Video: AIX 6.1 LivePartition Mobility Demo

Here is a nice little demo of PowerVM and LivePartition mobility on AIX 6.1 on YouTube.

is very impressive to a see an application being migrated from physical machine to another without skipping a bit.

A demonstration of IBM's new PowerVM Lx86 capability - allowing you to run Linux x86 binaries unchanged on POWER-processor based systems. Additionally, the Linux on Power partition is demonstrated being moved between servers while the Linux x86 application is running using PowerVM Live Partition Mobility.

ssh-agent error bind: Invalid argument

Environment:

AIX 5.2 TL10

Fileset Level State Type Description (Uninstaller)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
openssh.base.client 4.3.0.5201 C F Open Secure Shell Commands
openssh.base.server 4.3.0.5201 C F Open Secure Shell Server
openssh.license 4.3.0.5201 C F Open Secure Shell License
openssh.man.en_US 4.3.0.5201 C F Open Secure Shell
Documentation - U.S. English
openssh.msg.en_US 4.3.0.5201 C F Open Secure Shell Messages -
U.S. English



Problem:

$ ssh-agent
bind: Invalid argument


Solution:

It is a bug in openssh 4.3.0.5201
ssh-agent doesn't work on ssh version 4.3.0.5201

Download and install the latest openssh for AIX from website:(Version 4.7 as June 2008)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/openssh-aix


Download openssl 0.9.8.601 from the following website.
====================================================

https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/preLogin.do?source=aixbp

IBM P series LED code

---------- Dump Progress Indicator ----------

0c0 The dump completed successfully
0c1 The dump failed due to an I/O error.
0c2 A user-requested dump has started. You requested a dump using the SYSDUMPSTART command, a dump key sequence, or the Reset button.

0c3 The dump is inhibit
0c4 The dump did not complete. A partial dump was written to the dump device. There is not enough space on the dump deviceto contain the entire dump. To prevent this problem from occuring again, you must increase the size of your dumpmedia.


0c5 The dump failed to start. An unecpected error occured while the system was attempting to write to the dump media.
0c6 A dump to the secondary dump device was requested. Make the secondary dump device ready, then press CTRL-ALT-NUMPAD2.
0c7 Reserved.
0c8 The dump function is disabled. No primary dump device is configured.
0c9 A dump is in progress.
0cc Unknown dump failure


---------- Diagnostics Load Progress Indicators -----------

c00 AIX Install/Maintenance loaded successfully.
c01 Insert the first diagnostic diskette.
c02 Diskettes inserted out of sequence.
c03 The wrong diskette is in the drive.
c04 The loading stopped with an irrecoverable error.
c05 A diskette error occurred.
c08 RAM filesystem started incorrectly.
c07 Insert the next diagnostic diskette.
c09 The diskette drive is reading or writing a diskette.
c20 An unexpected halt occured, and the system is configured to enter the kernel debug program instead of entering asystem dump.

c21 The 'ifconfig' command was unable to configure the network for the client network host.
c22 The 'tftp' command was unable to read client's ClientHostName.info file during a client network boot.
c24 Unable to read client's ClientHostName.info file during a client network boot.
c25 Client did not mount remote miniroot during network install.
c26 Client did not mount the /usr filesystem during the network boot.
c29 System was unable to configure the network device.
c31 Select the console display for the diagnostics. To select "No console display", set the key mode switch to normal thento Service. The diagnostic program will then load and run the diagnostics automatically.

c32 A direct-attached display (HFT) was selected.
c33 a TTY terminal attached to serial ports S1 or S2 was selected.
c34 A file was selected. The console messages store in a file
c40 Configuration files are been restored.
c41 Could not determine the boot type or device.
c42 Extracting data files from diskette.
c43 Diagboot cannot be accessed.
c44 Initialyzing installation database with target disk information.
c45 Cannot configure the console.
c46 Normal installation processing.
c47 Could not create a physical volume identifier (PVID) on disk.
c48 Prompting you for input.
c49 Could not create or form the JFS log.
c50 Creating rootvg volume group on target disk
c51 No paging space were found.
c52 Changing from RAM environment to disk environment.
c53 Not enough space in the /tmp directory to do a preservation installation.
c54 Installing either BOS or additionnal packages.
c55 Could not remove the specified logical volume in a preservation installation.
c56 Running user-defined customization.
c57 Failure to restore BOS.
c58 Display message to turn the key.
c59 Could not copy either device special files, device ODM, or volume group information from RAM to disk.
c61 Failed to create the boot image.
c70 Problem Mounting diagnostics CDROM disc.
c99 Diagnostics have completed. This code is only used when there is no console.


