Praveen Welcomes you to the World of AIX

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2010-09-14T22:42:00.011+05:30

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Hi AIX learner,

Thanks for visiting my blog... this is my small blog and this may helpful to AIX learners. Most of the posts in this blog are came from my little work experience as AIX administrator.

For sharing better knowledge i wish to say everyone that please send good Documents or your experience in AIX to this e-mail id

praveenk.aix.4world(at)blogger.com

The E-mail send by you will be posted in this blog after review.
You can send text and images up to 10MB in size (No attachments).
please do not send any copy righted documents.

This blog is for you...

Now it's by you... be a part of it...

BEST WISHES...

Praveen K

Feel free to inform me about blog content and suggest how can we improve this blog by sending e-mail to

praveenk.aix.4world(at)blogger.com

and this information will not be published.

Thanks...

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Useful tips in AIX

2010-02-20T20:40:00.041+05:30

USEFUL TIPS IN AIX

AIX USEFUL TIPS

ls -l /home | sort -rn        This displays files and directoris inside /home as per their size, larger file on top.

ls -l /home/* sort -rn        This displays files and also the subdirectories in the /home/ directories as per their size, larger one on top.

Note:  If /home dir. contains more than one dir. then it first shows all the directiory name and then the files inside the directories as per the directory order. The order is symlink, Directory name, file name.

du /home | sort -rn        This also displays the subdirectories inside /home as per their size but not files.

du -m /home/test/smit.log    This shows the size of the smit.log in MB.
-g=GB, -k=KB, without flag=shows in Block size.

ls -lrt | grep 'Jan 10' | awk '{print$9}' > namefile          This is used to get only the file names dated Jan 2010 in a namefile

rm `cat namefile`           To delete filenames mentioned in the namefile created by the above command.

To execute a command in a loop, i.e. in a certain intervals, put the small script in the shell

while i=
do
df -g /backup
sleep 3
done

in the above example this will show the size of /backup filesystem in each 3 seconds interval.

stty erase ^?       To use backspace button to clear previous letters.

set -o vi      To see previous executed commands using vi style
i.e. esc+ j=up, h=down, l=go right, g=go left, /string= search the command from history,

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NIM related Commands in AIX

2010-01-20T20:06:00.007+05:30

AIX NIM Commands

lsnim     To list the nim resources

lsnim -l dcmds    To list the detailed info about the object dcmds

lsnim -O dcmds     To list the operation dcmds object can support

lsnim -c resources dcmds   To list the resources allocated to the machine dcmds

nimclient    The client version of nim command (User can obtain same results of nim in server )

nimconfig -a pif_name=en0 -a netname=net1    To initialise the NIM master with network name net1

nimconfig -r   To rebuild /etc/niminfo file which contains the variables for NIM

nim -o define -t lpp_source -a source=/dev/cd0 -a server=master -a location=/export/lpp_source/lpp_source1 lpp_source1    To define lpp_source1 image in /export/lpp_source/lpp_source directory from source cd0

nim -o define -t mksysb -a server=master -a location=/resources/mksysb.image mksysb1    To define mksysb resource mksysb1, from source /resources/mksysb.image on master

nim -o remove inst_resource    To remove the resource inst_resource

nim -o check lpp_source1   To check the status of lpp_source lpp_source1

nim -o allocate -a spot=spot1 -a lpp_source=lpp_source1 node1   To allocate the resources spot1 and lpp_source1 to the client node1

nim -o bos_inst node1   To initialise NIM for the BOS installation on node1 with the allocated resources

nim -o dkls_init dcmds To initialize the machine dcmds as diskless operation

nim -o dtls_init dcmds   To initialize the machine dcmds for dataless operation

nim -o cust dcmds    To initialize the machine dcmds for customize operation

nim -o diag dcmds    To initialize the machine dcmds for diag operation

nim -o maint dcmds    To initialize the machine dcmds for maintenance operation

nim -o define -t standalone -a platform=rspc -a if1="net1 dcmds xxxxx" -a cable_type1=bnc dcmds    To define the machine dcmds as standalone with platform as rspc and network as net1 with cable type bnc and mac address xxxxx

nim -o unconfig master    To unconfigure nim master

nim -o allocate -a spot=spot1 dcmds To allocate the resource spot1 from machine dcmds

nim -o deallocate -a spot=spot1 dcmds   To de allocate the resource spot1 from machine dcmds

nim -o remove dcmds   To remove machine dcmds after removing all resources associated to it

nim -o reboot dcmds   To reboot ther client dcmds

nim -o define -t lpp_source -a location=/software/lpp1 -a server=master -a source=/dev/cd0 lpp1    To define lppsource lpp1 on master at /software/lpp1 directory from source device /dev/cd0

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Useful HACMP Commands

2009-12-21T01:40:00.002+05:30

Advanced HACMP Commands

clstart -m -s -b -i -l       To start cluster daemons (m-clstrmgr, s-clsmuxpd, b-broadcast message, -i-clinfo, -l cllockd)

clstop -f -N To force shutdown cluster immediately without releasing resources

clstop -g -N            To do graceful shutdown immediately with no takeover

clstop -gr -N            To do graceful shutdown immediately with takeover

cldare -t                To sync the cluster toplogy

cldare -t -f            To do the mock sync of topology

cldare -r                To sync the cluster resources

cldare -r -f            To do the mock sync of resources

clverify                cluster verification utility

cllscf                To list clustur topology information

cllsclstr                To list the name and security level of the cluster

cllsnode                To list the info about the cluster nodes

cllsnode -i node1            To list info about node1

cllsdisk -g shrg            To list the PVID of the shared hard disk for resource group shrg

cllsnw                To list all cluster networks

cllsnw -n ether1            To list the details of network ether1

cllsif                To list the details by network adapter

cllsif -n node1_service        To list the details of network adapter node1_service

cllsvg                To list the shared vgs which can be accessed by all nodes

cllsvg -g sh1            To list the shared vgs in resource group sh1

cllslv                 To list the shared lvs

cllslv -g sh1            To list the shared lvs in the resource group sh1

cllsdisk -g sh1            To list the PVID of disks in the resource group sh1

cllsfs                To list the shared file systems

cllsfs -g sh1            To list the shared file systems in the resource group sh1

cllsnim                Show info about all network modules

cllsnim -n ether            Show info about ether network module

cllsparam -n node1        To list the runtime parameters for the node node1

cllsserv                To list all the application servers

claddclstr -i 3 -n dcm        To add a cluster definition with name dcm and id 3

claddnode             To add an adapter

claddnim            To add network interface module

claddgrp -g sh1 -r cascading -n n1 n2 To create resource group sh1 with nodes n1,n2 in cascade

claddserv -s ser1 -b /usr/start -e /usr/stop Creates an application server ser1 with startscript as /usr/start and stop script as /usr/stop

clchclstr -i 2 -n dcmds     To change cluster definitions name to dcmds and id to 2

clchclstr -s enhanced        To change the clustur security to enhanced

clchnode            To change the adapter parameters

clchgrp                To change the resource group name or node relationship

clchparam            To change the run time parameters (like verbose logging)

clchserv                To change the name of app. server or change the start/end scripts

clrmclstr                To remove the cluster definition

clrmgrp -g sh1            To delete the resource group sh1 and related resources

clrmnim    ether            To remove the network interface module ether

clrmnode -n node1        To remove the node node1

clrmnode -a node1_svc        To remove the adapter named node1_svc

clrmres -g sh1            To remove all resources from resource group sh1

clrmserv app1            To remove the application server app1

clrmserv ALL            To remove all applicaion servers

clgetactivenodes -n node1        To list the nodes with active cluster manager processes from cluster manager on node node1

clgetaddr node1            returns a pingable address from node node1

clgetgrp -g sh1            To list the info about resource group sh1

clgetgrp -g sh1 -f nodes        To list the participating nodes in the resource group sh1

clgetif                To list interface name/interface device name/netmask associated with a specified ip label / ip address of a specific node

clgetip sh1            To get the ip label associated to the resource group
clgetnet 193.9.200.2 255.255.255.0    To list the network for ip 193.9.200.2, netmask 255.255.255.0

clgetvg -l nodelv            To list the VG of LV nodelv

cllistlogs            To list the logs

clnodename -a node5        To add node5 to the cluster

clnodename -o node5 -n node3 To change the cluster node name node5 to node3

clshowres            Lists resources defined for all resource group

clfindres                To find the resource group within a cluster

xclconfig             X utility for cluster configuration

xhacmpm            X utility for hacmp management

xclstat                X utility for cluster status

HACMP LOGS

=========

/tmp/hacmp.out        Detailed event script output logged in 7 day rolling history

/var/adm/cluster.log High level view of cluster events (No clean up on this file)

/usr/sbin/cluster/history/cluster.mmdd    Day by day view of cluster events. (one file / day of month)

