AIX:Bootinfo

bootinfo Command

Purpose

Determines and displays various boot information, including boot device type and boot device name. This command is NOT a user-level command and is NOT supported in AIX 4.2 or later.

Syntax

bootinfo [ -P Ppsize -s Disk ] | [ -b ] [ -B Disk ] [ -c ] [ -k ] [ -m ] [ -p ] [ -q Adapter ] [ -r ] [ -t ] [ -T ] [ -o Disk ] [ -z ]

Description

The bootinfo command is used during the boot and BOS install to gather and display information. During boot it is used to determine the boot device type and which device the machine has booted from. During a network boot, the bootinfo command displays the contents of the client's bootpd daemon REPLY packet. This information is used by the boot programs to contact the server to obtain the client's file systems.

The bootinfo command uses the device configuration databases in information searches. For some information, the bootinfo command uses NVRAM (nonvolatile random access memory).

When booting a system across a network, use the -c flag to display the following information:

• Client IP address
• Server IP address
• Gateway IP address
• Network type of boot, where:

68 (ASCII "D") Ethernet

79 (ASCII "O") Token Ring

80 (ASCII "P") FDDI

• Slot number of the network adapter
• 802.3 indicator
• Boot file
• Vendor tag information
• Hardware attribute value

For token-ring:

4 Specifies 4 megabit-per-second token ring

5 Specifies 16 megabit-per-second Token Ring

For MCA Ethernet:

7 Specifies thin cable

8 Specifies thick cable

All of the items except the hardware attribute value are part of the bootp daemon reply packet information. The bootinfo command determines the hardware attribute value by looking in NVRAM.

Flags

-b Returns the last boot device.

-B Disk Displays a 1 if the IPL code in the ROS on the machine running the command is capable of booting from the specified disk. Otherwise, the command displays a 0.

-c Displays bootp daemon reply packet information stored with IPL control block.

-k Specifies the key position. The return value indicates:

1	Key is in Secure position
2	Key is in Service position
3	Key is in Normal position

-m Displays the machine model code.

-o Disk Displays either the disk device name or the location depending upon the value of disk.

-P Ppsize Size of disk physical partitions to be used for calculating defaults.

-p Displays the hardware platform type of the running machine. Machines with fundamental differences, such as different types of busses, may have different hardware platform types. For more information see the bosboot command.

-q Adapter Displays a 1 if the IPL code in the ROS on the machine running the command is capable of booting via the specified adapter. Otherwise, this command displays a 0.

-r Displays amount of real memory in kilobytes.

-s Disk Displays disk size in megabytes.

-t Specifies the type of boot. The return values include:

1	Disk boot
3	CD-ROM boot
4	Tape boot
5	Network boot

-T Obsolete. Applications that use this flag should use the -p flag instead, which provides more accurate information about newer models.

-z Specifies whether the machine hardware is MP-capable (capable of running the multi-processor kernel and supporting more than one processor). The return value indicates:

0	The machine is not MP-capable
1	The machine is MP-capable

Examples

1. To determine default physical-partition size for disk hdisk2, enter:

bootinfo -P 0 -s hdisk2

2. To display amount of real memory, enter:

bootinfo -r

Related Information

The bosboot command

Understanding the Boot Process in AIX 5L Version 5.1 System Management Concepts: Operating System and Devices.