Softpanorama (slightly skeptical) Open Source Software Educational Society

May the source be with you, but remember the KISS principle ;-)

AIX for Solaris Administrators

AIX V1, introduced in 1986, was based on System V Release 3. IBM later ported AIX to the RS/6000 platform were it became the primary operating system. In developing AIX, IBM and INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation (whom IBM contracted) also incorporated source code from Berkeley Software Distribution 4.2 and 4.3.

Later IBM and SCO created AIX 5L (project Monterey) which initially included creation of the OS capable of running on Intel hardware too but later was limited AIX5L to Power systems as IBM started its Linux promotion campaign. Project Monterey is still subject of litigation with SCO.  Here is what Wikipedia stated on the subject [IBM AIX (operating system) - Wikipedia]:

AIX V1, introduced in 1986, was based on System V Release 3. IBM later ported AIX to the RS/6000 platform as AIX/6000; since 1989, AIX has served as the RS/6000's primary operating system. In developing AIX, IBM and INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation (whom IBM contracted) also incorporated source code from Berkeley Software Distribution 4.2 and 4.3.

In the SCO v. IBM lawsuit filed in 2003, the SCO Group alleged that (among other infractions) IBM misappropriated licensed source code from UNIX System V Release 4 for incorporation into AIX; SCO subsequently withdrew IBM's license to develop and distribute AIX. IBM maintains that their license was irrevocable, and continues to sell and support the product pending the outcome of litigation.

AIX is sufficiently different than Solaris, especially when it comes to things like starting and stopping daemons started from init. User and group management is completely different too. The AIX equivalent of Jumpstart is Network Installation Manager.

AIX claims "linux affinity" and it is partially true as for compilation but mostly this is just a marketing trick -- AIX is probably the most distant form linux flavor of Unix I ever encounter.  It is actually extremly idiosyncratic and is distant from any other flavor of Unix too. A lot of AIX features and the way of doing things have mainframe roots. While capable and robust OS that has some interesting technical features (LPAR is one)  it probably stands much father from linux then Solaris. 

AIX 5.3 open source support is much weaker then on Solaris and in sense AIX "Linux affinity" looks like a joke: very few OSS packages are available. See AIX Toolbox for Linux Applications

Bash 3.0, sudo and screen are available. MC can also be found in precompiled form. Here is some information about precompiled binaries location of same OSS tools that you might be interested in:

• bash 3.0 is available from IBM AIX Toolbox  
• ksh93 is available but not as a default ksh shell (you need to use the name ksh93, but that's still an improvement over Solaris; like in Solaris the version is old and it's better to replace it with a new one).
• gcc is available from http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/aix/products/aixos/linux/download.html
• Perl seems to be OK (5.8. is installed by default available, later versions can probably be used too) and like in Solaris it is included into 5.1 base distribution. That means that it is supported by IBM.
• screen is available from  IBM AIX Toolbox
• sudo is available from IBM AIX Toolbox  and   UCLA Public Domain Software Library for AIX. Precompiled version from  IBM AIX Toolbox   works fine on AIX 5.3.
• wu-ftp is available from the same source
• gzip is  available from the same source
• ssh is available from the same source
• rpm is installed by default.

Other random observations:

• Nonstandard firewall
• Strange PAM support
• No RBAC (there will be RBAC in AIX 6)
• No zones (there will be Solaris style zones in AIX 6)

Old News ;-)

[Jun 14, 2008] IBM Redbooks PowerVM Virtualization on IBM System p Introduction and Configuration Fourth Edition

10 July 2008 |  www.redbooks.ibm.com

Overview

This IBM® Redbooks® publication provides an introduction to PowerVM™ virtualization technologies on IBM System p™ servers. The Advanced POWER™ Virtualization features and partitioning and virtualization capabilities of IBM Systems based on the Power Architecture® have been renamed to PowerVM.

PowerVM is a combination of hardware, firmware and software that provides CPU, network and disk virtualization. The main virtualization technologies are:

POWER6™ and POWER5™ hardware
POWER Hypervisor™
Virtual I/O Server

Though the PowerVM brand includes partitioning, software Linux® emulation, management software, and other offerings, this publication focuses on the virtualization technologies that are part of the PowerVM Standard and Enterprise Editions.