/tmp/cm.log        Clstrmgr messages

/tmp/cspoc.log     Output from C-SPOC commands (similar to smit.log)

/tmp/emuhacmp.out    Output from event emulation

rdist -b -f /etc/disfile1    To distribute the files in disfile1 to all nodes in disfile1 in binary mode

Sample entry for disfile1

            HOSTS = ( root@node1 root@node3 )
            FILES = ( /etc/passwd /etc/security/passwd)
            ${FILES} -> ${HOSTS}

/usr/es/sbin/cluster/utility/*   (All commands)

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Useful TIVOLI Commands

2009-12-04T00:25:00.013+05:30

USEFUL TIVOLI COMMANDS

q sess To see currently working sessions

can sess ( sess no) To cancel a session

q eve domainname schedulename To see schedule time,nodename, scgedule name and progress of the scheeduled backup. ( q eve * * to see all scheduled backups)

q proc    To see currently running background processes

cancel process (process no)    To cancel a process

q node To view assigned nodes in a Tivoli server

q filespace   To check backup space utilized for each file system of a server, filesystem type...

q actlog To view activity log

q act begind=mm/dd/yyyy begint=hh:mm:ss endd=mm/dd/yyyy endt=hh:mm:ss     To view activity log for a specified period by begining date and end date

q act begind=today-1 begint=00:00   To view activity log from yesterday 12:00 am

q act search=transferred begint=00:00   To see all completed backup size of servers from 12:00 am

q act search=nodename To view activity log for a node

q drive f=d To get detailed report of drive, it's status ...

q library f=d    To get detailed information about tape library

q libvol    To see volumes in the tape library and it's status

q vol To see volumes and it's storage pool name, capacity, status

q req     To see requests

reply (request no) To continue request

q sched     To show schedule name domain, action , start date & time

q sched f=d   To show detailed report about schedules including schedule backup path

UPDATE LIBVOLUME TS3200 L41117L4 STATUS=SCRATCH    To change a library volume ( L41117L4 ) status to scratch from private

update node nodename "admin" domain=domainname forcepwreset=Yes    To change a tivoli login password of a node

define vol storagepoolname L41116L4    Add new tape L41116L4 to a storagepool

delete volume L41116L4 discarddata=yes    To delete data inside a tape media L41116L4

To create a new schedule backup (incremental ) for a node

========================================

UPDATE SCHEDULE domainname nodename desc="daily incremental backup for a server" action=Incremental options=-subdir=yes objects=""/fs1/*" "/fs2/*" "/home/user1/*"" priority=5 startdate=mm/dd/yyyy starttime=hh:mm duration=1 duru=Hou period=1 perunits=Day dayofweek=Any expiration=never

To start tivoli services in an AIX client

========================

#cd /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin

nohup dsmc sched & To start scheduled backup service

nohup dsmcad & To start BA client ( webmode backup i.e. http://ip.address.of.server>:1581)

#cd /usr/tivoli/tsm/StorageAgent/bin

nohup ./dsmsta & To start storage agent ( LANFREE BACKUP= backup directly from SAN to Tape library )

#ps -ef | grep dsm To view currently running Tivoli services in server

To update drive status of a server to online
==============================

update path sourceservername TAPE0 srct=server destt=drive libr=ts3200 online=yes

To set serial number of a drive in tape library
==============================

UPDATE DRIVE TS3200 TAPE0 ELEMENT=autodetect ONLINE=Yes WWN="2002000E11107B6C" SERIAL=autodetect

To detect label of a tape in tape library
==========================

label libvol t3200 checkin=scratch labelsource=barcode search=bulk waittime=0

To remove tape media from tape library
===========================

checkout libvol ts3200 VOLLIST=A00015L3,A00019L3 CHECKLABEL=YES REMOVE=YES

To add and label new tapes into library
===========================

LABEL libvol TS3200 search=yes labelsource=barcode overwrite=NO checkin=SCRATCH WAITTIME=0

To take full backup of Tivoli database manually to a file in local disk

=============================================

backup db dev=FILECLASS type=full

to assign a tape drive to a server
=======================

UPDATE PATH servername TAPE0 SRCTYPE=SERVER DESTTYPE=DRIVE LIBRARY=TS3200 DEVICE=\\.\Tape0 ONLINE=YES AUTODETECT=no

Important

=======

If you are not able to take backup through any of Tivoli backup methods ( BA client, dsmc , schedule ) then check any NFS mounted filesystems are there in the server and that server is available or not. If that server is not powered on, either unmount the NFS filesyatem or make that server available...

****************

SRC (System Resource Controller)commands in AIX

2009-12-03T01:06:00.002+05:30

SRC commands in AIX

lssrc -a      To list the status of all subsystems

lssrc -h node1-a    To list the status of all subsystems on foreign host node1

lssrc -s inetd            To list the status of the subsystem inetd

lssrc -g tcpip            To get the status of the subsystem group tcpip

startsrc -s inetd To start the subsystem inetd

startsrc -g tcpip    To start the subsystem group tcpip

stopsrc -s inetd    To stop the subsystem inetd (if process is under srcmstr. ie PPID of process=PID of srcmstr)

stopsrc -g tcpip            To stop the subsystem group tcpip

refresh -s nfsd            To refresh nfsd subsystem

refresh -g tcpip            To refresh tcpip subsystem group

lssrc -p [PID of process] To get status of the subsystem by process ID

kill [PID of process] To kill a process that not started by srcmstr

mkssys       To add a subsystem

rmssys -s kerberos        To remove the subsystem kerberos

chssys -s kerb -s kad        To rename the subsystem kerb to kad

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User related commands in AIX

2009-12-02T08:27:00.002+05:30

User related commands in AIX

id               To list all system identifications for current user

id -gn               To list the default group for current user

id -Gn                To list all system groups for current user

lsuser root           To list the attribute of user root

lsuser ALL           To list the attributes of all users

lsuser -a ALL           To list all usernames

lsuser -a HOME ALL       To list the home directory of all users

lsuser -a auth1 auth2 ALL       To list the authentication method for all users

lsuser -a expires ALL       To list expiry date

lsuser -a account_locked ALL    To check account lock status of all users

chuser -a login=true praveen      To enable the user praveen

chuser -a rlogin=true username      Enable user to login remotely to server

mkuser praveen Creates user si with default values in /usr/lib/security/mkuser.default

passwd To change password of current user

passwd username To change password of a user

pwdadm username To change password of a user by security (admin) member

mkuser su=false username      Create user without su facility

rmuser username          To remove a user

rmuser -p praveen          To remove user praveen and his all attributes

who          List users with tty nos and ip numbers

who /var/adm/wtmp       Lists history of login logout system startup and shutdown

last root All previous login and logoff time of root user

who -r   To list the current run level ( cat /etc/.init.state )

whoami show current user

who am i         To list the exact user (who -m) ( ie. difference between su and su - After su shows previous username bcoz environment not set for current user and su - shows current username bcoz environment has been set)

mkgroup dcm           To create the group dcm

chgroup users=user1,user2,user3 dcm   To add users user1,user2 and user3 to dcm group

rmgroup dcm           To delete the group dcm

chauthent           To change the authentication methods

chuser unsuccessful_login_count=0 username To change the unsuccessful login count

pwdck -t ALL / Username To verify user passwords ( Report error and ask to fix it)

usrck -t ALL / Username   To verify user definition.

grpck -t ALL / groupname To verify a group

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Print commands in AIX

2009-12-02T08:01:00.002+05:30

Print commands in AIX

switch.prt -d    to Display current print subsytem (AIX, System V, BSD)

switch.prt -s AIX   to change current print subsytem to AIX

switch.prt -d systemV    to change current print subsytem to systemV

qprt -P qname filename To submit print jobs (AIX Printing)

qprt -P:lp1 filename   To submit a print job if multiple queue / printer is there

qprt -N No. of print copy required

qchk -q                To display the default q

qchk -P lp0            To display the status of the printer lp0

qchk -# 123         To display the status of job number 123

qchk -A                To display the status of all queues (AIX Printing)

qcan -x 123            To cancel the print job 123 (AIX Printing)

qcan -X -P lp0            To cancel all jobs submitted to lp0 (AIX Printing)

qchk -L to show job priorities

qpri -#570 -a 25            To change the priority of the job to 25

qhld -# 569            To hold the job 569

qhld -r -#569            To remove holding job 569 (release)

qmov -m pq1 -#11        To move the job 11 to queue pq1

enable psq            To enable queue psq

disable psq            To disable queue psq

lp -d qname filename To submit printjob (System V printing)

lp -n No. of print copy required

lpstat                 To display the status all queues (System V printing)

lpstat -p lp0            To display the status of print queue lp0

lpstat -u root            To display the jobs submitted by user root

cancel -#111            To cancel job 111 (System V printing)

lpq -P lp0            To display the status of queue lp0 ( BSD Printing )

