AIX for the System Administrator

Glossary
Boot Process
Disks
Dump Space
Filesystems
Kernel
Networking
Paging and Swap Space
Password/Account Reset
Processes
Software Installation and Patches
System Information
System Monitoring
Tapeutil
Terminal Configuration
Troubleshooting --> see aix-troubleshooting.html
Users

Glossary

Term Definition
Advanced Interactive Executive RS/6000 Unix Operating System
(AIX)
Authorized Program Analysis Used to identify a fix for a PMR.
Report (APAR)
Base Operating System (BOS)
Fileset
Fragments Allows disk space to be divided into units that are smaller than the size of a
logical block
High Availability Cluster AIX Clustering
Multiprocessor ?? (HACMP)
I-Node 128 bit structure that contains information about the file or directory such as
ownership, permissions, file type, number of links to the file, etc.
Logical Block Disk block that contains file or directory data
Maintenance Level (ML) Service updates necessary to upgrade the BOS to the current release level
ODN
Page 4KB unit of virtual memory than can be transferred between physical ram and
disk paging space
Paging Space Special logical volume used for holding inactive data that has been temporarily
 transferred out of physical ram.
Phsysical Volume ID (PVID) Unique id that consists of a hash of the CPUID and the date.
Problem Management Record Tracking record used for customer problems.
(PMR)
Program Temporary Fix (PTF) Temporary fix that will be incorporated into the next release of the product.
May be a single fix or multiple fixes associated with a single fileset.
Service Boot Server is started with the key in the service position (as opposed to the key
being in the normal position).
Superblock Disk block that contains information about the entire file system. It starts at byte
offset 4096 and is 4096 bytes in size.
Swap Space See Paging Space above.
System Management Interface Menu driven system administration interface for AIX
Tool (SMIT)
Vpath Similar to HP LUN?

Boot Process

Phases of the Boot Process:

1. Read Only Storage Kernel Init Phase

1. Motherboard is Checked
2. Bootlist is found
3. Boot image is read into memory
4. Initialization starts
2. Base Device Configuration Phase
1. All devices are configured with cfgmgr command
3. System Boot Phase
1. Logical volumes are varied on
2. Paging is started
3. /etc/inittab is processed

Commands

alog - allows the administrator to view logs

alog -L <-- displays log files that alog can view
alog -o -t boot <-- displays the boot log file
cfgmgr
last
bootlist
uptime
mpcfg
shutdown
How to boot the system if the Service Processor Firmware Menu is displayed:

Service Processor Firmware

Main Menu

1. Service Processor Setup Menu

2. System Power Control Menu
3. System Information Menu
4. Language Selection
5. Call In/Call Out
6. Set System Name
99. Exit Menu

Choose Option 2: System Power Control menu, then select option to Power On

How to boot to the SMS Menu (to apply firmware updates)

Boot normally
Interrupt the boot when the systems displays memory and cpu information
<1> on Ascii terminals
<F1> on Graphics terminals
If you want to update firmware then you need to choose option 3, then put software in diskette drive and
choose:
Option 6 for Update System Software
Option 7 for Update Service Processor

Startup Scripts

/etc/inittab
Indentifier:RunLevel:Action:Command
Inittab Commands
lsitab --> lists records in /etc/inittab
mkitab --> makes a new entry in /etc/inittab
chitab --> changes an existing entry in /etc/inittab
rmitab --> removes an entry from /etc/inittab

Disks

lsdev -C -c disk - shows available disks on the server

lsfs <-- show the filesystems on the server and their characteristics

lspv - shows disks and their LVM information or "none" if not part of LVM

dumpfs <disk> - shows superblock, i-node map and disk map information for the file system specified.
df -v - shows the number of i-nodes used and free.

istat - shows the last updated, last modified and last accessed times of a file.

ls -i - shows the i-node number assigned to a file

bosboot -a --> creates a new bootimage

bootlist -m normal -o hdisk0 hdisk1 --> puts hdisk0 and hdisk1 on the bootlist

bootlist -m normal -o --> displays the current bootlist

How to mount a cdrom

Make sure the cdrom is inserted

Make sure the cdrom drive is properly identified
lsdev -Cc cdrom
Mount the cdrom
mount -v cdrfs -r /dev/cd0 /cdrom

