Unless you are configuring or administering a netdist server, you can skip the rest of this chapter.
A Brief View of the Situation
The term netdist refers to a feature of the 7.0 update program that lets you update from a specially-configured server ("netdist server") instead of updating from the product tapes. The netdist service is particularly useful for large groups of networked systems that must be updated to a new HP-UX release.
A netdist server is a system on your network that has been set up to distribute HP-UX software and applications over the network. When the netdist server is operational, other systems on the network can specify it as the source during.
update sessions. The updist program (a variant of update) transfers filesets from tape to the netdist server's disk. The netdist server can then offer these filesets to other systems over the network.
The netdistd (daemon)program runs on the netdist server. This program lets other systems run update by drawing filesets from where updist deposited them and delivering the filesets over the network to the requesting system.
Thus, updating from a netdist server is more convenient than updating from tape and requires no tape drive on the requesting system.
Prerequisites and Conditions
• Have the appropriate networking hardware and know how it is configured .
• Choose a server with ample disk space. For HP-UX 7.0, you need a minimum of 83 Mbytes for AXE and PE (Series 300) and 75 Mbytes for hpuxcore (Series 800), plus space for additional applications. For a mixed cluster, you need space for both Series 300 and Series 800 filesets, plus space for additional applications. A mixed cluster server, for example, probably will need at least 400 Mbytes of space-plus space for future growth.
You might want to mount a separate disk to contain the /netdist directory, from which the netdist server distributes files (for information on mounting files, see "Managing the File System" in this manual).
3-30 ·Updating HP-UX
o For example, to distribute software for a complete Series 300 HP-UX system, you might mount a 7935 disk drive at /netdist.
o To distribute software for both Series 300's and Series 800's, the server must have files for both types of systems; a 7937 might be more appropriate for the /netdist directory.
• Update the server to HP-UX 7.0 (the update program is described in preceding modules of this chapter). Include the 7.0 LANLINK software. If you plan to set up anonymous ftp for file transfer (see below), also include ARPA.
• After updating to HP-UX 7.0, configure the 7.0 LAN LINK software according to its documentation.
• To transfer files, you might want to set up anonymous ftp (file transfer protocol). Anonymous ftp is not the only method you can use to transfer files, but it provides a fast, effective vehicle for file transfer among networked systems. If you do not have anonymous ftp on your system, you can set it up using sam(lM) or by consulting the manual Installing and Maintaining NS-ARPA Services.
The procedure for configuring a netdist server is on the following page . ...
Updating HP-UX 3-31
How to Configure a Netdist Server
1. Create the directory /netdist if it does not already exist on the server.
2. Make sure the /etc/services file contains an entry for the netdist server.
The entry looks something like this:
netdist 2106/tcp # network file distribution
If the entry does not exist, add it by typing the above example into the /etc/services file (use vi or any appropriate text editor).
3. Run /etc/updist. The updist program, a variant of update, transfers filesets from tape (or another server) to a hierarchical structure beneath the /netdi st directory. These filesets are the ones the netdist server delivers to other systems on request: the filesets you select using updist are the only ones the netdist server can provide.
To distribute software for both Series 300 and Series 800 systems, run the updist program with each set of 7.0 update tapes. After both sets of software are loaded, they are contained in separate directories beneath the /netdist directory.
4. When updist completes, type / etc/netdistd -1 (lowercase L) to bring up the server. The netdistd program is the daemon that monitors the network for netdist requests; the -1 argument causes the netdist daemon to log activity and error information to /usr/adm/netdist .log. The netdist .log file is described later in this module. For other options to netdistd, see netdistd(lM) in the HP- UX Reference.
5. Make the update program available to clients (see below).
Making the Update Program Available to Clients
After you've configured the netdist server, you must make the update program available to clients for network distribution.
1. Build the TOOL archive from the /netdist directory. To do this, type the following commands at the system prompt:
• Series 300. To distribute software for a Series 300, type:
cd /netdist/300/TOOL/product tar -cvf /tmp/TOOL.300 etc system
3-32 Updating HP-UX
• Series 800. To distribute software for a Series 800, type:
cd /netdist/800/TOOL/product tar -cvf /tmp/TOOL.800 etc system
• Series 300 and Series 800. To distribute software for the Series 300 and Series 800, type both sets of commands, as shown above.
2. This step assumes that you have anonymous ftp set up on your system (see
"Prerequisites and Conditions" earlier in this module):
Make the TOOL archive available to clients by putting the archives in a place where other systems can get them. Type one of these sets of commands at the system prompt:
Series 300:
Series 800:
mv /tmp/TOOL. 300 /users/ftp/dist/TOOL. 300 chmod 444 TOOL. 300
mv /tmp/TOOL. 800 /users/ftp/dist/TOOL. 800 chmod 444 TOOL. 800
Getting More Information
• For additional information on the netdist daemon, see netdistd(lM) in the HP- UX Reference.
• For additional information on using or setting up anonymous ftp, see sam(lM) or Installing and Maintaining NS-ARPA Services.
• For additional information on disk space, see the HP- UX System Administration Concepts Manual.
• For additional information on networking hardware, see available hardware configuration manuals and data sheets, such as the HP9000 Series 300 Hardware Configuration Guide.
Updating HP-UX 3-33