Quick reference guide. Practice with the NIM Administration Quiz or read the NIM troubleshooting article on Medium.

AIX OS: NIM Administration

Learn Network Installation Manager (NIM), mksysb deployment, backup restoration and enterprise automation in AIX environments.

Overview Prerequisites Ports NIM Master Resources NIM Client Objects Bos Install

What is NIM?

NIM (Network Installation Manager) is an AIX administration framework used for centralized OS deployment, backup restoration, software installation and automation.

NIM allows administrators to deploy mksysb images and manage multiple AIX systems from a central server.

Common NIM Uses:

1. OS Deployment
2. mksysb Restore
3. Patch Management
4. Centralized Backup
5. Network Boot
6. Automation

NIM Prerequisites

AIX 7.1 TL3 or later
Minimum 1 GB free disk space
Root user access
NIM filesets installed
Required network connectivity

Check NIM Filesets

lslpp -l | grep -i nim

Install NIM Package

installp -e bos.sysmgt.nim.master
installp -u bos.sysmgt.nim.master

Required NIM Ports

Firewall communication must be enabled between NIM Server and NIM Client.

bootps     = 67/udp
tftp       = 69/udp
sunrpc     = 111/tcp,udp
nfs        = 2049/tcp
nimclient  = 702/tcp,udp
nimreg     = 1059/tcp

NFS and RPC services are mandatory for successful mksysb deployment.

NIM Master Configuration

Initialize NIM Master

nimconfig -a pif_name=en0 \
-a netname=jalnim \
-a platform=chrp \
-a netboot_kernel=mp \
-a cable_type=tp

Verify Installation

lslpp -l bos.sysmgt.nim.master

Check NIM Objects

lsnim -l

NIM Resource Creation

Create lpp_source

nim -o define -t lpp_source \
-a server=master \
-a location=/export/lpp_source/AIX71 \
lpp_source_AIX71

Create SPOT

nim -o define -t spot \
-a server=master \
-a source=lpp_source_AIX71 \
-a location=/export/spot/AIX71_spot \
spot_AIX71

Create mksysb Resource

nim -o define -t mksysb \
-a server=master \
-a location=/export/mksysb/client_mksysb \
mksysb_client

NIM Client Configuration

Create Network Object

nim -o define \
-a net_addr=10.95.8.121 \
-a snm=255.255.255.224 \
-t ent network_client

Add Gateway

nim -o change \
-a routing1="default 10.95.8.49" \
network_client

Standalone Machine Creation

Add Entry in /etc/hosts

192.168.1.1 nim_master.example.com nim_master
192.168.1.2 nim_client.example.com nim_client

Create Standalone Client

nim -o define -t standalone \
-a if1="network_client nim_client 0" \
-a cable_type1=tp \
-a netboot_kernel=mp \
-a connect=nimsh \
nim_client

Reset Client (optional, before bos_inst)

nim -Fo reset nim_client

BOS Install Configuration

Create bosinst.data File

touch /nim_data/nim/nim_client/bosinst.data

Create bosinst_data Object

nim -o define -t bosinst_data \
-a server=master \
-a location=/nim_data/nim/nim_client/bosinst.data \
nim_client_bosinst

Allocate Resources and Start Restore

nim -o bos_inst \
-a source=mksysb \
-a spot=spot_AIX71 \
-a bosinst_data=nim_client_bosinst \
-a accept_licenses=yes \
-a mksysb=mksysb_client \
nim_client

System will boot through network and start mksysb restoration automatically.

Start NIM Administration Quiz