If you have never upgraded an SGI workstation, then this is the place for you. There are many ways to approach an IRIX upgrade, so I am going to explain the two simplest and most straight forward ways.

The Operating System

First, you have to realize that certain SGI platforms are only capable of supporting specific releases of the IRIX operating system. Systems with an R3000 processor (most Indigos use an R3000 processor) are only capable of supporting the IRIX OS through version 5.3. Most Indys, Indigo 2s, and Challenge servers will run versions of the IRIX OS through version 6.2. The new O2 model currently runs on IRIX 6.3, while the Origin systems only run IRIX 6.4.

To determine what version of the Irix operating system your machine is currently running under, issue the command

uname -r

in a UNIX shell. Next, decide which version of IRIX you would like to upgrade your machine to. If your machine is covered under Varsity Software Maintenance you may obtain the latest CDROM distribution of the OS of your choice from Engineering Computing Support Services in 210 Marston Hall.

Backing up the System

Before upgrading the operating system, you should make a complete backup of all the local drives.

Using the Software Manager

Once you have the CDs, you may begin installing the system software. The first CD you want to install will be the Operating System CD. Place that CD into the local CDROM drive, and then start the Software Manager,with the command

swmgr

as root in a UNIX shell, such as winterm. An image of the Software Manager window is provided below for your reference.

After starting the Software Manager, the first step is to specify the location of the medium you will be installing the software from. In this case, the medium is under the dist/ directory of the CD in the local CDROM drive, so to select that source, enter

/CDROM/dist

in the text window near the top of the Software Manager's window. After entering that directory, you can either hit the "Enter" key or click the "Lookup" button to the right of the text window. The Software Manager will then start to read the software distribution on that medium and check for dependencies.

Special Scripts

Since upgrading an operating system is not a small task, SGI typically provides scripts to ensure that an incompatibilities between the current version and new version are resolved. For example, if you are upgrading from IRIX 5.3 to IRIX 6.2, the Software Manager will offer to run a script to check for any COFF files that might be installed on the system. Since COFF files are no longer supported by IRIX 6.2, this is an important consideration.

If you are certain the conditions that the script is checking for do not exist, you may ignore the startup script and continue. If you are uncertain about the status of your system, consult your system administrator or Authorized Caller for more information.

Chosing the Method of Installation

After this is done, the Software Manager is ready to install the software on the CD. At this point, you need to decide whether to install the default software or customize your selection of software to upgrade.

Default Installation

If your machine has a "standard" installation of the current operating system and is a stand-alone machine that is not connected to a file server, then you probably want to use default installation of the next OS release. This is the easiest way to upgrade. However, keep in mind that it also uses more disk space, because all the On-Line Books, man pages, and software will be installed on the local disk.

Click here for instructions on installing the default installation after reaching this point.

You will need to repeat this procedure for each of the CDs that you have.

Custom Installation

If your system depends on a file server for software, or if you want to add software packages to your system while upgrading the OS, you will need to select the custom installation. This method allows you to select which software packages will be installed on your system. You may add optional packages that are not selected by the default installation with this method. You may also elect to not install optional packages that would be installed by the default installation.

Click here for instructions on installing the custom installation after reaching this point.

You will need to repeat this procedure for each of the CDs that you have.