Installation manual

7
Upgrading the OpenVMS VAX Operating
System
This chapter explains the procedure for upgrading a single OpenVMS VAX system
disk, including:
• How to prepare for booting from the [SYSF] directory
• How to configure devices
• How to begin the upgrade
• What the procedure does and what you are asked to do during the six phases
of the upgrade
You must complete each phase of the upgrade procedure. On most VAX
computers, the upgrade procedure continues automatically from phase to phase.
Read the screen displays carefully and, if you need to reboot your VAX computer
manually, refer to the upgrade and installation supplement for your VAX
computer and Appendix C of this manual.
The time required to complete an upgrade varies depending on your hardware
configuration and on the distribution media you are using. In most cases,
magnetic tapes and tape cartridges require more time than compact discs.
Before you begin the upgrade procedure, read the overview of the upgrade
procedure described in Chapter 1 and complete the preupgrade tasks described
in Chapter 5. If you are upgrading an OpenVMS Cluster system, you must also
read Chapter 6.
7.1 Preparing to Boot from [SYSF]
During the upgrade procedure, you are asked to boot the system from the [SYSF]
directory on the system disk. The [SYSF] directory is a root directory created
on the system disk by the upgrade procedure. It temporarily holds the system
files used in the upgrade until the procedure moves the files to their permanent
location. The upgrade procedure then removes the [SYSF] directory from the
system disk.
If you do not know how to boot from [SYSF], read the upgrade and installation
supplement for your VAX computer and Appendix C of this manual.
Ignore any error messages after the first reboot that indicate an invalid dump
header version. These messages are normal and are to be expected.
Upgrading the OpenVMS VAX Operating System 7–1