Irix 6.5 Installation Notes

Section 2 - Performing a Clean Install

These are some notes on how to install a fresh copy of operating system software on an SGI that is running an older major release (such as 5.3 or 6.2) or which was broken into by a hacker.  Your system must already have a single /root partition.  If it has separate /root and /usr partitions see Section 1 - Repartitioning the System Disk instead. See the Overview notes for additional general information.

Software can be installed from a local or remote CDROM or in some cases from a remote or local directory. These notes assume that you are using a local CDROM since the machine must be put in firmware mode to load some packages.

See the Online Books, Owner's Guide, Software Installation Guide, or Installation Instructions pamphlet for additional installation information..

Part A - Machine Preparation

  1. Make sure that the machine is properly backed up.
  2. Files that you will want to set aside (on another machine or second disk) before the upgrade.

    Here is a script to archive files before upgrade. It also produces a text file called "System.save" that includes important information about your system that will be needed when you are ready to re-configure your system after the upgrade. Copy the script to your system (with Netscape, right-click on link and select "Save Link As..", with Internet Explorer, right-click on link and select "Save target As..."). Edit the script so it saves files appropriate for your system, then execute it with the command "sh ./save-files.sh".

    Important - Print out a copy of "System.save" to use later on in the upgrade.

    Some may wonder why you should set aside these files if you have a complete backup of your system? It is far easier to ftp these files from another machine or copy them from another local disk than it is to restore them from tape.

    It should also be noted that a separate backup of the /usr/people directory (in addition to the level 0 backup) may ease in the restoration of user files after the operating system has been installed.

Part B - Installation

  1. Shutdown the system. Power off the system.
     
  2. Attach the CDROM drive if necessary.  Power on the CDROM drive (if external).
     
  3. Power on the system.
     
  4. When the system starts booting up and you see the message "Starting up the system", click the "Stop for Maintenance" button or press <Esc> immediately. This will bring up the Maintenance Menu.
     
  5. Click the icon for "Install System Software". The menu is replaced by an "Install System Software" screen with four icons.
     
  6. Click the icon for "Local CD-ROM". On the screen you should see a line like this: 
    Local SCSI CD-ROM drive <n>
    where <n> is the unit number of the CD-ROM drive.
     
  7. Click the "Install" button.
     
  8. Insert the IRIX 6.5.x Installation Tools and Overlays CD into the CD-ROM drive. Use the latest release instead of the base (6.5) release Installation Tools.
     
  9. After you have inserted the CD into the CD-ROM the light will flash several times. When this has stopped flashing click the "Continue" button. This message appears briefly: 
    Obtaining Installation Tools
    This message or a similar one is shown: 
    Copying Installation tools to disk
    as the miniroot is copied to the swap partition on your workstation. Copying the miniroot takes a while. A status bar indicates the progress of the copy.

    After the miniroot copying is complete you should see the "inst" program come up similar to the following:

    IRIX Release <version #> <cpu type> Version <longversion> System V

ipg0: missing  Note: These missing messages are normal and do not
enp0: missing  indicate a problem; one line appears for each device
fxp0: missing  supported by the kernel, but not used by the system.

Creating miniroot devices, please wait...
The system is coming up, please wait... 
The system is ready.

Current system date is <date>

<root_device>   on /root

Default location of new software is <source>

If you are a first-time inst user, give the command "help beginner".

Inst 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>
  10. At this point the "inst" program is running, but before we start installing new software we want to remove the old software still on the disk and start with a clean disk.

    Select:

    13. admin
    The Admin Menu should appear similar to the one below: 
    Administrative Commands Menu

 1. set [preferences]            List all preferences or set/clear a preference
 2. date [args]                  Display or set the system date
 3. files [names]                List files in subsystems
 4. space                        List disk usage information
 5. recalculate                  Recalculate space required for installation
 6. sh [cmd]                     Escape to a shell or run a command
 7. shroot [cmd]                 Escape to a chrooted shell or run a command
 8. relocate [prod [disk] ]      Relocate product to a different disk
 9. mount [fsname] [dir]         Show mounted filesystems or mount new ones
10. umount [fsname]              Unmount a filesystem
11. mkfs [blockdevice]           Make a new filesystem
12. sethostname                  Set name of current host, for networking
13. sethostipaddr                Set host ipaddr - Internet address
14. save filename                Save selection to file
15. load filename                Load selection from file
16. source filename              Execute inst commands from file
17. rqs                          Perform rqs(1) processing
18. config [changed]             List all or modified config files
19. hardware                     List machine-specific hardware information
20. updatekeepfile               Add N(ew), unselected subsystems to keepfile
21. return                       Go to the Inst Main Menu

Admin>
    Select: 
    11. mkfs
    The root filesystem on the system disk will be wiped clean. A message will be displayed stating that all the data on the disk will be destroyed. It will then prompt you with: 
    Are you sure you want to clean your disks?

Type: y
    When it is complete,

    Select:

    21. return
    and you will be once again at the Inst Main Menu 
    Inst 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>
    You are now ready to proceed to Section 3 - Installating Software.

© 2009 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia.

The information contained on the University of Virginia’s Department of Information Technology and Communication (ITC) website is provided as a public service with the understanding that ITC makes no representations or warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability or suitability of the information, including warrantees of title, non-infringement of copyright or patent rights of others. These pages are expected to represent the University of Virginia community and the State of Virginia in a professional manner in accordance with the University of Virginia’s Computing Policies.