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Backup commands in AIX

2009-12-02T05:15:00.021+05:30

Backup commands in AIX

mksysb -i -X /dev/rmt0        Creates image.data and system backup (-X expands /tmp if required)

mksysb -m /dev/rmt0       Creates image.data file with map file and system backup

mksysb -e /dev/rmt0        Creates system data but excludes the files listed in /etc/exclude.rootvg

mkszfile                Creates /image.data file

mkcd -d /dev/cd1            Creates system boot backup to the CD-R device /dev/cd1    (mksysb)

mkcd -d /dev/cd1 -v datavg        Creates backup of VG datavg to CD-R device /dev/cd1 (savevg)

savevg -i -f /dev/rmt0 datavg    Creates datavg.data image file and backup vg datavg (path = /tmp/vgdata/datavg/datavg.data)

savevg -ef /dev/rmt0 datavg        Creates datavg backup but excludes files listed in the /etc/exclude.datavg

find / -print | backup -ivf /dev/rmt0    Backup entire system to rmt0

backup -0vf /dev/rmt0 /home    Backup /home directory to rmt0 with backup level 0

restore -Tvf /dev/rmt0        List the archive in rmt0

restore -xvf /dev/rmt0 /home    Restore /home from archive in device rmt0

restore –xvf /export/mksysb ./etc/sshd.conf    Restores particular file from /export/mksysb image

restore -Pa -vf /dev/rmt0 ./etc/passwd    Restore only a file attribute from tape

find ./home -print |cpio -ocvumB > /dev/rmt0 Archives /home directory

cpio -icvdumB < /dev/rmt0 Restores cpio archive from rmt0

cpio -ivt < /dev/rmt0     List the contents of cpio archive from rmt0

cpio -icvd < /dev/rmt0 /home Restores /home directory from rmt0

tar -cvf /dev/rmt0 /home        Archives /home to rmt0 device

tar -tvf /dev/rmt0            List the archives in rmt0

tar -xvf /dev/rmt0 /home        Extract /home from rmt0

dd if=file1 of=file2 conv=ebcdic    Convert and copy ascii file to ebcdic file2

dd count=1 bs=4k skip 31 seek=1 if=/dev/hd4 of=/dev/hd4    copy 31st block and paste to 1st block in the hd4 ( ie.to fix currupted superblock by restoring it's backup copy to original location)

dd if=/dev/rmt0 ibs=512 obs=1024 of=/dev/rmt1 To copy blocks from rmt0 with 512 blocks to rmt1 with 1024 blocks

tctl -f /dev/rmt0 rewind        To rewind the tape

tctl -f /dev/rmt0 offline        To eject the tape

tctl -f /dev/rmt0 status        To show the status of tape

tcopy /dev/rmt0.0 /dev/rmt1.0 to copy contents of 1st tape(tape0) to 2nd tape(tape1). It is useful when the size of the tapes are different.

tcopy /dev/rmt0    to show no. of files and block size in the tape

chdev -l rmt0 -a block_size=512    To change the block size of the tape to 51201

******************

How to's in AIX

2009-12-01T00:56:00.003+05:30

1) How to disable telnet in AIX

How to disable telnet in AIX

#vi /etc/inetd.conf

comment out telnet from this file (#telnet ... ... .. )

save it and

#refresh -s inetd

Then telnet session will be disabled in that server from now.

2) HOW TO FIX A CORRUPTED BLV IN AIX

3) HOW TO DO LINK AGREGATION IN AIX

4) HOW TO CONFIGURE NTP IN AIX

Short forms related to IBM AIX

2009-11-22T11:59:00.025+05:30

IBM AIX acronyms

IBM International Business Machines

AIX Advanced Interactive eXecutive (Advanced IBM uniX)

POWER Performance Optimized With Enhanced RISC

RISC Reduced Instruction Set Computing

CISC Complex Instruction Set Computing

SCSI      Small computer Simple Interface

PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect

ISA       Industry Standard Architecture

MCA     Micro Channel Architectural

CHRP    Common Hardware Reference Platform

SMP      Symmetric Multi Processor

PSSP     Parallel System Support Programs

LPAR    Logical PARtition

HACMP High Availability Cluster Multi Processing

RSCT Really Scalable ( RS6000) Cluster Technology

P2SC POWER2 Super Chips

RAS     Releability Availability Serviceability

SMP    Symmetric Multi Processing

NUMA   Non-Uniform Memory Access

MPP     Massively Parallel Processing

CMP    Chip Multi Processing

CAD   Computer Aided Design

CWS   Controll Work Station

ISB    Intermediate Switch Boards

SDR    System Data Depository

PVM   Parallel Virtual Machine

MPI   Message Passing Interface

HPF   High Performance FORTRAN

HMC     Hardware Management Console

ASM     Advanced System Management

NIM    Network Installation Manager

LPP      Licenced program Product

BOS     Base Operating System

APAR    Authorized program Analysis Report

SMS     System Management Services

SRC     System Resource Controller

JFS       Journaled File System

JFS2     Enhanced Journaled File System

CDRFS CD-ROM File System

UDFS     Universal Disk Format Specification

CIFS      Common Internet File System

NFS      Network File System

NBPI     Number of Bytes Per Inode

WSM    Web based System management

RMC     Resource Monitoring and Controll

DAT     Digital Audio tape

QIC     Quarter Inch Catridge

DLT     Digital Linear Tape

LTO     Linear tape Operation

TAR     Tape ARchive

CPIO   CoPy Input to Output

DD      Device to Device

TCTL   Tape ConTroL

DCE    Distributed Computing Environment

CDE    Common Desktop Environment

PPA    parallel Port Adapter

TCP/IP     Transmission Control Protocol / Internet protocol

DARPA    Department of Advanced Research Projects Agency

IAB      Internet Architecture Board

RFC     Request For Comments

LAN     Local Area Network

WAN    Wide Area Network

NIS     Network Infornation Services

DNS    Domain Name Service

DHCP   Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

NCS     Network Computing System

ICMP    Internet Control Message Protocol

PING    Packet InterNet Gropher

ODM     Object Data Manager

SWVPD   SoftWare Vital Product Data

SRC    System Resource Controller

SMIT System Management Interface Tool

PUN   Physical Unit Number

LUN   Logical Unit Number

LVM   Logical Volume Manager

VGDA    Volume Group Descriptor Area

VGSA Volume Group Status Area

LVCB    Logical Volume Control Block

LVDD Logical Volume Device Driver

PDT    Performance Diagnostic Tool

SSH    Secured SHell

RSH    Restricted SHell

EA       Extended Attributes

ACL     Access Controll List

TCB    Trusted Computing Base

SAK    Secure Authentication Key

SAN    Storage Area Network

NAS    Network Area Storage (by NFS)

******************

Network Related commands in AIX

2009-10-13T12:38:00.002+05:30

AIX Network Related commands

host 193.9.200.1 Resolves ip to host name (from /etc/hosts file)

host ibm Resolve ibm to ip address (from /etc/hosts file)

hostname ibm      To change the host name to ibm

entstat en0 To the status of ethernet device en0

entstat -d en0 To list the detailed status of device en0

no -a    To list all net configurable attributes and their values

no -d thewall    To change thewall parameter to its default value

no -o ipforwarding=1   To make the machine as router in tcpip networks

traceroute ibm    To trace the route to ibm

ping ibm To tcp ping to the machine ibm

ifconfig -a    To show the status of all network interfaces

ifconfig en0                To show the status of en0

ifconfig en0 up           Turns on network card en0

ifconfig en0 down Turns off network card en0

ifconfig en0 detach Removes en0 card from the network interface list

ifconfig en0 inet 194.35.52.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 up configure en0 and starts immediately

mktcpip -h ibm -a 10.0.2.40 -m 255.255.255.0 -i en0 assign hostname as ibm, IP as 10.0.2.40 subnetmask 255.255.255.0 to en0 interface

ifconfig en0 alias 195.60.60.1   Create alias ip address for en0

route add 0 192.100.13.7          To make 192.100.13.7 as default gateway for entire network

route add 192.100.12.0 192.100.13.7   To make 13.7 as gateway for 12.0 network

route -f                To clear the gateway table

chdev -l inet0 -a hostname=ibm    To change the host name to ibm permanently

netstat -a                To show the state of all sockets

netstat -c To show the network buffers cache

netstat -D                To show the net drops of packets

netstat -i               To display interface statistics

netstat -r               To show the routing table

netstat -rn             To show routing table (ip will be given instead of host names)

netstat -s                 To show the statistics of the protocols

netstat -s -p <> To show the statistics of respective protocols

********

Installation specific commands in AIX

2009-10-13T12:09:00.000+05:30

AIX Installation Specific commands

lslpp -l To see the details of installed file sets

lslpp -ha bos.net.* To list the installation history of all file set in bos.net packages

lslpp -f bos.rte       To list the files in the bos.rte package

lslpp -w /etc/hosts    To list the file set which contain /etc/hosts file (parent fileset)

