Unix nim-presentation

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NIM – Network Install Manager
Introduction Presentation
April 28, 2005

Introduction
Presentation Scope
NIM – Network Install Manager
– OS Installation
– Patch Management
– Maintenance Booting
– Diskless Booting
– Software Installation
– AIX and Linux Management
– NIM Interface Choices
• NIM Server Design and Organization in the CGE Environment

Scope
Presentation Scope
– This presentation covers NIM standards, design and
concepts in the CGE environment.
– This presentation is not designed as a tutorial on NIM
operations.

RTE
– Same as a single disk or most basic of installs to get an operating
system on a server instance that will boot.
– This is the fastest install.
Spot
– This is a full and customizable installation of a selected AIX OS
level that can include patches and/or specific software.
– This is generally the slowest of installs
MKSYSB
– This is instituted in one of two ways:
• Clone Install of a system
• Bare Metal Restore of a systems root volume group.
– Takes an exact image of one system and keeps all file-sets intact
while installing any hardware specific requirements to a new host.
Types of NIM OS Installs

Operating System Installation
NIM is designed to install the AIX and Linux Operating systems. It
can only install AIX operating systems that are equal or lower OS
levels than that of itself. It can install Linux on either Power 4,
Power 5 or Intel based platforms. The operating system level
limitations do not exist for the Linux OS.
NIM can install operating systems to a single host or to multiple
hosts simultaneously. By creating a group of hosts within NIM, one
can install many Linux and AIX based systems in an automated
fashion.
NIM allows for customization of operating system installations
through pre and post actions.

NIM can keep many different patch bundles and install or upgrade
systems one at a time or many at once.
Different patch levels can be installed to different systems at the
same time.
NIM can manage any “installp” format file-set and can be used to
manage any type of patch bundle. This includes OS and
Applications. ( HACMP, WLM, Performance Toolbox, etc. )
NIM can patch its own operating system as well as Patch a “SPOT”
to update installation file-sets.
NIM Patch Management

Reasons for Utilizing Process
Boot errors
– inittab
– network configuration
– kernel
– ODM
Change “root” password
– root password of a machine can be changed by booting a
machine into maintenance mode from the NIM server and
performing the appropriate modifications.
Fix filesystem problems
– repair damaged filesystems
– initialize JFS log
– repair superblock
Maintenance Booting

Diskless Clients
– Currently, CGE has no diskless clients booting from the NIM
Server.
Boot from SAN
– The desired configuration is for all Unix servers to boot from
SAN disk
– Unix Servers shall not contain any internal disk
– NIM installation of operating system is performed to SAN
attached disk, virtual SAN disk, or logical volume presented as a
virtual SAN disk
– Requires each Unix server to have multiple HBA's for redundant
access to SAN disk
• HBA's may be real or virtual
– Requires coordination and cooperation between Unix and
Storage groups
Diskless Booting

IBM “installp” based software
– IBM software is distributed as AIX filesets
• HACMP
• TSM
• MQ Series
– Software is configured as an “lpp_source” in NIM server
• Multiple versions may be maintained
– Installation may be initiated locally from each client or remotely
initiated from the NIM server
• Server Prompted
• Client Prompted
Software Installation

Non-IBM software
– 3rd
party software may be distributed using NIM server
• Oracle
• Hitachi
• Linux
– 3rd
party software may be distributed in a wide variety of formats
• lpp_source (“installp format”)
• rpm
• package
• compressed “tarballs”
– NIM is a centralized location for storage of software and provides
multiple mechanisms to provide access
• NFS
• FTP
• ssh
Software Installation (continued)

AIX Management
– Bare metal installation of AIX base operating system or
maintenance level
– Maintenance level updates
– Repair and rescue
Linux Management
– Bare metal installation of Linux base operating system
– Multiple versions available for ppc architecture
• SuSE
• RedHat
• Mandrake
• Debian
– Also supports virtualized environments
– Repair and rescue
AIX and Linux Management

Command line Interface (CLI)
SMIT (X-Windows based GUI)
SMITTY (Character based GUI)
WSM (Java based GUI)
– Web Client (HTML and SSL based communication)
– PC Client (Windows based platform)
– Linux Client (X-Windows based GUI)
– AIX Client (X-Windows based GUI)
NIM Interface

NIM Server Design and Organization
Data Centers
– Mesquite Data Center (mdc)
– Dallas Data Center (ddc)
NIM Servers
– Currently, one NIM server is configured for each data center
• mdc – mdcapnim01
• ddc – ddcapnim01
– EGATE Disaster Recovery running on ddcapnim01
NIM Alternate Master Servers
– None