This publication is also designed to be an introduction guide for system administrators, providing instructions for:

• Configuration and creation of partitions and resources on the HMC

• Installation and configuration of the Virtual I/O Server

• Creation and installation of virtualized partitions

While discussion is focussed on IBM System p hardware and AIX® , the basic concepts can be extended to the i5/OS® and Linux operating systems as well as the IBM System i™ hardware.
This edition has been updated with the new features available with the IBM POWER6 hardware and firmware.

[Jan 30, 2008] The Unix Guardian--AIX 20 Years Down, Many More to Go

Old news, you know ;-)

AIX: 20 Years Down, Many More to Go

Published: January 26, 2006

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

It can be honestly said that IBM had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the Unix market. Not once, but twice. First in 1986 with the RT PC and then again in 1990 with the RS/6000. But starting in 1997, with its first 64-bit PowerPC processors and a substantially improved AIX 4.3, Big Blue became a credible Unix player. While IBM's RS/6000, pSeries, and p5 servers have to take a lot of credit for the ascendancy of the AIX platform in the Unix space, the AIX Unix variant, which turned 20 last week, deserves some of the credit.

I said some. You cannot underestimate the effect of IBM's Power-based server hardware on its success in the Unix market. In the past few years, through brutal price and performance competition, IBM has pulled alongside Unix juggernauts Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard. That price competition has been enabled, in part, by the sharing of a common Power-based platform with the iSeries line, which runs the OS/400 and i5/OS operating systems. IBM has a monopoly on this iSeries platform, and it can charge a pretty hefty premium for the hardware and software used in the iSeries, which allows it to aggressively price its similar AIX-based Power platforms. Without the iSeries, IBM would not have been able to be as aggressive in the Unix market. Period. Unfortunately for IBM, the iSeries market has shrunk by half because the need to charge such a high premium to subsidize its Unix server business has made the iSeries uncompetitive with alternative entry Windows, Unix, and Linux platforms. iSeries customers love their RPG and COBOL applications and their DB2/400 database, but love can only be so expensive. In any event, because of IBM's aggressive roadmap, the iSeries buffer, and the delivery of dynamic logical partitioning and other sophisticated technologies in the AIX-p5 product line in the summer of 2004, IBM took the lead in the Unix server market and accounts for most of the growth this market saw last year.

This is truly remarkable for such a former also-ran in the Unix space. And it seems likely that even if Sun can stabilize its Solaris platform sales as it shifts increasingly to Opterons and new product lines like the "Niagara" Sparc T1s and if HP can grow its HP-UX sales on Integrity, IBM will, from here on out, remain neck-and-neck with the former leaders in the Unix space. This will be a three-horse race for a long, long time unless something radical happens. IBM will continue to rely on its hardware to give it an edge--although for many workloads, AMD's Opteron processors will give the Power5 and Power5+ chips a run for the money and IBM may not retake a solid lead until the Power6 chip comes out in 2007.

So what is in store of AIX in the coming years, and how will IBM use its Unix operating system to further differentiate its pSeries family servers? According to Satya Sharma, who holds the title of distinguished engineer and who has been in charge of AIX development in the Austin, Texas, labs where many Power chips and AIX were developed, Big Blue has big plans for AIX. Sharma should know. He has been working on AIX in one form or another since 1993, when IBM developed its RS/6000 PowerParallel machines (remember Deep Blue playing chess?), and has been in charge of AIX since 2000, when IBM was readying AIX 5L for market on its Power4 dual-core processors.

