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QNX BACKGROUND INFORMATION
USING THE SYSTEM INITIALIZATION FILE
I-E96-107-2N
D - 3
NOTE: If you change the logical node ID of a machine, the machine
will now look for a different “sysinit.
node” file.
“altsysinit”
This file serves as a safety net in case a modification to your
“sysinit.
node
” file leaves the system in a state where you can-
not log in. The “altsysinit” file is executed only if you specify an
alternate boot when booting from local disk (i.e., you press
<Esc>
when the boot loader prompts you for an alternate boot).
The “altsysinit” file should always contain a backup of the last
working copy of the “sysinit.
node
” file for a machine that boots
from a local hard disk. So, before you make any changes to a
working “sysinit.
node
” file that could prevent the machine
from booting from hard disk, you should copy the
“sysinit.
node
” file to “altsysinit”:
cp /etc/config/sysinit.node /etc/config/altsysinit
We recommend that you update the “altsysinit” file after all
successful changes to your “sysinit.
node
” file.
We recommend that you also copy the operating system image
after successfully installing QNX:
cp /.boot /.altboot
USING THE SYSTEM INITIALIZATION FILE
Base-Level Services
The contents of each machine’s system initialization file
reflects the hardware on that machine and the services it is to
provide. The following describes a base set of services that will
be in most initialization files.
NOTE: If several machines will be using a common set of com-
mands, you can place the commands in a separate shell file and
have the file executed via the . (dot) shell built-in. For example, say
you create a file called “techies” containing commands to be used by
all the machines in your Technical Department. The file could be
executed from within the “sysinit.
node” file of each machine in that
department with the following command:
./etc/config/techies
You would add node-specific commands after this “dot” line.
For more information on the dot command, see “sh” in the
Utilities Reference
.
Establishing the time
zone
The following lines define the time zone (EST in this case) and
get the time from the real-time clock. These two lines should
be the first in the file for machines that boot from hard disk.