Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Technote (FAQ)
Question
This technote describes how to boot into Maintenance Mode on AIX systems in order to perform maintenance on the
rootvg volume group, or to restore files from a mksysb backup.
Answer
There is a variety of media that can be used to boot an AIX system into Maintenance Mode. These consist of:
1. A non-autoinstall mksysb taken from the same system or another system running the same level of AIX, either on
tape or CD/DVD media.
2. AIX bootable installation media (CD or DVD).
3. A NIM server with a SPOT configured, and set up to boot this machine for maintenance work.
For certain work it is important to have the exact same level (AIX version, Technology Level, and Service Pack) on the
boot media as is installed on disk. In these cases if the system is booted with different levels, the rootvg filesystems and
commands may not be available to use.
These instructions are for pSeries systems with PCI architecture.
Assuming the media is in the optical drive, or a NIM spot has been set up we can boot off that media in this manner:
Check the box to the left of the LPAR's name, and from the menu to the right of the name select
Operations -> Activate -> Profile. Make sure the check box is checked to open a console window.
If you have a profile that is configured to boot to SMS, choose that.
If you have a profile that is configured to boot to normal mode, choose that one, and click the "Advanced"
button.
1 of 6 03/07/2016 10:43 PM
IBM Booting AIX into Maintenance Mode - United... http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid...
Click "OK", then OK again on the previous window to activate the LPAR.
After the firmware is started, the console window should show the power up screen and then the SMS menu:
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
PowerPC Firmware
Version SF240_358
SMS 1.6 (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2000,2005 All rights reserved.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main Menu
1. Select Language
2. Setup Remote IPL (Initial Program Load)
3. Change SCSI Settings
4. Select Console
5. Select Boot Options
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Navigation Keys:
PowerPC Firmware
Version SF240_358
SMS 1.6 (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2000,2005 All rights reserved.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Multiboot
2 of 6 03/07/2016 10:43 PM
IBM Booting AIX into Maintenance Mode - United... http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Navigation keys:
M = return to Main Menu
ESC key = return to previous screen X = eXit System Management Services
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type menu item number and press Enter or select Navigation key:1
Select 1 to choose your boot device.
PowerPC Firmware
Version SF240_358
SMS 1.6 (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2000,2005 All rights reserved.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Select Device Type
1. Diskette
2. Tape
3. CD/DVD
4. IDE
5. Hard Drive
6. Network
7. List all Devices
If you know what your boot device is, you can drill down to it from these device types. For a NIM boot choose 6
"Network".
Example:
PowerPC Firmware
Version SF240_358
SMS 1.6 (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2000,2005 All rights reserved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Select Device
Device Current Device
Number Position Name
1. - Virtual Ethernet
( loc=U9133.55A.105C2EH-V7-C2-T1 )
Next select the task to perform. Either Normal Mode or Service Mode is appropriate, both will work.
Select Task
Virtual Ethernet
( loc=U9133.55A.105C2EH-V7-C2-T1 )
1. Information
2. Normal Mode Boot
3. Service Mode Boot
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you sure you want to exit System Management Services?
1. Yes
2. No
Choose 1 to boot from the device
Next you will see this screen:
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM STARTING SOFTWARE IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM PLEASE WAIT... IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
and if booting from NIM some bootp and packet information as it loads the kernel via tftpboot.
3 of 6 03/07/2016 10:43 PM
IBM Booting AIX into Maintenance Mode - United... http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid...
After the kernel boots it will ask you to define the console:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to AIX.
boot image timestamp: 17:30 04/22
The current time and date: 17:39:02 04/22/2013
processor count: 4; memory size: 1024MB; kernel size: 28308139
boot device: /vdevice/l-lan@30000002:9.70.90.113,,9.70.90.117,9.70.90.113,00,00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maintenance
Warning:
If you choose to access a root volume group, you will NOT be able to return
to the Base Operating System Installation menus without rebooting.
0 Continue
The previous warning means once you have committed to maintenance mode you cannot perform an OS install
or upgrade without rebooting from media or NIM server.
The next screen will allow you to choose which disk contains the rootvg. If you choose one volume group, the
screen after will show the names of the logical volumes in it. If you have chosen the wrong volume group, you
may go back and choose another one.
Type the number for a volume group to display the logical volume information
and press Enter.
Choice: 1
4 of 6 03/07/2016 10:43 PM
IBM Booting AIX into Maintenance Mode - United... http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volume Group ID 00050a850000d6000000013c4fcbb3ba includes the following
logical volumes:
Choice [99]: 99
Choice: 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volume Group ID 00050a850000d60000000116c60aefc3 includes the following
logical volumes:
Option 1 will attempt to mount the rootvg filesystems and load the ODM from /etc/objrepos. If this works you will have full
access to the rootvg filesystems and ODM, so you may run commands such as bosboot, rmlvcopy, syncvg, etc. If the
version of AIX you have booted from (either from media or NIM SPOT) is not exactly the same as on disk, this will error
and fail to mount the filesystems.
Option 2 will import the rootvg and start an interactive shell before mounting any filesystems. This interactive shell has
very few commands available to it. As it has not mounted any filesystems from the rootvg it does not have access to
rootvg files or the ODM. Use this option when performing maintenance on the rootvg filesystems themselves, such as
fsck, rmlv, or logform.
Choice [99]: 2
5 of 6 03/07/2016 10:43 PM
IBM Booting AIX into Maintenance Mode - United... http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid...
Exit from this shell to continue the process of accessing the root
volume group.
# df
Filesystem 512-blocks Free %Used Iused %Iused Mounted on
/dev/ram0 262144 214704 19% 481 1% /
labsystem.ibm.com:/export/nim/spot/6100-06-07/6100-06-07-spot/usr 28049408 17122488 39% 141285 6% /SPOT/usr
/proc - - - - - /proc
# export TERM=xterm
2.
3. If you mount any rootvg filesystems (either automatically under Option 1 or by hand under Option 2 ) and change any
files you must manually sync the data from filesystem buffer cache to disk. Normally the syncd daemon does this for
you every 30 seconds, but no daemons are running in maintenance mode. To sync the data type:
# exit
If you have chosen Option 2 and you have not mounted any filesystems by hand, just shut down the LPAR (via the
HMC) or power off a standalone server. If you are ready to boot AIX to multiuser then activate the LPAR or if a
standalone server power it on via the front panel.
If you have chosen Option 1 type these commands to reboot the system:
Document
information
Software version:
5.3, 6.1, 7.1
Operating system(s):
AIX
Reference #:
T1013056
Modified date:
2015-04-15
6 of 6 03/07/2016 10:43 PM