lslpp -p bos.net.nfs.server To list the pre requisites for bos.net.nfs.server file set

lslpp -d    To show dependancies of fileset

installp -L -d /dev/rmt0.1 To list the installable products on the device rmt0

installp -aX -d /dev/rmt0.1 bos.net To install all filesets within bos.net and expands file system if it requires

installp -u bos.net To remove bos.net

installp -r    To reject the applied software

installp -c -f              To commit the applied fileset

installp -C                   To cleanup an incomplete installation

lppchk -c    To check the fileset items and verifies that the checksum and filesize are consistent with SWVPD

lppchk -v verify that all filesets have required requisites and are completely installed

instfix -k IX9999 -d /dev/rmt0.1 To install the file set associated with fix IX9999 from rmt0

instfix -ik IX9999 To verify fix IX9999 installed

************

Console Emulation commands in AIX

2009-10-13T11:47:00.001+05:30

AIX Console emulation commands

lscons                  To list the current console

lscons -b              To list the console at next boot

chcons /dev/tty3 To change the console to tty3

chcons -a login=enable /dev/tty3 Redirect console to tty3 and provide login prompt

swcons /dev/tty3     To change system console to tty3 temporarily

************

Device Related Commands in AIX

2009-10-13T11:37:00.004+05:30

AIX Device Related commands

cfgmgr To configure devices and installs device software in system

cfgmgr -l vscsi0 To configure the components connected to the vscsi0 interface

lscfg                      To display config, diagnostics and vital product definition info

lscfg -l mem0 Display info about device mem0

lscfg -l ent*          Display info about all Ethernet cards

lscfg -v                 Display vpd

lscfg -v -l hdisk0 Display vpd of hdisk0

mkdev -l rmt0 To change device rmt0 from defined state to available state

lsdev -P    To lists all supported devices

lsdev -P -c disk To list all supported disks

lsdev -P -r class        To display supported class

lsdev -P -r subclass To display all sub class

lsdev -C                  To lists all configured devices

lsdev -C -l mem0     To display the properties of mem0

chdev -l sys0 -a maxproc=100 To change default maxproc value to 100/user

chdev -l rmt0 -a blocksize=512 To change the block size to 512

chdev -l rmt0 -a ret=no            To avoid tape retension

rmdev -l rmt0 To remove the device rmt0

rmdev -dl rmt0 To remove the device totally from database

rmdev -l rmt0 -S To change the state of the device stopped

lsparent -C -k rs232                 To display possible parent devices which accept rs232 devices

lsparent -C -l hdisk0 To display parent devices which accept child device hdisk0

lsattr -Dl rmt0 To see the default values of the device rmt0

lsattr -El rmt0 To see the current values of the device rmt0

lsattr -El tty0 -a login -R To see all possible values of the login attribute of tty0

lsconn -p scsi0    To list all possible connection scsi0 can accept

lvlstmajor                               To list the available major numbers

mknod /dev/null c 2 2    Create null device with major (2) and minor (2) nos. (c - char device)

****************

System Dump commands in AIX

2009-10-13T11:18:00.000+05:30

AIX System Dump commands

sysdumpdev -l To list the current dump destination

sysdumpdev -L          List the details of the previous dump

sysdumpstart -p    Starts dump in the primary dump device

sysdumpstart -s    Starts dump in the secondary dump device

sysdumpdev -p /dev/lv00       To make lv00 as primary dump device tempararly

sysdumpdev -P -p /dev/lv00 To make lv00 as primary dump device permanently

sysdumpdev -s /dev/rmt0    To make rmt0 as secondary dump device

sysdumpdev -z    To determine a new system dump occurred

**************

Paging Space Commands in AIX

2009-10-13T11:09:00.001+05:30

AIX Paging Space COMMANDS

lsps -a To list out all paging spaces

lsps hd6                   To display the details of the paging space hd6

chps -a y paging00    To turn on the paging space paging00 on next reboot

chps -a n paging00    To turn off the paging space paging00 on next reboot

chps -s4 paging00 To increase the size of the paging space in 4 LP blocks

mkps -a -n -s4 newvg To create a paging space on VG newvg of 4 LP size (-s4) and activate it immediately (-n) and activate it at every restarts

rmps paging00 To remove the paging space paging00

swapon -a To invoke all entries in /etc/swapspaces file

swapon /dev/paging00 To make available swap space paging00

swapoff /dev/paging00 To disable swap space paging00

***********

BLV commands in AIX

2009-10-13T11:01:00.010+05:30

AIX Boot Logical Volume commands

Bootlist, Bosboot and Bootinfo commands in AIX

bootlist -m normal -o     To see the boot sequence in normal mode

bootlist -m service -o      To see the boot sequence in service mode

bootlist -m normal hdisk0 hdisk1       To change boot sequence to hdisk0, hdisk1 in normal mode

bootlist -m service cd0 rmt0 hdisk0    To change boot sequence to cd0,rmt0,hdisk0 in service mode

bosboot -a       To create Boot image on default boot logical volume on the hard disk, from where the system is booted.

bosboot -ad /dev/hdisk1 To create boot image on specified PV hdisk1

mkboot -cd /dev/hdisk1                  To clear the boot image from hdisk1 (as chpv -c hdisk1)

bootinfo -b To show the last boot device

bootinfo -e            Check the machine can boot from tape

bootinfo -k To check the type of boot (1=secure,2=service,3=normal)

bootinfo -K              To check whether the 32 or 64 bit kernel is active

bootinfo -m             To display machine model code

bootinfo -o hdisk0    To display the device location or disk device name of hdisk0

bootinfo -p    To see the machine platform

bootinfo -r To see the size of memory

bootinfo -s hdisk0 To see the size of hdisk0

bootinfo -P 0 -s hdisk0 To see the physical partition(PP) size of hdisk0

bootinfo -t Specifies the type of boot

bootinfo -T To see the machine type

bootinfo -y To see whether the hardware in use is 32 bit or 64 bit

*****************

LV commands in AIX

2009-10-13T10:43:00.001+05:30

AIX Logical Volume Commands

lslv -l lv00    Display info about LV lv00 by PV

lslv -p hdisk1           Display LV allocation map for hdisk1

chlv -t copy lv00    To change the lv00 to copy type

chlv -p r lv00 To change the lv00 to readonly mode

rmlv testlv    To remove testlv

rmlv -f testlv     To remove testlv forcefully (without confirmation)

mklv -s n -c 3 testlv hdisk1 To make LV testlv with three copies on hdisk1

extendlv testlv 5    To extend the LV silv with 5 LPs

mklvcopy -s n testlv 2 hdisk1 To mirror LV testlv on same PV with 2 copies

mklvcopy testlv 3 hdisk1 hdisk2 To mirror LV testlv on hdisk1 and hdisk2 with 3 copies

rmlvcopy testlv 2 hdisk1    To remove one copy of LV testlv from hdisk1

mklv -t jfslog -y log00 newvg 2 To create a jfslog with name log00 on VG newvg with 2LPs

mklv -t boot -y hd5 rootvg 1 To create logical volume, type as boot with 1 LP (BLV)

logform /dev/log00 To format jfslog volume log00

**************

PV commands in AIX

2009-10-13T10:31:00.001+05:30

AIX Physical Volume commands

lspv show all PV's in the system and their status

lspv hdisk0 display status and characteristics of the PV hdisk0

lspv -p hdisk0 display PP usage of hdisk0 and their location

lspv -l hdisk0 To list all logical volumes on PV hdisk0 and their distribution

chpv -v r hdisk1 make unavailable the PV (Used while removing PV without varyoffvg)

chpv -v a hdisk1 make PV available.(Open the PV)

chpv -c hdisk0 Clear the master boot record on PV hdisk0 (CAREFULLY..!!)

migratepv hdisk1 hdisk2 To move PPs from hdisk1 to hdisk2

migratepv -l newlv hdisk1 hdisk2 To migrate LV newlv from hdisk1 to hdisk2

**************

FS commands in AIX

2009-10-13T10:14:00.000+05:30

AIX File System commands

lsfs Lists all filesystems in the /etc/filesystems entry

lsfs -a To list all filesystems (default)

lsfs -q List all filesystems with detailed info (shows size of FS and LV in it. so we can check wheather size of LV=size os FS)

lsfs -l Specify the output in list format

lsfs -c Specify the output in column format

lsfs -v jfs Lists all jfs filesystems

chfs -a size=24576 /test Change size of FS /test to 24576(blocks)x 512 bytes (12 MB)

chfs -a size=+24576 /test Add 24576(blocks)x512 byte to FS /test

chfs -a size=+64M /test        Add 64 MB to /test

chfs -a size=10G /test           fix size of the FS /test to 10 GB

chfs -m /test /new                 Change the mount point from /test to /new

chfs -A /test                         To auto mount the filesystem test

chfs -d account /test    Remove account attribute of /test.(from /etc/filesystems file)

chfs -a splitcopy=/backup -a copy=2 /oracle This will mount the 2nd copy of mirrored filesystem oracle to /backup in read-only mode for backup purpose

crfs -v jfs2 -g newvg -a size=100M -m /test Creates FS /test of type jfs in VG newvg of size 100 MB with default LV.

