Powerpc-utils project home

News

January 16, 2008
Another new release of both the powerpc-utils and powerpc-utils-papr packages. Both of which contain new commands, most noteably the addition of the DLPAR tools to the powerpc-utils-papr package. Check the Changelog for other updates and visit Zombie Process for additional updates.

August 24, 2007
New release for powrepc-utils that includes changes to the ofpathaname to support PATA devices and add an option to print device aliases from the device tree

July 17, 2007
The last development snapshots have been promoted to the latest releases for both packages. Enjoy.

April 19, 2007
A new development snapshot is available with an update to ofpathname to proerly parse device paths for SAS drives. There is also a new ppc64_cpu command to allow viewing/seeting of the cpu SMT, DSCR and smt-snooze-delay settings.

The powerpc-utils and powerpc-utils-papr packages contain utilities for powerpc based Linux machines. Powerpc-utils contains utilities that are generic to all powerpc platforms and powerpc-utils-papr contains utilities that are specific to powerpc platforms that conforming to the POWER Architecture Platform Reference (read: IBM powerpc machines).

Powerpc-utils Overview

The powerpc-utils package provides the utilities listed below which are intended for the maintenance of powerpc platforms. Further documentation for each of the utilities is available from their respective man pages.

nvram - NVRAM access utility
A utility to view and format the contents of the system's non-volatile RAM, which contains configuration variables for Open Firmware and the system's Service Processor (if any), as well as error records and Vital Product Data (VPD). Design documents here.

bootlist - boot configuration utility
A script to view and set the list of devices with which the system will attempt to boot. Both the "normal" and "service" mode lists can be manipulated.

ofpathname - translate logical device names to OF names
Used by bootlist to convert between Linux logical device names and Open Firmware names.

snap - system configuration snapshot
A script to gather significant system configuration information. The script creates snap.tar.gz in the working directory which can be used for problem determination.

ppc64_cpu - cpu settings utility
Utility to allow users to view and set the cpu SMT, DSCR and smt-snooze-delay settings.

Powerpc-utils-papr Overview

The powerpc-utils-papr package provides the utilities listed below which are intended for the maintenance of IBM powerpc platforms that follow the POWER Architecture Platform Reference (sorry, still an IBM internal document). Further documentation for each of the utilities is available from their respective man pages and doxygen design documents. The powerpc-utils-papr package does require the librtas package available at librtas.ozlabs.org

activate_firmware - concurrent firmware activation
Used during concurrent firmware update operations to activate the new firmware image locally. This utility is invoked automatically when necessary. Design documents here.

hvcsadmin - HVCS driver administration utility
This is the hvcs driver administration utility which simplifies hvcs administration by providing a set of options for such functions as closing adapter targets using device mapping, querying console adapters, querying adapters based upon device node, gathering status, and closing all open adapters.

ibmvscsis.sh - IBMVSCSIS driver init script
When symlinked into start and stop run levels this script can provide vscsi server operation automation. It supports the standard array of init script options {start|stop|status|restart}. By design this script executes operations in silent mode. For extended vscsi server operations the vscsisadmin script should be used instead.

rtas_dump - dump the contents of a rtas event
A small script to front end rtas_event_decode. Just because pulling rtas events out of files is easier in a script.

rtas_event_decode - dump the contents of a rtas event
This is the back-end tool used by rtas_dump to actually parse out and print rtas events.

rtas_ibm_get_vpd
Used by the lsvpd utility to gather Vital Product Data that changes dynamically. Design documents here.

serv_config/uspchrp - configure service processor settings
A series of menus that can be used to update system service settings stored in NVRAM, which are used by the system's service processor. These settings include surveillance, boot, and remote maintenance policies. This utility is only usable on systems equipped with a service processor. Design documents here.

set_poweron_time - configure time for system power-on
A utility to set a time in the future for the system to automatically power on, if the system is powered off at that time. Design documents here.

uesensor
A utility to view the state of environental sensors on powerpc machines. Design documents here.

update_flash - system firmware update utility
A script that uses the rtas_flash kernel module to flash firmware.

usysattn, usysfault - attention indicator utility
A utility to view the status of the system attention (fault) indicators (LEDs), and to turn the indicators off when after an event has been serviced.

usysident - identification indicator utility
A utility to view the status of device identification indicators (LEDs), and to turn the indicators on and off. Design documents here.

vscsisadmin - IBM Virtual SCSI Server (ibmvscsis) administration utilities
This is the virtual scsi server administration utility which simplifies configuration, starting, and stopping of an IBM virtual SCSI server. This script can be run standalone or it can be invoked via the ibmvscsis.sh init script. Configuration script documentation is provided in ibmvscsis.conf (8) and outlines the proper method for writing a well formed ibmvscsis configuration file.

The powerpc-utils and powerpc-utils-papr packages are released under the IBM Common Public License

Releases

Source tarballpowerpc-utils-1.1.0.tar.gz 48.2kB
Recent changesChangelog.powerpc-utils 1.9kB
Source tarballpowerpc-utils-papr-1.1.0.tar.gz 197.6kB
Recent changesChangelog.powerpc-utils-papr 1.1kB

Older versions are available here.

Development snapshots

No downloads are available at the moment.

Authors

The utilities in the powerpc-utils package were written by the following individuals.

The utilities in the powerpc-utils-papr package were written by the following individuals.

General questions regarding the powerpc-utils or powerpc-utils-papr packages can be sent to Nathan Fontenot and Michael Strosaker.