Because IBM is so gung-ho about the open source Linux operating system, it is easy for AIX to get drowned in the Linux cacophony. Linux has run in partitions or as a standalone operating system across its entire eServer product line for the past several years and accounts for a lot of the growth in server sales, particularly on its zSeries mainframes and xSeries X86 and X64 servers and to a lesser extent on its pSeries and iSeries Power machines. Being a community developed, open source operating system has many advantages, Sharma concedes, but IBM also thinks that there are significant advantages to owning both the hardware and operating system platforms. "The Unix server market is a $20 billion market, and the Linux server market is a $7 billion market, and we are going to play in both," explains Sharma. "But AIX is the operating system that IBM controls, and that means as we add features in hardware, AIX can fully exploit those features when they are announced." By contrast, Linux is a community developed operating system, and support for many hardware features often lags the initial release of a new Linux kernel. To be fair, that has more to do with the way hardware vendors like IBM disclose information to the open source community. If IBM gave Linux developers the same lead times it gave its own AIX developers on a new feature, there would be no Linux lag or it would certainly be a lot smaller.

In the fall, IBM quietly announced to customers and partners its Unix Systems Agenda, which lays out IBM's commitment to Unix and delivering server platforms that run it. While not disclosing all of the details in the roadmaps, Sharma says that the current AIX roadmaps go out to 2011, and that IBM plans to put out a new version or release of its Unix platform every two to three years. (The difference between a version and a release is a matter of argument between IBM's technologists and marketeers, and is supposed to be based on how much new functionality is added to AIX. If the technologists had won this argument, then AIX 5.3 would have been AIX 6.0, since it had a lot of new functionality, but given that IBM is on the Power5 chips, marketing clearly wanted AIX 5 and p5 servers to have "five" in their names.)

Sharma says that the next major release of AIX is due in the second half of 2007, which roughly coincides with the delivery of IBM's Power6 processors. He won't say what the name is because IBM has not yet decided. "There will be significant innovations going into this implementation of AIX operating system," says Sharma, "so much so that we are wondering whether or not we should call it AIX 6 or not." It stands to reason that this platform will be called AIX 6, probably without the "L" for Linux because Linux affinity is no longer an issue. People don't want a Linux recompilation environment that sits inside AIX, which is what IBM was peddling in 2001 when AIX 5L first came out and the pSeries platform did not realty support native Linux as yet. What they want is to run Linux, and IBM has dynamic, logical partitioning on its Virtualization Engine hypervisor to do this on both the pSeries and iSeries platforms. Technically, it should be called AIX 5Li, since both Linux and i5/OS (formerly OS/400) run on the p5 servers these days. AIX 6 is cleaner, and given that a new hardware platform is coming, I expect IBM to peddle AIX 6, i6/OS, and Linux 2.6 on the Power6 platforms. (That's a lot of sixes, and don't go all numerological on me.)

Sharma is cagey about what will be in the future AIX, but it is going to have new features that allow operating systems and the applications that run on top of them to be more stable and reliable. "The hardware reliability is getting pretty darned good, and is approaching that of a mainframe," says Sharma. "But the OS and application reliability of Unix"--and he obviously meant all Unixes, not just AIX--"is not as good." To that end, IBM is taking another page out of its mainframe playbook, and it will be adding fault isolation and other z/OS features to AIX. Like other Unixes, AIX has a single address space for the kernel, the file system, and the drivers. With the future AIX, IBM will give these different parts of the operating system their own separate memory spaces, so crashes in one area do not take down the whole operating system, and therefore the applications that run on top of them. Specifically, a feature called "storage keys" for managing these separate memory spaces will be pulled from the mainframe into AIX. According to Sharma, 75 percent of the crashes that all Unix customers experience if Unix were retooled in this manner.

In the meantime, Sharma says that IBM is preparing a maintenance release for the current AIX 5.3 that will be put out some time in the second half of 2006, which will allow the Virtualization Engine hypervisor to span multiple, physically separated servers and allow workloads running in a logical partition on one machine in either AIX or Linux to be passed to another machine's AIX or Linux partitions, on the fly and over the network. This feature is tentatively called "partition relocation," and it is similar in concept to the VMotion feature of VMware's ESX Server for X86 and X64 servers and a similar feature expected in the open source Xen 3.0 hypervisor for X86 and X64 platforms.