crfs -v jfs -d /dev/lv00 -m /test Create FS /test of type jfs on device /dev/lv00

rmfs /test        Deletes FS /test and associated LV

rmfs -r /test       Deletes FS /test its mount point and associated LV

defragfs /test    To defragment the file system /test

defragfs -q /test Display the current defrag status of the file system

fsck -y n /dev/lv00 To check the filesystem associated to /dev/lv00 assuming response "yes"

fsck -p /dev/lv00 To restore superblock from backup superblock

*************

VG commands in AIX

2009-10-13T09:15:00.002+05:30

AIX Volume Group COMMANDS

lsvg Display all VGs

lsvg -o Display all active VGs

lsvg rootvg            Display info about rootvg

lsvg -l rootvg       Display info about all LVs in rootvg

lsvg -o |lsvg -il       Display info about all LVs in all VGs

lsvg -p rootvg        Display info about all PVs in rootvg

mkvg -s 8 hdisk1    Create VG with name vgxx on hdisk1 with partition size 8MB

mkvg -s 8 -y newvg hdisk1    Create VG with name newvg on hdisk1 with partition size 8MB

mkvg -s 4 -t 2 -y newvg hdisk1    Create sivg on hdisk1 with PP size 4 and no of partions 2 * 1016

chvg -a y newvg            To automatically activate newvg at startup

chvg -a n newvg            To deactivate the automatic activation at startup

chvg -t 2 newvg            To change maximum no. of PP / PV to 2032 on vg newvg i.e 2*1016 ( so max no. of hdisk in newvg is 16 as in this case in normalvg)

chvg -Qn newvg            To disable quorum on VG newvg

reorgvg newvg           Reorganises PP allocation of VG newvg

extendvg newvg hdisk3 hdisk4    Add PV hdisk3 and hdisk4 to VG newvg

exportvg newvg            Exports the VG newvg

importvg -V 44 -y newvg hdisk2    Import the hdisk2 with name newvg, and assign major number 44

redcucevg newvg hdisk3        Remove PV hdisk3 from VG newvg

varyoffvg newvg            To deactviate VG newvg (after unmounting filesystems in newvg)

varyonvg newvg           To activate VG newvg

syncvg -v newvg            To sync the mirrored LV in the VG newvg

mirrorvg -S -m newvg hdisk2    To mirror LVs of newvg with hdisk2 (-m for exact mirror, -S for forbackground mirror)

unmirrorvg newvg hdisk2    To remove the mirrored PV from the newvg

***********

Important AIX commands

2009-10-12T12:23:00.012+05:30

USEFUL AIX COMMANDS

lsitab init : to display default runlevel of an AIX system

cat /etc/.init.state : to get current runlevel of an AIX system

lslpp : display installed softwares on AIX

/usr/lib/errdemon : to start error login ( errpt ) in AIX

procwait -v : wait for a process and display status

procsig : list all signal action defined by processes

chuser fsize=-1 : to give permissions to create files over 2GB for a user.(-1=no limit)

lppchk -l : to verify that the symbolic links assoiciated with a file set are correct as indicated in the SWVPD.

shutdown -F : fast shutdown AIX system

shutdown -Fr : fast reboot AIX system

shutdown -Fm : reboot an AIX system to maintenance mode

telinit 2 : reboot an AIX system to normal mode

teleinit q : read nittab file

oslevel -s : display the currently installed service pack level in AIX

find /apps -print | backup -i -v -f /dev/rmt0 : copy the contents of /apps to tape in AIX

who : display currently logged users

ln -sf /usr/lib/boot/unix_64 /unix
ln -sf /usr/lib/boot/unix_64 /usr/lib/boot/unix
bosboot -ad /dev/ipldevice
shutdown -Fr : reconfigure an AIX system from a 32-bit kernel to a 64-bit kernal.

oslevel -rl 5300-06 : show which filesets still need to get new technology level 5300-06 after AIX upgradation

chnfs -n 100 -B : increase the number of system threads allowed to access NFS mounts to 100

./myscript > /tmp/myoutput 2>1 : run myscript and redirect stdout and stderr to /tmp/myoutput

installp -C : to cleanup improperly applied filesets ( interrupted)

lppchk -c : to verify all the filesets installed completely

lppchk -v : verify that the operating system(AIX) is in a consistent state after installing AIX technology level ( to verify all filesets are installed completely)

refresh -s inetd : to restart TCP/IP

chvg -Qn testvg : disable quorum in testvg

smit update_all : to apply system to latest technologic level from CD.

migratepv -l /dev/testlv hdisk1 hdisk2 : move (migrate) testlv from hdisk1 to hdisk2

migratepv hdisk1 hdisk2 : move all data from hdisk1 to hdisk2

lsfs -q /testfs : to check the size of /testfs and the LV mounted on it. i.e how much space required by the FS to reach as that to LV in it.

last    To list all the records in the /var/adm/wtmp file (all successful logins)

last shutdown         To show the time of previous shutdown of server.

last reboot    To show the time of previous reboot of server.

uptime   To show how long the system has been up ( w -u )

oslevel                To list the operating system level

lslicense              To see the number of license

chlicense -u30          To change the fixed user license to 30

chlicense -f on     To enable floating user license

lsmcode        To check system firmware version (sys0)

invscout        To get firmware of all peripheral devices. It will generate the output in /var/adm/invscout/invs.mrp containing the firmwares of all peripheral devices.

****************

Fix a corrupted BLV in AIX

2009-10-06T18:48:00.013+05:30

FIX A CORRUPTED BOOT LOGICAL VOLUME IN AIX

Recreate BOOT LOGICAL VOLUME (BLV) in AIX

If a Boot Logical volume (BLV) is corrupted, a machine will not boot.
(Eg:bad block in a disk might cause a corrupted BLV)

To fix this situation, You must boot your machine in maintenance mode, from a CD or Tape. If a NIM has been setup for a machine, you can also boot the machine from a NIM master in maintenance mode.

The bootlists are set using the bootlist command or through the System Management Services Progam (SMS). pressing F1 will go to SMS Mode.

then change the bootlist for service(maintenance) mode as 1st device to CD ROM.

#bootlist -m service cd0 hdisk0 hdisk1

then start maintenance mode for system recovery,

Access rootvg,

access this volum group to start a shell,

then recreate BLV using bosboot command.

#bosboot -ad /dev/hdisk0

it's important that you do a proper shutdown, All changes need to be written from memory to disk.

#shutdown -Fr

Imp: bosboot command requires that boot logical volume hd5 exists. If you wan create a BLV ( may be it had been deleted by mistake ), do the following,

1. boot your machine in maintenance mode,
2. Create a new hd5 logical volume, one PP size, must be in rootvg,specify boot as logical volume type,

#mklv -y hd5 -t boot rootvg 1

3. Then run bosboot command as described.

If you have an HMC, then at the time of booting select boot as SMS in the properties of that partition.

*******

Link Aggregation in AIX

2009-10-01T02:02:00.004+05:30

LINK AGGREGATION IN AIX

Link Aggregation ( Network Bonding ) in AIX

Link aggregation means you can give one IP address to two network cards and connect to two different switches for redundancy purpose. In this only one network card will be active in one time, and when it got failed the other network card goes active and let us continue our work.

It is better to use through SMIT.

#smit

then goto

Devices > Communication > EtherChannel / IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation > Add An EtherChannel / Link Aggregation

here select the network card that you want to use, ie active.

Eg: select ent0

IMP : then select Mode as 8023ad

then select backup adapter for redundancy.(press F4 to show N/W adapters.)

Eg: ent1

press enter.

now ent0 and ent1 got bonded.

then automatically a virtual adapter will be created named ent2.

then put IP address and all to this virtual adapter.

#smit

Communications Applications and Services > TCP/IP > Minimum Configuration & Startup

here select ent2 ( new bonded virtual adapter )

put IP Address and all,

give start now option.

Now you are successfully completed Link aggregation and check whether it works or not by removing the 2nd cable to the network card and check ping, then put the 2nd cable and remove 1st cable. 2 - 3 drops normally occurs in my experience.

*******

Configure NTP on AIX

2009-09-16T06:36:00.005+05:30

CONFIGURE NTP SERVER AND CLIENT ON AIX

configure NTP Server on AIX

1.Verify that you have a suitable NTP server.

#lssrc -ls xntpd

Note : sys peer should show a valid server or 127.127.1.0
If the server is "insane", you should need to correct it by adding a server line into /etc/ntp.conf and restarting xntpd.

