Chapter 4. Workstation hints and tips
41
The system displays a message similar to the following message:
smtctl: SMT is now disabled. It will persist across reboots if
you run the bosboot command before the next reboot.
4.3 Network Installation Management
Network Installation Management (NIM) is an excellent feature of the AIX 5L operating
system and is important for teams or companies that have a need to install or upgrade many
systems with the same images at the same time.
Some of the benefits of NIM are:
Manageability: NIM enables central localization of software installation images, thus
making backup and administration easier.
Central administration: Administrators can install remote AIX 5L machines without having
to physically attend them.
Scalability: You can install more than one machine at a time, implement a group strategy
of machines and resources, and choose how many machines to install at a time.
Non-prompted installation: NIM provides a function to install systems without having to go
to the machine, thus avoiding the manual machine-by-machine method.
Convenient installations: Installations can be initiated by either the client or master at a
convenient time. For example, if a client is unavailable at the time of the installation, you
can initiate an installation when it is back online, or if there is less traffic on your network at
a certain time, you can initiate the installations to occur then.
In previous versions of AIX 5L, NIM used the
rsh
and
rcmd
commands to perform the remote
execution of commands on clients. These
r-
commands were a potential security exposure
when running on an untrusted network.
AIX 5L Version 5.3 is enhanced by the
nimsh
environment that is part of the
bos.sysmgt.nim.client fileset. It enables the following two remote execution environments:
NIM service handler for client communication: Basic nimsh
NIM cryptographic authentication: OpenSSL
While the basic nimsh is an easy-to-use solution with sufficient security, OpenSSL provides
additional up-to-date cryptographic security.
The original
rsh
or
rcmd
command environments are still supported in Version 5.3 because of
compatibility and ease-of-use reasons.
NIM scripts
To manage many machines, NIM scripting is helpful for administrators to establish a
NIM-based inventory environment. Example 4-2 on page 42 provides a sample script for a
specific client to examine the machine topology and store the result in HTML format.
Note: The boot image must be remade with the
bosboot
command before the next reboot.
