be required for a successful installation.

The Release Notes also describe new features of the Version 5.0A operating system or features that have changed significantly from previous releases.

A printed version of the Release Notes is included in the Software Distribution Kit you received.

5.4    Optional Task 4: Migrating Your System From WindowsNT for Alpha to Tru64 UNIX

If your system is currently running the Windows NT for Alpha operating system and you want to install the Tru64 UNIX operating system, you have to switch from the Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) console to the System Reference Manual (SRM) console before beginning the installation.

Follow this procedure to prepare your system to migrate from Windows NT for Alpha to Tru64 UNIX:

1. Check your existing hardware configuration against the list of supported hardware in the Software Product Description. Obtain replacements for any unsupported boards, device drivers, and disks with those listed in the Software Product Description.

2. Make sure you have the latest version of the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU) diskette in your possession.

3. Back up the user data on the current operating system as a safety precaution.

4. Shut down the NT operating system to the console mode.

5. Reconfigure and replace unsupported hardware with supported hardware, if necessary.

6. Insert the ECU diskette into the diskette drive.

7. Follow the instructions on the screen to display the Main Menu from which all setup is done.

8. Select the following menu items from the Main Menu:

   1. CMOS setup

   2. Advanced CMOS setup

   3. Console Selection: Digital UNIX Console (SRM)

9. Press the [F10] key to save your selections.

10. Run the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU) (as described in your hardware owner's guide) only if the hardware configuration has changed. If the devices are recognized and supported, then the ECU updates itself.

11. Cycle the system power off and back on.

    The console is now running the SRM console.

12. Update the system firmware as described in Section 5.8.

5.5    Optional Task 5: Prepare CDFs or User-Supplied Files

If you want to perform an Installation Cloning or Configuration Cloning on the system you are about to install, read the chapters about Installation and Configuration Cloning in the Installation Guide -- Advanced Topics. Prepare the configuration description files (CDFs) as described and move them to the right locations so the Full Installation process can find them.

If you want to have the Full Installation automatically execute user-supplied scripts, programs, or executables, review the chapter about user-defined files in the Installation Guide -- Advanced Topics. Prepare preinstall, postload, or postreboot files as instructed and move them to the right location so the Full Installation process can find them.

5.6    Task 6: Back Up the System

If your system already is installed with the operating system, it is recommended that you perform a full backup of the user data on the system before you begin any software installation procedure. Refer to the System Administration guide for information about backing up your system.

5.7    Task 7: Shut Down or Power Up the Processor

To prepare to update system firmware, do one of the following depending upon the current state of the system:

• If the system is turned off, power on the processor. The console subsystem prints various start up and diagnostic messages and ends with the console mode prompt ( >>> ).

• If your system is up and already running a version of the operating system, shut down and halt the processor using a command similar to the following :

  # shutdown -h +5 Please log out
  

  In the previous example, the system is shut down and halted in 5 minutes and sends the message Please log out to all logged in users. Consult the System Administration guide or the shutdown(8) reference page if you need more information about shutting down a system.

5.8    Task 8: Update Firmware

Firmware is the software stored within the system (for example, ROM or EPROM) on a system's CPU board. Firmware is the first software that runs when a system is turned on, and it directly controls the hardware. Each hardware platform uses a different set of firmware. The firmware on a platform is the same regardless of the operating system installed on the platform. Thus, firmware is platform dependent, but is operating system independent.

Your system might require a firmware update to run the new version of the operating system. Console firmware is backward compatible with respect to hardware and operating system revision. Therefore, to assure that your system has the latest in terms of PAL code, boot device support, and bug fixes, upgrading firmware to the latest revision is recommended. The firmware Release Notes for your system model will note any exceptions to this general recommendation.

Firmware updates are located on the Alpha Systems Firmware CD-ROM that is included in the Software Distribution Kit you received.

Follow this basic procedure to begin a firmware update:

1. Shut the system down to console mode if you have not already done so:

   # shutdown -h now
   

2. Insert the firmware CD-ROM into the drive and boot from it:

   >>> boot cdrom_device_name
   

   The firmware update utility automatically identifies your system type and model and determines the correct firmware revision required for your system.

3. Follow the instructions on the screen. There is an automatic display of the READ-ME-FIRST file, which describes the firmware changes included in the update.

4. Power off the processor for at least 10 seconds when the firmware update is complete to initialize the new firmware. Then, power on the processor.

The contents of the firmware CD-ROM are also available at the corporate Internet site through anonymous file transfer protocol (FTP):

ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/Alpha/firmware

Firmware updates are also available through anonymous FTP from the ftp.europe.digital.com worldwide web server.

