devinstall Command

AIX Version 4.3 Commands Reference, Volume 2

devinstall Command

Purpose

Installs software support for devices.

Syntax

devinstall -f File -d Device [-s ] [-v]

Description

The devinstall command installs software support for devices. This command is used when hardware is added to the system after the initial operating system installation and setup. It will install the software needed to support the new hardware.

For most new devices that are added after the initial software installation, the software for the new device can be installed using the -i flag of the cfgmgr command.

In some instances, the new device replaces a device that is needed to start the machine. For example, you might be replacing the SCSI adapter card that supports the root volume group or the graphics adapter card that supports the console. In this case, the machine will not start in normal mode until you have installed software support for this new device. To do this, turn your system off and install the new hardware according to the directions included with your hardware. Next, start up your machine in maintenance mode. During the startup process, the new adapter is detected and the /tmp/device.pkgs file is created containing the name of the software package needed to support the new hardware. Once the machine is in maintenance mode, you can install the software for this new device by running the devinstall command.

Flags

-f File	Specifies the file containing the list of packages to be installed. Typically, this will be the /tmp/device.pkgs file generated by the cfgmgr command.
-d Device	Specifies where the installation medium can be found. This can be a hardware device, such as tape or diskette; it can be a directory that contains installation images; or it can be the installation image file itself. When the installation media is an IBM Installation tape or IBM Corrective Service tape, the tape device should be specified as no-rewind-on-close and no-retention-on-open. Examples of this would be /dev/rmt0.1 for a high-density tape or /dev/rmt0.5 for a low-density tape. For non-IBM-supplied tapes, use the options specified by the tape supplier. The default device is /dev/rfd0.
-s	Overwrites the /var/adm/dev_pkg.fail file. This file contains a list of all packages that did not install successfully and can be used to facilitate recovery or installation from a different source.
-v	Specifies the verbose option, causing the devinstall command to display additional information while processing.

The devinstall command installs the device packages listed in the file specified on the command line. It runs the installp command with the -a (apply), -c (commit), -X (extend fs), -e (log), and -g (auto_include) flags. (See the installp command for more information on these flags.) The devinstall command checks the summary file generated by the installp command for the results of each package install attempt and, based on this information, creates two files. The /var/adm/dev_pkgs.fail file lists the packages that fail to install (if any). The /usr/sys/inst.data/sys_bundles/diag.bnd file lists all packages that are installed successfully.

Return Values

A return value of 0 indicates that no packages were installed.

A return value of 1 indicates that at least one package was successfully installed, and the bosboot command should be executed.

The /usr/sys/inst.data/sys_bundles/diag.bnd file lists those packages that successfully installed. The /var/adm/dev_pkg.fail file lists those packages that failed installation.

Security

Privilege Control: Only the root user can run this command.

Examples

To install software to support a new device after you have started the machine from the device installation tape and entered maintenance mode, enter:

devinstall -f /../tmp/device.pkgs -d /dev/rmt0.1

Then, run the bosboot command.

bosboot -ad /dev/ipldevice

File

/dev/rmtn

Specifies the raw streaming tape interface.

Related Information

The bosboot command, cfgmgr command, installp command.