Following these steps

#vi /etc/ntp.conf

Add server :

server 127.127.0.1

Double check that "broadcastclient" is commented.

#stopsrc -s xntpd
#startsrc -s xntpd

Note : If the server runs databases, use the -x flag to prevent the clock from changing in a negative direction. Enter the following:

#startsrc -s xntpd -a "-x"

2.Enter

#lssrc -ls xntpd

to verify that the server is synched. This process can take upto 12 minutes.

configure NTP Client on AIX

1. Verify that you have a server suitable for synchronization, Enter:

#ntpdate -d ip.address.of.server

The offset must be less than 1000 seconds for xntpd to synch. If the offset is greater than 1000 seconds, change the time manually on the client and run ntpdate -d again.

If you get the message ," no server suitable for synchronization found", verify xntpd is running on the server (see above )and that no firewalls are blocking port 123.

2. Specify your xntpd server in /etc/ntop.conf, Enter

#vi /etc/ntp.conf

comment "broadcastclient" line and add

server ip.address.of.server prefer

leave the driftfile and tracefile at their defaults.

3. start the xntpd daemon,

#startsrc -s xntpd

( use the -x flag if it is appropriate in your environment.)

4. Uncomment xntpd from /etc/rc.tcpip so it will start on reboot.

#vi /etc/rc.tcpip

Unconmment the following line

start /usr/sbin/xntpd "$src-running"

If using the -x flag, add "-x" to the end oof the line. you must include the qoutes around "-x"

5. verify that the client is synched.

#lssrsc -ls xntpd

Note: sys peer should display the IP Adress or name of your xntpd server.This process may take 12 minutes.

*****

Advanced AIX commands

2009-08-23T12:15:00.037+05:30

AIX Advanced commands

Please wait and Click this Image to get update from this site

VG commands in AIX

PV commands in AIX

FS commands in AIX

LV commands in AIX

BLV commands in AIX

Paging Space Commands in AIX

System Dump commands in AIX

Device related commands in AIX

Console emulation commands in AIX

Installation specific commands in AIX

Network Related commands in AIX

Backup commands in AIX

Print commands in AIX

User related commands in AIX

SRC (System Resource Controller) commands in AIX

TIVOLI related Commands

HACMP related Commands

NIM Commands in AIX

Useful AIX commands

Show all

BOOT PROCESS IN AIX

2009-08-04T20:57:00.035+05:30

AIX BOOT PROCESS

SUMMARY

=======

Summary of AIX boot process

Loading the boot image of AIX

After POST, the firmware (System Read Only Storage) detects the 1st bootable device stored in the bootlist. (here it is hdisk0)
then the bootstrap code (software ROS) i.e. 1st 512 bytes of the hard disk loads to RAM.
Bootstrap code locates the Boot Logical Volume (BLV = hd5) from the harddisk
BLV contains AIX kernel, rc.boot Script, Reduced ODM and Boot commands.
Then BLV in the RAM uncompresses and Kernel releases from it.
Then AIX Kernel gets control.
AIX Kernel creates a RAM File System (Rootvg not activated now).
kernel starts init process from the BLV.
init executes rc.boot script from the BLV in the RAM.
Init with rc.boot 1 configures base devices.

rc.boot 1 in detail

init process from RAMFS executes rc.boot 1 (if any error LED=c06)
restbase command copies ODM from BLV to RAMFS.(success LED=510, error LED=548)
cfgmgr -f calls Config_rules ( which are phase=1) and activates all base devices.
run command bootinfo -b to check last boot device ( success LED=511).

Then

rc.boot 2 activates rootvg from hard disk.

rc.boot 2 in detail

rc.boot 2 (LED 551)
ipl_varyon to activate rootvg ( success LED= 517, error LED=552,554,556).
run command fsck -f /dev/hd4 to check whether "/" unmounted uncleanely in the last shutdown ( error LED=555).

mount /dev/hd4 (/) to RAMFS (error LED=557 due to corrupted jfslog..)

fsck -f /dev/hd2 i.e. "/usr" ( error LED=518).
mount /dev/hd2 in RAMFS.
fsck -f /dev/hd9var i.e. check "/var"
mount /var
copycore command checks whether dump occured. then copy dump from primary dump device paging space (/dev/hd6) to /var/adm/ras/.
unmount /var
swapon /dev/hd6 i.e. activate primary paging space.

Now the condition is /dev/hd4 is mounted on / in the RAMFS;
cfgmgr -f configured all base devices . so configuration data has been written to ODM of RAMFS.

mergedev is called and copy /dev from RAMFS to disk.
copy customized ODM from RAMFS to hard disk(at this stage both ODM from hd5 and hd4 are sync now)
mount /var.
Boot messages copy to file on the hard disk ( /var/adm/ras/bootlog) alog -t boot -o to view bootlog

Now / , /usr and /var are mounted in rootvg on the hard disk. Then

Kernel removes RAMFS
init process start from / in the rootvg

Here completes rc.boot 2, Now the condition is kernel removed RAMFS and accessing rootvg filesystems from hard disk. init from BLV replaced by init from hard disk

in rc.boot 3, init process /etc/inittab file and remaining devices are configured.

rc.boot 3 in detail

/etc/init starts and reads /etc/inittab ( LED=553)
runs /sbin/rc.boot 3
fsck -f /dev/hd3 i.e. check /tmp.
mount /tmp
sysncvg rootvg &; i.e. run syncvg in background and report stale PPs.
cfgmgr -P2 i.e. run cfgmgr in phase 2 in normal startup. (cfgmgr -P3 in service mode)
All remaining devices are configured now.
cfgcon configures console ( LED= c31 select console, c32 lft, c33 tty, c34 file on disk). If CDE mentioned in /etc/inittab we will get graphical console.
savebase calls to sync ODM from BLV with / FS (i.e. /etc/objrepos).
syncd daemon started. All data from cache memory to disk saves in every 60 seconds.
starts errdaemon for error logging.
LED display turned OFF.
rm /etc/nologin i.e. if the file is not removed, then login is not possible.
If any device are in missed state, (in Cudv chgstatus=3) display it.
Display "system initialization completed"

Then execute next line from /etc/inittab

DETAILED

=======

Boot process of AIX in detail

I. The boot process in AIX

As a system administrator you should have a general understanding of the boot process. This knowledge is useful to solve problems that can prevent a system from booting properly. These problems can be both software or hardware.We also recommend that you be familiar with the hardware configuration of your system.

Booting involves the following steps:

The initial step in booting a system is named Power On Self Test (POST). Its purpose is to verify that basic hardware is in functional state.The memory, keyboard, communication and audio devices are also initialized. You can see an image for each of these devices displayed on the screen. It is during this step that you can press a function key to choose a different boot list. The LED values displayed during this phase are model specific. Both hardware and software problems can prevent the system from booting.

System Read Only Storage (ROS) is specific to each system type. It is necessary for AIX 5L Version 5.3 to boot, but it does not build the data structures required for booting. It will locate and load bootstrap code. System ROS contains generic boot information and is operating system independent. Software ROS (also named bootstrap) forms an IPL control block which is compatible with AIX 5L Version 5.3, takes control and builds AIX 5L
specific boot information. A special file system located in memory and named RAMFS file system is created. Software ROS then locates, loads, and turns control over to AIX 5L Boot Logical Volume (BLV). Software ROS is AIX 5L information created based on machine type and is responsible for completing machine preparation to enable it to start AIX 5L kernel. A complete list of files that are part of the BLV can be obtained from directory /usr/lib/boot.

The most important components are the following:

- The AIX 5L kernel
- Boot commands called during the boot process such as bootinfo, cfgmgr
- A reduced version of the ODM. Many devices need to be configured hd4 (/) made available, so their corresponding methods have to be stored in the BLV. These devices are marked as base in PdDv.
- The rc.boot script

Note: Old systems based on MCI architecture execute an additional step before this, the so called Built In Self Test (BIST). This step is no longer required for systems based on PCI architecture.

The AIX 5L kernel is loaded and takes control. The system will display 0299 on the LED panel. All previous codes are hardware-related. The kernel will complete the boot process by configuring devices and starting the init process. LED codes displayed during this stage will be generic AIX 5L codes. So far, the system has tested the hardware, found a BLV, created the RAMFS, and started the init process from the BLV. The rootvg has not yet been activated. From now on the rc.boot script will be called three times, each timebeing passed a different parameter.

1.Boot phase 1

During this phase, the following steps are taken:

The init process started from RAMFS executes the boot script rc.boot

If init process fails for some reason, code c06 is shown on LED display. At this stage, the restbase command is called to copy a partial image of ODM from the BLV into the RAMFS. If this operation is successful LED display shows 510, otherwise LED code 548 is shown.