--------Debugger Progress Indicators ----------

c20 Kernel debug program activated. An unexpected system halt has occured, and you have configured the system
to enter the kernel debug program instead of performing a dump.


---------Built-In Self Test (Bist) Indicators---------

100 BIST completed successfully. Control was passed to IPL ROS.
101 BIST started following RESET
102 BIST started following Power-on Reset
103 BIST could not determine the system model number.
104 Equipment conflict. BIST could not find the CBA.
105 BIST could not read the OCS EPROM.
106 BIST detected a module error.
111 OCS stopped. BIST detected a module error.
112 A checkstop occured during BIST.
113 BIST checkstop count is greater than 1.
120 BIST starting a CRC check on the 8752 EPROM.
121 BIST detected a bad CRC in the first 32K of the OCS EPROM.
122 BIST started a CRC check on the first 32K of the OCS EPROM.
123 BIST detected a bad CRC on the OCS area of NVRAM.
124 BIST started a CRC check on the OCS area of NVRAM.
125 BIST detected a bad CRC on the time-of-day area of NVRAM.
126 BIST started a CRC check on the time-of-day area of the NVRAM.
127 BIST detected a bad CRC on the 8752 EPROM.
130 BIST presence test started.
140 BIST failed: procedure error
142 BIST failed: procedure error
143 Invalid memory configuration.
144 BIST failed; procedure error.
151 BIST started AIPGM test code.
152 BIST started DCLST test code.
153 BIST started ACLST test code.
154 BIST started AST test code.
160 Bad EPOW Signal/Power status signal
161 BIST being conducted on BUMP I/O
162 BIST being conducted on JTAG
163 BIST being conducted on Direct I/O
164 BIST being conducted on CPU
165 BIST being conducted on DCB and Memory
166 BIST being conducted on interrupts
170 BIST being conducted on 'Multi-Processor
180 BIST logout failed.
182 BIST COP bus not responding
185 A checkstop condition occured during the BIST
186 System logic-generated checkstop (Model 250 only)
187 Graphics-generated checkstop (Model 250)
195 BIST logout completed.
888 BIST did not start


