NIMOL is a tool which 'll be installed on linux, unlike NIM which is the deployment tool for AIX

Where to find NIMOL packages ? On AIX base CDROM.

/<AIX_base_CD1>/RPMS/linux

XML-LibXML-1.58-1.i386.rpm
aix-res-7100-03-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
libxml2-2.6.17-4.i586.rpm
nimol-1.0-4.noarch.rpm

[root@nimsrv]/export/aix73/7300-00-01_full/RPMS/linux# rpm -qpl aix-res-7100-03-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
/opt/aix-res/7100-03/booti.chrp.mp.ent.Z
/opt/aix-res/7100-03/bosinst.data
/opt/aix-res/7100-03/ispot.tar.Z

[root@nimsrv]/export/aix73/7300-00-01_full/RPMS/linux# rpm -qpl nimol-1.0-4.noarch.rpm
/usr/lib/nimol_lib
/usr/sbin/nimol_backup
/usr/sbin/nimol_bootreplyd
/usr/sbin/nimol_config
/usr/sbin/nimol_install
/usr/sbin/nimol_lslpp
/usr/sbin/nimol_update
/usr/share/doc/nimol/README
/usr/share/locale/Ja_JP/LC_MESSAGES/nimol.mo
...
/usr/share/man/man1/nimol_backup.1
/usr/share/man/man1/nimol_config.1
/usr/share/man/man1/nimol_install.1
/usr/share/man/man1/nimol_lslpp.1
/usr/share/man/man1/nimol_update.1

Commands

The following commands are shipped with the NIMOL RPM:

nimol_config

  Configures a Linux server to install AIX with NIM

nimol_install

  Sets up a client for AIX installation 

nimol_lslpp

  Lists software installed on an AIX client 

nimol_update

  Installs software updates onto an AIX client

nimol_backup

  Creates an installable backup of an AIX client

Note: These commands are available on the Linux server. For additional information on these commands, run the man command on the Linux server with the name of the specific NIMOL command.

Configuring the Linux server

To configure the Linux server, complete the following:

  Insert the AIX product CD that contains the NIMOL RPM into the Linux server.
  Install the following RPMs, which are requisite for SUSE LINUX 9.0 and Red Hat 9.0:
      dhcp
      tftp
      nfs-utils
      gettext

  The following RPMs are additional requisites for Red Hat 9.0 only:
      dhcp-server
      tftp-server
  Insert the AIX product CD Volume 1 into the Linux server.
  Install the NIMOL RPM by running the following commands:

  mount /dev/cdrom 
  rpm -ivh /mnt/cdrom/RPMS/linux/nimol* 

  Run the following command to configure the Linux server:

  nimol_config -C 

The nimol_config command configures the basic services required to install AIX on clients with NIM, such as bootp, tftp, nfs, and syslog. The command uses the dhcp server to respond to client bootp requests.

Note: You should not manually modify the /etc/dhcpd.conf file because the modifications might interfere with the ability of NIMOL to add and remove subnet and host entries.

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/aix/library/au-install-aix.html

http://dbaspot.com/aix/390557-fyi-aix-6-1-installation-lower-aix-version-using-nim-nimol-nim-linux.html

• Package required by Linux system

  dhcp-server
  tftp
  nfs-utils

• Configure related services

Before configuring services, please be sure to configure the ip and host name of the network card Ok, check the/etc/hosts file for any mess.

1. Configure the dhcp server
2. Enable the tftp server (mabye you should create a symlink: ln -s rpcbind portmap)
3. rsyslog

• Install Nimol

  mount/dev/cdrom/mnt
  cd /mnt/RPMS/linux
  rpm -ivh nimol-*.rpm
  cd /
  umount /dev/cdrom from the AIX installation disk/RPMS/linux directory

• Basic configuration of Nimol

First Manually generate an empty /etc/nimol.conf

# echo'NIMOL_SYSLOG_FACILITY local2' >>/etc/nimol.conf

Remember, this line is necessary, otherwise adding the client will fail.

