HP OpenVMS Version 8.2-1 for Integrity Servers...

Alternative Ways to Initialize the System Disk

Removing the Diagnostic Partition File

Alternative Method of Initialization  

When you initialize your target disk using the following method, you must use the PRESERVE option during the installation of OpenVMS on the disk. If you use the INITIALIZE option, the disk is reinitialized using the defaults.

1. After booting the operating system media, and before installing the operating system, select option 7 ("Execute DCL commands and procedures") from the main menu.
2. Initialize the intended target disk with the following command:

      $ INITIALIZE /SYSTEM /HEADERS=150000 /STRUCTURE=ods-level target-disk target-label

   where:
   
   ods-level is 2 (for ODS-2) or 5 (for ODS-5)
   
   target-disk is the device for the target disk (such as DKA100:)
   
   target-label is the label for the target disk (you can change the label later)
   
   If you specified ODS-5 and you want support for hard links, include the /VOLUME_CHARACTERISTICS=HARDLINKS qualifier with the INITIALIZE command.
   
   If you are using this method of initialization to prevent creation of a diagnostic partition, and you do not intend to mount the disk on an OpenVMS system prior to version 7.2, include the /LIMIT qualifier with the INITIALIZE command. If you do not use the /LIMIT qualifier, your new system disk might be initialized with a relatively large minimum allocation size. This can cause small files to use more space than necessary.
3. Exit DCL (log off), and then select option 1 ("Upgrade, install or reconfigure OpenVMS") from the main menu.
4. When you are asked whether to initialize or preserve the target disk, choose PRESERVE (the default).
5. Continue with the installation.

Removing the Diagnostic Partition File