Resources for diskless and dataless clients

The file systems that are mounted by the diskless and dataless client machines are treated as resources in the NIM environment. Like other resources, they exist on a server in the NIM environment, and they are NFS-exported to the clients that use them.

The following resources are managed by NIM to support diskless and dataless clients:

Item Description
  boot Defined as a network boot image for NIM clients. The boot resource is managed automatically by NIM and is never explicitly allocated or deallocated by users.
  SPOT Defined as a directory structure that contains the AIX® run-time files common to all machines. These files are referred to as the usr parts of the fileset. The SPOT resource is mounted as the /usr file system on diskless and dataless clients.

Contains the root parts of filesets. The root part of a fileset is the set of files that may be used to configure the software for a particular machine. These root files are stored in special directories in the SPOT, and they are used to populate the root directories of diskless and dataless clients.

The network boot images used to boot clients are constructed from software installed in the SPOT.

A SPOT resource is required for both diskless and dataless clients.

  root Defined as a parent directory for client "/" (root) directories. The client root directory in the root resource is mounted as the "/" (root) file system on the client.

When the resources for a client are initialized, the client root directory is populated with configuration files. These configuration files are copied from the SPOT resource that has been allocated to the same machine.

A root resource is required for dataless clients. It is required that either a root resource or a shared_root resource be allocated for diskless clients.

  dump Defined as a parent directory in which client dump directories are maintained.

When a dump resource is allocated to a client, NIM creates a subdirectory identified by the client's name for the client's exclusive use. After initialization, the client uses this subdirectory to store any dump images it creates. Note that such dumps are firmware-assisted.

A dump resource is optional for both diskless and dataless clients.

  paging Defined as a parent directory for client paging files. The client paging file in the paging resource is mounted as the paging device for the client.

A paging resource is required for diskless clients and optional for dataless clients.

  home Defined as a parent directory for client /home directories. The client directory in the home resource is mounted as the /home file system on the client.

A home resource is optional for both diskless and dataless clients.

  shared_home Defined as a /home directory shared by clients. All clients that use a shared_home resource will mount the same directory as the /home file system.

A shared_home resource is optional for both diskless and dataless clients.

  shared_root

Defined as a / (root) directory shared by one or more diskless clients. All clients that use a shared_root resource will mount the same directory as the / (root) file system.

Because STNFS is used to mount the shared_root, any change made by a client to its root filesystem is kept local and is invisible to other clients or to the server of the shared_root resource. Any change a client makes to its root filesystem is also lost when the client is rebooted.

It is required that either a shared_root resource or a root resource be allocated for diskless clients.

A shared_root resource cannot be allocated by dataless clients.

  tmp Defined as a parent directory for client /tmp directories. The client directory in the tmp resource is mounted as the /tmp file system on the client.

A tmp resource is optional for both diskless and dataless clients.

  resolv_conf Contains nameserver IP addresses and a network domain name.

Unlike the other resources used by diskless/dataless clients, the resolv_conf resource does not remain mounted by the client. Instead, it is copied to the /etc/resolv.conf file in the client's root directory.

A resolv_conf resource is optional for both diskless and dataless clients.