 

IBM Wikis - AIX 5L Wiki - Adapter and Device Support

Diagnostic tools

• ethtool - for all LAN devices
• iprutils - for IBM SCSI/RAID controllers
• lputil - for Emulex Fibre Channel HBA
• bcmflashdiag - for Broadcom Ethernet
• scli - for QLogic Fibre Channel HBA

[Nov 6, 2007] nmon performance A free tool to analyze AIX and Linux performance

Free tool

Introduction

The nmon tool is designed for AIX and Linux performance specialists to use for monitoring and analyzing performance data, including:

• CPU utilization
• Memory use
• Kernel statistics and run queue information
• Disks I/O rates, transfers, and read/write ratios
• Free space on file systems
• Disk adapters
• Network I/O rates, transfers, and read/write ratios
• Paging space and paging rates
• CPU and AIX specification
• Top processors
• IBM HTTP Web cache
• User-defined disk groups
• Machine details and resources
• Asynchronous I/O -- AIX only
• Workload Manager (WLM) -- AIX only
• IBM TotalStorage® Enterprise Storage Server® (ESS) disks -- AIX only
• Network File System (NFS)
• Dynamic LPAR (DLPAR) changes -- only pSeries p5 and OpenPower for either AIX or Linux

 

Also included is a new tool to generate graphs from the nmon output and create .gif files that can be displayed on a Web site.

See the README file for more details.

Benefits of the tool

The nmon tool is helpful in presenting all the important performance tuning information on one screen and dynamically updating it. This efficient tool works on any dumb screen, telnet session, or even a dial-up line. In addition, it does not consume many CPU cycles, usually below two percent. On newer machines, CPU usage is well below one percent.

Data is displayed on the screen and updated once every two seconds, using a dumb screen. However, you can easily change this interval to a longer or shorter time period. If you stretch the window and display the data on X Windows, VNC, PuTTY, or similar, the nmon tool can output a great deal of information in one place.

The nmon tool can also capture the same data to a text file for later analysis and graphing for reports. The output is in a spreadsheet format (.csv).

[Nov 6, 2007] Some useful perfomance optimization artciles

• Optimizing AIX 5L™ performance: Tuning disk performance: Check out other parts in this series.
• Two series article Optimizing AIX 5L™ performance: Tuning your memory settings
  • Optimizing AIX 5L™ performance: Tuning your memory settings:
  • Optimizing AIX 5L performance Tuning your memory settings, Part 2
     
• Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Monitoring your CPU: Check out other parts in this series.

AIX commands you should not leave home without

How would I know if I am running a 32-bit kernel or 64-bit kernel?

To display if the kernel is 32-bit enabled or 64-bit enabled, type:

bootinfo -K

How do I know if I am running a uniprocessor kernel or a multiprocessor kernel?

/unix is a symbolic link to the booted kernel. To find out what kernel mode is running, enter ls -l /unix and see what file /unix it links to. The following are the three possible outputs from the ls -l /unix command and their corresponding kernels:

/unix -> /usr/lib/boot/unix_up # 32 bit uniprocessor kernel /unix -> /usr/lib/boot/unix_mp # 32 bit multiprocessor kernel /unix -> /usr/lib/boot/unix_64 # 64 bit multiprocessor kernel

Note:
AIX 5L Version 5.3 does not support a uniprocessor kernel.

How can I change from one kernel mode to another?

During the installation process, one of the kernels, appropriate for the AIX version and the hardware in operation, is enabled by default. Let us use the method from the previous question and assume the 32-bit kernel is enabled. Let us also assume that you want to boot it up in the 64-bit kernel mode. This can be done by executing the following commands in sequence:

ln -sf /usr/lib/boot/unix_64 /unix ln -sf /usr/lib/boot/unix_64 /usr/lib/boot/unix bosboot -ad /dev/hdiskxx shutdown -r

 

The /dev/hdiskxx directory is where the boot logical volume /dev/hd5 is located. To find out what xx is in hdiskxx, run the following command:

lslv -m hd5

 

Note:
In AIX 5.2, the 32-bit kernel is installed by default. In AIX 5.3, the 64-bit kernel is installed on 64-bit hardware and the 32-bit kernel is installed on 32-bit hardware by default.

Hardware

How would I know if my machine is capable of running AIX 5L Version 5.3?

