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AIX as a porting platform
Building applications on a secondary platform is perhaps the simplest
definition of a porting platform. This article explores the porting aspects in
the context of AIX.
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24 Nov 2009 |
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RPC programming
Using RPC programming is one of the most powerful and efficient ways to
ensure communication between client and server entities. It forms the basis
for almost any application running on distributed computing environments. This
article deals with the basic flow of events between an RPC client and server
and later deals with runtime handling of these events. The different routines
that are dealt in this article are categorized appropriately and described
based on their functionality.
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24 Nov 2009 |
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AIX tips for RHEL4 administrators
Are you broadening your skills as a Linux systems administrator into various flavors of
UNIX? Have you found yourself in charge of IBM UNIX servers on short notice? Get a rundown
of the differences and similarities between Red Hat Enterprise Linux and IBM AIX so that
you can perform day-to-day activities with ease.
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17 Nov 2009 |
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Using alt_disk_copy
The alt_disk_copy is a built-in AIX utility that allows the cloning of a
running rootvg. alt_disk_copy is typically used for upgrades that effect the running
of AIX, cloning of disks for migration, and online backups of rootvg.
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10 Nov 2009 |
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Speaking UNIX: Peering into pipes
The pipe operator connects one UNIX command to another to create ad hoc programs
right on the command line. But a pipe is something of a black box, occluding the data
flowing from one utility to the next. Pipe Viewer provides a peek into the pipeline. Here's
how to use it in day-to-day tasks.
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03 Nov 2009 |
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Managing Storage Subsystems using IBM Systems Director V6.1.2
IBM Systems Director V6.1.2 is a tool that aids in the management of various devices such as servers, switches, and storage subsystems. This article addresses the nuances of managing the Storage Subsystem using the IBM Systems Director. IBM Systems Director uses the concept of a proxy provider that acts like an intermediate agent between the IBM Systems Director and Storage Subsystems. For DS3000 and DS4000 series Storage Subsystems, IBM Systems Director uses the LSI Storage Management Initiative–Specification (SMI-S) provider.
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03 Nov 2009 |
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Resolving problems unmounting partitions
To cleanly shut down or hot swap storage hardware on a UNIX
or UNIX-like system, you must be able to unmount any file system that
uses storage on that device. However, you can't unmount a file system
if files or directories in that file system are in use. The lsof and
fuser commands can help you identify and terminate the processes
that are using files on or executing from the storage devices that
your system is using. Using these commands simplifies the
traditional detective work associated with finding the processes
that are preventing you from unmounting storage devices, decreasing
frustration, and helping you proceed with critical system
administration tasks.
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27 Oct 2009 |
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A quick guide to migrating to IBM Systems Director V6.1
IBM Systems Director Server V6.1 includes migration tools that remove the
complexity of migrating from the previous version of IBM Systems Director Server
to Version 6.1. This overview of the migration process will prepare the
user for what needs to be done and what to expect so that the
migration can be as quick and easy as possible.
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27 Oct 2009 |
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Configuring an AIX client with multiple Kerberos realms
A typical customer environment is heterogeneous and includes AIX, Windows,
and Linux, which can
be servers or clients. In many situations, an AIX Kerberos client needs to interact with
multiple Kerberos realms hosted on a Windows or AIX Kerberos
server to handle the requested services. This article explains the configuration details
required to set the AIX Kerberos client to interact with
multiple realms hosted on Windows Kerberos servers.
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20 Oct 2009 |
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Securing remote AIX V6.1 data at rest using the SLES Encrypt File Container
See how you can secure data at rest exported by AIX and consumed by SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server via
the NFS protocol using the Encrypt File Container feature provided with SLES.
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13 Oct 2009 |
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Learning interprocess communication with the ACE Framework
For most programmers, interprocess communication (IPC) is synonymous with using the Socket API.
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13 Oct 2009 |
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Cloud computing with Linux and Apache Hadoop
Many companies like IBM, Google, VMWare, and Amazon have provided products and
strategies for Cloud computing. This article shows you how to use Apache Hadoop to
build a MapReduce framework to make a Hadoop Cluster and how to create a sample
MapReduce application which runs on Hadoop. You will also learn how to set up a
time/disk-consuming task on the cloud.
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06 Oct 2009 |
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Make sudo work harder
The sudo utility allows users to run commands as another, or privileged, user. Sudo has
features not often used by administrators. This article demonstrates
some of these features, such as include files, timeouts, and logical operations.
