AIX Tip of the Week: Early Adopter Experiences with AIX 4.3.3
Audience: AIX Administrators
Date: November 5, 1999
As an early adopter of AIX 4.3.3, I've found it to be a solid operating system that works as advertised. However, I encountered three glitches after migrating from AIX 4.3.2 to 4.3.3. I've compiled a list of these issues for other early adopters
- "oslevel" command still shows AIX 4.3.2 after the migration
- The C compiler works only for "root" id
- "docsearch" for Web based documentation stops working after the upgrade
Most, if not all, of the issues were related to a migration install, rather than a fresh install. If you observe any of these symptoms, see the below for the resolution. Despite the minor glitches, I highly recommend AIX 4.3.3!
For more current information, visit the AIX 4.3 Tip page.
AIX 4.3 Installation Tips
October 8, 1999
This document contains the latest tips for successful installation of
AIX 4.3, and will be updated as new tips become available.
APARs and PTFs mentioned in this document, when available, can be obtained
from FixDist. Information on obtaining and using FixDist is available at
the following URL.
http://service.software.ibm.com/rs6k/fixes.html
The oslevel command may not correctly output '4.3.3.0'
on systems installed or updated from the
AIX 4.3.3 product media because the level of the ifor_ls.compat.cli fileset on the AIX product media is backleveled
at the 4.3.2.0. This problem can be corrected
by installing the ifor_ls.compat.cli 4.3.3.0
update (PTF U466561), which is available
from FixDist. This problem does not occur when
updating from the 4.3.3.0 Maintenance Level.
The bos.perf.pmr fileset is down level after updating from
the AIX 4.3.3 product media. The occurs only
when updating AIX 4.3.0 and 4.3.1 systems,
which already have the bos.perf.pmr fileset
installed. The bos.perf.pmr fileset is obsolete
in AIX 4.3.3 and should be removed.
The bos.crypto* and sysmgt.security* filesets are not included in the AIX 4.3.3.0
Maintenance Level, since they contain encryption
code that is subject to export restrictions.
Updates to these filesets are available only
on the AIX 4.3.3 Bonus Pack that that is
shipped with AIX 4.3.3.
Some ifor_ls.msg.*.compat.gui filesets may fail to install from the AIX 4.3.3
product media due to a requisite to ifor_ls.compat.gui 4.3.3.0, which does not
exist. This problem can be corrected by installing the ifor_ls.compat.gui
4.3.3.0 update (APAR IY04448), when available, from
FixDist.
When updating an existing AIX 4.3 system from the AIX 4.3.3.0 Maintenance
Level, the bos.loc.utf.ZH_CN 4.3.3.0 update will fail to install if the
bos.loc.iso.zh_CN fileset is not installed. To prevent this problem,
install the bos.loc.iso.zh_CN fileset from your existing AIX media prior
to updating from the AIX 4.3.3.0 Maintenance Level. This problem does not
occur when updating from the AIX 4.3.3 Product Media.
When updating an existing AIX 4.3 system from the AIX 4.3.3.0 Maintenance
Level, the perfagent.tools 2.2.33.0, as well as other requisites, may fail
to install. The requisite failure occurs if the perfagent.server fileset
is installed without the perfagent.tools fileset. To prevent this problem,
install the perfagent.tools fileset from your existing AIX media prior to
updating from the AIX 4.3.3.0 Maintenance Level. This problem does not
occur when updating from the AIX 4.3.3 Product Media.
When updating an existing AIX 4.3 system from the AIX 4.3.3.0 Maintenance
Level, the sysmgt.websm.apps 4.3.3.0, as well as other requisites, may fail
to install. The requisite failure occurs if the sysmgt.websm.apps fileset
is already installed, due to a requisite to perl.rte, which is a new fileset
in 4.3.3. To prevent this problem, install the perl.rte fileset, which is
included in the AIX 4.3.3.0 Maintenance Level prior to updating from the
AIX 4.3.3.0 Maintenance Level. This problem does not occur when updating
from the AIX 4.3.3 Product Media.