AIX 5L Version 5.3 runs on all currently supported CHRP (Common Hardware Reference Platform)-based POWER hardware.

How would I know if my machine is CHRP-based?

Run the prtconf command. If it's a CHRP machine, the string chrp appears on the Model Architecture line.

How would I know if my System p machine (hardware) is 32-bit or 64-bit?

To display if the hardware is 32-bit or 64-bit, type:

bootinfo -y

 

How much real memory does my machine have?

To display real memory in kilobytes (KB), type one of the following:

bootinfo -r

 

 

lsattr -El sys0 -a realmem

 

Can my machine run the 64-bit kernel?

64-bit hardware is required to run the 64-bit kernel.

What are the values of attributes for devices in my system?

To list the current values of the attributes for the tape device, rmt0, type:

lsattr -l rmt0 -E

 

To list the default values of the attributes for the tape device, rmt0, type:

lsattr -l rmt0 -D

 

To list the possible values of the login attribute for the TTY device, tty0, type:

lsattr -l tty0 -a login -R

 

To display system level attributes, type:

lsattr -E -l sys0

 

How many processors does my system have?

To display the number of processors on your system, type:

lscfg | grep proc

 

How many hard disks does my system have and which ones are in use?

To display the number of hard disks on your system, type:

lspv

 

How do I list information about a specific physical volume?

To find details about hdisk1, for example, run the following command:

lspv hdisk1

 

How do I get a detailed configuration of my system?

Type the following:

lscfg

 

The following options provide specific information:

-p	Displays platform-specific device information. The flag is applicable to AIX 4.2.1 or later.
-v	Displays the VPD (Vital Product Database) found in the customized VPD object class.

 

For example, to display details about the tape drive, rmt0, type:

lscfg -vl rmt0

 

You can obtain very similar information by running the prtconf command.

How do I find out the chip type, system name, node name, model number, and so forth?

The uname command provides details about your system.

uname -p	Displays the chip type of the system. For example, PowerPC.
uname -r	Displays the release number of the operating system.
uname -s	Displays the system name. For example, AIX.
uname -n	Displays the name of the node.
uname -a	Displays the system name, nodename, version, machine ID.
uname -M	Displays the system model name. For example, IBM, 9114-275.
uname -v	Displays the operating system version.
uname -m	Displays the machine ID number of the hardware running the system.
uname -u	Displays the system ID number.

 

AIX

What version, release, and maintenance level of AIX is running on my system?

Type one of the following:

oslevel -r

 

 

lslpp -h bos.rte

 

How can I determine which fileset updates are missing from a particular AIX level?

To determine which fileset updates are missing from 5300-04, for example, run the following command:

oslevel -rl 5300-04

 

What SP (Service Pack) is installed on my system?

To see which SP is currently installed on the system, run the oslevel -s command. Sample output for an AIX 5L Version 5.3 system, with TL4, and SP2 installed would be:

oslevel –s 5300-04-02

 

Is a CSP (Concluding Service Pack) installed on my system?

To see if a CSP is currently installed on the system, run the oslevel -s command. Sample output for an AIX 5L Version 5.3 system, with TL3, and CSP installed would be:

oslevel –s 5300-03-CSP

 

How do I create a file system?

The following command will create, within volume group testvg, a jfs file system of 10MB with mounting point /fs1:

crfs -v jfs -g testvg -a size=10M -m /fs1

 

The following command will create, within volume group testvg, a jfs2 file system of 10MB with mounting point /fs2 and having read only permissions:

crfs -v jfs2 -g testvg -a size=10M -p ro -m /fs2

 

How do I change the size of a file system?

To increase the /usr file system size by 1000000 512-byte blocks, type:

chfs -a size=+1000000 /usr

 

Note:
In AIX 5.3, the size of a JFS2 file system can be shrunk as well.

How do I mount a CD?

Type the following:

mount -V cdrfs -o ro /dev/cd0 /cdrom

 

How do I mount a file system?

The following command will mount file system /dev/fslv02 on the /test directory:

mount /dev/fslv02 /test

 

How do I mount all default file systems (all standard file systems in the /etc/filesystems file marked by the mount=true attribute)?