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06 Oct 2009 |
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IBM and HP virtualization
Learn about the virtualization capabilities of both HP-UX and AIX, the
fundamental differences between virtualization products on HP and IBM, and how these
products integrate with the hardware platforms on which they run. The intent of this article is to educate you and also to help you make informed decisions as to which platform works best for you, from a feature and functionality standpoint and for your long-term strategic goals.
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29 Sep 2009 |
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Configure single sign-on authentication on AIX
Single sign-on (SSO) is a mechanism that allows a user to access resources
across multiple systems by just authenticating to the server once. This method is
quite helpful in scenarios where the user database is centralized (like LDAP). Users
can authenticate on one system and then access multiple systems.
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22 Sep 2009 |
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Speaking UNIX: Advanced applications of rsync
Keeping multiple machines synced can be challenging. Fortunately, a
powerful tool is available to make the task easier: rsync.
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22 Sep 2009 |
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AIX user and group administration
Dive into the configuration files behind users and groups in IBM
AIX, as well
as command-line tools designed to help manage the users and groups easily.
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15 Sep 2009 |
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Simplify AIX image management in a PowerVM environment using IBM Systems
Director VMControl V2.1
The lifecycle management, provisioning, and configuration of virtual
appliances (images) are very time-consuming but important tasks for virtual system
management, especially in a PowerVM environment. This article introduces a new
product, IBM Systems Director VMControl V2.1, which is designed to simplify the
management of virtual environments across multiple virtualization technologies and
physical platforms. It can visualize, navigate, manage, and deploy images from a
centralized location. Explore the key functions of this product and learn how to
manage AIX images in a PowerVM environment.
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15 Sep 2009 |
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UNIX network performance analysis
Knowing your UNIX network layout will go a long way with understanding your
network and how it operates. But what happens when the performance of your UNIX
network and the speed at which you can transfer files or connect to services suddenly reduces? How do you diagnose the issues and work out where in your network the problems lie? This article looks at some quick methods for finding and identifying performance issues and the steps to start resolving them.
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08 Sep 2009 |
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IBM Network Authentication Service Version 1.4.0.8 for AIX 6.1
IBM Network Authentication Service Version 1.4.0.8 was released with the AIX
6.1 expansion pack CD and is also available on the IBM AIX Web Download Pack
Program. The new version has some good reasons, including new features and vital
fixes, for AIX Kerberos administrators to
upgrade. This article describes the features issued in this release and how these
features can benefit your Kerberos infrastructure over AIX and help enhance
security. The new release allows administrators to "ride up the grade," not simply upgrade.
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08 Sep 2009 |
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AIX higher availability using SAN services
Learn the scenarios in which remapping,
copying, and reuse of SAN disks is allowed and supported. More easily switch
AIX environments from one system to another and help achieve higher
availability and reduced down time. These scenarios also allow for fast deployment of new systems using cloning.
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01 Sep 2009 |
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High scalability and availability of AIX secldapclntd using the Tivoli Directory
Server proxy
The secldapclntd daemon provides and manages connection between the AIX
security LDAP load module of the local host and an LDAP server, and handles
transactions from the LDAP load module to the LDAP server. Simple configuration
steps do not allow us to specify highly available and scalable LDAP servers at the
back end. This article lists the steps to configure a highly available and
scalable back-end LDAP for the secldapclntd daemon using the Tivoli Directory
Server proxy.
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01 Sep 2009 |
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Resource controls in workload partitions
Resource control in workload partitions is based on the Workload Manager (WLM) technology that has
been available in the AIX kernel since IBM AIX V4.3.3. The workload partition (WPAR)
resource control encapsulates and extends the WLM technology. It presents a layer of abstraction above WLM, making it easier to administer resource control without having a need to possess an in-depth knowledge of WLM.
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25 Aug 2009 |
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Monitoring logs and command output
Monitoring system logs or the status of a command that produces
file or directory output are common tasks for systems
administrators. Two popular open source tools simplify these
activities for modern systems administrators: the multitail and watch
commands. Both are terminal-oriented commands, which means
that they are easily ported to most UNIX or UNIX-like systems
because they do not depend on any specific graphical desktop
environment.
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25 Aug 2009 |
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Growing green with virtualization: Virtualization as the backbone of green IT
Focus on virtualization as an excellent vehicle to address business needs while
you control the ever growing challenges of IT costs and data center sprawl in this
initial article of a series. For large and small businesses to remain viable in the ever evolving technology arena, companies need to adopt a strategy that works for them.
