JPH0877016A - Starting-up method for information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide the starting-up method far the information processor which facilitates fault processing and maintenance inspection when a system is started up. CONSTITUTION: For the information processor consisting of a central processing unit 101, a storage device 102, dubricated IPL devices 104 and 105 of magnetic disk devices, etc., a rewritable nonvolatile memory 111 or battery backed-up memory, a time monitoring mechanism 109, and a power-ON/OFF mechanism 110 which is associated with the time monitoring mechanism, the subordinate IPL device 105 is previously defined in the memory 111 and if a fault occurs to the main IPL device 105 when the system is started up, the system is started up by the subordinate IPL device 105 defined in the memory 111.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for starting up an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to a method for starting up an information processing apparatus suitable for facilitating trouble handling and maintenance inspection at the time of starting up a system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the prior art, there is an invention disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-321124 as a method of processing a duplicated volume error when a failure occurs during system operation.

[0003]

In the invention disclosed in the above publication, when the system goes down, the system is simply turned off / on to collect detailed information on the fault, the history of the system fault, and preventive maintenance inspection. Was not taken into consideration.

Further, no consideration has been given to a failure at the time of start-up in the duplicated system, easiness of performing processing and preventive maintenance inspection when the failure occurs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and makes it possible to easily perform fault handling and maintenance / inspection at the time of system startup, and to provide flexibility in fault handling. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for starting up an information processing apparatus, which makes it possible to obtain an indication of repair, replacement, reuse, disposal, etc. of the information processing apparatus.

[0006]

A method of starting an information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a central processing unit, a storage device, an IPL device such as a duplicated magnetic disk device, and a rewritable nonvolatile memory. In an information processing apparatus including a memory or a memory backed up by a battery, a time monitoring mechanism, and a power on / off mechanism linked with the time monitoring mechanism, a secondary IPL device is defined in the memory in advance, and a positive IPL is set at system startup. When a device failure occurs, the system is started up by the sub IPL device defined in the memory.

Further, according to the method of booting the information processing apparatus of the present invention, when the system booting by the primary IPL device fails and the system booting by the sub IPL device defined in the memory fails, the system is powered up. The first step of turning the power off and the power on again after a lapse of a certain time, the second step of attempting to start the system in the order of the primary IPL device and the secondary IPL device, and the first step and the second step described above in advance. It is characterized in that it is repeatedly executed a predetermined number of times.

[0008]

According to the present invention, when a failure occurs at system startup, the system is started up by the secondary IPL device, and when the system startup by the secondary IPL device also fails, the above-mentioned The step 1 (power off / on) and the second step (startup in the primary IPL device, startup in the sub IPL device) are repeatedly executed. During this period, failure information is recorded, a warning message is output, etc., and it becomes possible to easily carry out failure processing and maintenance / inspection when the information processing apparatus is started up. Also,
By using the accumulated failure information, it is possible to obtain an indication of repair, replacement, reuse, disposal, etc. of the information processing device.

Further, the secondary IPL device is not always the primary IP.
Since it does not have to be the same device as the L device and can be connected under different channels, it is possible to provide flexibility in system startup and failure handling.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of an information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. 101 is a central processing unit, 102 is a storage device, 103 is a micro program loader, a system bootstrap program, etc. are stored. Non-volatile memory (REDA ONLY ME
MORY: ROM), 104 is a primary IPL device (in this embodiment, a magnetic disk device: DK1), 105 is a secondary IPL device (in this embodiment, a magnetic disk device: D)
K2) and 106 are input / output devices (FD in this embodiment),
Reference numeral 107 is a network, 108 is another system connected to each other by a maintenance monitoring center or a line, 109 is a time monitoring mechanism, 110 is a power control mechanism that can be turned on / off of the system in cooperation with the time monitoring mechanism 109, and 111 is a rewrite Possible non-volatile memory (EEPROM) or battery backed memory, 112 is a display device.

FIG. 2 shows the primary and secondary IPL devices 104 and 10.
2 in the volume management information table stored in 5.
Reference numeral 01 is a device identifier and the like stored therein, 202 is an identifier of a partner device defined in duplicate, 203 is a primary / secondary identifier of the device, and 204 is an identifier representing the operating state of the device.

