SUMMARY - SS1->SS2 upgrade, IPC as server?

From: dj@astro.lsa.umich.edu
Date: Fri May 03 1991 - 12:14:00 CDT


I recently posted a request for assistance in turning a standalone IPC
into a server which would service a dataless SS2. I asked the
following questions, and received the associated answers:

>- Does the SS2 really need SunOS 4.1.1?

The emphatic response was YES. In particular it prefers SunOS 4.1.1B,
because of a MMU related bug in earlier releases. (I don't know if
there are patches to earlier OS versions which ameliorate the
problem).

>- Is there an *easy* way to turn a standalone IPC into a server?

This last question was fraught with conditions. I wasn't aware of what
extra files, etc. were required to get the IPC up as a server (I've
only had experience with servers and 4.0.3, and the 4.1.1 manuals
certainly look a lot more complicated than the 4.0.3 ones :^). I had a
1/2" 4.1.1 tape, but the 1/2" drive was on our server running 4.0.3,
not on the IPC that was to be the server for the SS2, and the Sun
Installation manuals implied (nay, insisted) that one could do a remote
install only if the tape server was running 4.1.1. I recieved many
different answers to this question.

Apparently it is *not* necessary to have 4.1.1 running on the tape
server (one respondant has booted a tapeless 3/50 from a Convex). It
was also noted that one could avoid the Sun Install scripts entirely by
busting up the tar savesets on the distribution tape and installing
them by hand on the IPC in a private /usr partition that the SS2 would
mount.

Another option is to run /usr/etc/install/{add_client,add_services}.
The former apparently will determine that the IPC isn't a server, and
requests the distribution tapes to complete the conversion. The latter
will allow you to directly upgrade to a server.

Another rather tricky method was to rebuild the IPC's kernel so that
its swap was on the server, freeing up the swap on its local disk, into
which munix could be read. After munix was read into the swap
partition, the IPC was rebooted with munix from it's local disk; the
installation then proceded as per the manual.

The last method that was described to me (and the one I chose to use,
in part because of the detailed instructions enclosed), consisted of
creating a copy of the IPC's / directory on the IPC, modifying the
configuration files on the IPC so that it could be booted off of by the
SS2 (i.e., creating a /tftpboot, modifying the
/etc/{inetd.conf,bootparams,ethers,exports,...}), and modifying the
copy of the IPC's /, so that when the SS2 booted with that it would
mount the IPC's /usr and /usr/kvm. The SS2 was then booted as a
diskless system, its local disk's "a" partition mounted, the modified
copy of the IPC's / copied to the SS2's local "a" partition, and a new
boot block installed on the local disk. The SS2 was then ready to boot
up dataless. There are obviously quite a few details I've left out of
this description. I'd be happy to send along the detailed description
I received to any who'd like it.

While the previous methods all probably work quite well, I chose the
last method based upon these facts (which are probably quite unique to
my setup!):

  - the IPC was actually running 4.1, not 4.1.1 as I had thought. The
    SS2 was shipped with 4.1.1B on 1/4" tape, and I managed to scrounge
    up a 1/4" drive that I could attach directly to the IPC, avoiding
    the remote tape problems (whew!).

  - It wasn't obvious what disk overhead would be incurred by using the
    standard install scripts to set up the server directory structure,
    etc. For completely unrelated reasons I need a fully installed
    4.1.1 machine (which the preloaded DesktopSparcs aren't), which
    would sock up most of the IPC's 207Mb internal disk. I thus
    installed the IPC as a standalone with all of the goodies on the
    distribution tape. The upgrade method I used required only a
    couple of Mb on the IPC. In retrospect the add_{services,client}
    method probably wouldn't have required any more than that, but I
    chose to go with the known.

In any case the SS2 is now up and happy. Many, many thanks to all
those who responded to my plea. For those with any interest, I'd be
pleased to provide the detailed instructions for turning the IPC into a
server (as originally provided by Gordon Galligher
<gorpong%oconnor.uucp@oddjob.uchicago.edu>).

Unfortunately, some of the responses have gotten lost in my personal
mail black hole. I apologize for omitting any who responded.

(I'll be out of touch for a couple of weeks. Until I return, you can
 find a copy of the instructions in anonymous ftp in pub/get/ipc_server
 on ra.astro.lsa.umich.edu.)

Thanks go to: (in no particular order...) Anthony A. Datri
<datri@concave.convex.com> Joe Angelo <angelo@enterprise.arc.nasa.gov>
Paul E. Matz <paul@bmskc.ppg.com> Gordon Galligher
<gorpong%oconnor.uucp@oddjob.uchicago.edu> Stepane Tsacas
<tsacas@ilog.ilog.fr> Ken Rossman <ken@shibuya.cc.columbia.edu>
Rosalinda Garcia <rosa@huggins.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu> David Tock
<dit@uk.ac.aberdeen.kc>

diab jerius university of michigan
internet: dj@astro.lsa.umich.edu department of astronomy
voice: (313) 764-3440 ann arbor, mi 48109



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Fri Sep 28 2001 - 23:06:13 CDT