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18 Aug 2009 |
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Making software testing greener
Recently there has been an increased emphasis on the effective utilization of
resources. Testing plays a key role in any software development lifecycle. Hence,
effective utilization of resources in testing becomes the prerogative for any product
team. Read about the effective utilization of resources available for testing on both
hardware and software, thus leading to more efficient testing.
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11 Aug 2009 |
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Configuring Active Memory Sharing from a customer's experience
Share the experience of being part of IBM's Early Ship Program for Active Memory
Sharing on POWER6. See how AMS was configured and deployed in a customer's non-production AIX lab environment.
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04 Aug 2009 |
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Speaking UNIX: Man oh man
UNIX has hundreds if not thousands of commands, and it's impossible to
remember every option and nuance. But, happily, you don't have to: man, UNIX's built-in,
online reference system, is man's best friend.
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28 Jul 2009 |
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A memory-related issue unfolded using performance tools for AIX
Performance metrics of a system are based purely on what is expected from it and
to what extent a computer system stands up to those expectations. The case study
presented in this article is intended to discuss a memory-related
issue faced by one of the customers and the steps followed to pin down the root cause of the problem.
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28 Jul 2009 |
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Dynamic tracing facility
Problem determinations of the failures that occur in production environment pose a
difficult challenge because of the complex environment and numerous different software
stacks that interact with each other.This article provides a brief
introduction to the Solaris dynamic trace facility and the ProbeVue facility on AIX and illustrates its use with examples.
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21 Jul 2009 |
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Efficient I/O event polling through the pollset interface on AIX
This article explains how you can improve the performance of Java
applications with intensive asynchronous I/O operations running on AIX platforms
by using a pollset interface, which eliminates redundant copy operations of file descriptors between user and kernel spaces and improves the scalability and the polling time performance with a poll cache.
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21 Jul 2009 |
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Avoid common errors in UNIX and Linux
Discover the most common errors in UNIX and Linux -- and
how to avoid them.
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14 Jul 2009 |
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JS22 Live Partition Mobility
This article focuses on performing Live Partition Mobility between two JS22
Blades. It provides insight into what to expect before, during, and after a live
migration in a real-world environment with SAP and Oracle on AIX.
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14 Jul 2009 |
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Understanding advanced AIX features: MLS in simple steps
If you feel that the new features of AIX like RBAC and MLS are too
confusing, this article will help you to understand the features in simple terms and
with examples. This article is part two of a series.
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07 Jul 2009 |
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AIX A-Z: Learning AIX's spooler back-end programs
While most IBM AIX administrators know how to set up print queues and manage
printing through the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) or the general print
commands, there's more to printing on the UNIX system. If you want to learn more than just how to set up or manage virtual printers on AIX, this article is for you. Most successful AIX and UNIX administrators thrive on learning more about the system they administer. Printing is only one facet of their system, but it's an important one to know.
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07 Jul 2009 |
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Producing documentation and reusing information in XML, Part 1: Document publishing using XML
XML provides a way to identify data items and subcomponents within any structured data set, but has its roots in documentation development and production. Robust, open standards for XML document markup and a rich set of freely available tools for XML document parsing and format conversion make it easy to install and configure a complete documentation development and formatting environment on any UNIX or Linux system.
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07 Jul 2009 |
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High-performance concurrent communication development in UNIX using the ACE library framework
The ACE open source toolkit helps developers create robust, portable multithreading
applications. Take a peek into some of the ways you can create applications that use
ACE threads.
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30 Jun 2009 |
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Understanding advanced AIX features: Role-based access control in simple steps
Security is a major concern of operating systems. This article series provides an understanding
of the new features on AIX, role-based access control and multi-level
security. Part 1 of this series discusses AIX
role-based access control (RBAC) and how roles, responsibilities, and the authorization of
a root user can be delegated to more than one user.
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23 Jun 2009 |
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Python testing frameworks: Selecting and running tests
The recent emergence of industrial-strength Python testing frameworks
means that Python tests are being written more succinctly,
more uniformly, and with better reporting of results than ever before.
This article examines how the three most popular testing frameworks
identify and gather tests,
and what support they provide for writing entire layers of tests
that share common setup and teardown code.
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23 Jun 2009 |
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Avoiding the gotchas of AIX LPAR migrations
Learn how to identify and get past the common roadblocks that can interfere
with migrating IBM AIX servers to the latest in logical partition (LPAR)
technology.
