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Chapter 6 185
Boot Console Handler
ISL Environment
ISL Environment
The ISL environment provides the means to load the operating system (HP-UX)
environment. The ISL environment also provides an offline platform to execute optional
diagnostic and utility programs from a boot device when HP-UX does not load.
The ISL program is the first program loaded into main memory from an external medium
(LAN, disk, or tape) and launched by the initial program loader (IPL) routine from the
Boot Administration environment.
The ISL environment provides the following capabilities:
• Execute user-entered commands to modify boot device paths and boot options in stable
storage.
• Run offline diagnostic programs and utilities
• Provide automatic booting of the HP-UX operating system after power-on or reset
Invoking ISL from the Boot Console Handler
Perform the following steps to invoke ISL from the boot console handler:
Step 1. Follow the directions in “Accessing the Boot Console Handler” on page 158, and
then type the following at the prompt and press
Enter:
Main Menu: Enter command > boot
device
You are prompted:
Interact with ISL (Y, N, or Q) > y
Step 2. Answering yes (y) causes the ISL to be loaded from the specified device. After a
short time, the following prompt appears on your screen:
ISL>
ISL is the program that actually controls the loading of the operating system. By
interacting with ISL, you can choose to load an alternate version of the HP-UX
operating system.
For example, if the usual kernel (/stand/vmunix) on your root disk (fwscsi.6.0)
has become corrupted, and you wish to boot the workstation from the backup
kernel (/stand/vmunix.prev), type the following at the ISL> prompt and press
Enter:
ISL> hpux /stand/vmunix.prev
ISL User Commands
The following commands available in the ISL environment allow you to display and modify
the boot characteristics of the system.
• help - lists ISL command menu and available utilities.