FewstepsforAIXNIMServer

SiddharthaSankarSinha
Website:www.sinhass.com
BlogSite:sinhass.wordpress.com

ThisiswhatIamgoingtoshowyouinthisexample.IwillstartfrombasiclevelandthenIwillcoverall
advancedlevel.OnlythingIwontcoverisPrimary/AlternateNIMmasterserver.IprefertwoPrimary
NIMserversinsteadasIhadlotmoreissuewithPrimary/AlternateNIMmastermodel.
1. BuildingtheNIMServer.
a) CopyingAIXimagesfromCD/DVD
b) BuildingNIMServer
c) Creatinglpp_sourcefromtheexistingimage
d) Creatingspotfromthelpp_source
e) Create2ndNIMInterface(P6/P7Serverwontbootusingthismethod)
f) Create/defineNIMClients

2. UsingtheNIMServer
a) LoadingtwolparfromnewlybuiltNIMServerusingRTE
b) Createmksysbimageofsidtest2.
c) Loadsidtes3Serverusingmksysbofsidtest2.
d) Howtocreateanewlpp_sourcefromexistingoneandupdateitwithdownloadedService
PacksorTechnologylevelfromIBMFixCentralandcreateanewspot.

Here is Hardware configuration. Most important you need to know is that you must create the
lpp_sourceusingalltheavailableAIXCD/DVDsforaspecificversion.ForexampleIwillcopycontentsof
all8AIX5.3TL12CDstomy530TL12BASELppSource.Whetheryoubelieveornotbutifyouwantto
recover your Server to different Hardware or in a Disaster Recovery site you will need it. Also this
processcanbedisastrousifpropercarenottaken.Somustbeexercisedintestboxesonly.Iassumeyou
knowthatNIMServerOSlevelandNIMmasterfilesethastobetheatleastsamelevelorhigherthan
theserverOSlevelyouaregoingtoinstall.ThisistheonlylimitedtoNIMwhichisnotthecaseofHPUX
IgniteUXorSolarisJumpstart.

Hereisthelistofallthedisksavailable/usedinthislpar


WhenIbuildNIMserverforclientsImirroralltheLogicalVolumes.ButforthisexampleIwontmirror
anydisk.Ashdisk3isrootdiskIwillusehdisk4forallmyLPPresourcesandspotsandIwillusehdisk5
tosaveallfuturemksysbimages.

SoIwillcreatetwoVolumegroups.

NowIwillcreatelogicalvolumes.IneedtoknowthetotalPPsandPPSize.

Iwillcreatea100GBLogicalVolumeandfilesystem.

Afterrunningmountallcommandhereisdfgoutput

NowIwillcreatethelvandfilesystemformksysbimages.Hereisoutput.

Nowyoucanmountthe1stCD(1of8)or1stDVD(1of3)andcopyallitscontentto/export/lpp_source
directory.AfterputtingAIX7.1TL0DVDintheDVDRamdrive

AlsoIwantalltheLPPSourcetobecreatedon/export/lpp_sourcedirectoryandallthespotswillbein
/export/spot directory. Now I wont be able to create one lpp source or spot same time but this will
helpmetomaintainthisServerlater.
I want to make sure that /tmp has at least 23 GB free space to be in safe side. Here is the sample
commandforgencopy.

Lotoftimesitwillaskforthe2ndCD/DVDandthen3rdandlotoftimesitdidnt.ButIwouldmountthe
2ndCD/DVDandrerunthepreviouscommanduntilIamdonewiththecompleteset(8thCDor3rdDVDor
whatever is the last one). Once gencopy completed I will go to /export/lppsource/710TL0SP1lpp
directory

NowIwillinstallNIMmasterfileset

NowifIrunlsnimcommanditwillshowsomethinglikethis

NowIwillconfiguretheNIMMaster

Hereislsnimoutput

Now I will create lpp_source from the images I copied from CD/DVD. It takes only few minutes (23
minutes)

NowIwillcreatethe2ndlpp_sourcesameway.

Hereisthelistoftwolpp_sourceIjustcreated

Creatingspotsfromtheabovelpp_source.Eachspotwilltakeatleast2530minutestobecreated.