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16 Jun 2009 |
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Upgrading from POWER5 to POWER6
Read about and learn from my experiences in upgrading a POWER5 595 to a new POWER6 595.
|
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09 Jun 2009 |
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Working with filesystems using NFSV4 ACLs
Managing NFSv4 ACLs on different filesystem with different commands can
become difficult. This article discusses and compares the different commands that you
might use to migrate from one filesystem to another.
|
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02 Jun 2009 |
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| |
Python testing frameworks: Finding modules to test
The recent emergence of industrial-strength Python testing frameworks
means that Python tests are being written more succinctly,
more uniformly, and with better reporting of results than ever before.
Here we look at how the leading testing frameworks
provide robust auto-discovery of your application tests,
and how this replaces the fragile central lists of tests
that you used to maintain.
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02 Jun 2009 |
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AIX 6.1, Solaris 10, and HP-UX and the System p
In recent years, HP, Sun, and IBM have all released new versions of their
commercial UNIX-based operating systems. This article compares and contrasts some of
the innovations in their releases. Learn the differences on how to work with certain
tasks, such as networking and performance tuning. Also, see at a high level some of the virtualization differences among these big three.
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26 May 2009 |
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Speaking UNIX: 10 great tools for any UNIX system
The universe of UNIX tools changes constantly. Here are 10 tools -- some
you may have overlooked and some new -- to tinker with.
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12 May 2009 |
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| |
Python testing frameworks: Make your life easy with a Python testing framework
The recent emergence of industrial-strength Python testing frameworks
means that Python tests are being written more succinctly,
more uniformly, and with better reporting of results than ever before.
This article begins to explore this new world
by introducing the leading testing frameworks
and looking at their most basic features.
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05 May 2009 |
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Automating deployment and activation of virtual appliances for IBM AIX and Power Systems
Server virtualization enables you to rapidly provision new environments by
using libraries of virtual image templates, or virtual appliances. Automated
provisioning requires the management of operating system, network, and
application-specific customization. This article provides a sample framework for
automating virtual image deployment and activation on Power Systems, with a
downloadable example that demonstrates how to provision a virtual appliance made up
of IBM WebSphere Application Server V7.0 running on AIX V5.3.
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29 Apr 2009 |
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| |
Advanced performance tuning concepts
The performance of even the best application suffers if the underlying host is not configured properly. This article looks at the four key areas of performance tuning and identifies what to watch for in each of them. In addition, Java-based applications bring other performance tuning requirements with them, especially the
garbage collection cycle. This article also looks at what you need to know about garbage collection.
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28 Apr 2009 |
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AIX job spooler
Job spooling or spooled processing are mainframe concepts that are available in the IBM AIX environment, but are rarely implemented. This article describes the configuration, reasons, and purposes for implementing job spooling in AIX environments.
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28 Apr 2009 |
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| |
Thanks for the memory
Running out of Java heap isn't the only cause of a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError. If native memory runs out, OutOfMemoryErrors that your normal debugging techniques won't be able
to solve can occur. This article explains what native memory is, how the Java runtime
uses it, what running out of it looks like, and how to debug a native OutOfMemoryError
on AIX. A companion article covers the same topics for Linux and Windows systems.
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21 Apr 2009 |
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| |
Configuring Kerberos master-slave KDC with LDAP master-replica topology on AIX
Learn how to configure and manage the Kerberos master-slave Key Distribution Center with an LDAP master-replica setup. This article gives a step-by-step example of how to achieve one such complex Kerberos setup.
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21 Apr 2009 |
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Green computing on AIX and POWER
This article introduces green computing as it relates to POWER systems and
AIX. It discusses how server consolidation around AIX and POWER servers work in
tandem with green computing. It discusses the datacenter and how POWER servers
exemplify the concepts of green computing by lowering power and cooling costs. It
also discusses recent innovations in the POWER6 architecture that lend themselves
to green computing, such as live partition mobility and other related
feature/functionality innovations. Finally, the article discusses recent
improvements in AIX 6.1, such as WPAR and live application mobility, and shows why these are tailor-made for green computing.
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21 Apr 2009 |
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The rsync family
Synchronizing two machines (such as a laptop and a desktop computer) is
easier and faster when you use rsync, which boasts an efficient
algorithm and options for just about everything you might need. And if a command-line
operation isn't your thing, several graphic tools make using rsync
easier still.
