Silicon Graphics

Mrconfig File Syntax

The mrconfig file is a text file that specifies what happens on each client machine during a roboinst installation. Special keywords are used to specify how the disks are partitioned, what software is installed, and any custom shell commands to have execute. This page describes the syntax of the mrconfig file. A set of examples is provided for you to copy and modify.

Basic syntax
Order of processing
No nameservice in the miniroot
Specific syntax for each keyword
Disk partitioning
Environment variables

Basic Syntax

Blank lines, and comments between # and newline are ignored. Other lines are statements comprised of whitespace-separated words. The first word must be one of the specific keywords described below.

The ordering of lines is only significant among lines that have the same initial keyword. For example all lines that begin with the keyword inst are assumed to contain input lines for the inst program, and this input is passed to inst in the same order it appears in the mrconfig file.

Order of processing

This is the order in which statements from your mrconfig file are processed.

miniroot booted
mrconfig file obtained
init keyword commands executed
disks partitioned according to partition keywords
fx keyword commands executed
filesystems created according to partition keywords
mkfs keyword commands executed
filesystems mounted
preinst keyword commands executed
inst keyword commands executed
build new kernel (unless the nokernel keyword is specified)
postinst keyword commands executed
miniroot shutdown, boot to multi-user mode

No nameservice in the miniroot

Except for the /etc/hosts file, that is. All hostnames in the mrconfig file and custom scripts, must be specified as IP addresses, except for the hostname of the bootserver, or unless you have explicitly made an entry in the miniroot /etc/hosts file from one of your scripts (eg. mrinit).

Specific syntax for each keyword

Keyword Arguments

version number Versioning information in case new keywords are added in the future. If this keyword is omitted, version 1 is assumed. The RoboInst software will terminate with an error if it encounters an mrconfig file with a higher version number.

loghost hostname or ip addresses The host(s) to which syslog messages will be forwarded, in addition to being logged on the client.

partition device  size  type  name
   mount-options  mkfs-options Specify partitions to create and filesystems to mount (see Partitioning below).

setenv variable  value Set the named variable in the RoboInst environment. The variable is also exported to subcommands such as those executed in the preinst, postinst, etc. phases of the installation.

onerror action   The onerror keyword controls the behavior of inst in response to an error, such as incompatible product selections, disk space shortages, etc. If set to ignore, the default, then inst continues past errors without stopping (errors are still reported in /root/var/inst/INSTLOG and in the SYSLOG). If set to wait, inst will stop and wait in interactive mode whenever an error occurs.

partition device  size  type  name  options Specify partitions to create and filesystems to mount (see Partitioning below).

disksetup This keyword is required when repartitioning of the root disk drive is requested, and the drive is in a pre-6.5 format, that is, when swap is not located just after the volume header at the physical beginning of the drive. The presence of this keyword will cause the swap partition to be relocated to the beginning of the drive, when the installation session is initiated from multi-user mode using roboinst. Note: if the installation is initiated from the PROM command monitor, the disksetup keyword will be ignored. You must also specify disksetup=true on the boot command line when initiating roboinst from the PROM command monitor (see prom(1M)). See Partitioning below.

init /bin/sh command This keyword is used to specify shell commands to be executed during the init phase.

fx /bin/sh command This keyword is used to specify shell commands to be executed during the fx phase.

mkfs /bin/sh command This keyword is used to specify shell commands to be executed during the mkfs phase.

preinst /bin/sh command This keyword is used to specify shell commands to be executed during the preinst phase.

inst inst command Inst command to be executed. Multiple inst keywords may be specified. Commands are collected in the order they appear in the mrconfig file, copied into a temporary file, and then fed to inst with the command: inst -r /root -c tempfile

nokernel The presence of this keyword causes the autoconfig(1M) phase to be skipped, so that a new UNIX kernel will not be automatically generated. If you use this keyword, you must manually build the UNIX kernel from your own scripts, if necessary. Normally, a new kernel named /root/unix.install is generated by the autoconfig(1M) command. If it builds successfully, it is renamed to /root/unix before the system is booted to multi-user mode, something like this:
if echo y | chroot /root \ /etc/init.d/autoconfig -o -N then mv /root/unix.install /root/unix fi

postinst /bin/sh command This keyword is used to specify shell commands to be executed during the postinst phase.

