launch(8) launch(8)NAME launch - launches an A/UX kernel from the A/UX Startup environment SYNOPSIS launch -a [-d] [-e] [-f] [-k value] [-m] [-p swapdev-spec] [-r] [-v] [-S] [-s] [path] launch -n [-d] [-e] [-f] [-k value] [-m] [-p swapdev-spec] [-r] [-v] [-s] [-S] [path] ARGUMENTS -a Causes autoconfig to be run. That is, autoconfig is run even if the kernel appears to match the hardware. Launching newunix turns this option on automatically. -d Prints a report of the parameter values that launch is going to pass to the kernel. The report is generated slowly to allow you to visually inspect the report as it is generated, and to make it easier for you to abort the startup process by pressing the COMMAND-. (command-period) key combination. Some of the relevant parameters reported are the location of the root file system, the swap partition, and the file to be treated as the kernel. It often reports the kernel file in terms of a relative path (not prefixed with a device specification). In such cases, the relative path is converted into a full path based upon the file system referenced by the cwd variable. This information can be useful to determine how the override options (-r, -p, and -e) and ROOT variable are affecting the determination of the kernel to be launched, the swap partition to be used, and the file system to be treated as the root file system. -e Causes launch to determine the root partition by honoring the slice number specified inside a device specification in path or specified through the ROOT variable (or the value of the ``Root Directory'' field in the general preferences dialog box). Without this option, slice 0 is exclusively used to determine the root partition. (See the -r option to enable booting off a kernel that is not part of the root file system.) -f Forces all floppy disks to be ejected and waits for the insertion of a disk containing an A/UX file system. Note: No checks are made to ensure that the inserted disk actually has an A/UX file system on it. January 1992 1
launch(8) launch(8)-k value Specifies that a change be made that ultimately affects the value of ki_flags within the kernel_info structure that the launched kernel reads for parameters passed to it from the startup process. The final value of ki_flags is that obtained by performing a logical OR operation of its current value (generated by launch in accordance with other run-time conditions) and value. The value of these flags and their meaning is subject to change without notice. -m Tells launch that the kernel file is on a Macintosh file system. -n Disables the running of autoconfig. That is, autoconfig is not run even if the kernel and the hardware are mismatched. -p swapdev-spec Passes a parameter to the kernel that is being launched so that swapdev-spec is used as the swap partition. Replace swapdev-spec with a string value in the format shown here: (scsi-id,0,slice-no) If this option is not supplied, the default swap space is the partition corresponding to slice 1 of the disk where the root file system is located (also see brc(1M)). path Specifies the absolute pathname of a kernel to be launched. The format of path can include a device specification using this syntax: (device-specification)path The value of device-specification consists of three comma-separated numbers enclosed in parentheses. The first number is the SCSI ID for a disk, the second is the logical unit (usually 0), and the third number is a slice number. The format of device-specification is described briefly under -p as well as in detail in StartupShell(8). -r Causes launch to determine the root partition by honoring the SCSI ID number that is part of the ROOT variable setting (or the value of the ``Root Directory'' field in the general preferences dialog box). Without this option, the root partition is the partition in which the selected kernel resides. This option allows the kernel to reside in a different 2 January 1992
launch(8) launch(8)location from the root disk device. The optional path parameters for SCSI ID and logical disk number (device specification) are used solely to specify the location of the kernel; they are not passed to the kernel as the parameters identifying the root disk device. -s Loads the kernel's symbol table into memory. This option is useful only if the kernel that is being launched contains the kernel debugger module. When the symbol table is loaded, the kernel debugger can display symbolic names for addresses. -S Passes a parameter to the kernel that is being launched so that it can start up in single-user mode, regardless of what is specified in /etc/inittab. -v Selects verbose mode. Messages that would otherwise be directed to a hidden A/UX console window are displayed in the console emulator window. The progess bar is not displayed. The console emulator window is replaced by a Macintosh login dialog box when the system enters multi-user mode. DESCRIPTION launch loads an A/UX kernel into memory and transfers control to the kernel. The launch command can be run only from the A/UX Startup application shell (see StartupShell(8)). As launch transfers control to the kernel, it passes a SCSI ID, a logical unit number, and slice 0 as parameters. The kernel uses these parameters to locate the root file system. If you do not specify a path argument, launch launches the filename specified by the first line of the ASCII file /nextunix. The specified kernel is then checked to see ifTMit contains a software module that depends on a NuBus cardthat is missing from the system. If so, the kernel /newunix is launched and a flag is set to indicate that autoconfig should be run. When the new kernel is made and the system is restarted, the new kernel now matches the hardware and the start up proceeds. Note that autoconfig is not run when hardware is present and a software module is missing. One environmental variable can affect the launch command: ROOT Provides a root disk device that is used when a device specification is not included in the value of the path argument. You can change the value of this variable by choosing General from the Preferences menu in the A/UX Startup application shell (see StartupShell(8)). Once set, its value is retained even when the system is shut down. January 1992 3
launch(8) launch(8)EXAMPLES This command launches the default kernel on the current root disk device: launch This command launches the A/UX kernel located in /unix on the current root disk device: launch /unix This command launches the sunix kernel located within the file system in slice 2 of the disk that is assigned SCSI ID 1: launch (1,0,2)/src/sys/psu/sunix In the last example, the kernel uses slice 0 of the disk with SCSI ID 1 as the location for the root partition. Even though the kernel is loaded from a file system in slice 2, the root file system is still presumed to be in slice 0 of the same disk. When the device specification is not provided, the values passed to the kernel for the root disk device are taken from the $ROOT variable. LIMITATIONS The launch command attempts to verify that a kernel can safely be launched by ascertaining that the hardware includes a memory management unit, a floating point unit, and that at any other Macintosh applications that may have been opened have been properly closed. A dialog box is displayed to alert you of any of these conditions. After those initial checks, the launch process proceeds to a point at which another check occurs. This latter check helps confirm that there is sufficient memory allocated to A/UX Startup for it to be able to load the selected A/UX kernel into memory (the one that is selected could be a fully- configured, multiple-megabyte kernel). If such an error occurs, a prompt is displayed in the command window for A/UX Startup. This allows you to see the error before the startup process is aborted and normal operation is restored. FILES /newunix File containing an A/UX kernel to launch if autoconfiguration is needed /nextunix File containing the absolute pathname of an A/UX kernel to launch /unix File usually containing the current kernel 4 January 1992
launch(8) launch(8)SEE ALSO kconfig(1M), newconfig(1M), StartupShell(8) brc(1M) in A/UX System Administrator's Reference Building A/UX Device Drivers (available from APDA) January 1992 5