EFI is the basic interface
between the operating system and firmware on all Integrity server
systems; it is similar to SRM on Alpha systems. EFI provides a
boot option menu and the ability to configure boot options. EFI
is accessible when the operating system is not booted. On cell-based
servers, EFI is available when the nPartition is in an active state
but has not booted an operating system. Each nPartition will have
its own EFI interface and system boot environment that allows you
to interact with the nPartition before an operating system has booted
on it.
When you first power on a new Integrity server system, you
see a series of diagnostic messages followed by the EFI Boot Manager
screen (unless MP is available, in which case you see the MP login
screen). However, if your Integrity server came with the OpenVMS
I64 operating system factory installed (FIS), then the OpenVMS I64
operating system is the first option and it boots automatically.
On some systems that include MP, you might first see the MP
login screen. In addition, on cell-based servers, you initially
must select the console for the nPartition you want to access. As
noted previously, the behavior of Integrity server systems can vary
significantly from model to model as well as from version to version of
the firmware.
To select an option from the EFI Boot
Manager menu, use the up or down arrow key to highlight an item
(or for some (with some terminal emulators, you might have to use
the letter v to scroll down and the caret (^) to scroll up), and
then press Enter to activate the selection. You can use EFI to
configure numerous options for your Integrity server and OpenVMS
operating system.
For the first boot of a system on which OpenVMS is not preinstalled,
you probably need to use EFI to get started. When you select the
EFI Shell, the console displays much activity before the EFI Shell
prompt appears. If you do not see the EFI Shell> prompt,
press Enter. (Note also that the EFI Shell prompt might change,
as explained in
General Notes about Using EFI.)
The EFI boot menu lists boot options. Each item in the boot
options list references a specific boot device and provides a specific
set of boot options or arguments to be used when booting the device.
You can add boot options to the boot menu. The OpenVMS installation
procedure (as well as the upgrade procedure) can assist you in adding
and validating a boot option for your newly installed system disk.
The procedure uses the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager (BOOT_OPTIONS.COM)
utility to add and validate boot options. You can use this utility
directly at the OpenVMS DCL prompt. HP recommends using either
of these methods for configuring boot options rather than using
EFI. The OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility is easier to use than EFI
and allows you to configure the most pertinent options for your
system (while OpenVMS is running), including the following:
Display boot options known
to the EFI Boot Manager.
Add a boot option to the
EFI Boot Manager so that your system disk boots automatically when
the system is powered on or rebooted.
Remove or change the position
of a boot option in the EFI Boot Manager list.
Validate and fix the boot
option list.
Change how long EFI pauses
before booting or rebooting.
Use of this utility is optional for most devices but is required
for configuring boot options on Fibre Channel devices. HP recommends
using this utility to add members of a multiple-member shadow set
to the boot list and dump device list. (Be sure to add all members
to both lists.) For instructions on how to use the utility, refer
to
Configuring and Managing OpenVMS Booting on Integrity Servers. For more information
about configuring Fibre Channel devices with this utility, refer
to
Setting Up and Booting Fibre Channel Storage Devices. For information about
using the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility to display boot options,
refer to
Displaying EFI Boot Entries and Mapped OpenVMS Devices.
For information about setting the pause length, refer to
Setting EFI Boot Option Countdown Timer (Timeout). The OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility
also allows you to configure Dump Off the System Disk (DOSD) devices
and debug devices; for more information about this, refer to the
HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 2: Tuning, Monitoring, and Complex Systems
.
General
Notes about Using EFI Note the following:
Using
EFI on Cell-Based Servers: Remember that on an Integrity
server with nPartition support, a separate EFI interface exists
for each nPartition. Be sure to access the appropriate nPartition
console. To determine which nPartition EFI interface you are using,
use the info sys command at the EFI Shell prompt. This lists the local
nPartition number and details about active cells. For processor
details, use the info cpu command. (You can also use MP to provide information
about the nPartition you are using, as described in the HP
System Partitions Guide, Administration for nPartitions
.) You can use the MP console interface to access any nPartition's
EFI console. Press Ctrl/B to move from EFI (or from your OpenVMS
session) to the MP interface. Log in to MP if you are prompted.
