HP-UX Virtual Partitions Administrator Guide (includes A.05.07) (5900-1229, September 2010)

Virtual Consoles
HP-UX servers have a special terminal or window called a console that allows special control
and displays system error messages.
With vPars, each virtual partition has its own virtual console. On Integrity, the console is virtualized
by firmware (and therefore, there is no vcs driver). On PA-RISC, for each partition, its console
I/O is sent to its vcn (Virtual CoNsole) driver. From the vcn driver, the console I/O is sent to the
vPars Monitor. From the vPars Monitor, the console I/O is sent to the vcs (virtual console slave)
driver of the partition that owns the hardware console port. Finally, the vcs driver sends the
console I/O to the physical hardware console. It is this vcs driver that manages the console I/O
to the actual hardware console port.
When the partition that owns the hardware console port is not running, the vPars Monitor takes
over the management of the I/O to the hardware console port, so you will still have access to the
virtual console displays.
You can access the console port as you would on any non-vPars server, for example, through a
dumb terminal or lan console. Then, to cycle between the virtual console displays of the various
partitions, press Ctrl-A.
32 How vPars and Its Components Work