AN152g01

Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of IBM. 6.0

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2011

Advanced AIX administration overview


IBM Power SystemsUnit objectives

After completing this unit, you should be able to:

• List the steps of a basic methodology for problem determination

• List AIX features that assist in minimizing planned downtime or shortening the maintenance window

• Explain how to find documentation and other key resources needed for problem resolution


IBM Power SystemsApplication outages• Functional or performance• Avoid unplanned outages with best practices

– Change control– Data security– Capacity planning– High availability design

• Avoid planned outages– Fall-over to backup server – Relocate application (LPAR or WPAR mobility)

• Use maintenance windows– Application stopped versus slow activity– Plan enough time for back-out or recovery– Minimize time needed

• Effective problem determination and recovery


IBM Power SystemsMaintenance window tasks• Minimize time needed for tasks

– Including time to recover from a failed task

• Operating system maintenance– Pre-staging of maintenance– Applying maintenance to alternate rootvg– Applying maintenance with alternate BLV– Reboot to use updated alternate

• System backups– Minimizing rootvg size – Snapshot techniques for user file systems


IBM Power SystemsEffective problem management• Keep system documentation current

• Keep maintenance up to date.

• Use a problem determination methodology.

• If an AIX bug:– Collect problem information.– Open problem report with AIX Support.– Provide snap with information.


IBM Power SystemsBefore problems occur• Effective problem determination starts with a good

understanding of the system and its components.• The more information you have about the normal operation

of a system, the better.– System configuration– Operating system level– Applications installed– Baseline performance– Installation, configuration, and service manuals

Systemdocumentation

Systemdocumentation


IBM Power SystemsBefore problems occur: A few good commands• lspv Lists physical volumes, PVID, VG membership• lscfg Provides information regarding system

components• prtconf Displays system configuration information• lsvg Lists the volume groups• lsps Displays information about paging spaces• lsfs Gives file system information• lsdev Provides device information• getconf Displays values of system configuration

variables• bootinfo Displays system configuration information

(unsupported)• snap Collects system data


IBM Power SystemsSteps in problem resolution

1.Identify the problem

2. Talk to users to define the problem

3. Collect system data

4. Resolve the problem


IBM Power SystemsProgress and reference codes• Progress codes

– Checkpoint during a process such as boot, shutdown, or dump

• System reference codes (SRCs)– Error codes for problems in hardware, firmware, or operating system

• Service request numbers (SRNs)– Indicates the detecting component and error condition detected

• Obtained from:– Front panel of system enclosure– HMC or IVM (for logically partitioned systems)– Operator console message or diagnostics (diag utility)


IBM Power SystemsReference codes at IBM Information Center • http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/eserver

– Select Hardware Information Center > Systems Hardware information


IBM Power SystemsWorking with AIX support• Have needed information ready:

– Name, phone #, customer #, – Machine type model and serial #, – AIX version, release, technology level, and service pack– Problem description, including error codes– Severity level: critical, significant impact, some impact, minimal

• 1-800-IBM-SERV (1-800-426-7378)• Level 1 will collect information and assign PMR number• Route to level 2 responsible for the product• You may be asked to collect additional information to upload• They may ask you to update to a specific TL or SP

– APAR for your problem already addressed– Need to have a standard environment for them to investigate


IBM Power SystemsAIX support test case data (1 of 2)

Run the following (or very similar) commands to gather snap information:

# snap –a

<Copy any extra data to the /tmp/ibmsupt/testcase or the/tmp/ibmsupt/other directory.>

# snap –c# cd /tmp/ibmsupt

# mv snap.pax.Z \PMR#.b<branch#>.c<country#>.snap.pax.Z

This step will create /tmp/ibmsupt/snap.pax.Z.


IBM Power SystemsAIX support test case data (2 of 2)

Upload the information you have captured:

# ftp testcase.software.ibm.com

User: anonymous

Password: <your email address>

ftp> cd /toibm/aix

ftp> bin

ftp> put PMR#.b<branch#>.c<country#>.snap.pax.Z

ftp> quit


IBM Power SystemsAIX software update hierarchy• Version and release (oslevel)

– Requires new license and migration install• Fileset updates (lslpp –L will show mod and fix levels)

– Collected changes to files in a fileset– Related to APARs and PTFs– Only need to apply the new fileset

• Fix bundles– Collections of fileset updates

• Technology level and maintenance level (oslevel –r)– Fix bundle of enhancements and fixes

• Service packs (oslevel –s)– Fix bundle of important fixes

• Interim fixes– Special situation code replacements– Delay for normal PTF packaging is too slow– Managed with efix tool


IBM Power SystemsRelevant documentation• IBM Systems Information Centers entry page:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/eserver– Links to:

• IBM Systems Hardware Information Center• AIX Information Center • IBM i and System i Information Center• IBM Information Center for Linux• IBM Storage Information Center• IBM Systems Directory Information Center

• IBM Redbooks home:http://www.redbooks.ibm.com


IBM Power SystemsCheckpoint 1. What are the four major problem determination steps?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________

2. Who should provide information about system problems?__________________________________________________________________________________

3.True or False: If there is a problem with the software, it is necessary to get the next release of the product to resolve the problem.

4.True or False: Documentation can be viewed or downloaded from the IBM Web site.


IBM Power SystemsCheckpoint solutions1. What are the four major problem determination steps?

The answer is identify the problem, talk to users (to further define the problem), collect system data, and resolve the problem.

2. Who should provide information about system problems?The answer is always talk to the users about such problems in order to gather as much information as possible.

3. True or False: If there is a problem with the software, it is necessary to get the next release of the product to resolve the problem. The answer is false. In most cases, it is only necessary to apply fixes or upgrade microcode.

4. True or False: Documentation can be viewed or downloaded from the IBM Web site.The answer is false.


IBM Power Systems

● Recording system information

● Finding reference code documentation

● Creating a snap file

Exercise: Advanced AIX administration overview


IBM Power SystemsUnit summary

Having completed this unit, you should be able to:• List the steps of a basic methodology for problem

determination

• List AIX features that assist in minimizing planned downtime or shortening the maintenance window

• Explain how to find documentation and other key resources needed for problem resolution

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