Installation Guide and Reference

Configuring the NIM Master and Creating Resources to Support Diskless and Dataless Clients Only

Use this procedure only if the NIM environment is to be used exclusively for diskless and dataless client management. If the NIM environment is also to be used for installing and maintaining software on standalone machines, follow the procedure for Configuring the NIM Master and Creating Basic Installation Resources.

Note

This procedure produces a large amount of output, especially when creating the SPOT resource. Be sure to scan through the output to look for nonfatal errors and warnings that may not be evident from a successful return code.

Prerequisites

The NIM master must have at least 300 MB of available disk space. If such space is not available, see Using Client Machines as Resource Servers, and Defining an lpp_source on CD-ROM versus Disk.

From Web-based System Manager

Insert the AIX media into the appropriate drive of the designated master machine.
Start the Web-based System Manager application by entering wsm.
In the navigation area, select and expand the Software container.
While still in the navigation area, select the Installed Software container.
From the Software menu, choose New Software (Install/Update) --> Install Additional Software.
In the Install Software dialog, select /dev/cd0 as the software source.
Specify bos.sysmgt.nim as the software to install.
In the navigation area, select the NIM container.
From the NIM menu, select Configure Environment.
Follow the wizard instructions to guide you through the configuration.

From SMIT

Insert the AIX media into the CD-ROM or tape drive of the designated master machine.

To install the bos.sysmgt.nim fileset, enter the smit install_latest fast path.

Using the LIST option, select /dev/cd0 or /dev/rmt0 for the INPUT device / directory for software.

Specify bos.sysmgt.nim as the SOFTWARE to install.

Accept the default values for all other fields on this screen. After completion of this installation, exit SMIT.

To configure the NIM master, enter the smit nimconfig fast path.

Specify a name in the Network Name field to be assigned to the NIM master's network.

Using the LIST option, select the Primary Network Interface for the NIM Master.

Accept the default values for all other fields on this screen.

After the master is configured, exit SMIT.

Restart SMIT using the smit nim_mkres_dd_name_server fast path.

When prompted, select the NIM master as the server of the client resources.

Select yes in the Create a new SPOT? field, since there is not a SPOT currently defined in your environment.

Using the LIST option, select /dev/cd0 or /dev/rmt0 as the input device for installation images.

Specify a name in the SPOT Name field.

Specify names for the other resources to be created in the NIM environment. If a name is not specified, the resource will not be created.

Select yes at the Remove all newly added NIM definitions and file systems if any part of this operation fails? field. This will make it easier to restart this procedure if failures occur.

Accept the default values for all other fields on this screen.
Note

In most NIM environments, the SPOT will already exist to support base operating system installation operations on standalone machines. In such environments, it is not necessary to create a new SPOT.

From the Command Line

Insert the AIX media into the CD-ROM or tape drive of the designated master machine.

If installing from a tape, skip to step 5. To create a mount point for the CD, enter:
```
mkdir /cdfs
```

To create a cdrom file system, enter:
```
crfs -v cdrfs -p ro -d'cd0' -m'/cdfs'
```

To mount the CD, enter:
```
mount /cdfs
```

To install the bos.sysmgt.nim fileset from the CD, enter:
```
installp -agX -d /cdfs/usr/sys/inst.images bos.sysmgt.nim
```
or to install the bos.sysmgt.nim fileset from a tape, enter:
```
installp -agX -d /dev/rmt0 bos.sysmgt.nim
```

If installing from CD, to unmount the cdrom file system, enter:
```
unmount /cdfs
```

To configure the NIM master using the nimconfig command, enter:

nimconfig -a attr1=value1 \
          -a attr2=value2 \
          ...

For example, to configure a NIM master with the following configuration:

master host name = master1
primary network interface = tr0
ring speed = 16
platform = chrp
kernel type = mp

enter the following command sequence:

nimconfig -a netname=network1 -a pif_name=tr0 -a ring_speed=16 \
-a platform=chrp -a netboot_kernel=mp

Note

See the nimconfig command for additional attribute information.

To create a file system in the rootvg volume group with 200 MB of space and a mount point of /export/spot, enter:

crfs -v jfs -g rootvg -a size=$((2000*200)) \
-m /export/spot -A yes -p rw -t no \
-a frag=4096 -a nbpi=4096 -a compress=no

To mount the file system, enter:
```
mount /export/spot
```

The SPOT resource will be installed from images in the image source (in this example, the CD). The server of the resource will be the NIM master, and the SPOT will be stored in the /export/spot/spot1 directory. To create the SPOT resource, enter:
```
nim -o define -t spot -a source=/dev/cd0 -a server=master \
-a location=/export/spot spot1
```

To create a file system in the rootvg volume group with 150 MB of space and a mount point of /export/dd_resource, enter:

crfs -v jfs -g rootvg -a size=$((2000*150)) \
-m /export/dd_resource -A yes -p rw -t no \
-a frag=4096 -a nbpi=4096 -a compress=no

To mount the file system, enter:
```
mount /export/dd_resource
```

Create the diskless and dataless client resources in subdirectories of the /export/dd_resource directory. Not all resources are required. Create only the resources to be used in your environment.
To create the root resource named root1 (required for diskless and dataless clients), enter:
```
nim -o define -t root -a server=master \
-a location=/export/dd_resource/root1 root1
```
To create the dump resource named dump1 (required for diskless and dataless clients), enter:
```
nim -o define -t dump -a server=master \
-a location=/export/dd_resource/dump1 dump1
```
To create the paging resource named paging1 (required for diskless clients), enter:
```
nim -o define -t paging -a server=master \
-a location=/export/dd_resource/paging1 paging1
```
To create the home resource named home1 (optional), enter:
```
nim -o define -t home -a server=master \
-a location=/export/dd_resource/home1 home1
```
To create the shared_home resource named shared_home1 (optional), enter:
```
nim -o define -t shared_home -a server=master \
-a location=/export/dd_resource/shared_home1 shared_home1
```
To create the tmp resource named tmp1 (optional), enter:
```
nim -o define -t tmp -a server=master \
-a location=/export/dd_resource/tmp1 tmp1
```

Notes:

The file systems created for the NIM resources are not required, but they can be beneficial for storage management.

For more information about NIM resources, see NIM Resources.