HP-UX Kernel Configuration

Summary of Change

The kcweb application has incorporated the following changes and new features:

The maxusers tunable has been obsoleted and removed in the HP-UX 11i v2 release. Changes to this tunable will have no effect on the kernel. Prior to the HP-UX 11i v2 release, the maxusers tunable was used to calculate the default values of nclist, nfile, and ninode, all of which control kernel data structures that determine the system resource allocation.

As of HP-UX 11i v2, however, no tunables depend on maxusers. All tunables that used to depend on it for default values have now been assigned individual numerical defaults. Changing maxusers will have no affect on any other tunable. Individual tunables should be changed for system tuning. Please refer to the respective tunable manpages for more information.

In HP-UX 11i v2, the Kernel Configuration (KC) commands have been replaced by a new set of commands. The config, kmadmin, kminstall, kmmodreg, kmsystem, and kmupdate commands have been removed. The kmtune, kmpath, and mk_kernel commands have only limited transitional support and will be removed in a future release. The new KC commands are kconfig, kcmodule, kctune, kclog, and kcpath.

In addition to these command changes, there are changes to the location of kernels and related files on disk; to the manner in which a kernel configuration is chosen at boot time; and to the manner in which the system automatically maintains a backup kernel configuration.

For more information, see the documentation listed below.

Impact

With the new KC commands, the customer has simpler, more reliable, and more efficient management of HP-UX kernel configurations. With the new KC commands, many configuration changes that required a kernel rebuild and system reboot can now be made without them. Even when a kernel rebuild or system reboot is still required, no compilations of kernel code are needed. The new KC commands share a consistent user interface and management model.

Customers who are used to using the removed commands, listed above, will need to use the appropriate new KC command. System administrators will need to be aware of the changes in kernel location, boot-time selection, and automatic backup creation.

Compatibility

The HP Apache-based Web Server must be installed for kcweb to work. HP Apache does not need to be running on its default port 80. The kcweb tool can be used with a locally installed copy of Mozilla or Netscape. The Mozilla, Netscape, and Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browsers can also be used from any type of remote system.

	NOTE: For the kcweb tool (GUI mode) to run, cookies must be enabled in your browser (Mozilla or Internet Explorer).

Scripts or applications using the commands being removed will have to be changed. (For kmtune and kmpath, which are the most commonly used scripts, compatibility interfaces have been provided to ease the transition.)

Scripts or applications that hard-code the location of the kernel should be changed.

Performance

There will be no noticeable increase or decrease in response time for Kernel Configuration tasks.

Documentation

Information is available in the white paper called “Managing Kernel Configurations in HP-UX 11i version 2,” available at http://www.hp.com/products1/unix/operating/infolibrary/whitepapers/7202__ManagingKernelConfig_WP__051403.pdf.

Information is also available in the Managing Systems and Workgroups manual for this release, available at http://www.docs.hp.com.

Information is available in the following online manpages:

Obsolescence

The config, kmadmin, kminstall, kmmodreg, kmsystem, and kmupdate commands are obsolete and have been removed.

The kmtune, kmpath, and mk_kernel commands have been deprecated and are obsolescent. Only some of their options are supported in this release, and they will be removed altogether in a future release.

The maxusers tunable has been obsoleted and removed. (See the “Summary of Change”.)