if
   ...
elsif
   ...
else
   ...
endif expr

expr     NEW! The conditional syntax is similar to the if syntax in /bin/sh. The first expr is executed as a /bin/sh statement, and if it returns a zero exit status, the statements up to the next else, elsif or endif are evaluated. Otherwise, the next expr is executed, if its value is zero, the statements up to the next else/elsif/endif are evaluted, and so on. If all the expressions exit non-zero, the statements following the final else (if present) are evaluated.
NOTE: the elseif keyword is only supported by RoboInst version 1.1 are later. This version of RoboInst is included in the IRIX 6.5.2m release (versions 8/12/98 and later).
As in /bin/sh, the elsif and else clause(s) are optional. Multiple elsif clauses are allowed. Nesting of if statements is permitted.
Conditional statements are useful for performing different disk partitioning, or software installation instructions, based on cpu-type, or graphics type, for example:

if [ $SGI_CPUBOARD = IP30 ]; then init echo This is an Octane elsif [ $SGI_CPUBOARD = IP22 ] init echo This is an Indy else init echo This is neither an O2 nor an Indy. endif
NOTE: any trailing "; then" is stripped from if and elsif expressions before they are evaluated.
A complete list of pre-defined variables is presented below.

Disk Partitioning

Use the partition keyword to specify disk partitioning, filesystem creation, and mount points. For example to create a standard system disk layout:

    partition     dks0d1s0 standard root /
    partition     systemdisk standard root /

And to create a standard option disk mounted at /d2:

    partition     dks0d2s0 standard option /d2

The complete partition syntax is:

partition device size type name mount-options ; mkfs-options ;

The device, size, and type and arguments are used as input to the fx -s command to perform the partitioning. Partitions are laid out in the order specified, unless a start position is given.

NOTE: in order for repartitioning of the system disk to work properly, the disksetup keyword (described above) must appear in the mrconfig file, or the disksetup=true argument should be specified on the boot command line when initiating RoboInst from the PROM command monitor (see prom(1M)).

device is one of:

systemdisk NEW! a shorthand notation for partition 0 of the disk on which the miniroot is currently loaded (the current system disk). The systemdisk keyword, if immediately followed by a number (eg. systemdisk1 refers to a specific partition on the system disk. NOTE: the systemdisk keyword is only supported by RoboInst 1.1, available in IRIX 6.5.2 (8/12/98 and later versions).

a device name referring to a disk device in the /dev/rdsk directory, for example dks0d1s0. See dks(7M) for a full description of device names.

size is one of:

existing keep the same size.

standard use a standard layout for the entire disk. Type root or option must also be specified - see below. When standard is used, it applies to the entire disk (the partition component in the device name is irrelevant), and there must be no other partition statements for that disk.

all the entire disk.

start:size start is an integer that specifies the exact start address of the partition, in 512-byte blocks. Alternatively, start can be followspart# where # is the partition-number which this partition is to immediately follow on the same disk. Note: the volume header is partition 8, so normally the first usable partition would use followspart8.
size is an integer that specifies the size of the partition in 512-byte blocks, or the word remainder to use the entire remainder of disk after making all of its other partitions. Note: partitions are processed in the order they appear in the file, so remainder should be used only in the last partition statement for a particular disk.

type is one of:

root only valid when standard is specified (see above). A standard root disk is created, containing a swap partition (what size?) and a root partition of maximum size containing an XFS filesystem.

option only valid when standard is specified (see above). A standard option disk is created, consisting of a single partition of maximum size, containing an XFS filesystem.

xfs
xfs/blocksize an XFS filesystem is created with the specified blocksize and mkfs-options, and mounted at the directory name with the specified mount-options. The blocksize must be an integer multiple of 512 and cannot exceed 65536. If omitted, a blocksize of 4096 is assumed.

