Appendix B. Hardware-Related Tasks

This chapter describes the procedure for determining a machine's network hardware address if broadcasting will be used to network boot the client.

Determining a Machine's Network Hardware Address

A machine's unique network hardware address associated with the network adapter is an optional part of the machine definition stored in the Network Installation Management (NIM) database. This address is used to configure the boot information for a client.

A value of zero may be specified as a network adapter hardware address when defining NIM machine objects. This is useful when a machine is not active and the hardware address cannot be obtained or when defining a large number of machines. If zero is used to specify a machine's network adapter hardware address, BOOTP requests initiated from the IPL ROM menus from a system console on the machine must have the IP address specified. A BOOTP request that broadcasts packets without an IP address will not work for a NIM client whose machine object has been defined with a network adapter address of zero.

If AIX has already been installed on the system, use one of the following procedures to determine the machine's network hardware address. If the system has not yet been installed or has been turned off, follow the procedure described in "Booting a Machine Over the Network" for your specific platform. The network hardware address will be displayed during the setup procedure.

For a Running Machine

If TCP/IP has been configured and started, complete the following steps:

1. Enter netstat -in
2. A table of information is displayed.
3. Find the section that applies to the interface you want to use as the machine's primary interface; for example, tr0 . The hardware address of your machine's interface is listed after the entry <Link> . For example:

   tr0   1492  <Link>10.0.5a.a8.8f.94

4. Record the hardware address.

   Note: When you supply the network hardware address to NIM, which is part of defining a machine, delete the periods between the numbers. Also, .0. becomes 00 . For example, if the machine's network hardware address is displayed as 10.0.5a.a8.8f.94 , enter 10005aa88f94 when you define the machine.

If TCP/IP has not been configured, complete the following steps:

1. Enter lscfg -l NetworkAdapterName -v

   where NetworkAdapterName is the logical device name of the network adapter the client will use to access NIM resources. For example, tok0 , ent0 or fddi0.

2. A list of hardware information for the network adapter is displayed.
3. Find the field that starts with Network Address. This is the hardware address of your machine's interface. For example,

           Network Address.............10005AA88F94

4. Record the hardware address.