The following command will mount all such file systems:

mount {-a|all}

 

How do I unmount a file system?

Type the following command to unmount /test file system:

umount /test

 

How do I display mounted file systems?

Type the following command to display information about all currently mounted file systems:

mount

 

How do I remove a file system?

Type the following command to remove the /test file system:

rmfs /test

 

How can I defragment a file system?

The defragfs command can be used to improve or report the status of contiguous space within a file system. For example, to defragment the file system /home, use the following command:

defragfs /home

 

Which fileset contains a particular binary?

To show bos.acct contains /usr/bin/vmstat, type:

lslpp -w /usr/bin/vmstat

 

Or to show bos.perf.tools contains /usr/bin/svmon, type:

which_fileset svmon

 

How do I display information about installed filesets on my system?

Type the following:

lslpp -l

 

How do I determine if all filesets of maintenance levels are installed on my system?

Type the following:

instfix -i | grep ML

 

How do I determine if a fix is installed on my system?

To determine if IY24043 is installed, type:

instfix -ik IY24043

 

How do I install an individual fix by APAR?

To install APAR IY73748 from /dev/cd0, for example, enter the command:

instfix -k IY73748 -d /dev/cd0

 

How do I verify if filesets have required prerequisites and are completely installed?

To show which filesets need to be installed or corrected, type:

lppchk -v

 

How do I get a dump of the header of the loader section and the symbol entries in symbolic representation?

Type the following:

dump -Htv

 

How do I determine the amount of paging space allocated and in use?

Type the following:

lsps -a

 

How do I increase a paging space?

You can use the chps -s command to dynamically increase the size of a paging space. For example, if you want to increase the size of hd6 with 3 logical partitions, you issue the following command:

chps -s 3 hd6

 

How do I reduce a paging space?

You can use the chps -d command to dynamically reduce the size of a paging space. For example, if you want to decrease the size of hd6 with four logical partitions, you issue the following command:

chps -d 4 hd6

 

How would I know if my system is capable of using Simultaneous Multi-threading (SMT)?

Your system is capable of SMT if it's a POWER5-based system running AIX 5L Version 5.3.

How would I know if SMT is enabled for my system?

If you run the smtctl command without any options, it tells you if it's enabled or not.

Is SMT supported for the 32-bit kernel?

Yes, SMT is supported for both 32-bit and 64-bit kernel.

How do I enable or disable SMT?

You can enable or disable SMT by running the smtctl command. The following is the syntax:

smtctl [ -m off | on [ -w boot | now]]

 

The following options are available:

-m off	Sets SMT mode to disabled.
-m on	Sets SMT mode to enabled.
-w boot	Makes the SMT mode change effective on next and subsequent reboots if you run the bosboot command before the next system reboot.
-w now	Makes the SMT mode change immediately but will not persist across reboot.

If neither the -w boot or the -w now options are specified, then the mode change is made immediately. It persists across subsequent reboots if you run the bosboot command before the next system reboot.

How do I get partition-specific information and statistics?

The lparstat command provides a report of partition information and utilization statistics. This command also provides a display of Hypervisor information.

Volume groups and logical volumes

How do I know if my volume group is normal, big, or scalable?

Run the lsvg command on the volume group and look at the value for MAX PVs. The value is 32 for normal, 128 for big, and 1024 for scalable volume group.

How to create a volume group?

Use the following command, where s partition_size sets the number of megabytes (MB) in each physical partition where the partition_size is expressed in units of MB from 1 through 1024. (It's 1 through 131072 for AIX 5.3.) The partition_size variable must be equal to a power of 2 (for example: 1, 2, 4, 8). The default value for standard and big volume groups is the lowest value to remain within the limitation of 1016 physical partitions per physical volume. The default value for scalable volume groups is the lowest value to accommodate 2040 physical partitions per physical volume.

mkvg -y name_of_volume_group -s partition_size list_of_hard_disks

 

How can I change the characteristics of a volume group?

You use the following command to change the characteristics of a volume group:

chvg

 

How do I create a logical volume?