Note

The EB64+ single-board computer uses a socketed firmware ROM chip. The EB66+, AlphaPC64, AlphaPC164, and EB164 single-board computers use an EPROM that can be updated with new firmware. Refer to your hardware owner's documentation for details on how to update the console firmware on these systems.

5.9    Optional Task 9: Configure Hardware

This section describes optional preinstallation tasks you may have to perform depending upon the type of hardware you have. In all cases, check your hardware documentation for more information.

The following hardware-dependent tasks are described in this section:

• Configuring the network adapter to match the network environment at your site

• Configuring Integrated System Architecture (ISA) Devices

• Installing ATM adapters before the Full Installation

• Configuring the RAID subsystem

• Running the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU)

5.9.1    Setting the Network Adapter Mode

If you have a brand new system that you plan to connect to a network, you may need to change the value of a console variable to enable the network interface. Failure to do so will prevent you from executing remote installations, configuring network services, or running any network-aware software.

By default, your network adapter is configured to operate on twisted-pair (10BaseT) networks. If this is compatible with your network environment, you do not need to do anything. Otherwise, you may need to configure the adapter to suit the environment by resetting one or more console environment variables.

Refer to the documentation that was shipped with the network adapter for complete configuration instructions. Also refer to the tu(7), inet.local(8), and lan_config(8) reference pages for more information.

5.9.2    Configure Integrated System Architecture (ISA) Devices

To connect ISA devices to your system (for example, floppy controllers, graphics cards), use the isacfg console command to supply the correct configuration information.

The isacfg console command is available on systems that have an ISA bus. There is information about the command in the hardware documentation for each of the systems that support ISA bus devices. If you need to know more about the format of the command, enter:

>>> help isacfg

The System Reference Manual (SRM) console firmware provides information about the ISA bus devices that come configured with systems as well as the device handles that are set up. Use the following console firmware command to view this information:

>>> isacfg -all

When you specify a device with the isacfg command, you must use a handle as the name of the device. Table 5-4 lists the handles for optional ISA devices that you can configure for your system.

Table 5-4:  Optional ISA Device Handles

Use the -handle handle-name flag to specify the device handle. The following example sets the parameters for configuring the DE205 Ethernet controller. When you issue such a command, let the input line wrap; do not press the Return key in the middle of the line:

>>> isacfg -slot 1 -dev 0 -mk -handle DE200-LE -irq0 5
   -iobase0 300 -membase0 d0000 -memlen0 10000
   -etyp 1 -enadev 1

See your hardware documentation for more information about ISA configuration.

5.9.3    Install Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Adapters

Install the DGLTA ATM adapter before installing the operating system so that the installation procedure properly detects the presence of the ATM adapter and automatically installs the ATM software subsets.

If you install the ATM adapter after installing the operating system, you must boot the system using the generic kernel /genvmunix, install the ATM software subsets from the CD-ROM or RIS server, and then run the doconfig command to rebuild your system kernel to enable the added ATM support.

Use the following command if you need to boot the system with the generic kernel after the installation:

>>> boot -fi "/genvmunix"

5.9.4    Configure RAID Subsystem

If your system has a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) subsystem, refer to your hardware owner's guide for configuration instructions before you attempt to install software.

5.9.5    Run the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU)

Before installing the operating system onto a system with an Extended System Integrated Architecture (EISA) bus, you must run the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU).

This utility updates EISA nvram, and its use is important for configuring a dual-boot system (with NT, UNIX, or OpenVMS) or if you have to add very new devices to older systems before the installation. Follow the instructions for running this utility in your hardware owner's guide.

If your system has an EISA bus, you received the ECU diskette with the original hardware shipment. If you do not have a current version of this diskette in your possession, contact your support representative for a replacement.

5.10    Optional Task 10: Connect Peripheral Devices

If you have any new peripheral devices you want to connect, do so before you start the installation:

1. Power off your system. Then, connect the peripheral devices while your system is powered off.

   Note

   Depending upon the device or devices you add, you may need to run hardware configuration utilities such as the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU) and RAID Configuration Utility (RCU), as well. Refer to your hardware documentation for more information.

2. Restore power to the console terminal and all additional peripheral devices.

   If you connect additional peripherals or controllers after the installation, refer to the System Administration guide for instructions about how to reconfigure your system.

3. Restore power to the system. When the system is powered on, the peripheral devices automatically are recognized by the system.

5.11    You Are Ready to Begin

When all preinstallation tasks have been completed, proceed to Chapter 6; you are ready to begin a Full Installation of the operating system.