After this, the cfgmgr -f command reads the Config_Rules class from the reduced ODM. In this class, devices with the attribute phase=1 are considered base devices. Base devices are all devices that are necessary to access rootvg.
For example, if the rootvg is located on a hard disk all devices starting from motherboard up to the disk will have to be initialized.The corresponding methods are called so that rootvg can be activated in the nextboot phase 2. At the end of boot phase 1, the bootinfo -b command is called to determine the last boot device. At this stage, the LED shows 511.

2.Boot phase 2

In this phase , the rc.boot script is passed to the parameter 2. During this phase the following steps are taken.

a) The rootvg volume group is varied on with the special version of the varyonvg command ipl_varyon. If this command is successful the system displays 517. otherwise one of the following LED will appear 552,554,556 and the boot process is halted.

b) Root file system hd4 is checked using the fsck -f command. This will verify only whether the filesystem was unmounted cleanly before the last shutdown. If this command fails, the system will display code 555.

c) The root file system ( /dev/hd4 ) is mounted on a temporary mount point /mnt in RAMFS. If this fails 557 will appear in LED.

d) The /usr file system is verified using fsck -f command and then mounted. the copycore command checks if a dump occured. if it did, it is copied from default dump devices, /dev/hd6 to the default copy directory /var/adm/ras. After this /var is unmounted.

e) The primary pagingspace from rootvg, /dev/hd6 will be activated.

f) The mergedev process is called and /dev files from RAMFS are copied to disk.

g) All customized ODM files from the RAMFS are copied to disk.Both ODM versions from hd4 and hd5 are synchronized.

h) Finaly, the root file system from rootvg (disk) is mounted over the root file system from the RAMFS. The mount points for the root filesystems become available. now the /var and /usr file systems from the rootvg are mounted again on their ordinary mount points. There is no console available at this stage; so all boot messages will be copied to alog. The alog command maintains and manages logs.

3.Boot Phase 3

After phase 2 is completed rootvg is activated and the following steps are taken,

a. /etc/init process is started. It reads /etc/inittab file and calls rc.boot with argument 3

b. The /tmp filesystem is mounted.

c. The rootvg is synchronized by calling the synchvg command and launching it as background process. As a result all stale partitions from rootvg are updated.At this stage LED code 553 is shown.

d. At this stage the cfgmgr command is called.if the system is booted in normal mode the cfgmgr command is called with option -p2; in service mode, option -p3. The cfgmgr command reads the Config_rules files from ODM and calls all methods corresponding to either phase 2 or 3. All other devices that are not base devices are configured at this time.

e. Next the console is configured by calling the cfgcon command. After the configuration of the console , boot messages are send to the console if no STDOUT redirection is made. However all missed messages can be found in /var/adm/ras/conslog. LED codes that can be displayed at this time are :

c31 = console not yet configured.
c32 = console is an LFT terminal.
c33 = console is a TTY.
c34 = console is a file on the disk.

f. finally the synchronization of the ODM in the BLV with the ODM from the / (root) filesyatem is done by the savebase command.

g. The syncd daemon and errdaemon are started.

h. LED display is turned off.

i. if the /etc/nologin exists, it will be removed.

j. If there are devices marked as missing in CuDv a message is displayed on the console.

i. the message system initialization completed is send to the console. the execution of the rc.boot has completed. init process will continue processing the next command from /etc/inittab.

II. system initialization

During system startup, after the root file system has been mounted in the pre-initialization process, the following sequence of events occurs:

1. The init command is run as the last step of the startup process.
2. The init command attempts to read the /etc/inittab file.
3. If the /etc/inittab file exists, the init command attempts to locate an initdefauult entry in the /etc/inittab file.

a. If the initdefault entry exists, the init command uses the specified runlevel as the initial system run level.
b. If the initdefault entry does not exist, the init command requests that the user enter a run level from the system console (/dev/console).
c. If the user enters an S, s, M, or m run level, the init command enters the maintenance run level. These are the only runlevels that do not require a properly formatted /etc/inittab file.

4. If the /etc/inittab file does not exist, the init command places the system in the maintenance run level by default.
5. The init command rereads the /etc/inittab file every 60 seconds. If the /etc/inittab file has changed since the last time the init command read it, the new commands in the /etc/inittab file are executed.

III. The /etc/inittab file

The /etc/inittab file controls the initialization process.

The /etc/inittab file supplies the script to the init command's role as a general process dispatcher. The process that constitutes the majority of the init command's process dispatching activities is the /etc/getty line process, which initiates individual terminal lines. Other processes typically dispatched by the init command are daemons and the shell.

The /etc/inittab file is composed of entries that are position-dependent and have the following format,

/etc/inittab format = Identifier:RunLevel:Action:Command

Each entry is delimited by a newline character. A backslash (\) preceding a new line character indicated the continuation of an entry. There are no limits (other than maximum entry size) on the number of entries in the /etc/inittab file.

The maximum entry size is 1024 characters.

The entry fields are :

Identifier
A one to fourteen character field that uniquely identifies an object.

RunLevel
The run level at which this entry can be processed. The run level has the following attributes:

-Run levels effectively correspond to a configuration of processes in the system.

-Each process started by the init command is assigned one or more run levels in which it can exist.

-Run levels are represented by the numbers 0 through 9.

Eg: if the system is in run level 1, only those entries with a 1 in the run-level field are started.

-When you request the init command to change run levels, all processes without a matching entry in the run-level field for the target run level receive a warning signal (SIGTERM). There is a 20-second grace period before processes are forcibly terminated by the kill signal (SIGKILL).

-The run-level field can define multiple run levels for a process by selecting more than one run level in any combination from 0 through 9. If no run level is specified, the process is assumed to be valid at all run levels.

-There are four other values that appear in the run-level field, even though they are not true run levels: a, b, c and h. Entries that have these characters in the run level field are processed only when the telinit command requests them to be run (regardless of the current run level of the system). They differ from run levels in that the init command can never enter run level a, b, c or h. Also, a request for the execution of any of these processes does not change the current run level. Furthermore, a process started by an a, b, or c command is not killed when the init command changes levels. They are only killed if their line in the /etc/inittab file is marked off in the action field, their line is deleted entirely from /etc/inittab, or the init command goes into single-user mode.

Action
It tells the init command how to treat the process specified in the process field. The following actions are recognized by the init command:

respawn If the process does not exist, start the process. Do not wait for its termination (continue scanning the /etc/inittab file). Restart the process when it dies. If the process exists, do nothing and continue scanning the /etc/inittab file.

wait When the init command enters the run level that matches the entry's run level, start the process and wait for its termination. All subsequent reads of the /etc/inittab file, while the init command is in the same run level, will cause the init command to ignore this entry.

once When the init command enters a run level that matches the entry's run level, start the process, and do not wait for termination. When it dies, do not restart the process. When the system enters a new run level, and the process is still running from a previous run level change, the program will not be restarted.

boot Process the entry only during system boot, which is when the init command reads the /etc/inittab file during system startup. Start the process, do not wait for its termination, and when it dies, do not restart the process. In order for the instruction to be meaningful, the run level should be the default or it must match the init command's run level at boot time. This action is useful for an initialization function following a hardware reboot of the system.

bootwait Process the entry the first time that the init command goes from single-user to multi-user state after the system is booted. Start the process, wait for its termination, and when it dies, do not restart the process. If the initdefault is 2, run the process right after boot.

powerfail Execute the process associated with this entry only when the init command receives a power fail signal ( SIGPWR).

powerwait Execute the process associated with this entry only when the init command receives a power fail signal (SIGPWR), and wait until it terminates before continuing to process the /etc/inittab file.

off If the process associated with this entry is currently running, send the warning signal (SIGTERM), and wait 20 seconds before terminating the process with the kill signal (SIGKILL). If the process is not running, ignore this entry.

ondemand Functionally identical to respawn, except this action applies to the a, b, or c values, not to run levels.

initdefault An entry with this action is only scanned when the init command is initially invoked. The init command uses this entry, if it exists, to determine which run level to enter initially. It does this by taking the highest run level specified in the run-level field and using that as its initial state. If the run level field is empty, this is interpreted as 0123456789. therefore, the init command enters run level 9. Additionally, if the init command does not find an initdefault entry in the /etc/inittab file, it requests an initial run level from the user at boot time.

sysinit Entries of this type are executed before the init command tries to access the console before login. It is expected that this entry will only be used to initialize devices on which the init command might try to ask the run level question. These entries are executed and waited for before continuing.

Command
A shell command to execute. The entire command field is prefixed with exec and passed to a forked sh as sh -c exec command. Any legal sh command syntax can appear in this field. Comments can be inserted with the # comment syntax.

The getty command writes over the output of any commands that appear before it it in the /etc/inittab file. To record the output of these commands to the boot log, pipe their output to the alog -tboot command. The stdin, stdout, and stderr file descriptors may not be available while the init command is processing inittab entries. Any entries writing to stdout or stderr may not work predictably unless they redirect their output to a file or to /dev/console.
The following commands are the only supported methods for modifying the records in the /etc/inittab file.

lsitab Lists records in the /etc/inittab file.
mkitab Adds records to the /etc/inittab file.
chitab Changes records in the /etc/inittab file.
rmitab Removes records from the /etc/inittab file.

