Installation Guide and Reference

Using Installation Images to Install the Base Operating System (BOS) on a NIM Client

Using installation images to install BOS on a NIM client is similar to the traditional BOS installation from a tape or CD-ROM device, because the BOS image is installed from the installation images in the lpp_source resource.

Prerequisites

• The NIM master must be configured, and lpp_source and SPOT resources must be defined. See Configuring the NIM Master and Creating Basic Installation Resources.
• The NIM client to be installed must already exist in the NIM environment. To add the client to the NIM environment, use the Adding a Standalone NIM Client to the NIM Environment procedure.

From Web-based System Manager

1. From the NIM container, select the Machines container.
2. In the contents area, select a target standalone machine for the installation.
3. From the Selected menu, choose Install Operating System.
4. If the client machine being installed is not already a running, configured NIM client, NIM will not automatically reboot the machine over the network for installation. If the client was not rebooted automatically, initiate a network boot from the client to install it. Follow the Booting a Machine Over the Network procedure to perform the network boot.
5. After the machine boots over the network, the display on the client machine will begin prompting for information about how to configure the machine during installation. Specify the requested information to continue with the installation.
   Note
   To perform a nonprompted installation, follow the instructions in Performing a Nonprompted BOS Installation to complete the prerequisite tasks.

From SMIT

1. To install BOS on a NIM client using an rte install, enter smit nim_bosinst from the NIM master.
2. Select the TARGET for the operation.
3. Select rte as the installation TYPE.
4. Select the SPOT to use for the installation.
5. Select the LPP_SOURCE to use for the installation.
6. In the displayed dialog fields, supply the correct values for the installation options or accept the default values. Use the help information and the LIST option to help you.
7. If the client machine being installed is not already a running, configured NIM client, NIM will not automatically reboot the machine over the network for installation. If the client was not rebooted automatically from SMIT, initiate a network boot from the client to install it. Use the procedure for Booting a Machine Over the Network to initiate the network boot.
8. After the machine boots over the network, the display on the client machine will begin prompting for information about how the machine should be configured during installation. Specify the requested information to continue with the installation.
   Note
   To perform a nonprompted installation, follow the instructions in Performing a Nonprompted BOS Installation to complete the prerequisite tasks.

From the Command Line

1. To initiate the bos_inst operation, enter:

   # nim -o bos_inst -a source=rte -a lpp_source=Lpp_Source \
   -a spot=SPOTName -a accept_licenses=yes -a boot_client=yes/no ClientName

   Specify the resources to be used to support the installation and any additional options for customizing the installation. To perform a simple rte installation, specify the lpp_source and SPOT resources.

   If the client machine being installed is not already a running, configured NIM client, NIM will not automatically reboot the machine over the network for installation. A network boot must be performed manually on the machine. If that is the case, supply the boot_client=no attribute to the bos_inst command. If the boot_client attribute value is not specified, it defaults to boot_client=yes.

2. If the client was not rebooted automatically, initiate a network boot from the client to install it. Follow the Booting a Machine Over the Network procedure to perform the network boot.
3. After the machine boots over the network, the display on the client machine will begin prompting for information about how to configure the machine during installation. Specify the requested information to continue with the installation.

   Example

   The client machine, machine1, is not a running, configured NIM client. You should specify boot_client=no. To install the client using the lpp_source named lpp_source1 and the SPOT named spot1, enter:

   # nim -o bos_inst -a source=rte -a lpp_source=lpp_source1 \
   -a spot=spot1 -a accept_licenses=yes -a boot_client=no machine1 

   Notes:
   1. The steps to perform an rte installation are almost identical to the steps to perform other types of BOS installations. The main difference is that rte must be specified in the source attribute of the nim bos_inst command.
   2. To perform a nonprompted installation, follow the instructions in Performing a Nonprompted BOS Installation to complete the prerequisite tasks.
   3. For a complete description of the different ways that a BOS installation can be customized by NIM, see the bos_inst operation.