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14 Apr 2009 |
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| |
Secure file transfer in a heterogeneous environment
File transfer is an essential and important activity in the day-to-day
computing world. Security lapses during file transfer can invite leak important data
to the external world. As a result, securing FTP is of primary importance. Hence, in
AIX V6.1, IBM has introduced a secure flavor of FTP (and ftpd), based on OpenSSL,
using Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt both the command and the data
channels of file transfer. This article shows the advantage of using this AIX V6.1
feature and its usage between AIX and other heterogeneous systems that already
support this feature. This article focuses on AIX secure FTP with a Windows server.
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14 Apr 2009 |
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| |
Cloud computing on AIX and System p
What is cloud computing and how is it relevant to POWER systems and your
organization? Learn guidelines around cloud computing and Power systems.
|
|
07 Apr 2009 |
|
| |
Introduction to distributed version control systems
Interested in distributed version control but intimidated by all the jargon?
This article provides an introduction to the three main systems available (Git,
Mercurial, and Bazaar),
discusses some of the advantages to be had from adopting a distributed workflow,
and provides a
reference guide comparing common operations with subversion.
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07 Apr 2009 |
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| |
Port Fortran applications
Discover how to port Fortran-based High Performance Computing applications, such as computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling, weather modeling, and linear algebra packages, using IBM XL compilers and gnu compilers on large clusters. The solutions in this article are equally applicable in all types of porting work in Fortran or any UNIX(R)- or Linux-based systems. Though C/C++ and other programming languages are popular, with strong features and widespread use, Fortran is still the favorite for the scientific and engineering community because of its performance.
|
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01 Apr 2009 |
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| |
Multiprocessing with Python
Learn to scale your Unix Python applications to multiple cores by using the multiprocessing module which is built into Python 2.6.
Multiprocessing mimics parts of the threading API in Python to give the developer a high level of control over flocks of processes, but
also incorporates many additional features unique to processes.
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24 Mar 2009 |
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| |
Speaking UNIX: The Squirrel portable shell and scripting language
If you don't want to commit to the idiosyncrasies of a specific shell running on a particular
platform, try the Squirrel Shell. The Squirrel Shell provides an advanced, object-oriented
scripting language that works equally well on UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows systems.
Write a script once, and run it anywhere.
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|
17 Mar 2009 |
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| |
10 tips for sensible systems administration
Benjamin Franklin: scientist, scholar, statesman, and . . . systems administrator?
Yes, 200 years or so before the birth of UNIX, Franklin scribed sage advice to keep
systems humming. Here are 10 of Franklin's more notable tips.
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10 Mar 2009 |
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| |
Multi-security mechanisms with multifactor authentications
Authentication is a key component of security-based solutions. This article
discusses the risk associated with the use of the same security mechanisms in
multifactor authentication systems and the use of GSS-API as a suitable option for achieving the multi-security mechanism with multifactor authentication for enhanced security for solutions designed over UNIX.
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10 Mar 2009 |
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| |
10 steps to UNIX nirvana
Discover several time-saving tips and freely available tools that both new
and experienced C++ developers can use.
|
|
03 Mar 2009 |
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| |
Configure Enterprise Identity Mapping (EIM) for AIX NFSv4 over a Kerberos
cross-realm setup
Learn how to set up and configure Enterprise Identity Mapping (EIM) for AIX
Network File System (NFS) version 4 over a Kerberos cross-realm setup.
|
|
03 Mar 2009 |
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| |
Manage blogs on AIX
AIX provides an ideal environment for blogs and for the Web Content
Management System (CMS) tools running those blogs because of its Web and
text-processing power. You get the best of both worlds by combining open source
CMS and AIX for a complete and ready-to-use content management tool with extensive
support from the open source community, along with a secure and reliable server
with high availability, scalability, and enterprise-level support from IBM. This
article introduces some of the best CMS solutions for AIX available from the open
source community, and helps readers understand the important differences among
them. The article also provides a guideline for system architects and developers to help them choose the CMS that best fits their needs.
|
|
24 Feb 2009 |
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| |
Host-based and PAM authentication methods
This article describes some authentication methods supported by
OpenSSH. OpenSSH is a free tool that implements the SSH1 and SSH2 protocols.