Eg:

If you want to add a record on the /etc/inittab file to run the find command on the run level 2 and start it again once it has finished:

1. Run the ps command and display only those processes that contain the word find:
# ps -ef | grep find
root 19750 13964 0 10:47:23 pts/0 0:00 grep find
#
2. Add a record named xcmd on the /etc/inittab using the mkitab command:
# mkitab "xcmd:2:respawn:find / -type f > /dev/null 2>&1"
3. Show the new record with the lsitab command:
# lsitab xcmd
xcmd:2:respawn:find / -type f > /dev/null 2>&1
#
4. Display the processes:
# ps -ef | grep find
root 25462 1 6 10:56:58 - 0:00 find / -type f
root 28002 13964 0 10:57:00 pts/0 0:00 grep find
#
5. Cancel the find command process:
# kill 25462
6. Display the processes:
# ps -ef | grep find
root 23538 13964 0 10:58:24 pts/0 0:00 grep find
root 28966 1 4 10:58:21 - 0:00 find / -type f
#

Since the action field is configured as respawn, a new process (28966 in this example) is started each time its predecessor finishes. The process will continue re-spawning, unless you change the action field,

Eg:

1. Change the action field on the record xcmd from respawn to once:
# chitab "xcmd:2:once:find / -type f > /dev/null 2>&1"
2. Display the processes:
# ps -ef | grep find
root 20378 13964 0 11:07:20 pts/0 0:00 grep find
root 28970 1 4 11:05:46 - 0:03 find / -type f
3. Cancel the find command process:
# kill 28970
4. Display the processes:
# ps -ef | grep find
root 28972 13964 0 11:07:33 pts/0 0:00 grep find
#

To delete this record from the /etc/inittab file, you use the rmitab command.

Eg:

# rmitab xcmd
# lsitab xcmd
#

Order of the /etc/inittab entries

The base process entries in the /etc/inittab file is ordered as follows:

1. initdefault
2. sysinit
3. Powerfailure Detection (powerfail)
4. Multiuser check (rc)
5. /etc/firstboot (fbcheck)
6. System Resource Controller (srcmstr)
7. Start TCP/IP daemons (rctcpip)
8. Start NFS daemons (rcnfs)
9. cron
10.pb cleanup (piobe)
11.getty for the console (cons)

The System Resource Controller (SRC) has to be started near the begining of the etc/inittab file since the SRC daemon is needed to start other processes. Since NFS requires TCP/IP daemons to run correctly, TCP/IP daemons are started ahead of the NFS daemons. The entries in the /etc/inittab file are ordered according to dependencies, meaning that if a process (process2) requires that another process (process1) be present for it to operate normally, then an entry for process1 comes before an entry for process2 in the /etc/inittab file.

*********

Device Management in AIX

2009-07-26T13:05:00.037+05:30

DEVICE MANAGEMENT IN AIX

In order to attach peripherals such as terminals and printers to an AIX system, we must tell AIX the characteristics of these devices so that the operating system can send the correct signals to the adapter to which the device is connected. A number of pieces of hardware and software must interact correctly for the device to function correctly.

1) Physical Devices -
Actual hardware that is connected in some way to the system.
2) Ports -
The physical connectors/adapters in the system where physical devices are attached. Most ports are programmable by the system software to allow attachment of many different types of devices.
3) Device Drivers -
Software in the kernel that controls the activity on a port and the format of the data that is sent to the device.
Eg: /dev/hdisk0 = device driver of hard disk 0
4) Logical Devices -
Software interfaces (special files) that present a means of accessing a physical device to the users and application programs. Data read from logical devices will be read from the appropriate device driver.
Eg: /dev/datalv = logical volume for data
5) /dev -
The directory which contains all of the logical devices that can be directly accessed by the user. (Some of the logical devices defined are only referenced in the ODM customized database and cannot be accessed by users.)

Listing of /dev directory
#ls -l /dev

The ls -l command allows you to see the type of a file. A special file (in the /dev directory) will be indicated by a b in the first column for a block device or a c for a character device.

b = Block device is a structured random access device. Buffering is used to provide a
block-at-a-time method of access. Usually only disk file systems.

Eg: cd0 CD-ROM

hdisk0 Physical Volume

c = Character (raw) device is a sequential, stream-oriented device which provides no buffering.

Eg: console, lft, tty0 Terminal

rhdisk0 Physical Volume

Most block devices also have an equivalent character device. For example, /dev/hd1 provides buffered access to a logical volume whereas /dev/rhd1 provides raw access to the same logical volume.Normally the fifth field contains a numeric value indicating the number of bytes in the file. For devices, it shows the major and minor device numbers. The device rmt0 shown in the listing has a major device number of 22 and a minor device number of 1. This indicates that the code to handle major device 22 must already be in the kernel, and it must handle device number 1 correctly. Clearly, the major number refers to the software section of code in the kernel which handles that type of device, and the minor number to the particular device of that type or the operation mode of a device of that type.

ODM - Object Data Manager

Device Configuration Database

1) Pre-Defined Configuration Databse

2) Customized Configuration Databcse

The predefined and customized databases store information about all of the logical devices in the system and their attributes managed by the ODM (Object Data Manager).

The predefined database contains configuration data for all possible devices supported by the system. The SMIT menus have options to install non-supported drivers. The contents of the predefined database is largely defined at installation time, ensuring that you always have support for devices in your system.

The customized database contains configuration data for all currently defined and configured (available) devices.

cfgmgr

The Configuration Manager is a program that automatically configures devices on your system during system boot and run time. The Configuration Manager uses the information from the predefined and customized databases during this process, and updates the customized database afterwards.

List all supported Devices

PdDv = pre-defined Database

#lsdev -P -H

smit devices -> List Devices -> List All Supported Devices

Devices are classified by Class, Type and Subclass where Class indicates what the device does, Type indicates what model it is and Subclass indicates how it can be attached to the system.To find out what devices are listed in the predefined database, use the SMIT option List All Supported Devices which runs the command lsdev -P. To find out the attributes of a predefined device, use the SMIT option Show Characteristics of a Supported Device which runs the command lsattr -D
The -P option pulls information from the predefined database in the ODM.
The -H option shows the headers for the output.
The -c option specifies the class of device.

List all Defined Devices

#lsdev -C -H

The devices that have been customized in the system are described in the ODM
customized database. Each device has a logical device name, a status, a location and various attributes.The lsdev -CH command provides information on the resource name, its status (or state), the address or location, and a brief description of all devices in the customized database.

Available: The device is ready and can be used

Defined: The device is unavailable

Devices may appear in a defined state after a restart. If this is the case, it may be due to the fact that the device is powered off or the fact that the device no longer exists on the system.
Devices with a location code are physical devices. Devices without a location code are logical devices.
#lsattr -EH -l sys0
The lsattr -E -l [resource name] command provides detailed information on the effective attributes currently configured for specified devices. In the example, it provides configuration information on the system itself.
The -C option for lsdev pulls the customized information from the ODM.
The -E option for lsattr shows the effective attributes.
The -l option for both commands is the logical device name.
The -c option for both commands is the class of device.
The -a attribute option for the lsattr command displays information for a specific attribute.
Eg: #lsattr -E -l sys0 -a realmem
lscfg
Another command that can be used to list information about devices found in the ODM customized database is lscfg -v. The listing is sorted by parent, child and device location. Specific hardware information about devices will be listed such as EC level, FRU number, part number, and so forth. The output also displays the model architecture and bus type.
DEVICE STATES

The Most Common Device States are:-
Undefined -
The device is a supported device but is not configured. It does not reside in the customized database.
Defined -
The device has been added to the customized database. It has been allocated a logical device name, a location code and attributes have been assigned to it. But, it is still unavailable for use.
Available -
The device resides in the customized database. The device is fully configured and is ready for use.
When a device is first identified, it is configured and put into the Available state. If a device that has been configured in the past is powered off and the machine is rebooted, the device will appear in the Defined state. This indicates that the system knows it is supposed to be there, but because it was not powered on, it cannot be used. You can control the device states by using smit or the commands mkdev and rmdev.
To put a defined tape into an available state , in the smit devices area, use Configure a Defined Tape Device or #mkdev -l rmt0
To move an available tape device to defined , In the smit devices area, use Remove a Tape Device and set Delete from Database to no or #rmdev -l rmt0
To permanently remove an available or define tape device , In the smit devices area, use Remove a Tape Device and set Delete from Database to yes or #rmdev -dl rmt0
Remember, most Defined devices are the result of not powering on the device before booting. Or, it could be the device was physically removed, but you never ran rmdev -dl xxxx to remove the device from the ODM.