------- Power-On Self Test -------

200 IPL attempted with keylock in the SECURE position.
201 IPL ROM test failed or checkstop occured (irrecoverable)
202 IPL ROM test failed or checkstop occured (irrecoverable)
203 Unexpected data storage interrupt.
204 Unexpected instruction storage interrupt.
205 Unexpected external interrupt.
206 Unexpected alignment interrupt.
207 Unexpected program interrupt.
208 Unexpected floating point unavailable interrupt.
209 Unexpected SVC interrupt.
20c L2 cache POST error. (The display shows a solid 20c for 5 seconds
210 Unexpected SVC interrupt.
211 IPL ROM CRC comparison error (irrecoverable).
212 RAM POST memory configuration error or no memory found (irrecoverable).
213 RAM POST failure (irrecoverable).
214 Power status register failed (irrecoverable).
215 A low voltage condition is present (irrecoverable).
216 IPL ROM code being uncompressed into memory.
217 End of bootlist encountered.
218 RAM POST is looking for 1M bytes of good memory.
219 RAM POST bit map is being generated.
21c L2 cache is not detected. (The display shows a solid 21c for 5 sec)
220 IPL control block is being initialized.
221 NVRAM CRC comparison error during AIX.
IPL(Key Mode Switch in Normal mode).
Reset NVRAM by reaccomplishing IPL in Service mode. For systems with an internal, direct-bus-attached(DBA)disk,IPL
ROM attempted to perform an IPL from that disk before halting with this three-digit display value.
222 Attempting a Normal mode IPL from Standard I/O planar attached devices specified in NVRAM IPL Devices List.
223 Attempting a Normal mode IPL from SCSI attached devices specified in NVRAM IPL Devices List.
Note: May be caused by incorrect jumper setting for external SCSI devices or by incorrect SCSI terminator.
REFER FFC B88
224 Attempting a Normal mode restart from 9333 subsystem device specified in NVRAM device list.
225 Attempting a Normal mode IPL from IBM 7012 DBA disk attached devices specified in NVRAM IPL Devices List.
226 Attempting a Normal mode restart from Ethernet specified in NVRAM device list.
227 Attempting a Normal mode restart from Token Ring specified in NVRAM device list.
228 Attempting a Normal mode IPL from NVRAM expansion code.
229 Attempting a Normal mode IPL from NVRAM IPL Devices List; cannot IPL from any of the listed devices, or there are
no valid entry in the Devices List.
22c Attempting a normal mode IPL from FDDI specified in NVRAM IPL device list.
230 Attempting a Normal mode restart from adapter feature ROM specified in IPL ROM devices list.
231 Attempting a Normal mode restart from Ethernet specified in IPL ROM devices list.
232 Attempting a Normal mode IPL from Standard I/O planar attached devices specified in Rom Default Device List.
233 Attempting a Normal mode IPL from SCSI attached devices specified in IPL ROM Default Device List.
234 Attempting a Normal mode restart from 9333 subsystem device specified in IPL ROM device list.
235 Attempting a Normal mode IPL from IBM 7012 DBA disk attached devices specified in IPL ROM Default Device List.
236 Attempting a Normal mode restart from Ethernet specified in IPL ROM default devices list.
237 Attempting a Normal mode restart from Token Ring specified in IPL ROM default device list.
238 Attempting a Normal mode restart from Token Ring specified by the operator.
239 System failed to restart from the device chosen by the operator.
23c Attempting a normal mode IPL from FDDI specified in IPL ROM device list.
240 Attempting a Service mode restart from adapter feature ROM.
241 Attempting a Normal mode IPL from devices specified in the NVRAM IPL Devices List.
242 Attempting a Service mode IPL from Standard I/O planar attached devices specified in NVRAM IPL Devices List.
243 Attempting a Service mode IPL from SCSI attached devices specified in NVRAM IPL Devices List.
244 Attempting a Service mode restart from 9333 subsystem device specified in NVRAM device list.
245 Attempting a Service mode IPL from IBM 7012 DBA disk attached devices specified in NVRAM IPL Devices List.
246 Attempting a Service mode restart from Ethernet specified in NVRAM device list.
247 Attempting a Service mode restart from Token Ring specified in NVRAM device list.
248 Attempting a Service mode IPL from NVRAM expansion code.
249 Attempting a Service mode IPL from NVRAM IPL Devices List; cannot IPL from any of the listed devices, or there areno valid entries in the Devices List.

24c Attempting a service mode IPL from FDDI specified in NVRAM IPL device list.
250 Attempting a Service mode restart from adapter feature ROM specified in IPL ROM device list.
251 Attempting a Service mode restart from Ethernet specified in IPL ROM device list.
252 Attempting a Service mode IPL from standard I/O planar attached devicesspecified in ROM Default Device List.
253 Attempting a Service mode IPL from SCSI attached devices specified in IPL ROM Default Device List.
254 Attempting a Service mode restart from 9333 subsystem device specified in IPL ROM device list.
255 Attempting a Service mode IPL from IBM 7012 DBA disk'attached devices specified in IPL ROM Default Devices List.
256 Attempting a Service mode restart from Ethernet specified in IPL ROM default device list.
257 Attempting a Service mode restart from Token Ring specified in IPL ROM default device list.
258 Attempting a Service mode restart from Token Ring specified by the operator.
259 Attempting a Service mode restart from FDDI specified by the operator.