Type the following:

mklv -y name_of_logical_volume name_of_volume_group number_of_partition

 

How do I increase the size of a logical volume?

To increase the size of the logical volume represented by the lv05 directory by three logical partitions, for example, type:

extendlv lv05 3

 

How do I display all logical volumes that are part of a volume group (for example, rootvg)?

You can display all logical volumes that are part of rootvg by typing the following command:

lsvg -l rootvg

 

How do I list information about logical volumes?

Run the following command to display information about the logical volume lv1:

lslv lv1

 

How do I remove a logical volume?

You can remove the logical volume lv7 by running the following command:

rmlv lv7

 

The rmlv command removes only the logical volume, but does not remove other entities, such as file systems or paging spaces that were using the logical volume.

How do I mirror a logical volume?

1. mklvcopy LogicalVolumeName Numberofcopies
2. syncvg VolumeGroupName

 

How do I remove a copy of a logical volume?

You can use the rmlvcopy command to remove copies of logical partitions of a logical volume. To reduce the number of copies of each logical partition belonging to logical volume testlv, enter:

rmlvcopy testlv 2

 

Each logical partition in the logical volume now has at most two physical partitions.

Queries about volume groups

To show volume groups in the system, type:

lsvg

 

To show all the characteristics of rootvg, type:

lsvg rootvg

 

To show disks used by rootvg, type:

lsvg -p rootvg

 

How to add a disk to a volume group?

Type the following:

extendvg VolumeGroupName hdisk0 hdisk1 ... hdiskn

 

How do I find out what the maximum supported logical track group (LTG) size of my hard disk?

You can use the lquerypv command with the -M flag. The output gives the LTG size in KB. For instance, the LTG size for hdisk0 in the following example is 256 KB.

/usr/sbin/lquerypv -M hdisk0 256

 

You can also run the lspv command on the hard disk and look at the value for MAX REQUEST.

What does syncvg command do?

The syncvg command is used to synchronize stale physical partitions. It accepts names of logical volumes, physical volumes, or volume groups as parameters.

For example, to synchronize the physical partitions located on physical volumes hdisk6 and hdisk7, use:

syncvg -p hdisk4 hdisk5

 

To synchronize all physical partitions from volume group testvg, use:

syncvg -v testvg

 

How do I replace a disk?

1. extendvg VolumeGroupName  hdisk_new
2. migratepv hdisk_bad hdisk_new
3. reducevg -d VolumeGroupName hdisk_bad

How can I clone (make a copy of ) the rootvg?

You can run the alt_disk_copy command to copy the current rootvg to an alternate disk. The following example shows how to clone the rootvg to hdisk1.

alt_disk_copy -d hdisk1

 

Network

How can I display or set values for network parameters?

The no command sets or displays current or next boot values for network tuning parameters.

How do I get the IP address of my machine?

Type one of the following:

ifconfig -a host Fully_Qualified_Host_Name

 

For example, type host cyclop.austin.ibm.com.

How do I identify the network interfaces on my server?

Either of the following two commands will display the network interfaces:

lsdev -Cc if

 

ifconfig -a

 

To get information about one specific network interface, for example, tr0, run the command:

ifconfig tr0

 

How do I activate a network interface?

To activate the network interface tr0, run the command:

ifconfig tr0 up

 

How do I deactivate a network interface?

For example, to deactivate the network interface tr0, run the command:

ifconfig tr0 down

[Oct 25, 2007] IBM AIX Toolbox for Linux Applications - GNU and open source tools for AIX

Limited selection but basic things like sudo are available and work on AIX5.3. I tested bash 3.0, screen, expect and sudo.

• IBM AIX Toolbox Download Page - Alphabetical Listing

[Oct 15, 2007] AIX V6 Advanced Security Features Introduction and Configuration

A new redbook. Published on 12 September 2007, Rating: (based on 1 review)

[Jul 19, 2007] Using the GNU C-C++ compiler on AIX

IBM should provide tech support with gcc on your system, but with libraries-hell you are on your own.

