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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, 4-CPU, 1-GB OpenVMS Galaxy computing environment.
P08>>> create -nv lp_count         2
P08>>> create -nv lp_cpu_mask0     100
P08>>> create -nv lp_cpu_mask1     e00
P08>>> create -nv lp_io_mask0      100
P08>>> create -nv lp_io_mask1      80
P08>>> create -nv lp_mem_size0     10000000
P08>>> create -nv lp_mem_size1     10000000
P08>>> create -nv lp_shared_mem_size  20000000
P08>>> 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 numbr

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.

LP_CPU_MASKn mask

This bit mask determines which CPUs are to be initially assigned to the specified Galaxy partition number. The AlphaServer 8200 console chooses the first even-numbered CPU as its primary CPU, beginning with CPU 08 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 IO processors by slot number to each instance:

These are the only valid assignments for the AlphaServer 8200.

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 the values commonly used.

See also the shared memory variable on the following line.

LP_SHARED_MEM_SIZE size

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


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 leave the other partition memory assignments undefined, the console again assigns the memory fragments for shared memory and any partitions with explicit assignments, 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 when it needs to reboot the system after an initial installation and after a system crash or operator requested reboot.

Galaxy Environment Variables Example

P08>>> 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 100 (CPU 0)
lp_cpu_mask1 e00 (CPUs 1-3)
lp_io_mask0 100 (I/O module in slot 8)
lp_io_mask1 80 (I/O module in slot 7)
 
P08>>>

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