Understand the configuration of some of the authentication methods in OpenSSH as
well as new features added in the IBM-supported version of OpenSSH.
|
|
24 Feb 2009 |
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| |
Configure IBM Network Authentication Service master KDC with an LDAP back-end server on AIX
Learn how to configure the IBM Network Authentication Service (IBM Kerberos) with
an
LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) directory to store Kerberos principal
and policy information. This article is a detailed guide for Kerberos
administrators who want to achieve security, scalability, and high availability using Kerberos and LDAP on AIX.
|
|
17 Feb 2009 |
|
| |
Setting up UNIX file systems
Learn how you can improve your computer's performance and help protect it
from harm by setting up your file systems in an optimal manner.
|
|
17 Feb 2009 |
|
| |
Perform uniform mounting with generic NFS
To efficiently achieve uniform mounting in the presence of multiple,
simultaneous NFS version exports, you need a generic NFS mount utility. Learn
how a generic NFS mount utility
can help reduce handling multiple NFS versions and simplify the management of
those versions. The article
describes the concept of the generic NFS mount, outlines the advantages and
applications of the system, and gives some overall design
details.
|
|
11 Feb 2009 |
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| |
Speaking UNIX: Stayin' alive with Screen
The command line is a powerful tool, but it has a fatal weakness: If the shell
perishes, so does your work. To keep your shell and your work alive -- even across
multiple sessions and dropped connections -- use GNU Screen, a windowing system
for your console.
|
|
10 Feb 2009 |
|
| |
Configuration and usage of rquota daemon in NFS on AIX
This article explains how to set up rquota daemon in the Network File System
(NFS)
environment on AIX machines. The article also provides side-by-side hints to
Linux users on how to configure rquota daemon on Linux boxes.
|
|
10 Feb 2009 |
|
| |
Synchronizing UNIX files
There are many tools available that allow you to synchronize files across UNIX
directories, but doing it effectively, and securely, takes a little bit more effort.
This article looks at solutions for synchronizing files across UNIX filesystems and different computer systems securely, and at solutions that allow you to synchronize encrypted versions of your files for the purposes of backup.
|
|
03 Feb 2009 |
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| |
Performance Monitor Counter data analysis using Counter Analyzer
To understand what happens inside a processor when an application
is executed, processor architects designed a set of special registers to
count the events taking place when processors are executing instructions.
These registers, called the Performance Monitor Counter, provide interesting information
about the processor, such as how many I-cache misses
take place, how many instructions are completed, and more. Counter Analyzer
is one plugin of the Visual Performance Analyzer, an Eclipse-based performance
analysis tool. It can analyze raw events, metrics, and CPI breakdown model,
and help you better understand these events.
This article introduces the Performance Monitor Counter and its related tools briefly,
and then shows
you how to use these tools and the Counter Analyzer together, using the Caesar
cipher tool as example.
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|
03 Feb 2009 |
|
| |
Performance tuning considerations in your application server environment
Understand how the various components of a Web application interact, and where you might find performance bottlenecks. Both developers and administrators will benefit from knowing this because performance is everyone's responsibility.
|
|
27 Jan 2009 |
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| |
Enterprise-Wide Unique identifiers
Successful implementation of business continuity in large IBM AIX environments
is dependent upon the elimination of resource conflicts on the supporting computer
systems. Many aspects of business continuity -- such as virtualization, high
availability, and disaster recovery -- require unique identification values for many
of the resource parameters involved in system configuration. Provided in this article
is a discussion and mechanism for generating Enterprise-Wide Unique (EWU) identification values for a wide variety of configuration parameters.
|
|
27 Jan 2009 |
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| |
IBM Network Authentication Service KDC configuration, Part 3: Configuring a slave KDC with LDAP on AIX
The first two parts of this three-part series covered how to configure IBM
Network Authentication Service (NAS) master and slave KDCs with a legacy database and how to upgrade the slave KDC to
behave as a master KDC. Taking this to the next level, this article shows how to configure the Kerberos slave KDC with the LDAP database and why there is a need to do so.
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|
20 Jan 2009 |
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| |
Optimizing N-tier J2EE applications on UNIX operating systems
Multi-tier Web applications provide a more flexible and scalable environment for
business-critical applications and their 24 x 7 availability requirements. Today's
increasingly sophisticated deployments introduce additional complexity in system,
infrastructure, and application interaction. Operating system and hardware selection,
best practices for application design and coding, and performance and application
monitoring can help maximize application performance today and scalability for
tomorrow.
