ISL Boot Utilities

The system uses bootable ISL utilities to either load the system from tape or to start the system from disk. The current boot utilities are START, UPDATE, INSTALL, and DUMP. There are additional utilities for system management: SADPATCH, DISCUTIL, CLKUTIL, and SAT.

The START utility starts the system from disk. Use this utility to recover from a system hang or failure or to reboot the system after scheduled downtime.

Bringing in the system from tape is referred to as a system load. The system uses two utilities to perform a system load, which builds essential operating system files and data structures on disk. The two load utilities, UPDATE and INSTALL, have the option to boot the system from disk once the load operation is complete.

The INSTALL utility completely replaces the contents of the disk and places the base operating system files, including the system configuration files, on disk. If you have installed a new system over an already existing system, you can use the STORE/RESTORE utility to restore the original system dictionary, other subsystem files, and user files to the new system after the INSTALL is complete.

The UPDATE utility replaces the current base system files on disk and optionally replaces system configuration files (if you name a different configuration file when you use the UPDATE utility). If you do not name another configuration file, the original file will remain after the update.

The base system files contain the copy of the operating system to be placed on disk. As part of every system, these files make a minimal or base system. INSTALL and UPDATE utilities, optionally, attempt a software reboot from disk.

The DUMP utility writes the current state of the system main memory and secondary storage to tape for analysis. DUMP, also optionally, attempts a software reboot from disk.

Depending on the utility and the options specified, the system either halts at the end of the utility's execution or reboots from disk.

If you want to see a list of command options along with an explanation of correct usage and default values, enter help at the ISL prompt.