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Step 6: Set the Environment Variables  



When you have upgraded the firmware on all of your processor modules, you can create the Galaxy-specific environment variables as shown in the following example. This example assumes you are configuring a 2-instance, 8-CPU, 1-GB OpenVMS Galaxy computing environment.
P00>>> create -nv lp_count         2
P00>>> create -nv lp_cpu_mask0     1
P00>>> create -nv lp_cpu_mask1     fe
P00>>> create -nv lp_io_mask0      100
P00>>> create -nv lp_io_mask1      80
P00>>> create -nv lp_mem_size0     10000000
P00>>> create -nv lp_mem_size1     10000000
P00>>> create -nv lp_shared_mem_size  20000000
P00>>> init
After you create these variables, you can use console SET commands to manipulate them. These variables need only be created on processor 0.

The following descriptions give detailed information about each environment variable.

LP_COUNT number

If set to zero, the system boots a traditional SMP configuration only. The Galaxy console mode is OFF.

If set to a nonzero value, the Galaxy features are used, and the Galaxy variables are interpreted. The exact value of LP_COUNT represents the number of Galaxy partitions the console should expect. This number must be 0, 2, or 3.

Note that if you assign resources for three partitions and set this variable to two, the remaining resources are left unassigned. Unassigned CPUs are assigned to partition 0. You may also create the variables for the maximum number of partitions ahead of time and simply not assign resources to them (set them to nonzero values) until needed.

LP_CPU_MASKn mark

This bit mask determines which CPUs are to be initially assigned to the specified Galaxy partition number. The AlphaServer 8400 console chooses the first even-numbered CPU in a partition as its primary CPU, beginning with CPU 0 for the initial instance. Keep this in mind when assigning the resources. (In other words, do not assign only an odd-numbered CPU to a partition.)

LP_IO_MASKn mask

These variables assign I/O modules by slot number to each instance:

These are the only valid assignments for the AlphaServer 8400.

You can assign more than one I/O module to an instance using these masks, but each Galaxy instance requires at least one I/O module.

LP_MEM_SIZEn size

These variables allocate a specific amount of private memory for the specified instance. It is imperative that you create these variables using proper values for the amount of memory in your system, and the desired assignments for each instance. See Common Values for Setting Memory Size for common values.

See also the shared memory variable text that follows.

LP_SHARED_MEM_SIZE size

This variable allocates memory for use as shared memory. See Common Values for Setting Memory Size for common values.


NoteShared memory must be assigned in multiples of 8 MB and all values are expressed in hexadecimal bytes.

You can define only the amount of shared memory to use, and leave the other LP_MEM_SIZE variables undefined. This causes the console to allocate the shared memory from the high address space, and to split the remaining memory equally among the number of partitions specified by the LP_COUNT variable. If you also explicitly assign memory to a specific partition using a LP_MEM_SIZE variable, but you leave other partition memory assignments undefined, the console again assigns the memory fragments for shared memory and any partitions with explicit assignments, and then splits and assigns the remaining memory to any remaining partitions not having explicit memory assignments.


BOOTDEF_DEV and BOOT_OSFLAGS variables

Before booting, set these variables on each of your Galaxy consoles to ensure that AUTOGEN reboots correctly after an initial installation and after a system failure or operator-requested reboot.

Galaxy Environment Variables Example

P00>>> SHOW LP*
 
lp_count 2
lp_shared_mem_size 20000000   (512 MB)
lp_mem_size0 10000000 (256 MB)
lp_mem_size1 10000000 (256 MB)
lp_cpu_mask0 1 (CPU 0)
lp_cpu_mask1 fe (CPUs 1-7)
lp_io_mask0 100 (I/O module in slot 8)
lp_io_mask1 80 (I/O module in slot 7)
 
P00>>

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