Afterseveralminutes

Nowlsnimtspotoutput

Creatingthe2ndspot

Afterseveralminutes

Nowlsnimtspotoutput

NowIamreadytoconfiguretheclients.BeforeIconfiguretheclientsIwilldefinethe2ndinterfaceto
serveanotherSUBNETwhichisindifferentvlan.2ndIPofthisNIMserveris10.10.10.1andgatewaywill
besameastheNIMIPandsubnet255.255.255.224.NowIwilldefinethe2ndinterface

Nowifconfigen1

NowIwillcreatethe2ndNIMInterface

Nowlsnimcnetworksoutput

NowlsnimlSEC_NIM

Ibuiltfewhundred NIM serversforourclientsusingthesame method IdidtocreatesecondaryNIM

Interface.Icreated45NIMinterfacesusingthesamemethod. Butstarting P6/P7Serverthismethod
doesnt work. I still need to figure out a substitute for this method for P6/P7 Servers.
AnywayIwillcreatetheclientsnow.TodothatIhavetoaddtheentriesin/etc/hostsfileifnotalready
there.IdontneedanyentryforthesecondaryNIMIPin/etc/hosts.

NowIwillcreatetheclients.NormallyIwriteascripttodefinefewhundredclients.AlsoIwroteashell
scriptwhichismenudrivenandanyonewithzeroAIXskillcanbuildaNIMserveriflpp_sourcesavailable
somewheretocopyfrom.IfIgettimeIwilladdstepsinmyscripttocreatelpp_sourcefromCD/DVD.
AnywayIwillcreatetheclientsnow.IliketoputtheIPAddressinthecommentssectionwhichhelpsme
tofindouttheIPaddressfromasinglecommand.

Hereislsnimcmachinesoutput

Anddetailsinformationofthesetwoclients

Now I will allocate NIM resources and load two lpars. ( For more NIM Commands please see the AIX
pageofmywebsitehttp://sinhass.com/Aix_tips_troubleshoot.aspx)

CommandissuccessfulnowIwillchecktheresult.

Aboveoutputlookingasexpected.NowIwillstartbootingthesidtest2lparfromnetwork.Fromsidtest2
server
Andbootlistmnormaloutput

NowIwillrebootsidtest2anditwillautomaticallybootfromnetworkifeverythingelseisfine.Wewill
knowinamoment.IamnotgoingintoallthedetailsaboutNIMtroubleshootingasIalmostneverfaced
anyissuewithNIMbootingissueifeverythingdoneproperly.FewtimesIfoundtftpblockedinVLAN
andwehadtomoveNIMServerandclientstodifferentVLANanditworked.Onemorethingyoumust
becarefulaboutanytypoin/etc/hostsfile.Hereitisbooting.

Andnowwaitingformetostart.NowthisisnotpartofwhatIwanttoshowbutfewpeoplerequested
metoprovideallthedetails.SoIwillshowallthestepsIdofromClientsidetoo.Iwilltype1andhit
entertoselectthisterminalasconsole.


Next screen I will type 1 and hit Enter again to select English. I will crop the images to delete
unnecessaryblankspaces.SoScreenshotwillbesmallerthanactual.

NowIwillselectOption2belowandhitEnter

NowasIamgoingtowipeoutexistingOSfrommytestlparIwillselect1here.Youmustbecarefulwith
whatyouaredoinghere.

Iwillselect1againasIamreloadingthistestbox.Becarefulwithwhatyouaredoinghere.

Now next screen it will show me list of all the disks presented to this lpar which includes SAN Disks,
otherVolumeGroupsetc.NownotnecessarilyitwilltellyouproperVGstatus.Itisyourresponsibility
to select the proper disk. For example hdisk1 and hsisk2 below is part of my SAN Disks used in GPFS
Clusterbutfromthescreenbelowthereisnowaytotellthat.Sotakeextremecautionwhenyouloada
server from this test example. I should not be blamed or responsible for any mistake you do here.
AnywayIdidntseemyoriginalrootdisksoIwilltype6forMoreChoicesinnextpageandsee

NowIcanseetheoriginalrootdisk.DependingonoriginalmirrorsettingIwillselectOnediskortwo
disk.IfthisisinitialloadthenIwouldliketoselectonediskforrootandafterOSloadcompletedthenI
willdomirroring.IfIselecttwodisksnowitwontmirror.ButitisdifferentincaseofmksysbwhichIwill
dolater.FornowIwontchangeanythingandwilljustcontinueasIwilloverwritetheexistingdiskfor
mytest.

NextscreenIwillselect0andhitenter


NowfinalscreenandafterverifyingallinformationIwillhitEnter.

AfterIhitenteritwillstartloadingtheserver.Iwillcheckbackthisserverin45minutes.

AndnowIwillstarttheloadingsidtest3whichwillbeloadedfromthesecondaryNIMinterface.Iwill
allocatetheNIMresourcessamewayIdidbeforeforsidtest2.AndnowIwillrebootthelpartonetwork
boot.ThistimeIwillshowyouthestandardway.Iwillpress1hereorfromHMCIcanforceittoboot
toSMSmode.PleaserefertomyVIOblogforthosescreenshots.