Define the resource LABEL

# mkdir /export/nim/lpp_source/7300-00-01
# nimol_config -L 7300-00-01 -d /dev/cdrom -t /export/nim/lpp_source

The lpp_source generated above is just a bos. To get a complete installation medium, Modify some files manually

# cd /export/nim/lpp_source/7300-00-01
# rm -fr bosinst.data image.data lpp_source
# mkdir -p lpp_source/installp
# mount /dev/cdrom/mnt
# cp /mnt/*.data ./
# cp -a /mnt/installp/ppc ./lpp_source/installp/
# cp -a /mnt/RPMS ./lpp_source/

Define mksysb resource If lpp_source has been defined before, then skip the following steps: Install AIX CD The aix-res package, take 6108 as an example:

# mount /dev/cdrom/mnt/cdrom
# cd /mnt/cdrom
# rpm -ivh RPMS/linux/aix-res-7300-00-.noarch.rpm
Then generate a directory/opt/aix-res/6100-08
# cd /opt/aix-res/7300-00-01
# ls -al
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 23478299 September 14 2012 booti.chrp.mp. ent.Z
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 928 September 14 2012 bosinst.data
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 119181465 September 14 2012 ispot.tar.Z

copy the generated mksysb file to this directory, You can also just make a symbolic link. The file name must be mksysb or mksysb.bff. Now you can define mksysb resources: # nimol_config -L 6108mksysb -d/opt/aix-res/6100-08 -t/export/nim The above command will copy the boot image, SPOT, and mksysb files to the/export/nim/6108mksysb directory. After testing, the time to install the system using mksysb resources is greatly shortened, about 20 minutes. Note: Because the mksysb resource also depends on SPOT, for systems such as AIX 5312/6108/7102, you need to refer to the SPOT script modification method in Part 9.

• define the client and related resources

create a record of the client in/etc/hosts
Configure the client installation resource

# nimol_install -c dbserv -s 255.255.255.0 -m 00:00:00:00: 00:11 -L 6107

will prompt trap syntax error, but does not affect the settings. The above command -m is followed by the mac address of the client's network card. Please modify it according to the situation.

• Note

The client information generated by nimol is problematic. The network card will load the kernel but wait indefinitely. The solution is to modify two files: 1. Find the client section in

/etc/dhcpd.conf and change the absolute path to relative.

For example: filename “/tftpboot/dbserv”; change to

filename "dbserv";

2./The boot image file under tftpboot The default boot image of the client is a symbolic link, which will cause the above file to be modified, but read first block failed, delete the symbolic link, use hard link or copy to boot the image into a client Hostname, for example nim:/tftpboot # cd/tftpboot/ nim:/tftpboot # ls -al total 18468 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jul 1 10:51. drwxr-xr-x 23 root root 4096 Jul 1 10:16 .. -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 18874368 Jul 1 09:20 6107.chrp.mp.ent lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 Jul 1 10:51 dbserv → 6107.chrp.mp.ent -rw-r–r- -1 root root 1252 Jul 1 09:22 dbserv.info nim:/tftpboot # rm -f dbserv nim:/tftpboot # ln 6107.chrp.mp.ent dbserv 3. Restart the dhcpd service/ etc/init.d/dhcpd restart

• Start the installation of the AIX system from the client network card.

• The method in this article is basically applicable to AIX 5/6, but there will be some errors in the slightly higher version. I have tested AIX 5312/6108/7102, and probably prompt/.SPOT/usr/sys/inst.images is not an invalid installation source.

After several days of research, I changed a script violently and got it done. The script that needs to be modified is <Target_dir>/<Label_Dir>/SPOT/usr/lpp/bosinst/bi_main

Configures a Linux® server to network install a machine with AIX® by configuring services and copying install resources.

To configure the NIMOL server without copying resources, type:

nimol_config -C

To configure the NIMOL server, copy resources from /mnt/aix to /export/aix, and label the resource aix530, type:

nimol_config -d /mnt/aix -t /export/aix -L aix530

To configure the NIMOL server and copy resources without configuring syslog and without globally exporting the resource label directory, type:

nimol_config -S -e

To list defined resource labels, type:

nimol_config -l

To remove the aix530 resource label, type:

nimol_config -L aix530 -r

Sets up a configured NIMOL server to install AIX® to a specific client machine.

To setup client myclient to install the aix530 resource label with gateway 192.168.1.1, MAC address 00:60:08:3F:E8:DF, and subnet mask 255.255.255.0, type:

nimol_install -c myclient -g 192.168.1.1 -m 00:60:08:3F:E8:DF -s 255.255.255.0 -L aix530

To setup client myclient and not have it remain a client to the NIMOL server after the installation, type:

nimol_install -n -c myclient -g 192.168.1.1 -m 00:60:08:3F:E8:DF -s 255.255.255.0 -L aix530

To list the clients configured to be installed, type:

nimol_install -l

To remove client myclient, type:

nimol_config -c myclient -r