savebase Command

Purpose

Saves information about base-customized devices in the Device Configuration database onto the boot device.

Syntax

savebase [ -o Path ] [ -d File ] [ -v ]

Description

The savebase command stores customized information for base devices for use during phase 1 of system boot. By default, the savebase command retrieves this information from the /etc/objrepos directory. However, you can override this action by using the -o flag to specify an ODM directory. The savebase command is typically run without any parameters. It uses the /dev/ipl_blv special file link to identify the output destination.

Alternatively, use the -d flag to specify a destination file or a device, such as the /dev/hdisk0 device file. To identify a specific output destination, the -d flag identifies the file to which savebase writes the base customized device data. This file can be either a regular file or a device special file. The device special file identifies either a disk device special file or a boot logical volume device special file.

A disk device special file can be used where there is only one boot logical volume on the disk. The savebase command ensures that the given disk has only one boot logical volume present and is bootable. If neither of these conditions is true, savebase does not save the base customized device data to the disk and exits with an error.

When a second boot logical volume is on a disk, the boot logical volume device special file must be used as the destination device to identify which boot image the base customized device data will be stored in. A boot logical volume device special file can be used even if there is only one boot logical volume on the disk. The savebase command ensures that the given device special file is a boot logical volume and it is bootable before saving any data to it. If either of these checks fails, savebase exits with an error.

The savebase command determines what device information to save using the PdDv.base field corresponding to each entry in the CuDv object class. Specifically, the PdDv.base field is a bit mask which represents the type of boot for which this device is a base device. The savebase command determines the current type of boot by accessing the boot_mask attribute in the CuAt object class. The value of this attribute is the bit mask to apply to the PdDv.base field to determine which devices are base.

Note: Base devices are those devices that get configured during phase 1 boot; they may vary depending on the type of boot (mask). For example, if the mask is NETWORK_BOOT, network devices are considered base; for DISK_BOOT, disk devices are considered base. The type-of-boot masks are defined in the /usr/include/sys/cfgdb.h file.

Note: The -m flag is no longer used by the savebase command. For compatibility reasons, the flag can be specified, but savebase effectively ignores it.

Flags

Item	Description
-d File	Specifies the destination file or device to which the base information will be written.
-o Path	Specifies a directory containing the Device Configuration database.
-v	Causes verbose output to be written to standard output.

Examples

To save the base customized information and see verbose output, enter:
```
savebase -v
```
To specify an ODM directory other than the /usr/lib/objrepos directory, enter:
```
savebase -o /tmp/objrepos
```
To save the base customized information to the /dev/hdisk0 device file instead of to the boot disk, enter:
```
savebase -d /dev/hdisk0
```

Security

Attention RBAC users and Trusted AIX users: This command can perform privileged operations. Only privileged users can run privileged operations. For more information about authorizations and privileges, see Privileged Command Database in AIX® Version 7.1 Security. For a list of privileges and the authorizations associated with this command, see the lssecattr command or the getcmdattr subcommand.

Files

Item	Description
/usr/include/sys/cfgdb.h	Defines the type of boot mask for base devices.
/usr/lib/objrepos/PdDv	Contains entries for all known device types supported by the system.
/etc/objrepos/CuDv	Contains entries for all device instances defined in the system.
/etc/objrepos/CuAt	Contains customized device-specific attribute information.
/etc/objrepos/CuDep	Describes device instances that depend on other device instances.
/etc/objrepos/CuDvDr	Stores information about critical resources that need concurrency management through the use of the Device Configuration Library routines.