NextScreenIwillselectOption2tosetupremoteIPL(IPAddressetc.fornetworkboot).

AsIalreadyknowwhichNetworkcard/PorttouseIwillselectfrombelow

NextScreenIwillselectoption1forIPV4andhitenter.

NextIwillselectBOOTP,Option1andhitenter

HereIwillselect1tosetupIPParameter.

NextscreenaftersettingupallIPParameter.NowitwasnotnecessarytogiveGatewayIPAddressas
theyareinsamevlan.

IwillclickEsckeyandgobacktopreviousscreennow.AndthenOption2tochangespeed/duplex
etc.

NextScreenIwillgotoOption1andchangespeed/duplextoauto/auto,thenOption2andmake
sureSpanningTreeisdisabled.NoneedtochangeProtocol.

OnceallthesesetIwillpressEsconce.AnddothePingTestIwilltype3andEnter

NextScreenwilldisplaythesettingandifeverythinglooksgoodIwilltype1andEnter.IfnotthenI
havetogobackandsetupproperIP/Subnet/Gateway.

IfeverythingisOKthennextscreenwillbelikethis.(Screenshotcropped).

NowIwillhitEnterandthenjusttypemanditwillbringmetotheMainMenu.IwillselectOption
5toSelectBootOptions

NextIwillselectOption1toSelectInstall/BootDevice

Iwillselectoption6forNetwork

Iwillselectoption1nextforBootp

NextscreenitwillshowlotofEthernetCards.ButIdontseethecardIwanttobootfromsoIwillpress
ntogotonextpage

NowIseethecardatoption9.Iwillselectthat.

NextOption2toNormalModeBoot

Nowoption1toYes

Nowitwillstartloading.Iwillcheckbackin45minutes.Iwillchecksidtest2server.Bothlparsloaded
usingRTE.Iwillcreatemksysbimageinsidtest2(mma,P6)serverinstallittosidtest3(p5).
Insidtest2ServerIcreatedanothervolumegrouptosavemymksysbfile.Hereitiscompleted.
Rememberyoumustusepwheneveryoucreateamksysbimageinatapeorafile.Thisensuresthat
software packaging is disabled. Otherwise you may get packaging error and to my knowledge only
solutionistocreateanothermksysbimageandyoumaynotbesolucky.

Checkthesize

NowIwillrunlsmksysbtoverifytheimage

Andlastfewlinesoftheoutput

IamsurethatmksysbimageiscompleteandasIusedptodisablesoftwarepackagingIam100%sure
that this image is a perfect image and I can use it anywhere I want, even I can install this image in a
Power4Servertoo.

NowIwillcopythisimagetosidnimserver/imagesdirectoryandnowitisinsidnim

Next I will define this image as mksysb image and see if it is showing. I use capital letter for mksysb
nameforbetterreadability.Dowhateveryouwant.

Now I will allocate this image to sidtest3 and install from this mksysb image. sidtest3 is different
hardwareplatform.Checkbelowallthedetailsbeforewestartloadingsidtest3.

NowIwillbootthesidtest3serverfromnetwork.Aftersettingbootlisttobootfromnetwork.

Afterrebooting

AndnowafterselectingConsole,Language,Disk,etc..etcseebelow

Afterfewseconds

Andanotherfewminutes

Andnowbootinginlessthan5minutes

Andnowbacktologinprompt.

SoIjustloadedap5550lparusingamksysbimagecreatedfrommmalpar(p6)andcloseto2.2GB
mksysbimagetooklessthan5Mintoload.Prettyamazing,isntit.

NextthingIamgoingtoshowyouhowtocreateanewlpp_sourceandspotusingexistingone.Icreated
one separate temporary filesystem in rootvg (have plenty of space in rootvg and it is temporary) and
mountedit/TMP_UPDATE.AndjustdownloadedAIX7.1TL1SP3updatefilesfromIBMFixCentraland
transferredallofthemtosidnimserver/TMP_UPDATEdirectory.NowIhavetoupdatemyNIMserver
toAIX7.1TL0ServicePack3fromcurrentlevelof7.1TL0SP1.

Nowoslevelsoutputbelow

NowIwillcopytheexisting710TL0SP1lppimageto710TL0SP3lppandthenIwillupdateittoSP3.This
wayIwillhavebothimagesincaseIneedit.FirstIwillseethelist

NowIwillstartcopyingtonewname.Itwilltakesometime.

CopyingjustfinishedandnowIwillupdatethisimagetoSP3,seebelow

Oncedone

NowIwillcreatethespotfromthenewlppsource.Iwillcheckbackafter30minutes.

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