Dump Space

The system dump facility copies critical information to the dump device when a system crash occurs. This information
is critical for determing the cause of the crash.

sysdumpdev -l <-- shows where the system dump location currently is located.

sysdumpdev -P -p /dev/hd9 <-- changes the primary dump device to hd9

sysdumpdev -e <-- estimates the size of the current dump

smitty dump <-- access dump configuration through smit

Procedure for manually peforming a system dump

Using Commands
sysdumpstart
smit dump
Using special key sequence
Key in SERVICE mode
<CTRL><ALT><NUMPAD1> or K<CTRL><ALT><NUMPAD2>
Using the reset button
Key in SERVICE mode
Press the reset button once

Procedure to verify a system dump

 Find out the name of the dump file
sysdumpdev -L
Run the crash command
crash <Dump copy filename> or crash <Dump Device Name>
crash will provide a ">" prompt, stat and quit are commands of crash
>stat
If the dump is successful, then you will see statistics of the dump
>quit

Procedure to generate a system dump using snap

snap -gfkDNcd <directory to store snap file>

-g <-- gets output of the lslpp -hBc command
-f <-- gets system information
-k <-- gets kernel information
-D <-- gets dump and /unix information
-N <-- does not check for free space
-c <-- creates a compressed pax image of all the files in the directory
-d <-- allows the destination directory to specified, rather than the default of /tmp/ibmsupt

Filesystems

Additional information in the file aix-lvm.html.

mount -t <type> --> mounts all filesystems in /etc/filesystems containing the t=type attribute

Copying files

cp
tar - limited to files smaller than 2 GB
cpio - limited to files smaller than 2 GB
pax

Argument list too long error

lsattr -E -l sys0 -a ncargs - List value of ARG/ENV

chdev -l sys0 -a ncargs=NewValue (range 6-128) - Modifies value of ARG/ENV.

Kernel

Changing from 32 bit kernel to 64 bit kernel

Change the link in the root directory

Existing link: lrwxrwxrwx 1 root system 21 Jun 12 09:59 unix -> /usr/lib/boot/unix_mp
 Link to: /usr/lib/boot/unix_64
Change the link in the /usr/lib/boot directory
Existing link: lrwxrwxrwx 1 root system 21 Jun 12 10:01 unix -> /usr/lib/boot/unix_mp
Link to: /usr/lib/boot/unix_64

Networking

entstat -d en0 <-- this will display configuration and statistics for the network card "en0" - useful for displaying
speed/duplex configuration

Paging and Swap Space

Utilities to monitor paging space:

vmstat
topas

lsps -a <- Lists paging space by disk

chps -s 16 hd6 <- Changes the paging space by adding 16 logical partitions to the hd6 logical volume (default swap
space device)
chps -d 16 hd6 <- Changes the paging space by deleting 16 logical partitions from the hd6 logical volume
mkps <-- Makes additional paging space
rmps <-- Deletes paging space (paging space must be deactivated by chps and then system must be rebooted to
remove the paging space)
swapon <-- Turns on a paging space
swapoff <-- Turns off a paging space

Total Paging Space = 512MB + (Physical Memory Size - 256MB) * 1.25

Processes and Services

/etc/inetd.conf - inetd configuration file

/etc/services - information about services, such as port number

Starting and stopping a process:

refresh -p <pid>
refresh -s <subsystem name>

Changing the inetd configuration

Files
/etc/inetd.conf
 /etc/services
Using smit - daemon is recycled automatically upon exit
Using vi
restart the inetd daemon so that the new configuration is read:
refresh -s inetd
Using chservices to edit /etc/services
chservices -c --> changes entries
chservices -a --> adds entries
chservices -d --> deactivates entries

Software Installation and Patches

lslpp -l "<fileset>" <-- Shows information about filesets

rebuild .toc file - "inutoc" <-- This rebuilds the toc where the bff's are located. Needed if something is added to an
existing fileset or new file will not be found.