efs an EFS filesystem is created, and mounted at the directory name with the specified options. Caution: EFS filesystems will not be supported in future IRIX releases. Use XFS filesystems in nearly all situations.

swap a swap partition of the specified size is created.

preserve any existing filesystem is preserved, and no new one is created.

name is ignored when type is swap. For other partition types, its value can be:

pathname indicating a local directory where the filesystem is to be mounted.

nomount If nomount is specified, the filesystem is not mounted.

mount-options are:

mount-options This field is optional. Any options specified are to be passed to the -o option of the mount(1M) command as a single argument. Multiple options should be comma-separated with no spaces. If you want to specify mkfs options (see below) and no mount options, use a single hyphen character (-) for the mount-options.

mkfs-options are:

mkfs-options NEW! This field is optional. Any options specified are passed along to the mkfs(1M) command used to create the filesystem. If you want to specify mkfs options but no mount options (see above), use a single hyphen character (-) for the mount-options. For example:
partition dks0d1s0 standard root / - -d unwritten=0

Environment Variables

The RoboInst software sets the following variables in the environment of all shell commands that you define in your mrconfig file.

SGI_CPUBOARD
SGI_CPUARCH
SGI_GFXBOARD
SGI_SUBGR
SGI_MODE
SGI_MACHINE
SGI_ABI

These are set to the value of CPUBOARD, CPUARCH, GFXBOARD, SUBGR, MODE and MACHINE as described in the inst(1M) man page under the -m option. Some variables can have multiple values. In that case the values are separated by whitespace. Note: SGI_CPUARCH has the MIPS2, MIPS3, etc. values removed. The MIPS2, MIPS3, etc. value is contained in the SGI_ABI variable. For example, if inst says CPUARCH=R4000 and CPUARCH=MIPS2, then the RoboInst variable SGI_CPUARCH is set to R4000, and SGI_ABI is set to MIPS2.

SGI_CAPACITY
SGI_CAP_dks#d#vol

SGI_CAPACITY is set to the capacity of the root disk drive, in 512-byte blocks. The variables SGI_CAP_dks#d#vol are also set to correspond to the capacity of specific scsi disk drives attached to the system. For example, if you have a 2GB system disk (dks0d1vol) and a 1 GB option disk (dks0d2vol) then the following variables would be set:

    SGI_CAPACITY=4197405
    SGI_CAP_dks0d1vol=4197405
    SGI_CAP_dks0d2vol=2070235

SGI_ROOT

SGI_ROOT is set to the pathname of the directory where the actual system root directory (when the system is booted normally) is mounted on the miniroot filesystem. This is normally /root.

SGI_CUSTOM

SGI_CUSTOM is set to the pathname of the directory where your mrconfig files, and any other custom files, are copied to in RoboInst mode. This is normally /custom.

SGI_HOSTNAME

SGI_HOSTNAME is set to the hostname of the client machine, or a NULL string if the hostname has not been set.

SGI_IPADDR

SGI_IPADDR is set to the network ip address of the client machine, or a NULL string if the ip address has not been set.

SGI_SYSID

SGI_SYSID is set to the system identifier comprised of 12 hexadecimal characters. For example, 08:00:69:07:73:80.

SGI_MEMSIZE

SGI_MEMSIZE is set to the amount of memory on the system in megabytes, as reported by hinv(1M).

SGI_SYSTEMPART
SGI_SYSTEMDISK

SGI_SYSTEMPART is set to the pathname of the device file of partition 0 on the disk where the miniroot has been loaded. For live installs, this is the disk where / is mounted. For example, /dev/dsk/dks1d1s0. SGI_SYSTEMDISK is the same as SGI_SYSTEMPART, but without the final partition specifier. For example, /dev/dsk/dks1d1. See dks(7M) for a discussion of disk device names.

SGI_BOOTSERVER
SGI_BOOTDIR

SGI_BOOTSERVER is set to the name of the machine where the miniroot was booted from. SGI_BOOTDIR is set to the name of the directory containing that miniroot.