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20 Jan 2009 |
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Kerberos LDAP master-slave configuration management
Kerberos and LDAP are designed to allow for a master/slave setup.
In a centralized environment, user and group management can be handled through the LDAP/KRB5LDAP (Kerberos LDAP) protocol. This article explains how to configure KRB5LDAP (Kerberos LDAP) master/slave for KRB5LDAP clients.
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13 Jan 2009 |
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Create a WebSphere Application Server 7.0 virtual appliance for AIX
This article describes a process for creating and using a WebSphere Application
Server (Application Server) virtual appliance for AIX logical partition (LPAR)
virtualization technology. It describes a source LPAR environment for building a
Application Server virtual appliance and specifying the steps involved in preparation
of the environment, including installation of Application Server and custom
configuration needed to ensure that the installed version of Application Server can
function as an appliance. To create the appliance, the prepared environment is used as
a source for an image, saved as a binary file and is described using an Open Virtual
Machine Format (OVF) file. The article concludes with a description of alternative scenarios for sharing the appliance, including one where the appliance is shared across the Internet and another where the appliance is shared within a data center.
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13 Jan 2009 |
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Installing technology levels and service packs for AIX
One of the critical questions AIX systems administrators have to deal with
is when to upgrade their systems. This article looks at some of the issues
surrounding upgrades such as when and how systems administrators should deploy
upgrades as well as methods for retrieving and performing updates. Learn some of the recent changes and best practices regarding the deployment of technology levels and service packs for AIX.
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06 Jan 2009 |
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Auditing and serviceability management in IBM Network Authentication Service for AIX
Auditing is a vital aspect of any software, and even so more if
the software provides security services. This article helps to understand the auditing and serviceability features provided in IBM Network Authentication Service.
Learn about the different server-side log files, how to enable them, and how to analyze them.
Also gain the expertise on how to turn on the debug message logging required for problem determination
and support activities.
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06 Jan 2009 |
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Make a product-specific debugger in AIX
This article discusses the requirements needed to make a product-specific
debugger for support products. The product-specific debugger helps in
customizing the data you might want to dig, analyze, and debug.
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23 Dec 2008 |
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Speaking UNIX: Opening Windows with Cygwin
Cygwin is a UNIX-like environment for the Microsoft Windows operating
system. It includes a real UNIX shell, a Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) emulation
library, and thousands of UNIX utilities ported to Windows.
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16 Dec 2008 |
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From parallel SCSI to serial SCSI
SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), often called Parallel SCSI, is almost 30
years old and can hardly keep up with the demands of todayâs IT environment. Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) was developed to address the limitations inherent in SCSI. This article highlights the differences between these two interfaces and points out the attributes that account for the increasing popularity of SAS.
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16 Dec 2008 |
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Using AIX Security Expert
AIXPert is an all-purpose GUI and command-line security tool that
incorporates over 300 security configuration settings. Learn about recent
enhancements implemented with AIX V6.1, including SOX auditing support, and go
through real scenarios to show how AIXPert can be used from the command line, smit, and the GUI.
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09 Dec 2008 |
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Ruby for systems administrators
Apart from its use as a powerful Web application development platform, in
combination with the Rails framework Ruby has another less-heralded side of itself,
which is as a powerful scripting language, such as Python or Perl. It has immense
capabilities, owing to the availability of many built-in and external libraries, the
power of which can be harnessed to solve a great deal of the scripting needs that come
up in any typical systems administrative work environment. Also, it's fun to program in Ruby!
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09 Dec 2008 |
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Resources on the IBM Network Authentication Service and related technologies for AIX
Get the answers to your questions about the AIX Network Authentication Service and
related technologies in one place. This article provides developers and
administrators with a listing of the developerWorks articles that cover
configuration, administration, interoperability, Kerberized filesystems (NFS V4), and
different Kerberized login modules based on IBM NAS for AIX. For your convenience and
ease of usage, the articles have be categorized into appropriate sections.
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03 Dec 2008 |
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Speaking UNIX: Go fish!
The Friendly Interactive Shell, or fish, is a joy to use. Its syntax,
context-sensitive help, and color-coded command-line interface (CLI) greatly simplify the
use of UNIX and ease the burdens of scripting.
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25 Nov 2008 |
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Samba on AIX
Samba is an open source, free software suite that provides seamless file and
print services between Windows clients and UNIX-like platforms. It can be run on a
UNIX-like platform like AIX, BSD UNIX, Linux, IBM 390 and OpenVMS. Samba uses the TCP/IP protocol that is installed in the host server. When configured, this server software allows the host machine to share files and printers and make them accessible from Windows clients.
