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Network Installation Management Guide and Reference
There are currently three types of
machines that can be managed in the NIM environment. These are
standalone, diskless, and dataless
clients. This section describes the differences between the machines,
the attributes required to define the machines, and the operations that can be
performed on them. The NIM environment is composed of two basic machine
roles: master and client. The NIM master
manages the installation of the rest of the machines in the NIM
environment. The master is the only machine that can remotely run NIM
commands on the clients. All other machines participating in the NIM
environment are clients to the master, including machines that may also serve
resources.
There are unique operations to
initialize the different client configurations. NIM uses this fact to
check that the operation is a valid operation for a specific client
configuration. The following table shows the operations that can be
performed on the different client configuration types.
NIM Operation
| Machine Configuration
|
Standalone
| Diskless
| Dataless
|
bos_inst
| x
|
|
|
dkls_init
|
| x
|
|
dtls_init
|
|
| x
|
diag
| x
| x
| x
|
cust
| x
|
|
|
fix_query
| x
|
|
|
lppchk
| x
|
|
|
maint
| x
|
|
|
maint_boot
| x
|
|
|
reset
| x
| x
| x
|
check
| x
| x
| x
|
showlog
| x
| x
| x
|
reboot
| x
| x
| x
|
For more information about NIM
operations, see NIM Operations.
Standalone, diskless, and
dataless clients are defined in the NIM environment using the NIM
define operation. The command line syntax is as
follows:
nim -o define -t MachineType -a
Attribute=Value ... MachineName
where the following attributes
are required:
-t
MachineType
| Specifies the type of machine being defined. Valid values are
standalone, diskless, and dataless.
|
-a
if=Value ...
| Stores network interface information for a NIM client, and requires a
sequence number when specified. The value for this attribute consists
of three required values and a fourth, optional value:
- Value 1
- Specifies the name of the NIM network to which this interface
connects. If the name of the NIM network is unknown, then the
find_net keyword can be used to match the client's IP address
to a defined NIM network. If the find_net keyword is used,
but NIM does not find a matching network, the optional
net_definition attribute should be used to define the network, as
well.
- Value 2
- Specifies the host name associated with this interface.
- Value 3
- Specifies the network adapter hardware address of this interface. A
value of 0 can be specified unless broadcasting is used for network
boot of the client.
- Value 4
- Specifies the logical device name of the network adapter used for this
interface. If this value is not specified, NIM uses a default based on
the type of network interface defined. This field is required when the
client is defined on a heterogeneous network.
This attribute requires a sequence number for NIM to distinguish between
multiple network interfaces. Because machines can be multihomed, NIM
allows more than one if attribute per machine.
|
The following attributes are
optional:
-a
ring_speed=Value
| Specifies the ring speed of the client's token-ring adapter.
This value is required if the client's NIM network is token-ring.
This attribute requires a sequence number for NIM to distinguish between ring
speeds for multiple interfaces on the machine.
|
-a
cable_type=Value
| Specifies the cable type of the client's ethernet adapter.
This value is required if the client's NIM network is ethernet.
This attribute requires a sequence number for NIM to distinguish between cable
types for multiple interfaces on the machine.
|
-a
platform=Value
| Specifies the platform of the machine being defined. The default
value is platform=rs6k. Other examples are rspc
and chrp. Run the bootinfo -p command on a
running machine to determine its platform.
|
-a
netboot_kernel=Value
| Specifies the kernel type of the client. Valid values are
up for uniprocessor machines and mp for multiprocessor
machines. The default value is netboot_kernel=up.
|
-a
iplrom_emu=Value
| Specifies the device that contains the IPL ROM emulation software.
IPL ROM emulation is required for machines that do not have bootp-enabled IPL
ROM.
|
-a
net_definition=Value ...
| Defines a NIM network to be associated with the client being
defined. The value for this attribute consists of two required values
and three optional values:
- Value 1 = NetworkType (required)
- Specified values are tok, ent, fddi, and
generic.
- Value 2 = SubnetMask (required)
- Specifies the dotted decimal mask for the network.
- Value 3 = ClientGateway (optional)
- Specifies the IP address or host name of the default gateway used by the
machine being defined to communicate with the NIM master.
- Value 4 = MasterGateway (optional)
- Specifies the IP address or host name of the default gateway used by the
NIM master to communicate with clients on other subnets.
- Value 5 = NetworkName (optional)
- Specifies a name to be given to the NIM definition created for the
network. (Otherwise, a unique default value is assigned.)
