AIX 5.1 Success/Horror stories ??? 1

[DonDavisFCB]

I havw some questions about implemented AIX 5.1?
What problems were experienced migrating from 4.3.3?
What application issues did you have?
How did it impact Tivoli Framework and other Tivoli apps?
How did it impact Tivoli NetView?

In a holding pattern,
Don Davis

 

[AIXSPadmin]

We have upgrades three of our control workstations from 4.3.3 to 5.1 maint 02. We have not upgraded any app servers, though we do run TSM and Netview, but those upgrades will be in the future. One problem we have encountered in the upgrade, and the only one I can identify at this point is under one smit panel there are duplicate entries. I contacted IBM and they did recognize the problem and said if you have a 5.1 CD set and the numbers on the back end in 02 then get the 03 CDs because there is a problem with bos.mp on the old sets. Good luck on your upgrades.

 

[aixqueen]

Just general stuff....things to think of before migration....

I have compiled a brief list of "gotchas" from various sources from IBM for
when you decide to upgrade to AIX 5L. It is not by any means a complete list,
but it does touch on some of the idiosyncrasies of 5L and things to watch
out for.

Step one- Check Current System for Corruption:
Make sure you have a stable system BEFORE you do the migration. You
need to make sure that your current level of AIX is stable, with no ODM
corruption or fileset problems, before attempting.

PRE Migration Checks
Make sure the installed Licensed Program Products are consistent:

#lppchk -v
#lppchk -c
#lsvg rootvg

You should get no output from the preceding command. Any output is error
output and should be corrected.

Make sure none of you filesets have been broken:

#lslpp -l|grep BROKEN

Broken base filesets are corrected by forcing the install of the base fileset.
Broken PTFs are corrected by reinstalling the PTF in the committed state.

Make sure all of the user definitions are correct in the user database:

#usrck -n ALL

Do the same for the groups:

#grpck -n ALL

If you find errors, you can correct them by replacing the -n flag with the -t flag.

Step two - Check CD-ROM and Other firmware!
Make sure you check the CD- ROM drive BEFORE you start, or the system
may not boot.........
# lscfg -vl cd*

If Part number is 04N2964 and ROS level or ID is less than 1_04 you NEED to
have the firmware upgraded FIRST (Retain Tip H1332) If the part number is
not 04N2964 you should be fine.

Make sure your firmware on your disks, and machine and devices is up to
date...You will get an unrecognized client program format error if you do not
have up to date firmware and result in a failure to boot from hard disk.

CHECK your adapters....Not all adapters are supported with 5L or in 64 bit
mode.....

http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/aix/os/adapters/51.html

Step three - Check system space:
You must have 64 megabytes of physical memory. Paging space for initial is
64 megabytes. You must have space for 5L. It is a much bigger kernel

/ root 8 MGS (double of 4.3)
/usr 385 MGS
/var 4 MGS
/tmp 32 MGS
/opt 4 MGS (will be created if it doesn't exist.)

Dumpspace required based on memory:
< 12 GB 1GB
12 <24 2GB
24 < 48 3GB
>=48 4GB

Step Four : Remove Software Packages
Remove any AIX Toolbox for Linux applications if you installed them,
before doing migration.

If you install bos.terminfo or other bos.terminfo.svprint.data...DO NOT
attempt to remove or deinstall once installed. This could cause errors and
missing functions. You will get syschk Warning errors on installation...

Step Five: Type of Kernel
The 32 bit kernel continues to be supported on 5L

64 bit Kernel support is available for the following POWER based
systems:
7013 Model S70, S7A
7015 Model S70, S7A
7017 Model S70, S7A, S80
7025 Model H80, F80
7026 Model H70,H80,M80
7043 Model 260, 270
7044 Model 170,270
680 Model S85
640 Model B80
660 Model 6H1
620 Model 6F1

ALL MCA adapters are only supported on 32 bit kernel
Power Management is only provided under 32 bit kernel
64-bit kernel limits support to 64 bit POWER based systems, while the 32
bit kernel supports both 32 and 64 bit kernel systems. All MCA machines will not be supported at AIX 5.2 or higher.

Application Support
TEST TEST TEST - make sure that your application will work with AIX
5L....It is advised that you try your applications on a demo machine, or
demo node BEFORE installing on a production machine. You can do
what you want, but if there is some library or some application that does
not work, you are on your own......Here is some general information on
compatibility:

The 64 bit kernel supports both 32-bit and 64 bit applications.
Application source and binaries are portable between 5L 64 and 32 bit
kernel systems.