25c Attempting a normal mode IPL from FDDI specified in IPL ROM device list.
260 Information is being displayed on the display console.
261 Information will be displayed on the tty terminal when the "1" key is pressed on the tty terminal keyboard.
262 A keyboard was not detected as being connected to the system's
NOTE: Check for blown planar fuses or for a corrupted boot on disk drive
263 Attempting a Normal mode restart from adapter feature ROM specified in NVRAM device list.
269 Stalled state - the system is unable to IPL
271 Mouse port POST.
272 Tablet port POST.
277 Auto Token-Ring LANstreamer MC 32 Adapter
278 Video ROM Scan POST.
279 FDDI adapter POST.
280 3COM Ethernet POST.
281 Keyboard POST executing.
282 Parallel port POST executing
283 Serial port POST executing
284 POWER Gt1 graphadapte POST executing
285 POWER Gt3 graphadapte POST executing
286 Token Ring adapter POST executing.
287 Ethernet adapter POST executing.
288 Adapter card slots being queried.
289 GTO POST.
290 IOCC POST error (irrecoverable).
291 Standard I/O POST running.
292 SCSI POST running.
293 IBM 7012 DBA disk POST running.
294 IOCC bad TCW SIMM in slot location J being tested.
295 Graphics Display adapter POST, color or grayscale.
296 ROM scan POST.
297 System model number does not compare between OCS and ROS
(irrecoverable). Attempting a software IPL.
298 Attempting a software IPL (warm boot).
299 IPL ROM passed control to the loaded program code.
301 Flash Utility ROM failed or checkstop occured (irrecoverable)
302 Flash Utility ROM failed or checkstop occured (irrecoverable)
302 Flash Utility ROM: User prompt, move the key to the service in order to perform an optional Flash Update. LED
will only appear if the key switch is in the SECURE position. This signals the user that a Flash Update may be
initiated by moving the key switch to the SERVICE position. If the key is moved to the SERVICE position,
LED 303 will be displayed. This signals the user to press the reset button and select optional Flash Update.
303 Flash Utility ROM: User prompt, press the reset button in order to perform an optional Flash Update. LED
only appear if the key switch is in the SECURE position. This signals the user that a Flash Update may be initiated
by moving the key switch to the SERVICE position. If the key is moved to the SERVICE position, LED 303 will be
displayed. This signals the user to press the reset button and select optional Flash Update.
304 Flash Utility ROM IOCC POST error (irrecoverable)
305 Flash Utility ROM standard I/O POST running.
306 Flash Utility ROM is attempting IPL from Flash Update Boot Image.
307 Flash Utility ROM system model number does not compare between OCS and ROM (irrecoverable).
308 Flash Utility ROM: IOCC TCW memory is being tested.
309 Flash Utility ROM passed control to a Flash Update Boot Image.
311 Flash Utility ROM CRC comparison error (irrecoverable).
312 Flash Utility ROM RAM POST memory configuration error or no memory found ( iirecoverable).
313 Flash Utility ROM RAM POST failure( irrecoverable).
314 Flash Utility ROM Power status register failed (irrecoverable).
315 Flash Utility ROM detected a low voltage condition.
318 Flash Utility ROM RAM POST is looking for good memory.
319 Flash Utility ROM RAM POST bit map is being generated.
322 CRC error on media Flash Image. No Flash Update performed.
323 Current Flash Image is being erased.
324 CRC error on new Flash Image after Update was performed. (Flash Image is corrupted).
325 Flash Image successful and complete.

