IBM AIX 5 (pSeries) configuration
Accessing the Configuration repository
To obtain any configuration files specific to the Solaris platform
the configuration repository must first be made available. To do this
carry out the following steps
a) Create a mount point using the command
“mkdir –p export/home/unixcfg”
b) Add an entry into the file /etc/filesystems as shown below (or use smit)
/export/home/unixcfg:
dev = “/unixcfg”
vfs = nfs
nodename = mainfileserver.domain.local
mount = true
options = bg,soft,intr
account = false
e) Issue the command “mount –a” which should mount
the new file system entry added in the previous step. You can ignore
messages pertaining to filesystems that are already mounted
f) You should now be able “cd” to the /export/home/unixcfg/ directory to recover any configuration files referenced in the rest of these instructions.
NIS configuration – part 1
To configure the pSeries system as a NIS client carry out the following steps
c) Ensure NFS is installed and the portmapper is running
by issuing the command shown below. Note the status of the portmap
service should be “active”.
#lssrc -s portmap
Subsystem Group PID Status
portmap portmap 4388 active
#
d) Set the NIS domainname using the command shown below
#chypdom –B domain.local
Nameservice switch configuration
Unlike many other Unix operating systems AIX does not use
a name service switch configuration file. Rather it uses the much older
method of adding special entries in the local files such as /etc/passwd
to effectively “append” the NIS data to the local
file.
Create an append entry in /etc/passwd
We need to append an entry to the end of the password file
to cause NIS data to be processed as well as data from local files. An
example is shown below Note that the position of the entry
determines the order of processing. Putting the NIS entry at the end
means that the local accounts are checked before NIS is consulted. This
is the normal approach adopted.
Create an append entry in /etc/group
We also to append an entry to the end of the /etc/group
file to cause NIS data to be processed as well as data from the local
group file. An example is shown below
NIS configuration – part 2
The last step of NIS configuration for the pSeries
involves starting the NIS background processes and ensuring that they
are configured to restart whenever the machine is re-booted. There are
various ways of accomplishing this. A method using smit is show
below
f) Log in to the pSeries system as root and in a terminal
window issue the following command “smit mkclient”
g) Select “both” for starting NIS client now and at reboot
h) Enter the IP address of the NIS server
i) Press “Enter” to execute the commands
j) This should result in the NIS client software having
started. You can test this by issuing a “ypcat passwd”
command which should list the NIS passwd database
Set up “/export/home/users” directory NFS mount
Most users’ home directories will be on the main
file server. Carry out the configuration actions below to enable users
to access their home directories automatically
f) Create the /export/home/users mountpoint using the
command “mkdir –p /export/home/users” Note that any
“local” contents of the directory
“/export/home/users” will not be visible once this file
system is mounted. Therefore check that
“/export/home/users” contains no data at this time. If it
does take steps to preserve or delete it
g) Add an entry into the file /etc/filesystems as shown below (or use smit)
/export/home/users:
dev = “/users”
vfs = nfs
nodename = mainfileserver.domain.local
mount = true
options = bg,soft,intr
account = false
h) Issue the command “mount –a” which
should mount the new file system entry added in the previous step. You
can ignore messages pertaining to filesystems that are already
mounted
i) You should now be able “cd” to
the/export/home/users directory. The individual user directories should
be visible
j) If the directory /home exists create a softlink in this directory pointing to /export/home/users as shown below
#ln –s /export/home/users /home/users
Set up main file server “/export/home/group1” NFS mount
Several key directories are mapped to the “U”
drive on the NAS server. To enable their use it is necessary to map the
NAS server “U” drive to the “/export/home/hg1”
NFS mounted filesystem as shown below
f) Create the /export/home/hg1 mountpoint using the command “mkdir –p /export/home/hg1”
g) Add an entry into the file /etc/filesystems as shown below (or use smit)
/export/home/hg1:
dev = “/homegroup1”
vfs = nfs
nodename = mainfileserver.domain.local
mount = true
options = bg,soft,intr
account = false
h) Issue the command “mount –a” which
should mount the new file system entry added in the previous step. You
can ignore messages pertaining to filesystems that are already
mounted
i) Ensure that if the directory
“/export/home/group1” exists that its contents are either
unneeded or saved. It is suggested that it be re-named to
saved_group1
j) Create a soft link for /export/home/group1 and /home/group1 pointing to /export/home/hg1/ using a command of the form shown below
#ln –s /export/home/hg1/aix5 /home/group1
#ln –s /export/home/hg1/aix5 /export/home/group1
i) You should now be able “cd” to the /home/group1 directory.
Set up “/export/home/source” directory NFS mount
The source directory is on the main fileserver. This must be mounted on the /export/home/source directory
f) Create the /export/home/source
mountpoint using the command “mkdir –p
/export/home/source” Note that any “local” contents
of the directory “/export/home/source” will not be visible
once this file system is mounted. Therefore check that
“/export/home/source” contains no data at this time. If it
does take steps to preserve or delete it
h) Add an entry into the file /etc/filesystems as shown below (or use smit)
/export/home/source:
dev = “/source”
vfs = nfs
nodename = mainfileserver.domain.local
mount = true
options = bg,soft,intr
account = false
i) Issue the command “mount
–a” which should mount the new file system entry added in
the previous step. You can ignore messages pertaining to filesystems
that are already mounted
j) Create a softlink to point /home/source at /export/home/source as shown below
#ln –s /export/home/source /home/source
Set up “/export/home/qatests” directory NFS mount
The qatests directory is on the main file server. This must be mounted on the /export/home/source directory
e) Create the /export/home/qatests
mountpoint using the command “mkdir –p
/export/home/qatests” Note that any “local” contents
of the directory “/export/home/qatests” will not be visible
once this file system is mounted. Therefore check that
“/export/home/qatests” contains no data at this time. If it
does take steps to preserve or delete it
f) Add an entry into the file /etc/filesystems as shown below
/export/home/qatests:
dev = “/qatests”
vfs = nfs
nodename = mainfileserver.domain.local
mount = true
options = bg,soft,intr
account = false
g) Issue the command “mount
–a” which should mount the new file system entry added in
the previous step. You can ignore messages pertaining to filesystems
that are already mounted
h) Create a softlink to point /home/qatests at /export/home/qatests as shown below
#ln –s /export/home/qatests /home/qatests
Set up “/export/home/hg1output” directory NFS mount
The qaoutput directory is on the main file server. This must be mounted on the /export/home/source directory
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