FIG. 3 shows a rewritable nonvolatile memory 11
In the duplication definition information table stored in No. 1, 301
Is an identifier of the primary device, 302 is an identifier showing the operating state of the primary device, 303 is an identifier of the sub device, 304 is an identifier showing the operating state of the secondary device, 305 is an area for storing the number of times the system is turned on / off due to a failure in system startup, Three
Reference numeral 06 is a system startup failure information (failure detail) storage area, and 307 is a system down count storage area.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are flow charts showing the outline of the operation from power-on to system startup in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the primary IPL device is DK
1. The secondary IPL device is duplicated with DK2. When the power is manually turned on, or the system power is turned on by the time monitoring mechanism 109 and the power control mechanism 110 interlocking (step 401), the central processing unit 10
After executing the self-diagnosis, 1 reads and executes the bootstrapping program from the non-volatile memory 103. The bootstrapping program is the primary IPL device (DK1) 10
The volume management information table of No. 4 is read (step 402). Next, it is checked that this read (step 402) is completed normally, and that the identifier 204 representing the operating state of the device in the volume management information table is in the normal operating state (step 403). here,
If the primary IPL device (DK1) 104 is in a normal state, it is checked whether or not the duplication definition partner device is defined in the identifier 202 of the duplication definition partner device in the volume management information table (step 40).
4). Here, if the duplication definition is not made, the bootstrapping program is the primary IPL device (DK1) 10
Even if a failure occurs after that, the secondary device (DK2) 105 is not switched (step 41).
0). In checking whether the duplication definition partner device is defined (step 404), if the duplication definition partner device is set, volume management of the secondary IPL device (DK2) 105 which is the duplication definition partner device The information table is read (step 405). Next, after this read (step 405) is normally completed,
It is checked whether the identifier 204 representing the operating state of the device in the volume management information table is in the normal operating state (step 406). Here, if the secondary IPL device (DK2) 105 is in a normal state, the identifier 202 of the duplicated device in the volume management information table of the primary IPL device (DK1) 104 and the secondary IPL device (DK2) Identifier 2 of the partner device for which duplication is defined in the volume management information table 105
It is checked whether or not 02 and 02 indicate the other device (step 408). Here, if both the primary and secondary show the identifier 202 of the partner device, the bootstrapping program is first executed by the primary IPL device (DK1) 104, and if a failure occurs thereafter, the secondary device (DK2).
It switches to 105 (step 409). Checking the secondary IPL device (DK2) 105 (step 406)
If the secondary IPL device 105 is abnormal, the secondary IPL
A warning message that a failure has occurred in the device 105 is output to the display device 112 of the system to alert the operator, and a warning message is also sent to another system (for example, the maintenance monitoring center 108) connected by the network 107 ( In step 407), the bootstrapping program is executed only by the primary IPL device (DK1) 104, and even if a failure occurs thereafter, it is not switched to the secondary IPL device (DK2) 105 (step 41).
0). Also, check the other device (step 40
In 8), if the identifiers 202 of the primary and secondary partner devices do not match, a warning message that the duplication definition is incorrect is output to the display device 112 of the system to call the operator's attention and connected by the network 107. A warning message is also sent to another system (for example, the maintenance monitoring center 108) (step 407), the bootstrapping program is executed only by the primary IPL device (DK1) 104, and even if a failure occurs thereafter, the secondary device (DK2) 105
It is not switched to (step 410).

In addition, after the read in step 402 is completed normally, it is checked whether the identifier 204 representing the operating state of the device in the volume management information table is in the normal operating state (step 403), and the primary IPL device (DK1) is checked. ) 104 is in an abnormal state, the rewritable nonvolatile memory 111 is read (step 411) as shown in FIG. Next, it is checked whether or not the primary device and the secondary device are set in the duplex definition information table shown in FIG. 2 (step 412). In the duplication definition check (step 412) in the rewritable nonvolatile memory 111, the sub device (DK2) 105
If is set, the secondary IPL device (DK2) 10
The volume management information table of No. 5 is read (step 413). Next, it is checked that this read (step 413) is completed normally, and that the identifier 204 representing the operating state of the device in the volume management information table is in the normal operating state (step 414). Deputy IPL
As a result of the device check (step 414), the secondary IP
If the L device is in a normal state, a warning message indicating that a failure has occurred in the primary IPL device is output to the display device 112 of the system to call the operator's attention, and another system connected via the network 107 (for example, another system). A warning message is also sent to the maintenance monitoring center 108) (step 415), and the bootstrapping program is executed only by the secondary IPL device (DK2) 105, and even if a failure occurs thereafter, it will not switch to the primary device (DK1) 104. (Step 416).

In addition, in the check of the sub IPL device (step 414), if the sub IPL device is in an abnormal state, the failure information can be rewritten in the nonvolatile memory 111.
It is stored in the failure information storage area 306 (step 41
7) Next, the power-on / off count storage area 305 in the nonvolatile memory 111 due to a system startup failure is counted up (+1) (step 418). Next, the value of the power ON / OFF count storage area 305 is checked (step 419), and a specified number of times (for example, 4 times).
If both the primary IPL device and the secondary IPL device have failed even after the power is turned on / off repeatedly, the failure information is collected in the storage device 102 (step 420), and the number of system downs in the rewritable nonvolatile memory 111 is reduced. The storage area 307 is counted up (+1) (step 42
4), the system is stopped (step 421). In the value check of the power on / off count storage area 305 (step 419), if the power off / on repeat count has not reached the specified count (eg, 4 times), the timer of the time monitoring mechanism 109 is set to, for example, 20 seconds. Then, the power control mechanism 110 turns off the power (step 423).