SGI_CONFIGSERVER
SGI_CONFIGDIR

SGI_CONFIGSERVER is set to the name of the machine where your custom files (mrconfig, .index, etc.) are copied from. SGI_CONFIGDIR is set to the name of the directory containing those files.

Consider the job of partitioning a set of Indy, O2/R5K and O2/R10K clients. The O2/R10K machines normally have the root drive at dks0d2s0, but on the other we would like to use dks0d1s0 for the root drive. This can be handled with a single mrconfig file as follows:

    # The following "disksetup" keyword applies to all machines
    disksetup

    if [ "$SGI_CPUBOARD" = IP32 -a "$SGI_CPUARCH" = R10000 ] then

	# On O2/R10K machines use drive 2
	init		   echo This is an O2/R10K
	partition	   dks0d2s0 standard root /

    else

	# On my other machines put root on drive 1
	init		   echo The machine type is $SGI_MACHINE
	partition	   dks0d1s0 standard root /

    endif

Please send us your comments, questions and bugs so we can improve the product.

Silicon Graphics/ $Date: 1998/03/05 00:13:07 $

Keyword	Arguments

version	number	Versioning information in case new keywords are added in the future. If this keyword is omitted, version 1 is assumed. The RoboInst software will terminate with an error if it encounters an mrconfig file with a higher version number.
loghost	hostname or ip addresses	The host(s) to which syslog messages will be forwarded, in addition to being logged on the client.
partition	device size type name mount-options mkfs-options	Specify partitions to create and filesystems to mount (see Partitioning below).
setenv	variable value	Set the named variable in the RoboInst environment. The variable is also exported to subcommands such as those executed in the preinst, postinst, etc. phases of the installation.
onerror	action	The onerror keyword controls the behavior of inst in response to an error, such as incompatible product selections, disk space shortages, etc. If set to ignore, the default, then inst continues past errors without stopping (errors are still reported in /root/var/inst/INSTLOG and in the SYSLOG). If set to wait, inst will stop and wait in interactive mode whenever an error occurs.
partition	device size type name options	Specify partitions to create and filesystems to mount (see Partitioning below).
disksetup		This keyword is required when repartitioning of the root disk drive is requested, and the drive is in a pre-6.5 format, that is, when swap is not located just after the volume header at the physical beginning of the drive. The presence of this keyword will cause the swap partition to be relocated to the beginning of the drive, when the installation session is initiated from multi-user mode using roboinst. Note: if the installation is initiated from the PROM command monitor, the disksetup keyword will be ignored. You must also specify disksetup=true on the boot command line when initiating roboinst from the PROM command monitor (see prom(1M)). See Partitioning below.
init	/bin/sh command	This keyword is used to specify shell commands to be executed during the init phase.
fx	/bin/sh command	This keyword is used to specify shell commands to be executed during the fx phase.
mkfs	/bin/sh command	This keyword is used to specify shell commands to be executed during the mkfs phase.
preinst	/bin/sh command	This keyword is used to specify shell commands to be executed during the preinst phase.
inst	inst command	Inst command to be executed. Multiple inst keywords may be specified. Commands are collected in the order they appear in the mrconfig file, copied into a temporary file, and then fed to inst with the command: inst -r /root -c tempfile
nokernel		The presence of this keyword causes the autoconfig(1M) phase to be skipped, so that a new UNIX kernel will not be automatically generated. If you use this keyword, you must manually build the UNIX kernel from your own scripts, if necessary. Normally, a new kernel named /root/unix.install is generated by the autoconfig(1M) command. If it builds successfully, it is renamed to /root/unix before the system is booted to multi-user mode, something like this: if echo y \| chroot /root \ /etc/init.d/autoconfig -o -N then mv /root/unix.install /root/unix fi
postinst	/bin/sh command	This keyword is used to specify shell commands to be executed during the postinst phase.
if ... elsif ... else ... endif	expr expr	The conditional syntax is similar to the if syntax in /bin/sh. The first expr is executed as a /bin/sh statement, and if it returns a zero exit status, the statements up to the next else, elsif or endif are evaluated. Otherwise, the next expr is executed, if its value is zero, the statements up to the next else/elsif/endif are evaluted, and so on. If all the expressions exit non-zero, the statements following the final else (if present) are evaluated. NOTE: the elseif keyword is only supported by RoboInst version 1.1 are later. This version of RoboInst is included in the IRIX 6.5.2m release (versions 8/12/98 and later). As in /bin/sh, the elsif and else clause(s) are optional. Multiple elsif clauses are allowed. Nesting of if statements is permitted. Conditional statements are useful for performing different disk partitioning, or software installation instructions, based on cpu-type, or graphics type, for example: if [ $SGI_CPUBOARD = IP30 ]; then init echo This is an Octane elsif [ $SGI_CPUBOARD = IP22 ] init echo This is an Indy else init echo This is neither an O2 nor an Indy. endif NOTE: any trailing "; then" is stripped from if and elsif expressions before they are evaluated. A complete list of pre-defined variables is presented below.