When specifying the net_definition attribute to create or change
a machine definition, the find_net keyword must be specified as the
first component of the if attribute for the machine. The
net_definition attribute may also be specified when defining
additional NIM interfaces (if attributes) for machine
definitions.
|
-a
cpuid=Value
| Specifies the CPU ID of the machine being defined. This attribute
can be used for client verification during NIM operations. To display
the CPU ID on a running machine, use the uname -m command.
This field is optional and will be automatically set the first time a client
communicates with the NIM master.
|
-a
master_port=Value
| Specifies the port number used by the NIM master for socket communication
with the clients. The default master port number is
1058.
|
-a
registration_port=Value
| Specifies the port number used by clients to register themselves with the
NIM master. The default registration port number is
1059.
|
-a
group=Value
| Specifies a machine group to which the client should be added. The
group will be defined if it does not exist.
|
-a
comments=Value
| Provides comments about the client being defined.
|
-a
verbose=Value
| Displays information for debugging. Use verbose=5 to
show maximum detail.
|
Standalone NIM clients are
clients with the capability of booting and running from local
resources. Standalone clients mount all file systems from local disks
and have a local boot image. Standalone clients are not dependent upon
network servers for operation.
Although an installed standalone
client is capable of booting from the local disk, it may be necessary to
perform a network boot of the client for certain NIM operations.
Clients must boot over the network in order for NIM to perform a BOS
installation (bos_inst) of the client or to boot into maintenance
mode (maint_boot) and diagnostics (diag). For
instructions on booting a client over the network, see Booting a Machine Over the Network .
The AIX Base Operating System can
be installed directly on standalone clients using the NIM bos_inst
operation. Additional software and updates can be installed and managed
on standalone clients using the NIM cust and maint
operations. See NIM Operations for more information about these and other
operations.
Diskless and dataless clients are
machines that are not capable of booting and running without the assistance of
servers on a network. As their names imply, diskless clients have no
hard disk, and dataless clients have disks that are unable to hold all the
data that may be required for operation. Diskless machines must mount
paging space and all file systems from remote servers. Dataless
machines can only use a local disk for paging space and the /tmp
and /home file systems. Neither diskless nor dataless
clients have a local boot image, and they must boot from servers on the
network.
Diskless/dataless clients and resources are not supported for platforms of
type Itanium-based.
The reasons for defining a
machine as diskless or dataless are:
- Cost savings
No hard disk is required for diskless clients. Only a small hard
disk is needed for dataless clients.
- Manage software configurations on machines
On diskless and dataless clients, the file system containing the Base
Operating System is mounted from a server. All client systems that
mount the same file system for BOS run from identical software.
- Manage storage of user data
User data for diskless and dataless clients are stored on remote
servers. A system administrator can manage storage allocation and data
backups for the client machines by managing the data on the server, rather
than on each machine separately.
The file systems that are mounted
by the diskless and dataless client machines are treated as resources in the
NIM environment. Like other resources, they exist on a server in the
NIM environment, and they are NFS-exported to the clients that use
them.
The following resources are
managed by NIM to support diskless and dataless clients:
boot
| Defined as a network boot image for NIM clients. The
boot resource is managed automatically by NIM and is never
explicitly allocated or deallocated by users.
|
SPOT
| Defined as a directory structure that contains the AIX run-time files
common to all machines. These files are referred to as the
usr parts of the fileset. The SPOT resource is
mounted as the /usr file system on diskless and dataless
clients.
Contains the root
parts of filesets. The root part of a fileset is the set of
files that may be used to configure the software for a particular
machine. These root files are stored in special directories
in the SPOT, and they are used to populate the root directories of
diskless and dataless clients during initialization.
The network boot images used to
boot clients are constructed from software installed in the
SPOT.
A SPOT resource is
required for both diskless and dataless clients.
|
root
| Defined as a parent directory for client "/" (root)
directories. The client root directory in the root resource
is mounted as the "/" (root) file system on the
client.
When the resources for a client
are initialized, the client root directory is populated with
configuration files. These configuration files are copied from the
SPOT resource that has been allocated to the same machine.
A root resource is
required for both diskless and dataless clients.
|
dump
| Defined as a parent directory for client dump files. The client
dump file in the dump resource is mounted as the dump device for
the client.
A dump resource is
required for both diskless and dataless clients.
|
paging
| Defined as a parent directory for client paging files. The client
paging file in the paging resource is mounted as the paging device
for the client.
