FewstepstobuildandupdateAIXNIMServer

Author:SiddharthaSankarSinha
Rev:03/01/2012

ThisiswhatIamgoingtoshowyouinthisexample.IwillstartfrombasiclevelandthenIwillcover
fewadvancedlevel.OnlythingIwontcoverisPrimary/AlternateNIMmasterserver.Iprefertwo
PrimaryNIMserversinsteadasIhadlotmoreissuewithPrimary/AlternateNIMmastermodel.
1. BuildingtheNIMServer.
a) CopyingAIXimagesfromCD/DVD
b) BuildingNIMServer
c) Creatinglpp_sourcefromtheexistingimage
d) Creatingspotfromthelpp_source
e) Create2
nd
NIMInterface(P6/P7Serverwontbootusingthismethod)
f) Create/defineNIMClients

2. UsingtheNIMServer
a) LoadingtwolparfromnewlybuiltNIMServerusingRTE
b) Createmksysbimageofsidtest2.
c) Loadsidtes3Serverusingmksysbofsidtest2.
d) Howtocreateanewlpp_sourcefromexistingoneandupdateitwithdownloaded
ServicePacksorTechnologylevelfromIBMFixCentralandcreateanewspot.

HereisHardwareconfiguration.Mostimportantyouneedtoknowisthatyoumustcreatethe
lpp_sourceusingalltheavailableAIXCD/DVDsforaspecificversion.ForexampleIwillcopycontents
ofall8AIX5.3TL12CDstomy530TL12BASELppSource.Whetheryoubelieveornotbutifyouwantto
recoveryourServertodifferentHardwareorinaDisasterRecoverysiteyouwillneedit.Alsothis
processcanbedisastrousifpropercarenottaken.Somustbeexercisedintestboxesonly.Iassume
youknowthatNIMServerOSlevelandNIMmasterfilesethastobetheatleastsamelevelorhigher
thantheserverOSlevelyouaregoingtoinstall.ThisistheonlylimitedtoNIMwhichisnotthecase
ofHPUXIgniteUXorSolarisJumpstart.

Hereisthelistofallthedisksavailable/usedinthislpar

WhenIbuildNIMserverforclientsImirroralltheLogicalVolumes.ButforthisexampleIwontmirror
anydisk.Ashdisk3isrootdiskIwillusehdisk4forallmyLPPresourcesandspotsandIwillusehdisk5
tosaveallfuturemksysbimages.

SoIwillcreatetwoVolumegroups.

NowIwillcreatelogicalvolumes.IneedtoknowthetotalPPsandPPSize.

Iwillcreatea100GBLogicalVolumeandfilesystem.

Afterrunningmountallcommandhereisdfgoutput

NowIwillcreatethelvandfilesystemformksysbimages.Hereisoutput.

Nowyoucanmountthe1
st
CD(1of8)or1
st
DVD(1of3)andcopyallitscontentto
/export/lpp_sourcedirectory.AfterputtingAIX7.1TL0DVDintheDVDRamdrive

AlsoIwantalltheLPPSourcetobecreatedon/export/lpp_sourcedirectoryandallthespots
willbein/export/spotdirectory.NowIwontbeabletocreateonelppsourceorspot
sametimebutthiswillhelpmetomaintainthisServerlater.
Iwanttomakesurethat/tmphasatleast23GBfreespacetobeinsafeside.
Hereisthesamplecommandforgencopy.

Lotoftimesitwillaskforthe2
nd
CD/DVDandthen3
rd
andlotoftimesitdidnt.ButIwouldmountthe
2
nd
CD/DVDandrerunthepreviouscommanduntilIamdonewiththecompleteset
(8
th
CDor3
rd
DVDorwhateveristhelastone).OncegencopycompletedIwillgoto
/export/lppsource/710TL0SP1lppdirectory

NowIwillinstallNIMmasterfileset

NowifIrunlsnimcommanditwillshowsomethinglikethis

NowIwillconfiguretheNIMMaster

Hereislsnimoutput

NowIwillcreatelpp_sourcefromtheimagesIcopiedfromCD/DVD.Ittakesonlyfewminutes
(23minutes)

NowIwillcreatethe2
nd
lpp_sourcesameway.

Hereisthelistoftwolpp_sourceIjustcreated

Creatingspotsfromtheabovelpp_source.Eachspotwilltakeatleast2530minutestobecreated.