Next, 20 seconds after the power is turned off, the time monitoring mechanism 10
An interruption occurs from 9 to the power supply control mechanism 110 and the power is turned on (step 401).

Further, in another system (for example, the maintenance monitoring center 108) which has received the warning message via the network 107, it can be seen that preventive maintenance is required for the system. The failure information (305, 306) stored in the rewritable non-volatile memory 111 is cleared when the system is started up and when the maintenance failure information is read, but the system down count storage area 3
07 is retained until the system is discarded, repaired, replaced,
It can be used as a guide for reuse and disposal.

Further, the rewritable nonvolatile memory 111
In the duplication definition check (step 412) in
If the duplication definition is not set, the failure information is stored in the failure information storage area 306 in the rewritable nonvolatile memory 111 (step 417), and the power on / off count storage area 305 is incremented by +1 ( Step 4
18) Then, in the order of checking the number of times the power is turned off / on (step 419), exactly the same operation is repeated.

The IPL device duplication definition can be set such that the primary IPL device is a magnetic disk device and the secondary IPL device is a floppy disk device storing a failure processing program.

In the above embodiment, the failure processing program is stored in the secondary IPL device 105, and when the system starts up in the secondary IPL device 105, another system (maintenance and monitoring center 108) connected by the network 107. It is possible to easily carry out failure recovery and maintenance by outputting a warning message to (etc.) and sucking up the failure factor etc. from the other system through the line.

Further, in the above embodiment, even when the system is normally started up with the primary IPL device 104, the diagnosis of the secondary IPL device 105 is performed to complete the secondary IPL device 105.
If the device 105 is abnormal, the network 107
Another system (maintenance and monitoring center 108
It is possible to easily carry out fault recovery and maintenance by outputting a warning message to (etc.) and sucking up fault factors and the like from the other system through the line.

Further, in the above embodiment, the system power off / on, the primary IPL device 104 and the secondary IP are set.
Even if the system startup in the L device 105 is repeated a prescribed number of times, if the system startup fails, the failure factor, the down date, etc. are recorded in the storage device 102 or the non-volatile memory 111 so that the failure factor can be identified. Maintenance can be easily performed.

Further, by designating a device under a different channel as the sub IPL device, it is possible to improve the reliability at the time of starting the system.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the above embodiment, the sub IPL device does not necessarily have to be the same device as the primary IPL device, and can be connected under different channels. Flexibility in system startup and fault handling can be provided.

[0026]

According to the present invention, the secondary device does not necessarily have to be the same device as the primary device, and since it can be connected to different channels, it is flexible in system startup and failure handling. Can have Also,
There is an effect that trouble handling at the time of starting the information processing device and maintenance and inspection can be easily performed, and a standard for repair, replacement, reuse, disposal, etc. can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of an information processing apparatus targeted by the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a volume management information table stored in the primary and secondary IPL devices.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a duplication definition information table stored in a rewritable nonvolatile memory.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a part of the outline of operations from power-on to system startup.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a part of the outline of operations from power-on to system startup.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Central processing unit, 102 ... Storage device, 103 ... Non-volatile memory (ROM), 104 ... Primary IPL device (magnetic disk device storage device, indicated as DK1 in the figure), 105 ... Sub IPL device (magnetic disk device storage) Device, designated as DK2 in the figure), 106 ... I / O device, 107 ... Network, 108 ... Maintenance monitoring center,
109 ... Time monitoring mechanism, 110 ... Power supply control mechanism, 111
... non-volatile memory or battery-backed memory, 112 ... display device.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshimitsu Izawa 3-10-22 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Hitate Chubu Software Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A central processing unit, a storage device, an IPL device such as a duplicated magnetic disk device, a rewritable nonvolatile memory or a battery-backed memory, a time monitoring mechanism, and a time monitoring. In an information processing apparatus including a power on / off mechanism linked with the mechanism, a sub IPL device is defined in the memory in advance, and when a failure occurs in the primary IPL device at system startup, the sub IPL defined in the memory is defined. A method for starting an information processing apparatus, characterized in that a system is started by a device. 2. The secondary IPL defined in the memory, wherein the system startup by the primary IPL device has failed.
If the device fails to start up the system, the first step of powering off the system and then turning it on again after a lapse of a certain time, and the second step of attempting to start the system in order of the primary IPL device and the secondary IPL device 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first step and the second step are repeatedly executed a predetermined number of times.