A menu then displays the names of all available nPartitions. Select
from this list the nPartition that you want to access. To gain
console write access for an nPartition console, press Ctrl/E and
enter the letters cf. You can use the MP pd command to set a default nPartition for MP login; this
helps to ensure you are brought to the intended nPartition (for
example, to help prevent you from accidentally reconfiguring an
nPartition you do not own). To return to the EFI console (when OpenVMS is not booted),
enter the co command at the MP> prompt.
Navigating EFI File System Directories:
To switch to a different file system, enter the file system name. The
following example shows how to switch to fs3: from the current location
(top level of the EFI Shell):
Shell> fs3:
fs3:\>
Note that the prompt is now fs3:\>. The
EFI Shell prompt changes to reflect the file system currently accessed.
The Shell> prompt is displayed again if you reset the
system. Also note that the file system number might change when
remapped after hardware changes are made to the server (for example,
after an I/O drive is added to the server and the nPartition boots
or the map -r command is issued).
File Structure of EFI File Systems:
The file structure of an fs disk is identical to MS-DOS and the commands
to move around the structure are similar to MS-DOS commands. For
example, to move to directory efi on disk fs0:, enter the cd command:
fs0:\> cd efi
fs0:\efi>
To display the contents of the efi directory, use the dir command.
EFI Commands for OpenVMS:
Most commands that you issue for OpenVMS purposes at the EFI Shell
prompt are issued from \efi\vms on the file system associated with the system disk.
You can enter such commands directly from the top level by specifying \efi\vms in the path for subsequent commands, or by first moving
to \efi\vms and entering the commands without the path specification.
The first example that follows shows how to enter commands from
the top level. The second example shows how to move to \efi\vms before issuing the commands. The vms_show command displays the equivalent OpenVMS device name for
devices mapped by EFI, and the vms_set command can be used to set a debug or dump device. These
EFI commands for OpenVMS, known as EFI Utilities for OpenVMS, are
usable only when the operating system is not running. To display
and set EFI-mapped devices while the operating system is running,
use the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager (BOOT_OPTIONS.COM), as described in
Configuring and Managing OpenVMS Booting on Integrity Servers. The EFI Utilities for
OpenVMS are described in the HP OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual
.
The directory structure and contents of the OpenVMS
system disk differs from those of the OpenVMS I64 OE DVD. Note
also that the bootstrap on the system disk
is located at \efi\vms\vms_loader.efi, while on the DVD it is at \efi\boot\bootia64.efi. (These two files are identical in content.)
EFI Aliases: You can define
aliases for EFI commands that are easier to remember. For example,
to define the alias dir for the ls command, use the alias command as follows:
fs0:\> alias dir "ls"
To define an alias for the command that boots OpenVMS from
fs0:, type the following command:
fs0:\> alias bvms "fs0:\efi\vms\vms_loader.efi"
Setting an alias to point to a specific
device can lead to unexpected results. For example, if you insert
a DVD in the DVD/CD drive, fs0: now points to the DVD/CD drive.
HP recommends using the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility to set
your system disk as a boot device for EFI, as explained in
Configuring and Managing OpenVMS Booting on Integrity Servers.
To list the aliases currently defined, enter the alias command:
fs0:\> alias dir : ls bvms : fs0:\efi\vms\vms_loader.efi
Boot Device List:Any changes in storage
configuration after the system is booted to EFI (such as inserting
a DVD into a DVD removable drive or adding SCSI drives on storage
enclosures) is not automatically detected by the EFI Shell environment.
To have the EFI Shell recognize the device, you must reconnect
the device driver (on cell-based servers, use the EFI search command; on other servers, use the EFI reconnect command). The EFI shell environment creates default mappings for all
the device handles that support a recognized file system. After
you change the system configuration or add a new device, you must
regenerate these mappings. For information about reconnecting devices
and regenerating mappings, refer to
Alternate Method of Using EFI to Boot the DVD and refer to your hardware documentation or
to the Web site listed at the end of this section.
Moving between EFI and MP: To
move from MP interface to EFI, type co (for Console) at the MP> prompt. If you are
in command mode (at the MP:CM> prompt), first press Ctrl/B
to return to the MP> prompt. To move from the EFI to MP, press Ctrl/B (this assumes MP
is present and configured).
For more information about using EFI, refer to the documentation
provided for your Integrity server. Extensive information can also
be found at the following Web site:
HP OpenVMS Version 8.2-1 for Integrity Servers... 
Setting Up the Console, Booting, and Shutting... 
