Using NIM to install OS from master to client 1

[bos]

I have several hosts networked together. In one of them I went to the WSM and then to NIM. I configured the host to be the master. After that, I defined the following resources:

lpp_source
SPOT

Then, I went to another machine and configured it to be the client. I went to the master host and added the client, after which I selected to install the BOS on the client.

The master host successfully rebooted the client machine but after rebooting there were no options for OS installation. I was wondering what steps I might have missed in this process.

Im using AIX 5.1, and the installation type I chose was rte. I don't know the difference from the rte, mksysb, and SPOT-install options.

 

[JSiva]

Hi

I dont know how it is in 5.1.
Following is for 4.3.3
1. Have you configured and copied/mounted the base installation files?
2. What prompt/screen you are getting in the client after reboot? or is the client configured to boot from its network adapter and the server/client IP is configured in its boot config?

JSiva
jsnair@lycos.com

 

[bos]

In the instructions I read, there was nothing about copying the base installation files. I did install the bos.sysmg.nim.master from the installation cd to the master host. I put the bos.sysmg.nim.client from the installation cd into a client host. After that, I set up my resource which I listed in the first post.

I gave the command to install BOS from the wsm and the master successfully rebooted the client. However, I was not prompted for installation after the reboot was complete.
On the master host, it showed the process as running and finally said successfully complete before the client reboot had finished.

finally, a lot of the processes I try to complete show errors due to the missing file:

/etc/niminfo file

I don't know the significance of the file. Thanks for responding.

 

[aixqueen]

Usually the 0042-011 lsnim: unable to acces the /etc/niminfo file is a problem with configure of NIM master information on the master....The niminfo file is required by all NIM commands and methods. This file is created when the bos.sysmgt.nim.master and bos.sysmgt.nim.client packages are configured. If this file is not available, this indicates that the NIM package has not been initialized or that this file has been deleted. To create the niminfo file, execute the nimconfig command on the master or the niminit command on the client.

Which might mean on the master you did not install the client and server software?
All bos.sysmgt.nim filesets are usually installed on the master?

Maybe the NIM resource guide will help you for AIX 5.........Worth a look? Sorry I am sending you to a reference...but there are a lot of steps and maybe you missed one...
Good luck

Error messages for nim:

http://publibn.boulder.ibm.com/doc_link/en_US/a_doc_lib/aixins/aixnimgd/error_messages.htm

Setting up NIM:

http://publibn.boulder.ibm.com/doc_link/en_US/a_doc_lib/aixins/aixnimgd/aixnimgd02.htm

http://publibn.boulder.ibm.com/doc_link/en_US/a_doc_lib/aixins/aixnimgd/basic_config.htm

http://publibn.boulder.ibm.com/doc_...d/basic_install_images.htm#HDRA304B67F456JOYC

 

[bos]

Thanks Aixqueen for the information. It helped me with part of the problem. First of all, on the master host I hadn't installed all bos.sysmgt.nim files. Also, I hadn't executed a niminit command on the client.

Although the results are somewhat better, there are still some error messages that pop up during bos installation. I think the problems are pretty much related but I'm not quite sure what they mean. I tried using the resource guide-error messages page but I'm still somewhat confused. Here are the messages that popped up:

warning: warning: 0042-001 m_bos_inst: &quot;processing error encountered on &quot;<client host>&quot;: 0042-175 c_initiate_bootp: An unexpected result was returned by the &quot;/usr/bin/bootlist&quot; command: 0514-221 bootlist: unable to make boot device list for ent1

warning: 0042-134 m_bos_inst: unable to initiate network boot on &quot;<client host>&quot;

If you could give me a better understanding of these errors and tell me what I might do to fix them I'd appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[Yegolev]

First glance, seems like you might be missing your base image. I have always used a mksysb image plus lppsource and spot, so I do not know where to get one otherwise.

Our niminfo file must have been moved, it is not in /etc, then again we are upgrading that machine to 5L today. IBM Certified -- AIX 4.3 Obfuscation

 

[bos]

Thanks everyone for your help, but I do have one last question. I'm to the point where I can issue a bos installation command to a client from a master and have the master successfully reboot the client. On the master, the dialog window says the operation has completed successfully and the host reboots. During reboot, the client state shows as follows:

BOS installation has been enabled(not running)

when reboot is complete is say:

Bos installation has been enabled

I beleive that this is expected behavior, yet I don't know how to continue with the bos installation from here. I was not prompted by the client after reboot to continue installation and I don't know how to continue the process.

Thanks again.

 

[aixqueen]

just curious....you do have patches loaded for AIX 5? There were some NIM bugs in early 5.1...so I am curious if you have the latest maintenance patches... worth a look.

Also search on NIM in the Search area.of this site.......there were some tips that may walk you through something that is helpful.. Maybe not..but worth a try...

So nothing loads? and the system just hangs on enabled?

 

[bos]

Maybe the maintenance thing might be the problem. I currently am using AIX 5.1 maintenance package 1. I know maintenance package 2 has come out but I had problems installing that correctly, as did some other collegues of mine.

As far as what happens, you were correct. No installation options on the client host will load. It just boots up as usual. Also, on the master host it just hangs on enabled.

I will try to look up NIM on the search site here. I will also investigate the maintenance package issue some more. Thanks again for responding and If you come up with anything new please let me know.