NIM Server Resources
The following is a partial list of resources currently configured
and available on CGE's NIM servers:
– AIX
– Linux
– mksysb Repository
– AIX Maintenance Levels
– AIX APAR's
– AIX eFixes
– HACMP
– MQ Series
– Tivoli Storage Manager

NIM Server Resources (continued)
NIM Resources Continued
– Hitachi Software
– Performance Monitoring Toolkit
– freeware
– Open Source Software
– Linux Toolbox for AIX
– Disaster Recovery hub for EGATE

NIM Server Operations
The following is a partial list of operations currently configured
and being performed on CGE's NIM servers:
– Network boot server
– AIX operating system installation
– AIX operating system maintenance level updates
– AIX operating system APAR updates
– AIX operating system eFix updates
– AIX mksysb repository
– AIX mksysb installation

NIM Server Operations (continued)
Operations currently configured and being performed on CGE's
NIM servers:
– AIX alt-clone installation
– AIX alt-clone maintenance level updates
– AIX alt-disk installation
• A component of EGATE DR
– Linux Installation
– Linux rpm updates
– Oracle database installation
– Application installation and updates
– Script server

NIM Server Operations (continued)
EGATE Disaster recovery operations currently configured and
being performed on CGE's NIM servers:
– DR information gathering
– DR information distribution
– DR automated documentation generator

NIM Server Structure
NIM Server Resources are separated into numerous resource
classes
Each resource class will have multiple elements and the storage
location for each of these elements may require further
subdivision
The purpose of the subdivision is to create a logical and
manageable hierarchy within the NIM structure
There are two distinct areas of definition of a resource class
– Resource class instance name
• NIM Server identification
– Resource location
• File system identification

Resource Class
The resource class is a NIM construct to identify the various
types of resources. Some of the resources currently
implemented by the CGE NIM Servers are:
– spot: Shared Product Object Tree
– lpp_source: source device for optional product images
– bosinst_data: config file used during BOS install
– image_data: config file used during BOS install
– mksysb: backup images of the rootvg
– script: executable files that are executed on a client
– resolv_conf: config file for DNS resolution
Many other resource classes exist

Resource Class (continued)
Multiple instances of a resource class exist for the purpose of
storing multiple instances of a resource such as versions of AIX
Each instance of a resource class requires a directory and/or file
structure
The directory/file structure is referred to in NIM as the Resource
Location
The resource location has been standardized for the purpose of
consistency and order
The top level directory for all NIM resource classes is:
– /export

Resource Class (continued)
The resource location for each resource class begins as a
subdirectory under “/export” with a name that corresponds with
the resource class
– /export/spot: Shared Product Object Tree
– /export/lpp_source: source device for optional product
images
– /export/bosinst_data: config file used during BOS install
– /export/image_data: config file used during BOS install
– /export/mksysb: backup images of the rootvg
– /export/script: executable files that are executed on a client
– /export/resolv_conf: config file for DNS resolution

Resource Class bosinst_data
Example instances of the resource class “bosinst_data”
– bosinst_data: Default
• /export/bosinst_data/bosinst_data
– bosinst_data_noprompt: Unprompted installation
• /export/bosinst_data/bosinst_data_noprompt
– bosinst_data_4330: AIX 4.3.3.0 installation
• /export/bosinst_data/bosinst_data_4330
– bosinst_data_5200: AIX 5.2.0.0 installation
• /export/bosinst_data/bosinst_data_5200
– bosinst_data_5200-05: AIX 5.2.0.0 ML5 installation
• /export/bosinst_data/bosinst_data_5200-05

Resource Class image_data
Example instances of the resource class “image_data”
– image_data: Default
• /export/image_data/image_data
– image_data_noprompt: Unprompted installation
• /export/image_data/image_data_noprompt
– image_data_4330: AIX 4.3.3.0 installation
• /export/image_data/image_data_4330
– image_data_5200: AIX 5.2.0.0 installation
• /export/image_data/image_data_5200
– image_data_5200-05: AIX 5.2.0.0 ML5 installation
• /export/image_data/image_data_5200-05

Resource Class resolv_conf
Example instances of the resource class “resolv_conf”
– resolv_conf: Default
• /export/resolv_conf/resolv_conf
– resolv_conf_ddc: DNS resolution for DDC
• /export/resolv_conf/resolv_conf_ddc
– resolv_conf_mdc: DNS resolution for MDC
• /export/resolv_conf/resolv_conf_mdc