Afterseveralminutes

Nowlsnimtspotoutput

Creatingthe2
nd
spot

Afterseveralminutes

Nowlsnimtspotoutput

NowIamreadytoconfiguretheclients.BeforeIconfiguretheclientsIwilldefinethe2
nd
interface
toserveanotherSUBNETwhichisindifferentvlan.2
nd
IPofthisNIMserveris10.10.10.1andgateway
willbesameastheNIMIPandsubnet255.255.255.224.NowIwilldefinethe2
nd
interface

Nowifconfigen1

NowIwillcreatethe2
nd
NIMInterface

Nowlsnimcnetworksoutput

NowlsnimlSEC_NIM

IbuiltfewhundredNIMserversforourclientsusingthesamemethodIdidtocreatesecondaryNIM
Interface.Icreated45NIMinterfacesusingthesamemethod.ButstartingP6/P7Serverthismethod
doesntwork.IstillneedtofigureoutasubstituteforthismethodforP6/P7Servers.AnywayIwill
createtheclientsnow.TodothatIhavetoaddtheentriesin/etc/hostsfileifnotalreadythere.
IdontneedanyentryforthesecondaryNIMIPin/etc/hosts.

NowIwillcreatetheclients.NormallyIwriteascripttodefinefewhundredclients.AlsoIwroteashell
script
which is menu driven and anyone with zero AIX skill can build a NIM server if lpp_sources available
somewhere
tocopyfrom.IfIgettimeIwilladdstepsinmyscripttocreatelpp_sourcefromCD/DVD.AnywayIwill
create
theclientsnow.IliketoputtheIPAddressinthecommentssectionwhichhelpsmetofindouttheIP
addressfromasinglecommand.

Hereislsnimcmachinesoutput

Anddetailsinformationofthesetwoclients

NowIwillallocateNIMresourcesandloadtwolpars.(FormoreNIMCommandspleaseseethe
AIXpageofmywebsitehttp://sinhass.com/Aix_tips_troubleshoot.aspx)

CommandissuccessfulnowIwillchecktheresult.

Aboveoutputlookingasexpected.NowIwillstartbootingthesidtest2lparfromnetwork.
Fromsidtest2server

Andbootlistmnormaloutput

NowIwillrebootsidtest2anditwillautomaticallybootfromnetworkifeverythingelseisfine.Wewill
know
inamoment.IamnotgoingintoallthedetailsaboutNIMtroubleshootingasIalmostneverfacedany
issue
withNIMbootingissueifeverythingdoneproperly.FewtimesIfoundtftpblockedinVLANandwehad
tomoveNIMServerandclientstodifferentVLANanditworked.Onemorethingyoumustbecareful
aboutanytypoin/etc/hostsfile.Hereitisbooting.

Andnowwaitingformetostart.NowthisisnotpartofwhatIwanttoshowbutfewpeoplerequested
meto
provideallthedetails.SoIwillshowallthestepsIdofromClientsidetoo.Iwilltype1andhitenterto
select
thisterminalasconsole.

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

NowIwillselectOption2belowandhitEnter

NowasIamgoingtowipeoutexistingOSfrommytestlparIwillselect1here.Youmustbecarefulwith
whatyouaredoinghere.

Iwillselect1againasIamreloadingthistestbox.Becarefulwithwhatyouaredoinghere.

NownextscreenitwillshowmelistofallthediskspresentedtothislparwhichincludesSANDisks,
otherVolumeGroupsetc.NownotnecessarilyitwilltellyouproperVGstatus.Itisyourresponsibility
toselecttheproperdisk.Forexamplehdisk1andhsisk2belowispartofmySANDisksusedinGPFS
Clusterbutfromthescreenbelowthereisnowaytotellthat.Sotakeextremecautionwhenyou
loadaserverfromthistestexample.Ishouldnotbeblamedorresponsibleforanymistakeyoudo
here.AnywayIdidntseemyoriginalrootdisksoIwilltype6forMoreChoicesinnextpageandsee

Now I can see the original root disk. Depending on original mirror setting I will select One disk or two
disk.
IfthisisinitialloadthenIwouldliketoselectonediskforrootandafterOSloadcompletedthenIwill
do
Mirroring. If I select two disks now it wont mirror. But it is different in case of mksysb which I will do
later.
FornowIwontchangeanythingandwilljustcontinueasIwilloverwritetheexistingdiskformytest.

NextscreenIwillselect0andhitenter

NowfinalscreenandafterverifyingallinformationIwillhitEnter.

AfterIhitenteritwillstartloadingtheserver.Iwillcheckbackthisserverin45minutes.