500 Querying Native I/O slot.
501 Querying card in Slot 1
502 Querying card in Slot 2
503 Querying card in Slot 3
504 Querying card in Slot 4
505 Querying card in Slot 5
506 Querying card in Slot 6
507 Querying card in Slot 7
508 Querying card in Slot 8
510 Starting device configuration.
511 Device configuration completed.
512 Restoring device configuration files from media.
513 Restoring basic operating system installation files from media.
516 Contacting server during network boot
517 Mounting client remote file system during network IPL.
518 Remote mount of the root and /usr filesystems failed during network boot.
520 Bus configuration running.
521 /etc/init invoked cfgmgr with invalid options; /etc/init has been corrupted or incorrectly modified
(irrecoverable error).
522 The configuration manager has been invoked with conflicting options (irrecoverable error).
523 The configuration manager is unable to access the ODM database (irrecoverable error).
524 The configuration manager is unable to access the config rules object in the ODM database (irrecoverable error).
525 The configuration manager is unable to get data from a customized device object in the ODM database
(irrecoverable error).
526 The configuration manager is unable to get data from a customized device driver objet in the ODM database
(irrecoverable error).
527 The configuration manager was invoked with the phase 1 flag; running phase 1 flag; running phase 1 at this point
is not permitted (irrecoverable error).
528 The configuration manager cannot find sequence rule, or no program was specified in the ODM database
(irrecoverable error).
529 The configuration manager is unable to update ODM data
(irrecoverable error).
530 The program "savebase" returned an error.
531 The configuration manager is unable to access PdAt object class
(irrecoverable eroor)
532 There is not enough memory to continue (malloc failure);
irrecoverable error.
533 The configuration manager could not find a configure method for a device.
534 The configuration manager is unable to aquire database lock. irrecoverable error.
536 The configuration manager encountered more than one sequence rule specified in the same phase. (irrecoverable error).
537 The configuration manager encountered an error when invoking the program in the sequence rule.
538 The configuration manager is going to invoke a configuration
539 The configuration method has terminated, and control has returned to the configuration manager.
551 IPL Varyon is running

552 IPL Varyon failed.
553 IPL phase 1 is complete.
554 Unable to define NFS swap device during network boot
555 Unable to define NFS swap device during network boot
556 Logical Volume Manager encountered error during IPL varyon.
557 The root filesystem will not mount.
558 There is not enough memory to continue the IPL.
559 Less than 2MB of good memory are available to load the AIX kernel.
570 Virtual SCSI devices being configured.
571 HIPPI common function device driver being configured.
572 HIPPI IPI-3 master transport driver being configured.
573 HIPPI IPI-3 slave transport driver being configured.
574 HIPPI IPI-3 transport services user interface device driver being configured.
576 Generic async device driver being configured.
577 Generic SCSI device driver being configured.
578 Generic commo device driver being configured.
579 Device driver being configured for a generic device.
580 HIPPI TCPIP network interface driver being configured.
581 Configuring TCP/IP.
582 Configuring token ring data link control.
583 Configuring an Ethernet data link control.
584 Configuring an IEEE ethernet data link control.
585 Configuring an SDLC MPQP data link control.
586 Configuring a QLLC X.25 data link control.
587 Configuring NETBIOS.
588 Configuring a Bisync Read-Write (BSCRW).
589 SCSI target mode device being configured.
590 Diskless remote paging device being configured.
591 Configuring an LVM device driver
592 Configuring an HFT device driver
593 Configuring SNA device drivers.
594 Asynchronous I/O being defined or configured.
595 X.31 pseudo device being configured.
596 SNA DLC/LAPE pseudo device being configured.
597 OCS software being configured.
598 OCS hosts being configured during system reboot.
599 Configuring FDDI data link control.
5c0 Streams-based hardware drive being configured.
5c1 Streams-based X.25 protocol being configured.
5c2 Streams-based X.25 COMIO emulator driver being configured.
5c3 Streams-based X.25 TCP/IP interface driver being configured.
5c4 FCS adapter device driver being configured.
5c5 SCB network device driver for FCS is being configured.
5c6 AIX SNA channel being configured.
600 Starting network boot portion of /sbin/rs.boot
602 Configuring network parent devices.
603 /usr/lib/methods/defsys
/usr/lib/methods/cggsys, or
/usr/lib/methods/cggbus failed.
604 Configuring physical network boot device.
605 Configuring physical network boot device failed.
606 Running /usr/sbin/ifconfig on logical network boot device.
607 /usr/sbin/ifconfig failed.
608 Attempting to retrieve the client.info file with tftp. Note that a flashing 608 indicates multiple attempts
to retrieve the client_info file are occuring.
609 The client.info file does not exist or it is zero length.
610 Attempting remote mount of NFS file system
611 Remote mount of the NFS filesystem failed.
612 Accessing remote files; unconfiguring network boot device.
614 Configuring local paging devices.
615 Configuring of a local paging device failed.
616 Converting from diskette to dataless configuration.
617 Diskless to dataless configuration failed.
618 Configuring remote (NFS) paging devices.
619 Configuration of a remote (NFS) paging device failed.
620 Updating special device files and ODM in permanent filesystem with data from boot RAM filesystem.
622 Boot process configuring for operating system installation.