A paging resource is
required for diskless clients and optional for dataless clients.
|
home
| Defined as a parent directory for client /home
directories. The client directory in the home resource is
mounted as the /home file system on the client.
A home resource is
optional for both diskless and dataless clients.
|
shared_home
| Defined as a /home directory shared by clients. All
clients that use a shared_home resource will mount the same
directory as the /home file system.
A shared_home resource
is optional for both diskless and dataless clients.
|
tmp
| Defined as a parent directory for client /tmp
directories. The client directory in the tmp resource is
mounted as the /tmp file system on the client.
A tmp resource is
optional for both diskless and dataless clients.
|
resolv_conf
| Contains nameserver IP addresses and a network domain name.
Unlike the other resources used
by diskless/dataless clients, the resolv_conf resource does not
remain mounted by the client. Instead, it is copied to the
/etc/resolv.conf file in the client's root
directory.
A resolv_conf resource is optional for both diskless and
dataless clients.
|
Diskless and dataless clients are
not installed in the same way as standalone machines. Instead, they are
initialized. Initialization of diskless and dataless clients involves
several phases of operation:
Resource Allocation
| The resources required to support a diskless/dataless client must be
allocated to the client before or during the initialization operation.
If the resource is a parent
directory of client directories, the allocation will create an empty
subdirectory for the client. The client subdirectory is then
NFS-exported to the client. The client subdirectories are not populated
until the initialization is actually performed.
|
Client
Initialization
| The dkls_init and dtls_init operations are used in
NIM to initialize the resources for client use.
Among the operations performed
during client initialization are the following:
- The boot image is made available to the client for
performing a network boot.
- The root files, which are used for machine-specific
customization, are copied into the client's subdirectory in the
root resource. The files that are copied into the client
root directories come from the SPOT resource that has been
allocated to the client.
- The
/tftpboot/Client.info file is created
on the boot server (which is the SPOT server). This file
contains information that will be needed by the client during the start-up
configuration processing to successfully configure as a diskless or dataless
client.
The following are some of the
variables defined in the Client.info file:
export NIM_CONFIGURATION=diskless
export RC_CONFIG=rc.dd_boot
export ROOT=Host:Client_Root_Directory
export DUMP=Host:Client_Dump_Directory
export SPOT=Host:SPOT_Location
The paging location is set in the client's root directory in the
/etc/swapspaces file.
|
Network Boot of the
Client
| The client machine is booted over the network using standard
bootp procedures for the machine type. The client obtains
the boot image and begins running a mini-kernel in a file system in
RAM.
The client tftp's the
Client.info file from the /tftpboot
directory on the SPOT server. The information in the
Client.info file is used to properly configure
the client as a diskless or dataless machine.
The remote file systems are
mounted from the resource servers.
If the client is a dataless client, and no paging,
tmp, home, or shared_home resource is
allocated, then the client will create the missing file system on the local
hard disk.
|
The /usr and
root file systems of diskless and dataless clients are resources
that have been mounted from a server. Therefore, in order to install or
deinstall software on a diskless/dataless client, the processing must actually
occur on the resources that the clients use.
The SPOT contains the
directory structure for an installed /usr file system. It
also contains subdirectories for the "root" parts of installed
filesets. Since the SPOT contains both usr and
root files, software maintenance must be performed on the
SPOT in order to update the software that is running on the
clients. Such actions must be performed using the NIM cust
and maint operations. See NIM Operations for more information about the cust and
maint operations.
If the SPOT is
currently allocated for client use, NIM will prevent software customization
operations from being performed on it. This is to safeguard the
SPOT from changes that may adversely affect running client
machines. However, this restriction can be overridden by specifying the
force option when performing the operation.
When NIM is used to install
software in a SPOT, the following operations are performed to
manage the software for diskless and dataless clients:
- The /usr files are installed in the
SPOT. These files are automatically seen by all the clients
that mount the SPOT as their /usr file systems.
- The root files are installed in special
subdirectories in the SPOT.
- After all the filesets have been installed in the
SPOT, the root files are copied to the root
directories of any diskless or dataless clients that have been initialized
with the SPOT.
When NIM is used to deinstall
software in a SPOT, the following operations are performed to
manage the software for diskless and dataless clients:
- The /usr files are removed from the
SPOT. This automatically "removes" the files from the client
systems as well.
- The root files of the software are removed
from the client root directories.
NIM also provides a
sync_roots operation to perform consistency verification and
correction to ensure the client root directories match the
root parts stored in the SPOT.
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