Advanced AIX administration overview

Copyright IBM Corporation 2011 Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of IBM.

6.0

Unit objectives
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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

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Application outages
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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

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Maintenance window tasks

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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

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Effective problem management

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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.

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Before problems occur

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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

System System documentation documentation

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Before problems occur: A few good commands

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lspv lscfg prtconf lsvg lsps lsfs lsdev getconf bootinfo snap

Lists physical volumes, PVID, VG membership Provides information regarding system components Displays system configuration information Lists the volume groups Displays information about paging spaces Gives file system information Provides device information Displays values of system configuration variables Displays system configuration information (unsupported) Collects system data
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Steps in problem resolution

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1.Identify the problem 2. Talk to users to define the problem 3. Collect system data 4. Resolve the problem

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Progress and reference codes

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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)

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Reference codes at IBM Information Center

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http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/eserver
Select Hardware Information Center > Systems Hardware information

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Working with AIX support

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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
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AIX support test case data (1 of 2)

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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.>

This step will create # snap c /tmp/ibmsupt/snap.pax.Z. # cd /tmp/ibmsupt # mv snap.pax.Z \ PMR#.b<branch#>.c<country#>.snap.pax.Z

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AIX support test case data (2 of 2)

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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
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AIX software update hierarchy

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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
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Relevant documentation
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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

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Checkpoint
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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.
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Checkpoint solutions
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1. 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.
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Exercise: Advanced AIX administration overview

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Recording system information Finding reference code documentation Creating a snap file

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Unit summary
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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

Copyright IBM Corporation 2011