Files Reference

ClientHostName.info File

Purpose

Created by the Network Installation Management (NIM) software to deliver information to the boot environment of NIM client machines.

Note: In AIX Version 4, this is an internal file to the Network Installation Management software and should not be modified manually.

The NIM software creates the ClientHostName.info file to deliver information to the boot environment of NIM client machines. The file resides in the /tftpboot directory on the server of the NIM Shared Product Object Tree (SPOT), with a format of ClientHostName.info where ClientHostName is the hostname of the client machine.

After the client machine performs a network boot, it retrieves a copy of the ClientHostName.info file from the boot server using tftp. The client machine then uses the contents of the ClientHostName.info file to define environment variables for further processing in the boot process.

The ClientHostName.info file is used to support network boot for the followng NIM operations:

Installing the Base Operating System onto standalone machines
Initializing diskless/dataless machines
Diagnostics boot

Some of the variables defined in the ClientHostName.info file are common to all operations while others are operation-specific.

The following variables may be defined in the ClientHostName.info file:

Note: These variables are managed by the nim command and should not be modified by other means.

NIM_NAME	Identifies the client machine in the NIM environment.
NIM_HOSTNAME	Identifies hostname of the client machine.
NIM_CONFIGURATION	Describes the configuration of the client's resource requirements. Possible values are standalone, diskless, and dataless.
NIM_MASTER_HOSTNAME	Identifies the hostname of the NIM master in the network.
NIM_MASTER_PORT	Specifies the port number on the NIM master that should be used for NIM communications.
RC_CONFIG	Specifies the file that defines the configuration procedures the client machine should follow as it boots. Possible values are rc.bos_inst, rc.dd_boot, and rc.diag.
NIM_BOSINST_RECOVER	Specifies the script that initializes the BOS installation environment for NIM.
SPOT	Specifies the location of the Shared Product Object Tree resource that will be used during the boot process.
ROOT	Specifies the location of the root filesystem that will be mounted by diskless/dataless machines.
DUMP	Specifies the location of the dump resource that will be mounted by diskless/dataless machines.
NIM_CUSTOM	Names the command to execute a NIM script during post-installation processing.
NIM_BOS_IMAGE	Specifies the image from which the Base Operating System will be installed.
NIM_BOS_FORMAT	Specifies the format of the image that will be used to install the Base Operating System.
NIM_HOSTS	Specifies the IP addresses and hostnames of the NIM machines that will participate in the operation.
NIM_MOUNTS	Specifies the filesystems that will be mounted during the operation.
ROUTES	Specifies the routes from the client machine to other networks in the NIM environment. The format of each value is a colon-separated list of the network IP address, the network subnet mask, and the IP address of the gateway to the network.

Example

This example shows the contents of the file /tftpboot/devon.austin.ibm.com.info after a bos installation has been enabled via the following command:

      nim -o bos_inst -a source=rte devon
 
export NIM_NAME=devon
export NIM_HOSTNAME=devon.austin.ibm.com
export NIM_CONFIGURATION=standalone
export NIM_MASTER_HOSTNAME=redfish.austin.ibm.com
export NIM_MASTER_PORT=1058
export RC_CONFIG=rc.bos_inst
export
NIM_BOSINST_RECOVER="/../SPOT/usr/lpp/bos.sysmgt/nim/methods/
      c_bosinst_env -a
hostname=devon.austin.ibm.com"
export SPOT=redfish.austin.ibm.com:/spot/myspot/usr
export
NIM_CUSTOM="/../SPOT/usr/lpp/bos.sysmgt/nim/methods/c_script -a
location=redfish.austin.ibm.com:/export/nim/scripts/devon.script"
export NIM_BOS_IMAGE=/SPOT/usr/sys/inst.images/bos
export NIM_BOS_FORMAT=rte
export NIM_HOSTS=" 129.35.134.9:devon.austin.ibm.com
9.3.84.202:redfish.austin.ibm.com "
export NIM_MOUNTS="
redfish.austin.ibm.com:/lppsource/imagedir:/SPOT/usr/sys/inst.images:dir "
export ROUTES=" 9.3.84.128:255.255.255.128:129.35.128.201 "

Files

/tftpboot/ClientHostName.info

Default location of the ClientHostName.info file.

Related Information

Network Installation Management Concepts in AIX 5L Version 5.1 Network Installation Management Guide and Reference.