Nov 11, 2004
Interesting Links
Wow: 10Gb NICS for only $2500! Cheap at half the price. I guess someone will have the money to buy these things . . .
Using Netstat for Surveillance & Troubleshooting.
Something Apple should have included with Airport Extreme all along - a remote control.
What you see is what you mean (WYSIWYM) - Lyx Document Processing.
[/links/2004] | [permalink] | [2004.11.11-19:05.00]
Irix Upgrade Procedure
Irix 6.5 is the current base OS. It is possible to update 6.5 'live' while the system is running and then reboot for changes to take affect. Irix OS installs prior to this will require an offline OS upgrade by booting off an external CD or trying a network boot. Pre-Irix 6 (many old Indigo and Indy machines have 5.3/5.4 installed) the disk will need to be reformated so any data will be lost unless its backed up.
Overlays (like Windows Service Packs and SUS Updates) keep the Irix OS up to date with new features and patches.
At the time of writing Irix 6.5 Overlay 26 is current (often referred to as just 6.5.26).
The most recent updates can be obtained from the SGI support site.
Odd things happen to some of our products when you update beyond 6.5.18 so be very wary of updating beyond this level unless specifically requested. The problems tend to relate to changes in particular Fortran calls in newer overlays - these seemed to have happened between 6.5.18 and 6.5.20 onwards.
Another big change of note specifically to IT is that autofs became a peer service - no need to mess around with amd. Autofs stabilised around 6.5.14 so where possible we should convert machines to using this in place of amd.
What I tend to do is download each CD and uncompress the contents to our IT SGI in vema:/export/sgi_install seperate from the core 6.5 CD's. Where possible I try to keep an older Overlay set around for compatibility reasons (6.5.16 is the old Overlay on vema:/export/sgi_install). If we had enough SGI machines we might automate updates with Roboinst.
There is an installation 'gotcha' - if you get these errors when opening an overlay for installation
WARNING: Invalid filetype "X" at line 172 of x_eoe_6524m.idb
WARNING: Invalid filetype "X" at line 520 of x_eoe_6524m.idb
WARNING: Invalid filetype "X" at line 636 of x_eoe_6524m.idb
WARNING: Invalid filetype "X" at line 1878 of x_eoe_6524m.idb
WARNING: Invalid filetype "X" at line 1879 of x_eoe_6524m.idb
WARNING: Invalid filetype "X" at line 1880 of x_eoe_6524m.idb
You need to install Patch 5086 if you make the jump from a pre 6.5.20 install to a current Irix Overlay (eg installing from 6.5.16 to 6.5.24 -> install the patch first). The patch is in /export/sgi_install/patches on vema.
You need to be root to run 'inst' the Irix software installer - here you can see a) becoming root, b) mounting the sgi_install directory and c) checking its contents d) running inst
bash-2.00$ su
Password:
octagon# bash
# cd /
# ls
CDROM/ debug/ etc/ hw/ lib64/ ns/ proc/ sbin/ tmp/ unix* var/ Desktop/ dev/ export/ lib/ mnt/ oSYSLOG root/ stand/ tmp_mnt/ usr/ web/ bin/ dumpster/ hosts/ lib32/ mnt_tmp/ opt/ s/ t@ u/ v/
# cd /export
# ls
octagon/ temp/
# ls temp
# mount vema:/export/sgi_install temp
# ls temp
6.5.16_Inst_Overlay1/ 6.5_Aug2002_Apps/ 6.5_Found1/ 6520_Inst_Overlay1/ 6524/ FW_Nov2002_Pt4/ 6.5.16_Inst_Overlay2/ 6.5_Dev_Found/ 6.5_Found2/ 6520_Inst_Overlay2/ FW_Nov2002_Pt1/ MIPSpro_7.3/ 6.5.16_Inst_Overlay3/ 6.5_Dev_Found_1.2/ 6.5_NFS/ 6520_Inst_Overlay3/ FW_Nov2002_Pt2/ oracle/ 6.5.16_Inst_Overlay4/ 6.5_Dev_Lib/ 6519_Apps/ 6520_Inst_Overlay4/ FW_Nov2002_Pt3/
# cd temp
# cd 6524
# ls
6524_Apps/ 6524_Comp_Apps/ 6524_Overlay1/ 6524_Overlay2/ 6524_Overlay3/
# inst
The inst installation routine begins
Default distribution to install from: /export/temp/6.5_Found2/dist
For help on inst commands, type "help overview".
Inst 4.1 Main Menu
1. from [source ...] Specify location of software to be installed
2. open [source ...] Specify additional software locations
3. close [source ...] Close a software distribution location
4. list [keywords] [names] Display information about software subsystems
5. go Perform software installation and removal now
6. install [keywords] [names] Select subsystems to be installed
7. remove [keywords] [names] Select subsystems to be removed
8. keep [keywords] [names] Do not install or remove these subsystems
9. step [keywords] [names] Interactive mode for install/remove/keep
10. conflicts [choice ...] List or resolve installation conflicts
11. help [topic] Get help in general or on a specific word
12. view ... Go to the View Commands Menu
13. admin ... Go to the Administrative Commands Menu
14. quit Terminate software installation
Inst>
Select 1 to select the install source - we've copied all the cd's to vema so you'll see this particular machine already has some of the paths listed from previous upgrades.
