nimol_config Command

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Purpose

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

Note: This command is used only for Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) or Integrated Virtualization Management (IVM) from the Hardware Management Console (HMC).

Syntax

nimol_config [-d DirectoryContainingAIXResources] [-t TargetDirectoryToCopyResources] [-L InstallResourcesLabel] [-s NIMOLServerHostname] [-m RemoteAccessMethod] [-C] [-e] [-l] [-r] [-S] [-U] [-D]

Description

The nimol_config command configures a Linux server to network install a machine with AIX. The command performs the following configuration.
  1. First, the command obtains the hostname and IP address of the Linux server. If no hostname is specified with the -s flag, the command uses the hostname of the local machine and the IP address associated with the hostname. If a hostname and IP address are specified, then the pair is added to the /etc/hosts file, if it does not already exist.
  2. The command then starts the portmap service and nfs server.
  3. The command stores the remote access method in the /etc/nimol.conf file if specified with the -m flag. The default remote access command is /usr/bin/rsh, which is used to communicate with NIMOL clients that have been installed without specifying the -n flag to the nimol_install command.
  4. Next, tftpboot is configured. The /tftpboot directory is created if it does not exist and the /etc/xinetd.d/tftp file is created if it does not exist. Then the command sets disable equal to no in the /etc/xinetd.d/tftp file and restarts xinetd so that the tftp server can handle incoming requests.
  5. The nimol_config command also sets up syslog to accept incoming messages from other machines. Clients pass back status while installing to the syslog server. The /etc/sysconfig/syslog file is modified to include the -r flag in the SYSLOGD_OPTIONS or SYSLOGD_PARAMS variable. Then the command searches /etc/syslog.conf for the first available local log and sets it to write messages to /var/log/nimol.log. Clients write status to this log file, which can be monitored during a client installation. After the changes are made to the syslog configuration files, the service is restarted.
  6. Next, the command sets up the DHCP server to receive bootp requests from AIX clients. The subnet of the NIMOL server is determined and added to the dhcpd.conf file. The options allow bootp, not authoritative, and ddns-update-style none are added if they do not already exist. Existing settings for these options will be overwritten.
  7. Once the services have been configured, the nimol_config command attempts to copy AIX install resources locally, if the -C flag was not passed to the command. The command copys resources from the source directory specified with the -d flag (/mnt/cdrom by default) to the target directory (/export/aix by default). A directory is created (name that matches the LABEL name specified with the -L flag 'default' by default). The command looks in the source directory for the following resources:
    • a SPOT (Source Product Object Tree) directory named /SPOT and a SPOT directory named ispot.tar.Z
    • an lpp_source directory named /lpp_source
    • a mksysb named mksysb or mksysb.bff
    • a boot image named booti.chrp.mp.ent
    • a bosinst.data file named bosinst.data
    • an image.data file named image.data
    • a customization script named cust.script
    • a resolv.conf file named resolv.conf
    A SPOT, boot image, and either mksysb or lpp_source are required.
  8. The target directory is then globally exported unless the -e flag is specified.
  9. If a target directory and label are specified that contain resources, then these resources will be used and no resources will be copied. For example, if the command is passed -t /export/aix -L aix530 and the directory /export/aix/aix530 contains resource, then the command will not attempt to copy resources from the source directory.
  10. After the NIMOL server has been configured, the nimol_config command will not attempt to reconfigure services on the NIMOL server when defining new resource labels.
  11. The command also lists defined resource labels with the -l flag.
  12. Resource labels can be removed by specifying the -r flag with a resource label. The command unexports the directory, if exported, and deletes the directory of the resource label.
  13. When the -U flag is passed, the command attempts to undo any configuration that it has done, such as unconfiguring services.

Flags

Item Description
-C Specifies that the server should only configure services without copying install resources.
-d directory Specifies the source directory that contains the AIX install resources. The default directory is /mnt/cdrom.
-D Runs the command in debug mode.
-e Instructs the command not to globally export the directory of newly created resource label.
-l Lists the defined resource labels available to install a client.
-L label Specifies the label or name to create for the copied resources.
-m method Specifies the remote access method to use when running commands on clients that have been installed without specifying the -n flag to the nimol_install command.
-r Instructs the command to remove the specified resource label.
-s hostname The hostname to use for the NIMOL server. The default is to determine the hostname by running the hostname command.
-S Instructs the command to not configure the syslog service. No status will be logged when clients are installing.
-t directory Specifies the target directory where the AIX install resources will be copied from the source directory. The default directory is /export/aix.
-U Instructs the command to unconfigure the NIMOL server. The command will attempt to undo any configuration that it performed.

Exit Status

Item Description
0 The command completed successfully.
> 0 Error returned.

Security

Configuring the syslog service to accept messages from remote clients can be a security issue. Configure your firewall to only accept syslog messages from known clients.

Examples

  1. To configure the NIMOL server without copying resources, type: 
    nimol_config -C
  2. 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
  3. To configure the NIMOL server and copy resources without configuring syslog and without globally exporting the resource label directory, type: 
    nimol_config -S -e
  4. To list defined resource labels, type: 
    nimol_config -l
  5. To remove the aix530 resource label, type: 
    nimol_config -L aix530 -r

Location

/usr/sbin/nimol_config

Files

Item Description
/etc/nimol.conf Stores configuration information for the command.