device is one of:
	systemdisk	a shorthand notation for partition 0 of the disk on which the miniroot is currently loaded (the current system disk). The systemdisk keyword, if immediately followed by a number (eg. systemdisk1 refers to a specific partition on the system disk. NOTE: the systemdisk keyword is only supported by RoboInst 1.1, available in IRIX 6.5.2 (8/12/98 and later versions).
	a device name	referring to a disk device in the /dev/rdsk directory, for example dks0d1s0. See dks(7M) for a full description of device names.
size is one of:
	existing	keep the same size.
	standard	use a standard layout for the entire disk. Type root or option must also be specified - see below. When standard is used, it applies to the entire disk (the partition component in the device name is irrelevant), and there must be no other partition statements for that disk.
	all	the entire disk.
	start:size	start is an integer that specifies the exact start address of the partition, in 512-byte blocks. Alternatively, start can be followspart# where # is the partition-number which this partition is to immediately follow on the same disk. Note: the volume header is partition 8, so normally the first usable partition would use followspart8. size is an integer that specifies the size of the partition in 512-byte blocks, or the word remainder to use the entire remainder of disk after making all of its other partitions. Note: partitions are processed in the order they appear in the file, so remainder should be used only in the last partition statement for a particular disk.
type is one of:
	root	only valid when standard is specified (see above). A standard root disk is created, containing a swap partition (what size?) and a root partition of maximum size containing an XFS filesystem.
	option	only valid when standard is specified (see above). A standard option disk is created, consisting of a single partition of maximum size, containing an XFS filesystem.
	xfs xfs/blocksize	an XFS filesystem is created with the specified blocksize and mkfs-options, and mounted at the directory name with the specified mount-options. The blocksize must be an integer multiple of 512 and cannot exceed 65536. If omitted, a blocksize of 4096 is assumed.
	efs	an EFS filesystem is created, and mounted at the directory name with the specified options. Caution: EFS filesystems will not be supported in future IRIX releases. Use XFS filesystems in nearly all situations.
	swap	a swap partition of the specified size is created.
	preserve	any existing filesystem is preserved, and no new one is created.
name is ignored when type is swap. For other partition types, its value can be:
	pathname	indicating a local directory where the filesystem is to be mounted.
	`nomount`	If nomount is specified, the filesystem is not mounted.
mount-options are:
	mount-options	This field is optional. Any options specified are to be passed to the -o option of the mount(1M) command as a single argument. Multiple options should be comma-separated with no spaces. If you want to specify mkfs options (see below) and no mount options, use a single hyphen character (-) for the mount-options.
mkfs-options are:
	mkfs-options	This field is optional. Any options specified are passed along to the mkfs(1M) command used to create the filesystem. If you want to specify mkfs options but no mount options (see above), use a single hyphen character (-) for the mount-options. For example: partition dks0d1s0 standard root / - -d unwritten=0