Resource Class spot
Example instances of the resource class “spot”
– aixspot_4330: AIX 4.3.3.0 bootable image
• /export/spot/aixspot_4330
– aixspot_4330-11: AIX 4.3.3.0 ML11 bootable image
• /export/spot/aixspot_4330-11
– aixspot_5200: AIX 5.2.0.0 bootable image
• /export/spot/aixspot_5200
– aixspot_5200-05: AIX 5.2.0.0 ML5 bootable image
• /export/spot/aixspot_5200-05

Resource Class mksysb
Example instances of the resource class “mksysb”
– mksysb_ddcaaega01: bootable image of ddcaaega01
• /export/mksysb/mksysb_ddcaaega01
– mksysb_ddcaaega02: bootable image of ddcaaega02
• /export/mksysb/mksysb_ddcaaega02
– mksysb_mdctxuapp80_20050412: bootable image of
mdctxuapp80 on April 12, 2005
• /export/mksysb/mksysb_mdctxuapp80_20050412
– mksysb_mdctxuapp80_20050414: bootable image of
mdctxuapp80 on April 14, 2005
• /export/mksysb/mksysb_mdctxuapp80_20050412

Resource Class lpp_source
The top level directory location to be used for storage of these
resources will be "/export/lpp_source".
Software filesets and updates for many different types of
software are classified as “lpp_source”
The storage location of these resources will be further divided
into subdirectories
– aix
– hacmp
– hitachi
– etc

Resource Class lpp_source/aix
The resource location for AIX related “lpp_source” resources is
the directory “/export/lpp_source/aix”
Many different types of resources are stored at this directory
location
into categories identifying the resource type
– aix: AIX operating system
– aixdoc: AIX documentation
– dev: AIX device drivers
– exppack: AIX expansion pack
– plm: Partition Load Manager
– vio: Virtual I/O Server

Resource Class lpp_source/aix
Example AIX instances of the “lpp_source” resource class:
– aix_4330: AIX 4.3.3.0 base level operating system
• /export/lpp_source/aix/aix_4330
– aix_5200-05: AIX 5.2.0.0 ML 5 operating system
• /export/lpp_source/aix/aix_5200-05
– dev_5200: AIX 5.2.0.0 device drivers
• /export/lpp_source/aix/dev_5200
– exppack_5200: AIX 5.2.0.0 expansion pack
• /export/lpp_source/aix/exppack_5200
– plm_1100: Partition Load Manager 1.1
• /export/lpp_source/aix/plm_1100
– vio_1100: Virtual I/O Server 1.1
• /export/lpp_source/aix/vio_1100

Resource Class lpp_source/hacmpes
Example HACMP ES instances of the “lpp_source” resource
class:
– hacmpes_4400: HACMP ES 4.4.0.0
• /export/lpp_source/hacmpes/hacmpes_4400
– hacmpes_4410-01: HACMP ES 4.4.1.0 ML1
• /export/lpp_source/hacmpes/hacmpes_4410-01
– hacmpes_5200-01: HACMP ES 5.2.0.0 ML1
• /export/lpp_source/hacmpes/hacmpes_5200-01

Resource Class lpp_source/hitachi
The resource location for Hitachi related “lpp_source” resources
is the directory “/export/lpp_source/hitachi”
Many different types of resources are stored at this directory
location
into categories identifying the resource type
– aixodm: Hitachi's AIX ODM software
– dlm: DLM software
– hdlm: HDLM software
– hdsmpio: Hitachi's Multi-path I/O software
– lunstat: Hitachi's Performance Monitoring software

Resource Class lpp_source/hitachi
Example Hitachi instances of the “lpp_source” resource class:
– aixodm_5000: AIX ODM 5000
• /export/lpp_source/hitachi/aixodm_5000
– dlm_2430: DLM driver software
• /export/lpp_source/hitachi/dlm_2430
– hdlm_5251: HDLM driver software
• /export/lpp_source/hitachi/hdlm_5251
– hdsmpio_5400: Hitachi Multi-path I/O driver
• /export/lpp_source/hitachi/hdsmpio_5400
– lunstat_1220: Hitachi performance monitoring software
• /export/lpp_source/hitachi/lunstat_1220

NIM Server Standards
NIM, within the CGE environment is the required starting point
for all software and OS installation and updates.
– Each NIM Server will require any above updates “prior” to
installation on any server.
Further in depth information is available from the following URL:
– ttp://eperf.tu.com/GlobalSysAdmin/AIX/nimdoc.shtml
NIM From A to Z in AIX 4.3
– ttp://www.redbooks.ibm.com/

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