Binary compatibility is provided for 32 bit applications running on earlier
versions of AIX on POWER based systems, except for applications linked
statically or applications dependent on undocumented or unsupported
interfaces. Some system file formats have changed, and 32 bit applications
processing these files MAY HAVE TO BE RECOMPILED.

To take advantage of scalability improvements to 64 bit programs, all
applications and libraries must be recompiled on AIX 5l. In addition
existing 32 bit kernel extension and device drivers used by 64 bit
applications may have to be modified in order to support the new 64 bit
ABI.

Kernel extensions for the 64 bit kernels run in 64 bit mode and have the
scalability of larger kernel address space. Some kernel services available
in 32 bit kernel are no longer provided by the 64 bit kernel, so existing 32
bit kernel extensions may have to be ported in order to be used with the
64 bit kernel.

Existing 32 bit kernel extensions continue to be supported by the 32 bit
kernel, but these kernel extensions are not usable by the 64 bit kernel.
Not all of the kernel extensions supported for the 32 bit kernels are
supported for the 64 bit kernel, particularly device drivers for i/o.

A Word on MIGRATION
Migration is the default installation method for 32 or any versions of Aix
Version 4 of the operating system to 5L. BE sure to do a mksysb and that
it completed successfully before starting. I really recommend doing on a
test machine, before doing the actual production migration........or even
doing a complete overwrite install to be sure that everything makes it
ok....but again, that is your choice....and this is only my opinion.

YOU MUST BE sure that you are root and system for your group....
#lsuser -a auth1 root
you can change the value if need with :
#chuser auth1=SYSTEM root

OTHER users who have access MUST BE LOGGED off before you
begin.
Make sure you document all routes, IP addresses, hostnames etc, before
you begin. You should probably have a hard copy of your system, with all
the settings, just in case. (see save your system, from our web site)

After you do a shutdown -F you must power off your machine and all
devices...then turn the devices back on and make sure they are on before
you proceed....The system will identify each peripheral during startup.

During the migration, the installation process determines which optional
software products are installed on the existing version of the operating
system. Components from previous releases that have been replaced by
new software in 5L are installed at the 5L level...

If you were at 3.2, all files in the /usr/lib/drivers, /usr/lib/microcode,
/usr/lib/methods and /dev are removed from the system. so non-device
drivers must be reinstalled.

All Aixwindows interface composer, remote customer services, Aix
Windows Development Environment, Display PostScript, Performance
Tools and Open GL and graPHIGS is removed.

NOTE: You may have problems with your 32 bit applications if they had
certain unsupported self-loadable kernel extensions, certain HFT
interfaces, X11R3 input device interfaces, CIO LAN device driver
interface, SCSI device configuration methods (IHVs), nlist subroutines,
DCE threads, and applications compiled using POWER2 or POWER
based compiler options, but executed on models other than POWER 2 or
POWER.

Existing code may need to be recompiled....
Binary Compatibility - If you do a migration install, you might notice that
filesets on the system are in the OBSOLETE state. Obsolete filesets were
installed by earlier versions of the operating system, but they remain on the
current system because the migration only replaced some, but not all, of
the files they contain. These filesets remain necessary for systems running
mixed levels of the operating system...

Before you reload or install other software, shutdown the machine and turn it off and then reboot.....or you will get kernel errors as in kernel is 4, software is 5....

These will help as well....
Release notes:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/pseries/aixgen/relnotes/ext_relnotes.htm

Software supported at 5:

http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/aix/products/ibmsw/list/

Adapters supported at 5:

http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/aix/os/adapters/51.html

 

[Yegolev]

I believe we have decided to overwrite instead of migrate. Good excuse to standardize things around here. IBM Certified -- AIX 4.3 Obfuscation

 

[rincewind2]

hm...
aixqueen, could you plaese tell me why to uninstall any Linux Toolbox apps before migrating?
I am running a few tests on different machines but i do not have the time to test a large amount of applications...
.. and not the knowledge, too
Ich installed the Linux Toolbox under 4.3.3 and migrated to 5.1 without encountering any problems. are the some concrete problems?
its the same toolbox for 4.3.3 as for 5.1 .. although there are some special versions for 4.3.3...

 

[aixqueen]

That was IBMs note....about removing Linux Toolbox ( I got it from the warning on migration documentation) The same usually holds true for other software that may be obsolete, or have different links on the new system...and if you kept the old links it would fail...or at worst find the wrong level? I have not seen any direct problems personally....I just followed IBMs decree to remove Linux software...., ..

 

[rincewind2]

..better telling you MAY discover problems before than having to argument later if there were any problems discovered..
thx for your answer.