root.oncwhst5:/# instfix -ciqk 5100-04_AIX_ML | grep ":-:"

root.oncwhst5:/# lslpp -l bos.iconv.ucs.com

Displaying the maintenance level and fixes that are installed

oslevel
oslevel -q
oslevel -r <-- Shows the maintenance release that you are running
instfix -i | grep ML <-- Shows what filesets are found for maintenance releases on your system and whether
they are complete
instfix -ik <FIX_IX> <-- Shows whether a particular fix has been installed on your system
lppchk -v <-- Shows filesets that are incompletely installed or need to be corrected
lscfg -vp | grep alterable <-- shows firmware level

Procedure to upgrade the maintenance level of the os

System Information

prtconf|more <-- prints system information (aix 5.x)

amount of ram - bootinfo -r or lsattr -El sys0 -a realmem
number of processors - lscfg | grep proc or bindprocessor -q

oslevel --> returns the major level of the OS (such as 5.0)

oslevel -r --> returns the detailed level of the OS, with sub level and patch level info (such as 5.1)
uname -a
uname -uM --> type of machine and serial number
System Monitoring

topas = top on hp-ux

Tapeutil

To run the menu version type "tapeutil"

Open the correct device

/dev/rmt0 = tape drive
/dev/smc0 = tape library
"lsdev -Cc tape" will list the devices
Use the commands listed
14 =Element Inventory
17 = Load/Unload Medium

To manually use tapeutil

"tapeutil -f /dev/smc0 move 5 82" --> will move tape from slot 5 to the tape drive

To manually remove a tape from the drive using tapeutil:

tapeutil -f /dev/rmt0 unload -->

tapeutil -f /dev/smc0 move 82 5

Terminal Configuration

Autocompletion: <esc>\

Troubleshooting

See aix-troubleshooting.html

Users

Commands:
mkuser --> utility the creates a new user
passwd --> change the user's password
chuser --> change the user's attributes
chuser minother=# <user> --> changes minother atttribute for a user
luser <user> --> lists the attributes for a specific user account
 lsuser -f <user> --> lists each attribute on it's own line
rmuser --> utility that removes a user
chsec --> change the user's security attributes
login
who --> lists who is currently logged into the system
whoami (who am i) --> displays information about yourself
dtconfig

Files:
/etc/security/environ --> lists environment attributes for each user
/etc/security/lastlog --> lists last login attributes for each user
/etc/security/limits --> lists process resource limits for each user
/etc/security/user --> lists extended user attributes for each user
/usr/lib/security/mkuser.default --> lists default attributes for new users
/usr/lib/security/mkuser.sys --> script that sets up the user's environment
/etc/passwd --> lists basic user attributes for each user
/etc/security/passwd --> contains password information for each user
/etc/security/login.cfg --> lists login security information for each user
/etc/utmp --> contains users that are logged into the system, used by the "who" command
/var/adm/wtmp --> contains connect time information for users
/etc/security/failedlogin --> contains unsuccessful login attempts
/etc/motd --> message of the day that is displayed when the user logs in.
/etc/environment --> lists the default environment that new processes will use.
/etc/profile --> environment settings for all users
$HOME/.profile --> environment settings for a specific user
/etc/group --> lists attributes for each group
/etc/security/group --> lists extended attributes for each group

Important /etc/security/user attributes to know about:

account_locked --> true or false

expires --> Expiration time for a user account. MMDDHHMMYY, a value of 0 indicates no expiration
loginretires --> Number of invalid login attempts before a users is not allowed to login. A value of 0 indicates this
attribute is disabled.
maxage --> Maximum number of weeks a password is valid, a value of 0 indicates unlimited
minage --> Minimum nuimber of weeks between password changes.

Procedure to add a new user

mkuser <user_id> or
smitty mkuser

Procedure to change the password on a server

passwd <User>

Note: The account needs to be reset if when trying to log in the following message is received:
3004-303 There have been too many unsuccessful login attempts; please see
the system administrator.

Procedure to reset the account:

1. chsec -f /etc/security/lastlog -a "unsuccessful_login_count=0" -s N500620

2. chuser "account_locked=false" N500620

Procedure to change the shell prompt:

Prompts
PS1 - normal system prompt
PS2 - prompt when system expects more input
PS3 - super-user prompt
export PS1="newprompt>"