Be sure to select the Overlay 1 CD first - that way inst knows to expect other CD's
Previous installation sites:
1 /export/temp/6.5_Found2/dist
2 /export/temp/6.5_Found1/dist
3 /export/temp/6.5_NFS/dist/dist6.5
4 /export/temp/6.5_NFS/dist
5 /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Lib/dist
6 /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Found/dist/dist6.5
7 /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Found/dist
8 /export/temp/6.5_Aug2002_Apps/dist
9 /export/temp/6.5.16_Inst_Overlay4/dist
10 /export/temp/6.5.16_Inst_Overlay3/dist
11 none (no distribution, view installed products)
12 quit (no additional distributions, return to inst prompt)
Install software from: [/export/temp/6.5_Found2/dist] /export/temp/6524/6524_Overlay1/cd1
Feed inst the path for all of the other CD's which you'll need - inst will open each one and read its contents and then allow you to give it the path to another CD
Install software from: [/export/temp/6.5_NFS/dist/dist6.5] /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Lib/dist
Reading product descriptions .. 0%
Setting distribution to /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Lib/dist
Reading product descriptions .. 100% Done.
If you plan to install from another distribution, either choose from the list below or enter the name of a different distribution. This will allow you to make selections from two or more distributions before starting the install.
Enter "done" if you are ready to proceed with the installation now.
1 /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Lib/dist
2 /export/temp/6.5_NFS/dist/dist6.5
3 /export/temp/6.5_Found2/dist
4 /export/temp/6.5_Found1/dist
5 /export/temp/6524/6524_Apps/apps
6 /export/temp/6524/6524_Overlay3/cd3
7 /export/temp/6524/6524_Overlay2/cd2
8 /export/temp/6524/6524_Overlay1/cd1
9 /export/temp/6.5_NFS/dist
10 /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Found/dist/dist6.5
11 done (distribution information read, return to inst prompt)
Install software from: [/export/temp/6.5_Dev_Lib/dist] /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Found/dist/dist6.5
Reading product descriptions .. 0%
Setting distribution to /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Found/dist/dist6.5
Reading product descriptions .. 100% Done.
If you plan to install from another distribution, either choose from the list below or enter the name of a different distribution. This will allow you to make selections from two or more distributions before starting the install.
Enter "done" if you are ready to proceed with the installation now.
1 /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Found/dist/dist6.5
2 /export/temp/6.5_Dev_Lib/dist
3 /export/temp/6.5_NFS/dist/dist6.5
4 /export/temp/6.5_Found2/dist
5 /export/temp/6.5_Found1/dist
6 /export/temp/6524/6524_Apps/apps
7 /export/temp/6524/6524_Overlay3/cd3
8 /export/temp/6524/6524_Overlay2/cd2
9 /export/temp/6524/6524_Overlay1/cd1
10 /export/temp/6.5_NFS/dist
11 done (distribution information read, return to inst prompt)
Install software from: [/export/temp/6.5_Dev_Found/dist/dist6.5] done
When you're done (either '11' or 'done' as above) - check for conflicts via 'c' - this will list all conflict - you can use 'c'
Inst> c 1a 2a
inventor_dev.sw.lib cannot be installed because of missing prerequisites:
1a. Do not install inventor_dev.sw.lib (1279134120)
1b. Also install inventor_dev.sw.base (1279134120).
Resolve conflicts by typing "conflicts choice choice ..." or try "help conflicts"
Inst> c 1a
No conflicts
When there are no remaining conflicts hit 'g' for 'go' to actually do the install. If you run into 100's of conflicts that never seem to be fixable (either by supplying the source or opting not to install) then look very carefully at the sources of the install files and check the web - you can easily render a machine unbootable if you fix conflicts by removing everything :-)
The install will proceed as follows - depending on the processor speed this can take anywhere from 30min to an hour to complete
Inst> g
Pre-installation check .. 0% /var/netscape/communicator/mime.types not installed. See smart_config_handling preference for more information.
Pre-installation check .. 3%
Installing new versions of selected mpi.sw subsystems
Installing new versions of selected mpi.sw32 subsystems
Installing new versions of selected mpi.sw64 subsystems
Installing new versions of selected mpt.relnotes subsystems
Upgrading selected nedit.man subsystems
Upgrading selected nedit.sw subsystems
Installing/removing files .. 28%
Upgrading selected netscape.man subsystems
Upgrading selected netscape.plugin subsystems
Upgrading selected outbox.man subsystems
Upgrading selected outbox.sw subsystems
Upgrading selected scsl.hdr subsystems
Upgrading selected scsl.man subsystems
Installing/removing files .. 34%
Upgrading selected scsl.sw32 subsystems
When the upgrade is complete do a 'q' for quit and the system will do a sort of 'brain reset' that can take 30min to an hour
Running exit-commands .. 99%
Software installation has installed new configuration files and/or saved the previous version in some cases. You may need to update or merge old configuration files with the newer versions. See the "Updating Configuration Files" section in the versions(1M) manual page for details. The inst command "admin config changed" will list the affected files.
Checking dependencies .. 100% Done.
Calculating sizes .. 100% Done.
Installations and removals were successful.
You must restart your system to complete the installation.
You may continue with installations or quit now.
Inst> q
WARNING: You must restart your system to complete the installation. Requickstarting ELF files (see rqsall(1)) .. 24%
Then reboot. Fingers crossed and the system should come up again with the new OS (verify revision with a uname -R)
[/tech/unix/irix] | [permalink] | [2004.11.11-19:02.00]