idisk(1M)idisk(1M)NAMEidisk - create partitions for disks on an Integrity system
SYNOPSIS
size] capacity]
partition_description_file}] device
device
DESCRIPTION
creates operating system partitions for disks on an Integrity system.
It reads in the partition information from a data file that may be
specified in the command string or redirected from stdin.
By default, operates in read-only mode and displays the partition
information that is currently on the disk. To write new partition
information on the disk, the user must specify the option.
Options
recognizes the following options:
Print the primary EFI partition header and partition tables.
Print the alternate EFI partition header and partition tables.
Print the legacy partition table that resides in the master
boot record. writes partition information for the first
four partition in the partition table in used by legacy DOS
and Windows. This information is used as a backup in the
event all the EFI information is corrupted.
Print the first usable and last usable block numbers that
are available to create partitions. First usable is the
first block a partition can start on. Last usable is the
last block that can be contained in a partition. These
numbers are relative to the whole disk and do not take into
account any partitions that may exist. They represent the
total disk space that can be partitioned. Use the option
to only print the values without headings.
Work silently. No user prompts or warnings. For use in shell
scripts.
Validate EFI partition information. Does the same checks the
driver does
verifying that both the primary and alternate EFI partition
headers and tables are correct. Returns two if either is
bad and zero if both are correct.
Restore the EFI partition headers and tables. This option
checks both
the primary header and tables and the alternate header and
tables. If one is found bad it is restored from the other
good version. One of either the primary or alternate
header and tables must be good for this option to succeed.
The option must be specified for information to be written
to the disk.
The partition_description_file contains the number of parti‐
tions to be created and the type and requested size of each
partition. The filename may be specified here or redi‐
rected from stdin when the dash is used.
Enable write mode. By default,
operates in read-only mode. To create and write partition
information to the disk you must specify the option.
Specify alignment restriction for all partitions. Used only
when
is creating a new partition table. All partitions speci‐
fied in the partition description file will start on a mul‐
tiple of the given size parameter with respect to the
beginning of the disk. The size parameter may carry a suf‐
fix of 'K', 'M', or 'G' to represent kibibytes, mebibytes,
or gibibytes, respectively.
Extend HP-UX data partition. Used when the underlying storage
has been
increased in size. Resizes the HP-UX data partition, and
relocates the HPSP to the end of the underlying storage.
The option must be specified for information to be written
to the disk.
Remove all EFI partition headers and tables from the disk. This
option
also destroys the information contained in the MBR (master
boot record). The option must be specified for information
to be written to the disk.
Override the capacity of the underlying storage device. The
provided
parameter is used instead of the detected capacity of the
device. When this option is given, will also bypass the
check requiring the device to be a raw device special file.
The capacity parameter may carry a suffix of 'K', 'M', or
'G' to represent kibibytes, mebibytes, or gibibytes,
respectively.
Partition Description File
The first entry in the partition description file is the number of par‐
titions to create. The maximum number of partitions allowed is 12.
This is followed by a line containing the type and size for each of the
partitions.
Recognized partition types are: and
The EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) partition type is used for the
HP-UX bootloader and other programs and data that are used to boot HP-
UX. The HPUX partition type is used as the storage area for the root
volume group and swap/dump (the root VG and swap/dump space may include
other storage, as well). The HPSP partition type is used for storage
of offline firmware updates and diagnostics. HPDUMP is deprecated.
At least one EFI partition is required to create a valid partition ta‐
ble. Size may be specified in megabytes or as a percentage of the
whole disk.
Internally, creates the partitions whose size is specified in MB first
then creates those whose size was specified as a percentage. Those
partitions specified as a percent are assigned space from what is
available after the MB partitions are created. If the size of a parti‐
tion is specified as 100%, then all space remaining is assigned to that
partition.
may allocate slightly less space than requested for the EFI partition
on a disk containing both an EFI and an HP-UX data partition. This is
done to adjust the starting position of the HP-UX data partition to
align to common RAID stripe sizes (even on non-RAID disks). This
behavior may be prevented by adding the keyword 'EXACT' to the EFI par‐
tition specification in the partition description file.
An example partition description file is shown below:
The first entry specifies the number of partitions to create. The sec‐
ond specifies an EFI partition of 100 megabytes. The last entry speci‐
fies a HPUX partition consisting of all the remaining space on the disk
after the EFI partition has been created.
When creating partitions, the device file name must be that of the
whole disk. Legacy device files must not have any partition number
bits set in the minor number. For legacy disk devices, the last eight
bits of the minor number represent the option bits.
For Integrity system disks, the last four option bits are used to indi‐
cate the partition number. Since there are only four bits for parti‐
tion number, only one to fifteen partitions are supported. For exam‐
ple, a device node with a minor number of 0x008001 would indicate a
disk at target eight, partition number one. A minor number of 0x00500F
would indicate a disk at target 5 partition fifteen. A minor number
with no partition bits set would indicate the whole disk (for example,
0x008000 would be the same disk as above but represent the whole disk
and not a partition).
Persistent device special files do not use or contain minor number
information. A detailed description on persistent device special files
can be found in intro(7). Note: For partitions created by device spe‐
cial files must be created for each legacy hardware path to the disk
and for the LUN hardware path using or (see intro(7) for details on
legacy and agile modes). If legacy mode is disabled (see the descrip‐
tion of the option in rmsf(1M)), device special files must only be cre‐
ated for the LUN hardware path.
Note
has been ported to Windows NT 4.0 and 2000.
RETURN VALUE
Exit values are:
Successful completion.
Error condition occurred.
EXAMPLES
Create the partitions specified in the above description file, printing
only the primary partition information:
Create the partitions specified in the above description file, printing
only the primary partition information using a persistent device spe‐
cial file (see intro(7)):
Create the partitions specified in the above description file, printing
all available information (default), redirecting input from stdin:
Only read the disk, printing all tables (default) on the disk:
Get the first and last usable block for partitioning on the disk:
Destroy all partition information on the disk:
Restore partition information from either a good primary or alternate
header or table to the header or table that is bad:
Modify an existing partition table on a device whose storage capacity
has increased, allocating the increased storage to HP-UX data:
AUTHOR
was developed by HP.
SEE ALSOinsf(1M), mksf(1M), efi(4), intro(7).
Integrity Systems Only idisk(1M)
