Auto-init is supported on all 7210 SAS platforms as described in this document, except the 7210 SAS-R6, 7210 SAS-R12, and platforms operating in standalone-VC mode.
During the first boot or a reboot after the execution of the admin>reboot auto-init command, if the user does not intervene to create the BOF in the manual mode, the system, by default, runs the auto-init procedure after a wait time. The default wait time is 3 seconds. Two designated ports are used for auto-init: front panel port 1 and 2. Auto-init requires a DHCP server to be configured in the network and reachable by the system. DHCP requests are directed out of one uplink port at a time because all other ports in the system are down.
Some systems use other ports in addition to front panel port 1 and 2. See Configuration notes for 7210 SAS-Sx 1/10GE, 7210 SAS-S 1/10GE, 7210 SAS-Sx 10/100GE, and 7210 SAS-Mxp for information about specific ports used to send DHCP request for 7210 SAS platforms.
If a DHCP server is present in the network, the system expects to receive an IP address, default gateway information, and a BOF location in the response returned by the DHCP server. Upon receiving these parameters from the DHCP server, the system applies the IP configuration and downloads the BOF from the location specified by the DHCP server. The BOF is saved in the flash drive and used for subsequent reboots. The bootstrap image processes the BOF parameters to boot the system. See Configuration file and TiMOS image loading for information about the BOF processing.
Before the node attempts to use DHCP to obtain the BOF and image files, you can configure the following link parameters in the BOF to suit your deployment needs:
the uplink ports to use
VLAN ID used
link speed
duplex setting for the link
auto-negotiation capability for the link
DHCP uses the values specified in the partial BOF to retrieve the complete BOF from the network. If you configure the preceding parameters in the partial BOF, Nokia recommends using the same values for the locally modified BOF as in the BOF downloaded from the network.
To update the preceding BOF parameters, use console access and break the boot sequence. Then, enter the auto keyword and follow the prompts to update the BOF parameters. Enter exit when you are done. The boot loader software uses these parameters to configure the link appropriately and sends out the DHCP requests to obtain the BOF. The BOF obtained through DHCP must contain the location of the image file and configuration file (and values for other BOF parameters). If the DHCP process is successful, the BOF obtained from the network is copied to the local flash.
The parameter values in the BOF downloaded from the network must match those configured in the partial BOF. If there is a mismatch between the values retrieved from the network (that is, the network BOF is not configured to match the new values) and the user-configured values in the partial BOF, the next reboot of the system will fail. For example, specifying different auto-negotiate values in the two BOFs may cause the system to fail to bring up the link, which will cause the auto-init procedure and subsequent reboots to fail.
A mismatch may also cause the system to require twice the number of network resources. For example, the use of different VLAN ID values causes the system to require twice the number of resources for two services (one for each VLAN ID).
See Figure: System initialization: bootstrap process overview for more information about the bootstrap process and system initialization.
The system first attempts to use uplinkA and then uplinkB parameters to receive a successful response from the DHCP server. If there is no response on both uplink ports, the boot procedure is restarted, during which the user can choose to enter the manual mode or allow the system to default to the auto-init procedure again.
If the image fails to download through the auto-init process, the system loads the TiMOS image by using the both.tim file located on the local flash (that is, cf1:\both.tim and cf1:\*TIMOS*\both.tim). After the TiMOS image is loaded and bootup is successful, the user can choose to continue using the same image by entering the admin>auto-init stop command within a fixed amount of time, as prompted. Running the admin>auto-init stop command creates a BOF and saves it on the local flash, with the image location pointing to the image on the flash. If the user does not run this command when prompted, the system reboots again and attempts to find an image through the auto-init process (that is, by sending DHCP requests).