Booting an RS/6000

• Most RS6Ks have a three-position key:
  • Nomal - boot into multiuser mode for normal operations
  • Secure - for locking the machine down, not normally used
  • Service - for booting off of CD or tape, installing the OS, or going into single-user mode
• Some newer RS6Ks, like the 43Ps, do not have a key. Instead, you hit '5' on the console after it checks the keyboard during the power-on diagnostics to boot into service mode.
• Normal and Service modes each have their own list of devices to sequentually check for boot block. Use bootlist -m mode -o to display bootlist.
• Can use bosboot to generate bootable media (tape, floppy, or hard disk).
• AIX uses BSD-style rc scripts. They are called from /etc/inittab.