650 IBM SCSD disk drive drive being configured
700 Progress indicator. A 1.1GB 8-bit SCSI disk drive being identified or configured.
701 Progress indicator. A 1.1GB 16-bit SCSI SE disk drive being identified or configured.
702 Progress indicator. A 1.1GB 16-bit SCSI differential disk drive being identified or configured.
703 Progress indicator. A 2.2GB 8-bit SCSI disk drive being identified or configured.
704 Progress indicator. A 2.2GB 16-bit SCSI SE disk drive being identified or configured.
705 The configuration method for the 2.2GB 16-bit differential SCSI disk drive is being run. If a irrecoverableerror occurs, the system halts. identified or configured.

706 Progress indicator. A 4.5GB 16-bit SE SCSI disk drive is being identified or configured.
707 Progress indicator. A 4.5GB 16-bit differential SCSI drive is being identified or configured.
708 Progress indicator: A L2 cache is being identified or configured.
710 POWER GXT150M graphics adapterbeing ientifyied or configured.
711 Unknown adapter being identified or configured.
712 Graphics slot bus configuration is executing.
713 The IBM ARTIC960 device is being configured.
714 A video capture adapter is being configured.
715 The Ultimedia Services audio adapter is being configured. This LED displays briefly on the panel.
720 Unknown read/write optical drive type being configured.
721 Unknown disk or SCSI device being identified or configured.
722 Unknown disk being identified or configured.
723 Unknown CDROM being identified or configured.
724 Unknown tape drive being identified or configured.
725 Unknown display being identified or configured.
726 Unknown input device being idenor configured
727 Unknown adync device being idenor configured

IBM Official AIX6 & POWER6 Hands-On Technical Demo Movies

http://www-941.ibm.com/collaboration/wiki/display/WikiPtype/Movies

How to delete file with special characters

Sometimes some people create a file with special character like "-s" in the filename.

If you use

 rm -s 

or

 rm "-s" 

You will get an error that '-s' is not a valid parameter.

You can add a "--" before the filename.


Example:
Display its content：

cat -- -s

List the file:

ls -l -- -s

Delete the file:

rm -- -s

Getting Rid of the Amber Attention Light

  Question Getting Rid of the Amber Attention Light   Answer

---

 
Question

How can I turn off the amber attention light in the operator's panel?

Answer

- diag --> Task Selection --> Log Repair Action ==> Select sysplanar0

OR

- diag --> Task Selection --> Identify and Attention Indicators --> Set System 
Attention Indicator to NORMAL

OR

- /usr/lpp/diagnostics/bin/usysfault -s normal

How to test ftp throughput in UNIX

When you have performance issue with the network or ftp transfer, you can use test the throughput by using pipe and dd command.

The following example transfer a 10000 X 32k blocksize of data to /dev/null in remote server. So no file will be overwritten.

$ ftp remote_server

ftp> bin

200 Type set to I.

ftp> put "|dd if=/dev/zero bs=32k count=10000" /dev/null

200 PORT command successful.

150 Opening data connection for /dev/null.

10000+0 records in.

10000+0 records out.

226 Transfer complete.

327680000 bytes sent in 28.91 seconds (1.107e+04 Kbytes/s)

local: dd if=/dev/zero bs=32k count=10000 remote: /dev/null

ftp> bye

in the test above we get 1.107e+04 Kbytes/s, which is 11070Kb/s. And it is a 100Mb/s NIC card. So the network throughput is normal.

AIX Updates With Multibos

Starting with AIX* 5.3 Technology Level (TL) 3, the new multibos utility has been provided that allows an AIX administrator to create and maintain two separate, bootable instances of the AIX OS within the same root volume group (rootvg). This second instance of rootvg is known as a standby Base Operating System (BOS) and is an extremely handy tool for performing AIX TL and Service Pack (SP) updates.

