niminit Command

Purpose

Configures the Network Installation Management (NIM) client package.

Syntax

To Configure the NIM Client Package

niminit{-a name=Name -a pif_name=Pif -a master=Hostname} [ -a master_port=PortNumber ] [ -a registration_port=PortNumber ] [ -a cable_type=Type | -a ring_speed=Speed] [-a iplrom_emu=Device ] [ -a platform=PlatformType ] [ -a netboot_kernel=NetbootKernelType ] [-a adpt_add=AdapterAddress] [ -a is_alternate= yes | no ] [ -a connect=value ] [ -a vlan_tag=value] [-a vlan_pri=value]

To Rebuild the /etc/niminfo File

niminit {-a name=Name -a master=Hostname -a master_port=PortNumber}

Description

The niminit command configures the NIM client package. This must be done before the nimclient command can be used. When the required attributes are supplied to the niminit command, a new machine object will be created to represent the machine where the niminit command is being executed. When the niminit command completes successfully, the machine will be able to participate in the NIM environment.

After the NIM client package has been successfully configured, the niminit command can be run again to rebuild the /etc/niminfo on the client. The /etc/niminfo file is used by the nimclient command and must be rebuilt if it is accidentally removed by a user.

This command configures an alternate_master when the is_alternate attribute is set to yes. The bos.sysmgt.nim.master fileset must be installed prior to configuring an alternate_master. Once the configuration of an alternate_master is successful, the master that it registered with will be able to run alternate_master operations on this machine.

Flags

Item	Description	Attribute Description
-a	Specifies up to five different attributes for the niminit command. All of the following attribute=value pairs are preceded by the -a flag:
	name=Name	Specifies the name that NIM will use to identify the workstation. This value is required.
	pif_name=Pif	Defines the name of the network interface for all NIM communications. This value is required.
	master=Hostname	Specifies the hostname of the NIM master. The client must have the ability to resolve this hostname to an Internet Protocol (IP) address. This value is required.
	master_port=PortNumber	Specifies the port number of the nimesis daemon used for NIM communications.
	cable_type=CableType	Specifies the ethernet cable type. When the pif_name refers to an ethernet network, this value must be given. Acceptable values are: bnc, dix, and N/A.
	ring_speed=Speed	Speed in Mbps. When the pif_name refers to a token ring network, this value must be given. Acceptable values are: 4 and 16.
	iplrom_emu=Device	Specifies a device that contains a ROM emulation image. This image is required for models that do not have internal support for booting via network interface.
	platform=PlatformType	Specifies the platform that corresponds to the client's machine type. If this attribute is not specified, the default, chrp, will be used. The supported platforms are: chrp PowerPC® Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP) architecture-based machines rs6k Micro Channel-based, uniprocessor models for AIX® 5.1 and earlier rs6ksmp Micro Channel-based, symmetric multiprocessor models for AIX 5.1 and earlier rspc PowerPC PCI bus-based, uniprocessor machines for AIX 5.1 and earlier rspcsmp PowerPC PCI bus-based, symmetric multiprocessor machines for AIX 5.1 and earlier
	adpt_add=AdapterAddress	Specifies the hardware address that corresponds to the network adapter.
	registration_port=PortNumber	Specifies the port number used for NIM client registration. Note: If you do not specify port numbers on the command line, the port numbers in the /etc/services file for NIM is used. If the /etc/services file does not contain entries for the NIM ports `nim` and `nimreg`, the default values of 1058 for master_port and 1059 for registration_port are used. The values used for master_port and registration_port should match the values used by the NIM master. To display the values used by the NIM master, run the command lsnim -l master on the NIM master.
	netboot_kernel= NetbootKernelType	Specifies the type of kernel to use when booting the client over the network. The netboot_kernel values are: up Kernel for uniprocessor machines mp Kernel for multiprocessor machines The default is up.
	is_alternate=[`yes`\|`no`]	Set this to yes if this machine is to be configured as an alternate_master.
	connect=value	Specifies the communicating service used by the NIM client for remote execution of NIM commands. Value options are `shell` (for rsh) and `nimsh`. The default setting is `connect=shell`. This attribute is optional. If the is_alternate attribute is set to yes then `nimsh` is the default setting, and is the only valid value. Using the is_alternate attribute is optional.
	vlan_tag=value	Specifies the virtual logical area network (VLAN) identifier that is used for VLAN tagging. The ID is used to identify the VLAN to which the Ethernet frame must belong. The ID allows the network administrator to organize the client's communication logically rather than assigning the network to the subnet. The VLAN tagging value is used by NIM to perform a network boot of a client. The configuration of the VLAN tag communication must be handled outside of NIM before using the value. Valid values are 0 - 4094.
	vlan_pri=value	Specifies the virtual logical area network (VLAN) priority that is used for VLAN tagging. The priority value, along with the VLAN tag, is used to identify the VLAN to which the Ethernet frame must belong. The priority allows the network administrator to organize the client's communication logically rather than assigning the network to the subnet. The VLAN tagging value is used by NIM to perform a network boot of a client. The configuration of the VLAN tag communication must be handled outside of NIM before using the value. Valid values are 0 - 7.