AndnowIwillstarttheloadingsidtest3whichwillbeloadedfromthesecondaryNIMinterface.
IwillallocatetheNIMresourcessamewayIdidbeforeforsidtest2.AndnowIwillrebootthe
lpartonetworkboot.ThistimeIwillshowyouthestandardway.Iwillpress1hereorfromHMC
IcanforceittoboottoSMSmode.PleaserefertomyVIOblogforthosescreenshots.

NextScreenIwillselectOption2tosetupremoteIPL(IPAddressetc.fornetworkboot).

AsIalreadyknowwhichNetworkcard/PorttouseIwillselectfrombelow

NextScreenIwillselectoption1forIPV4andhitenter.

NextIwillselectBOOTP,Option1andhitenter

HereIwillselect1tosetupIPParameter.

NextscreenaftersettingupallIPParameter.NowitwasnotnecessarytogiveGatewayIP
Addressastheyareinsamevlan.

IwillclickEsckeyandgobacktopreviousscreennow.AndthenOption2tochange
speed/duplexetc.

NextScreenIwillgotoOption1andchangespeed/duplextoauto/auto,thenOption2and
makesureSpanningTreeisdisabled.NoneedtochangeProtocol.

OnceallthesesetIwillpressEsconce.AnddothePingTestIwilltype3andEnter

NextScreenwilldisplaythesettingandifeverythinglooksgoodIwilltype1andEnter.
IfnotthenIhavetogobackandsetupproperIP/Subnet/Gateway.

IfeverythingisOKthennextscreenwillbelikethis.(Screenshotcropped).

NowIwillhitEnterandthenjusttypemanditwillbringmetotheMainMenu.Iwillselect
Option5toSelectBootOptions

NextIwillselectOption1toSelectInstall/BootDevice

Iwillselectoption6forNetwork

Iwillselectoption1nextforBootp

NextscreenitwillshowlotofEthernetCards.ButIdontseethecardIwanttobootfromso
Iwillpressntogotonextpage

NowIseethecardatoption9.Iwillselectthat.

NextOption2toNormalModeBoot

Nowoption1toYes

Nowitwillstartloading.Iwillcheckbackin45minutes.Iwillchecksidtest2server.Bothlpars
loadedusingRTE.Iwillcreatemksysbimageinsidtest2(mma,P6)serverinstallittosidtest3(p5).
Insidtest2ServerIcreatedanothervolumegrouptosavemymksysbfile.Hereitiscompleted.
Rememberyoumustusepwheneveryoucreateamksysbimageinatapeorafile.Thisensures
thatsoftwarepackagingisdisabled.Otherwiseyoumaygetpackagingerrorandtomyknowledge
onlysolutionistocreateanothermksysbimageandyoumaynotbesolucky.

Checkthesize

NowIwillrunlsmksysbtoverifytheimage

Andlastfewlinesoftheoutput

IamsurethatmksysbimageiscompleteandasIusedptodisablesoftwarepackagingIam100%sure
thatthisimageisaperfectimageandIcanuseitanywhereIwant,evenIcaninstallthisimageina
Power4Servertoo.NowIwillcopythisimagetosidnimserver/imagesdirectoryandnowitisinsidnim

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

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

NowIwillbootthesidtest3serverfromnetwork.Aftersettingbootlisttobootfromnetwork.

Afterrebooting

AndnowafterselectingConsole,Language,Disk,etc..etcseebelow

Afterfewseconds

Andanotherfewminutes

Andnowbootinginlessthan5minutes

Andnowbacktologinprompt.

SoIjustloadedap5550lparusingamksysbimagecreatedfrommmalpar(p6)andcloseto2.2GB
mksysbimagetooklessthan5Mintoload.Prettyamazing,isntit.
NextthingIamgoingtoshowyouhowtocreateanewlpp_sourceandspotusingexistingone.
I created one separate temporary filesystem in rootvg (have plenty of space in rootvg and it is
temporary)
andmountedit/TMP_UPDATE.AndjustdownloadedAIX7.1TL1SP3updatefilesfromIBMFixCentral
andtransferredallofthemtosidnimserver/TMP_UPDATEdirectory.NowIhavetoupdatemyNIM
servertoAIX7.1TL0ServicePack3fromcurrentlevelof7.1TL0SP1.

Nowoslevelsoutputbelow

NowIwillcopytheexisting710TL0SP1lppimageto710TL0SP3lppandthenIwillupdateittoSP3.
ThiswayIwillhavebothimagesincaseIneedit.FirstIwillseethelist

NowIwillstartcopyingtonewname.Itwilltakesometime.

CopyingjustfinishedandnowIwillupdatethisimagetoSP3,seebelow

Oncedone

NowIwillcreatethespotfromthenewlppsource.Iwillcheckbackafter30minutes.