Permissions of some install images on the AIX 4.3.3 product media do not
include read permission for others. Although this will not cause problems
while installing from a locally mounted CD-ROM, it can cause installation
failures from a CD-ROM that is NFS mounted. This problem can be circumvented
by copying the images to disk and changing the permissions, or by changing
the NFS export parameters to allow root access for the mounting host.
AIX Fast Connect configured in a DCE environment to provide access to file
shares located in DFS space must be started using the following steps.
Login as root.
dce_login as a principal (such as cell_admin) that has su rights
to the DFS tree being shared.
Start AIX Fast Connect using the 'net start /load'
command. SMIT or WebSM can also be used as long as the they are
started from this shell.
The above procedure allows the cifsServer daemon to run with su login context
while cifsUserProc runs with users login context. Users login context gets
set following DCE authentication.
CHRP based systems can hang at boot with E1DC in the LEDs after booting
down-level diagnostics or AIX CDs. You can determine if your system is
CHRP based using the following command:
lslpp -L devices.chrp.base.rte
If the devices.chrp.base.rte filesets is installed, the system architecture
is likey CHRP. If this fileset is not installed, this problem cannot occur
on your system.
To prevent this problem from occurring, install APAR IX79693, which is
included in AIX 4.3.2, and also obtain the latest 4.3.2 diagnostics CD-ROM,
P/N 08L1427 or 08L1430. Do not attempt to boot the system with earlier
level diagnostics CD-ROMs or other media that contains a level of AIX earlier
than 4.3.2.
Once this problem occurs, the only way to correct the condition is to
power the system off, unplug the battery for approximately 10 minutes, plug
in the battery and power the system back on.
The "feprom_update" command fails on AIX 4.3 systems with an error
similar to:
1734-009 cannot write in FEPROM
Once this failure occurs, the system firmware is corrupt, and the system
will no longer reboot. This problem affects SMP systems with 604e
processors, including SP High Nodes. APAR IX84560 is currently available
and should be installed prior to attempting a firmware update..
Netscape Communicator uses a private copy of the AIX C library (libc.a).
The libc.a shipped with Netscape Communicator 4.0.4 and earlier may not
be compatible with AIX 4.3.1, and may fail to start with an error
similar to the following:
Could not load program /usr/local/netscape4/netscape_aix4
Symbol __malloc_postfork_unlock in /usr/lib/libpthreads.a is undefined
Symbol __malloc_prefork_lock in /usr/lib/libpthreads.a is undefined
Could not load library libC.a[shr.o]
Error was: Exec format error
To correct this problem, refer to the following URL for instructions on
downloading and installing the fix.
ftp://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/efixes/netscape/
Use of the AIX Java 1.1.8 JIT (Just-in-Time compiler) with the WebSphere V3.0
Administration Server requires APAR IY04792. Until the APAR is applied,
the JIT should be disabled during WebSphere Application Server startup.
Disabling the JIT can have negative WebSphere Application Server performance
impacts, therefore installation of APAR IY04792 is highly recommended.
To disable the AIX JDK 1.1.8 JIT, modify the WebSphere admin.config file
and replace the line:
com.ibm.ejs.sm.util.process.Nanny.adminServerJvmArgs=-mx128m
with the line:
com.ibm.ejs.sm.util.process.Nanny.adminServerJvmArgs=-mx128m -Djava.compiler=NONE
Secondly, any Application Server that is created will also require the JIT
to be disabled. To accomplish this, through the use of the WebSphere
Administrative Console, add the following to the Command line arguments
field for the Application Server:
-Djava.compiler=NONE
The Admin Console DOES NOT require the JIT to be disabled. The procedure is
only required for the Adminserver and any Application Servers.
The C compiler may be usable only by root
after a migrating install to AIX 4.3.3. The
cause of the problem is a permissions change
on an iforls directory. To fix the problem
run the following command:
chmod 1777 /var/ifor
The "docsearch" function of the
AIX's web based documentation may fail after
upgrading to AIX 4.3.3. To fix,
cd /infocd
unlinkbasecd
linkbasecd