Security

Access Control: You must have root authority to run the niminit command.

Attention RBAC users and Trusted AIX users: This command can perform privileged operations. Only privileged users can run privileged operations. For more information about authorizations and privileges, see Privileged Command Database in Security. For a list of privileges and the authorizations associated with this command, see the lssecattr command or the getcmdattr subcommand.

Examples

To configure the NIM client package on a machine that has a BOOTP-enabled IPL ROM such that it will be known as scuba in the NIM environment, using en0 as its primary interface and an ethernet cable type of bnc, and specifying that it communicates with the NIM master using the master's hostname of manta and the default NIM ports located in /etc/services for network install communications, type:
```
niminit -a name=scuba -a pif_name=en0 -a cable_type=bnc \
-a master=manta
```
To rebuild the /etc/niminfo file when it has accidentally been removed by a user, using a hostname of superman for the master's hostname and a port number of 1058, type:
```
niminit -a name=robin -a master=superman -a master_port=1058
```
To configure the NIM client package for AIX 5.1 and earlier on a machine that is a PowerPC PCI bus-based, uniprocessor system that has a BOOTP-enabled IPL ROM such that it will be known as starfish in the NIM environment, using en0 as its primary interface and an Ethernet cable type of dix, and specifying that it communicates with the NIM master using the master's host name of whale and a port number of 1058, type:
```
niminit -a name=starfish -a pif_name=en0 -a cable_type=dix \
-a master=whale -a master_port=1058 -a platform=rspc
```
To configure the NIM client, on a machine to be known as bluefish in the NIM environment, using at0 as its primary interface and specifying that it communicates with the NIM master using the master's host name redfish and a port number of 1058, type:
```
niminit -a name=bluefish -a pif_name=at0 -a master=redfish \
-a master_port=1058
```
Note: Because an interface to an ATM network does not currently support booting over the network, this operation will define a machine object on the NIM master if a Generic network object corresponding to the client's subnet is already defined.
To configure the NIM client for AIX 5.1 and earlier on a machine that is a PowerPC PCI bus-based, symmetric multiprocessor system that has a BOOTP-enabled IPL ROM such that it will be it will be known as jellyfish in the NIM environment, using en0 as its primary interface and an Ethernet cable type of dix, and specifying that it communicates with the NIM master using the master's host name of whale and a port number of 1058, type:
```
niminit -a name=jellyfish -a pif_name=en0 -a cable_type=dix \
-a master=whale -a master_port=1058 -a platform=rspcsmp
```
To configure the NIM client package on a machine that will use an IPL ROM emulation in device /dev/fd0, such that it will be known as octopus in the NIM environment and uses tr0 as its primary interface and a ring speed of 16, and communicates with the NIM master using the master's hostname of dolphin and a port number of1700 for client communications and 1701 for client registration, type:
```
niminit -a iplrom_emu=/dev/fd0 -a name=octopus -a pif_name=tr0 \
-a ring_speed=16 -a master=dolphin -a master_port=1700 \
-a registration_port=1701
```
To configure this machine as an alternate_master with the NIM master dolphin and communicate over interface en0, type:
```
niminit -a is_alternate=yes -a name=octopus -a pif_name=en0 \ 
-a cable_type=bnc -a master=dolphin
```

Files

Item	Description
/etc/niminfo	Contains variables used by NIM.