Multibos lets you install, update and customize a standby instance of the AIX OS without impacting the running and active production instance of the AIX OS. This is valuable in environments with tight maintenance windows. Instead of requiring an outage window of several hours to apply a new TL or SP, you’ll only need a small outage at a convenient time to reboot the system. This may help reduce the size of the after-hours effort often required when performing AIX updates, as all the maintenance activities can be performed during business hours. After hours you could log in from home and reboot the system.

Backing out from an AIX TL update is also made easier with multibos. To go back to a previous TL, you reboot the system on the original AIX instance boot logical volume (BLV). It’s also possible to update several AIX systems at once using multibos, which again reduces the amount of after-hours effort required when performing AIX maintenance activities.

Multibos is similar to an alternate disk installation. However, there are several differences between the two methods, one of which is that there’s no need for an additional disk to clone the rootvg. Both utilities can be used to achieve the same goal. Choose the one that’s the best fit for your AIX environment.

Getting Started

Before attempting to use multibos, check that the prerequisites have been met. First, the system must be running AIX 5.3 with TL3 or higher. Next, ensure that there’s enough free space in rootvg for a copy of each BOS logical volume (LV). By default, the BOS file systems in rootvg(/, /usr, /var, and /opt) and the BLV are copied. All other file systems and LVs are shared between BOS instances. Check the number of free physical partitions in rootvg (i.e., # lsvg rootvg | grep FREE). If all of the requirements can’t be met, then a traditional update should be performed.

Ensure that you document the system and perform a mksysb before performing any maintenance activity.

Creating a Standby BOS Instance

In the following example we’ll upgrade an AIX 5.3 system from TL4 to TL6. Before starting, remove any previous standby BOS instance and associated log file using “multibos –R.” This creates a clean environment and makes reviewing the log file easier. Then preview the operation first (using “multibos –sXp”) and review the multibos log for any errors (i.e., “alog –of/etc/multibos/ logs/op.alog”).

After a successful preview, create the standby BOS instance. This may take several minutes and should create a new LV and file system for each BOS copy. Each new LV and file system is prefixed by bos_. You should review the log file for errors. See Code Sample 1.

We can now start a multibos shell and verify the standby BOS and its current TL. See Code Sample 2.

Updating and Booting the Standby BOS

Now we can apply TL6 to the standby BOS. The TL6 lppsource is mounted from our Network Installation Manager (NIM) master. Perform a preview operation and then execute the actual update to the standby instance. Again, checking the log file for any issues:

# mount nimmast:/export/lpp_source/lpp_sourceaix530603 /mnt

# multibos -Xacp -l /mnt

# multibos -Xac -l /mnt

We’ve now successfully applied TL6 to the standby BOS. Start a multibos shell again and verify that the standby BOS TL has been updated:

# multibos –S

...

# oslevel -s

5300-06-03-0732

# exit

We’re now ready to boot the standby BOS, which can be performed some time after the standby instance has been updated. The BOS may be upgraded during the day, but the system may be restarted after hours depending on the available outage windows for this system. Thus far, all maintenance activities have been performed on a live production system without the need for an outage. Before rebooting, verify the bootlist and ensure that the BLV is set to the standby BOS (bos_hd5).

When booting a standby BOS instance you can check that the correct BLV is being used by comparing the output from the bootlist command with the output from the “Welcome to AIX” banner. You should record the output from the bootlist command, as it may come in handy if issues arise later. In Code Sample 3, the BLV hd5 relates to device 2. Code Sample 4 displays what should appear during system startup.

Reboot the system now with the “shutdown –Fr” command. After the reboot, confirm the TL level via the “oslevel –r” command. You can also verify which BLV the system booted from with the “bootinfo –v” command.

The multibos LVs and file systems are now open and mounted. The original file systems are renamed with a bos_ prefix but their original LV names are preserved.