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25 Nov 2008 |
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Naming standards for business continuity
In today's partitioned and virtualized computing environments, the requirement
for naming standards is more apparent than ever before. Unfortunately, there is a
widespread lack of understanding between the different categories of names used to identify managed systems, LPAR's, profiles, node names, host names, and aliases. This article defines naming categories and provide standards for creating enterprise-wide unique names associated with each category. This article also explains why it is important to distinguish between the different naming categories and how they are an integral part of data center automation projects and an overall business continuity plan.
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25 Nov 2008 |
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Comparison of SLES (SUSE) and RHEL (Red Hat) on IBM System p
Most system administrators planning to install Linux on IBM System p
eventually run into an important question: Which Linux distribution should I
install? This article compares two distributions from Red Hat and Novell, and
weighs the pros and cons of each. We'll discuss Linux on POWER (LoP), the history of
both distributions, the relationship IBM has with them, and the factors that should
go into your decision-making process. We're also going to compare and contrast what
it takes to create logical volumes on SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and Red
Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
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18 Nov 2008 |
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Comparison of SLES (SUSE) and RHEL (Red Hat) on IBM System p
Most systems administrators planning to install Linux on IBM System p
eventually run into an important dillemma: Which Linux distribution should I
install? This article compares two distributions from Red Hat and Novell, and
weighing the pros and cons of each. We'll discuss Linux on POWER (LoP), the history of
both distributions, the relationship IBM has with them, and the factors that should
go into your decision-making process. We also compare and contrast what
it takes to create logical volumes on SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and Red
Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
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18 Nov 2008 |
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IBM Network Authentication Service KDC configuration, Part
2: Upgrading a slave KDC to a master KDC
Become an expert administrator of a reliable Kerberos environment with high
availability, involving multiple Kerberos master-slave Key Distribution
Centers (KDC) on AIX and many clients. Part 2 of this series covers how to
upgrade the slave KDC to perform as a master KDC. Part 1 covered how to
configure and manage the basic master-slave KDC setup, and Part 3 will show
how to configure the slave KDC with LDAP as the back end for storing
Kerberos data.
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11 Nov 2008 |
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Distributed compilation
Learn about open source tool options that can help
speed up your build process by distributing the process across
multiple machines in a local area network.
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11 Nov 2008 |
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Automating Linux cloud installations
A simplified process for installing operating systems can reduce the
amount of time you spend on administration of your cloud computing
environment. This article describes how you can automate the installation of
SUSE Linux on a new IBM Power System or System p LPAR. You can also use the
same techniques to install Red Hat Linux or AIX.
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11 Nov 2008 |
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SSL configuration for IBM Tivoli Directory Server 6.0
Gain an overview of SSL configuration for IBM Tivoli Directory Server 6.0 on the AIX 5L operating
system. Learn about command line configuration steps for SSL key database creation,
certificate creation, certificate extraction, SSL authentication mechanisms, troubleshooting for SSL issues, and steps to perform LDAP client-server communication.
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06 Nov 2008 |
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Implement two-factor authentication for AIX using Kerberos
In the ever-growing need for higher security systems, multi-factor
authentication is preferred for network security. Since Kerberos is one of the most
popular network authentication mechanisms, learn how to design a multi-factor
authentication over the Kerberos protocol. Understand the
use of One-Time Password (OTP) and GSS-API to achieve this.
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04 Nov 2008 |
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Python and LDAP
At some point in their careers, most systems administrators need to interact with an LDAP server. This article shows how LDAP
can be used for Apache authentication, as well as how to perform CRUD, or Create, Read, Update, and
Delete operations on an OpenLDAP database, using the Python module python-ldap.
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28 Oct 2008 |
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Enabling DB2 applications for HACMP Smart Assist
HACMP Smart Assist validates the applications before getting them configured. This involves some preparation work for applications that are to be integrated with HACMP. This article documents the steps to enable DB2 applications for HACMP.
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28 Oct 2008 |
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Introducing the Boost parser framework
Learn to use Boost's highly scalable Spirit parser framework, which works on an EBNF specification and can significantly reduce your development time.
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21 Oct 2008 |
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Initial steps on kdb
kdb is a utility that is primarily intended for performing analysis of a
system dump image. This article describes the initial steps for system dump analysis.
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21 Oct 2008 |
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