xref: /openbsd/share/man/man8/man8.alpha/boot_alpha.8 (revision 3bef86f7)
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25.Dd $Mdocdate: March 13 2023 $
26.Dt BOOT_ALPHA 8 alpha
27.Os
28.Sh NAME
29.Nm boot_alpha
30.Nd Alpha system bootstrapping procedures
31.Sh DESCRIPTION
32.Ss Cold starts
33When powered on, the SRM firmware will proceed to its initialization, and
34will boot an operating system if the
35.Em auto_action
36variable is set to
37.Dq boot
38or
39.Dq restart ,
40or will wait for interactive commands if set to
41.Dq halt .
42.Ss Warm starts
43After a panic, or if the system is rebooted via
44.Xr reboot 8
45or
46.Xr shutdown 8 ,
47the SRM console will only restart the system if the
48.Em auto_action
49variable is set to
50.Dq boot .
51.Ss Boot process options
52The SRM console will attempt to boot from the device listed in the
53.Em bootdef_dev
54variable.
55A list of the recognized SRM devices can be obtained with the command
56.Ic show dev
57at the SRM prompt.
58.Pp
59The
60.Ox
61alpha boot loader program is extensively described in a separate document,
62.Xr boot 8 .
63.Ss Abnormal system termination
64In case of system crashes, the kernel will usually enter the kernel
65debugger,
66.Xr ddb 4 ,
67unless it is not present in the kernel, or it is disabled via the
68.Em ddb.panic
69sysctl.
70Upon leaving ddb, or if ddb was not entered, the kernel will halt the system
71if it was still in device configuration phase, or attempt a dump to the
72configured dump device, if possible.
73The crash dump will then be recovered by
74.Xr savecore 8
75during the next multi-user boot cycle.
76It is also possible to force other behaviours from ddb.
77.Sh FILES
78.Bl -tag -width /usr/mdec/netboot -compact
79.It Pa /bsd
80default system kernel
81.It Pa /bsd.rd
82standalone installation kernel, suitable for disaster recovery
83.It Pa /usr/mdec/bootxx
84primary bootstrap for
85.Dq ffs
86file system
87.It Pa /usr/mdec/boot
88secondary bootstrap (usually also installed as
89.Pa /boot )
90.It Pa /usr/mdec/netboot
91network bootstrap
92.El
93.Sh SEE ALSO
94.Xr ddb 4 ,
95.Xr boot 8 ,
96.Xr boot_config 8 ,
97.Xr halt 8 ,
98.Xr init 8 ,
99.Xr installboot 8 ,
100.Xr reboot 8 ,
101.Xr savecore 8 ,
102.Xr setnetbootinfo 8 ,
103.Xr shutdown 8
104.Rs
105.%T "Alpha Architecture Reference Manual Third Edition"
106.%Q "Alpha Architecture Committee"
107.%I "Digital Press"
108.%D 1998
109.Re
110.Sh BUGS
111The device names used by
112.Ox Ns / Ns alpha
113and the
114.Tn SRM Console
115often have no relation to each other.
116