If you need to back out of the update and return to the previous TL, all that’s required is to boot the previous (“original”) BOS instance. Set the bootlist and verify that the BLV is set to the previous BOS instance (hd5):

# bootlist -m normal hdisk0 blv=hd5 hdisk0 blv=bos_hd5

# bootlist -m normal -o

hdisk0 blv=hd5

hdisk0 blv=bos_hd5

Now reboot the system and confirm that it’s running at the previous TL.

It’s worth mentioning that if the system fails to boot the standby BOS, you can attempt to start the system in maintenance mode (e.g., via NIM) and change the bootlist to point at the alternate BLV. If required—in rare cases—you can also boot the system from the open firmware prompt. You can reach the open firmware prompt by hitting the 8 key while booting. From the boot prompt you can specify the desired boot device, as shown here:

0> boot /vdevice/v
scsi@30000004/disk@8100000000000000:4 |


/vdevice -

Virtual I/O Bus

/v-scsi@30000004 -

Virtual I/O SCSI Adapter

/disk@8100000000000000:4

- Virtual I/O SCSI Disk Device

Multibos and dsh

It’s possible to perform multibos operations on several systems at once using multibos and the dsh command. The dsh command allows you to execute commands on multiple hosts in parallel. The example in Code Sample 5 (right) will perform multibos operations on all six hosts specified.

After the reboot, verify all of the hosts have been updated by running the “dsh oslevel –r” and “dsh oslevel –s” commands.

All of this work (up to the point of needing to reboot) can be carried out on live production systems without an outage.

Powerful Administration Tool

The multibos command is a powerful AIX administration tool. It has the potential to reduce outage windows required for AIX TL maintenance activities and also alleviate some of the after-hours effort on the part of the AIX administrator.

Resources

/usr/lpp/bos/README.multibos

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/topic/com.ibm.aix.install/doc/insgdrf/multibosutility.htm

www.ibm.com/collaboration/wiki/display/WikiPtype/Boot+Process+on+Power

publib16.boulder.ibm.com/doc_link/en_US/a_doc_lib/cmds/aixcmds2/dsh.htm

Recovery from an LED 553 in AIX Versions 5 and 6

Technote (FAQ)

Question
Recovery from an LED 553 in AIX Versions 5 and 6

Answer
This document describes a procedure to attempt to recover from an IPL hang at LED 553. It applies to AIX Versions 5 and 6.
About LED 553
An LED value of 553 is a checkpoint code displayed to indicate the system transition to phase 3 of IPL. A halt or hang at LED 553 is often the result of a corrupted or missing /etc/inittab file. It can also be caused by full / (root) or /tmp file systems, inconsistencies in either startup configuration files, Object Data Manager (ODM) object class databases, or system library files. Additionally, a number of other issues involving file permissions, invalid hard links in the root file system, etc. have been observed to cause a hang at LED 553.

Full article, visit

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=111&context=SWG10&context=HW182&dc=DB520&q1=aix+AIX&uid=isg3T1000133&loc=en_US&cs=utf-8&lang=en

How much memory is in this UNIX/Linux machine?

How much memory is in this machine?

It would seem that answering this question ought to be easy; it is - but every system has the answer in a different place. Most put an answer of some sort into kernel messages reported by dmesg (AIX apparently does not).

Most systems have a program for system inventory which reports a variety of things, including memory.

Rather than go into great detail about each one, we’ll just put these out there for all of you to reference. Each environment has multiple commands that give available memory; each command is listed below.

Without further ado, here are a few answers to this burning question:

Solaris

1. dmesg grep mem


2. prtdiag grep Memory


3. prtconf -v grep Memory

AIX

1. bootinfo -r


2. lsattr -E1 sys0 -a realmem


3. getconf REAL_MEMORY

HPUX

1. dmesg grep Physical


2. /opt/ignite/bin/print_manifest grep Memory


3. machinfo grep Memory

Linux

1. dmesg grep Memory


2. grep -i memtotal /proc/meminfo


3. free

OpenVMS

1. show mem /page

Update:

FreeBSD

1. dmesg grep memory


2. grep memory /var/run/dmesg.boot


3. sysctl -a grep mem