AIX 5L Binary Compatibility

IBM provides binary compatibility amongst AIX 5.1, AIX 5.2 and AIX 5.3 versions of the operating system. Therefore applications running on AIX 5.1 or on AIX 5.2 will run on 5.3 as-is if they follow the criteria listed in the IBM’s AIX 5L binary compatibility statement at http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/aix/os/compatibility. With that said, ISVs vary wildly on the processes they use to add support of a new OS release level. Many of the top ISVs run their applications through some form of testing. In most cases they will run them through a subset of their final testing procedures prior to adding support. Many other ISVs, however, review our binary compatibility details and add support based on their applications compliance with our statement. In either case, there is no need to recompile the application to get them to AIX 5.3.

Installing GCC on AIX

... Make sure that you install a version of GCC that corresponds to the AIX release installed on the system. GCC installs private copies of some header files that have to integrate properly with AIX system header files for GCC to function correctly, otherwise running the compiler may produce error messages about header files. The header files should be rebuilt if they do not match. One can delete the header file cache to build a new release of GCC from sources with an old version, but GCC should not be operated without the header file cache.

Website links

For more information on the GNU project and the GCC compiler, see the official web sites at http://gcc.gnu.org/. A list of new features in GCC version 3.3 is at http://gcc.gnu.org/gcc-3.3/changes.html. Similarly, the list of new features in GCC version 3.4.3 is at: http://gcc.gnu.org/gcc-3.4/changes.html.

[Jun 11, 2007] IBM Redbooks AIX 5L Practical Performance Tools and Tuning Guide

This IBM Redbook incorporates the latest AIX 5L performance and tuning tools. It is a comprehensive guide about the performance monitoring and tuning tools that are provided with AIX 5L Version 5.3, and it is the ultimate guide for system administrators and support professionals who want to efficiently use the AIX performance monitoring and tuning tools and understand how to interpret the statistics.

The usage of each tool is explained along with the measurements it takes and the statistics it produces. This redbook contains a large number of usage and output examples for each of the tools, pointing out the relevant statistics to look for when analyzing an AIX system's performance from a practical point of view. It also explains the performance API available with AIX 5L and gives examples about how to create your own performance tools.

This redbook also contains an overview of the graphical AIX performance tools available with AIX 5L and the AIX Performance Toolbox Version 3.0.

This redbook is a rework of the very popular redbook AIX 5L Performance Tools Handbook, SG24-6039, published in 2003.

[Jun 11, 2007] IBM Wikis - AIX 5L Wiki - nmon Manual

nmon is a free performance monitoring tool for AIX and Linux and is downloadable from this Wiki.
This Wiki is the sole place to get nmon.
nmon now includes other tools like

• nmon2rrd tool for creating web pages with the nmon performance data and
• nmonmerge tool for joining save files together.

There is also a free spreadsheet analyser for nmon captured data from Stephen Atkins from

This nmon tool gives you a huge amount of information on one screen and can save data to a comma separated values (.csv) file for latest analyses. This tool runs on:

• AIX 5.1, AIX 5.2 and AIX 5.3 using nmon version 10, this version now supports AIX 5.3 on POWER5 processor based machines with SMT and Shared CPU micro-Partitions
• Linux on POWER based machines using nmon for Linux version 9e like pSeries p5 and OpenPower running Linux versions SUSE SLES 9, Red Hat EL 3 and 4, Debian
• Linux on x86 based machines like using nmon for Linux version 9e Intel and AMD running SUSE 9 & SLES 9, Fedora & RedHat EL 2.1, 3 and 4 and many recent distributions based on the Linux 2.4 or 2.6 kernel
• Linux on zSeries/mainframe machines using nmon for Linux version 9e running SUSE and RedHat
• AIX 4 (4.1.5, 4.2.0 and 4.3.3) using nmon version 9f, this is functionally stabilised and will not be developed further.

Once you have proved these versions are OK, all previous versions of nmon should be deleted.

[Jun 11, 2007] nmon performance: A free tool to analyze AIX and Linux performance

Usage notes: This nmon tool is NOT OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED. No warrantee is given or implied, and you cannot obtain help with it from IBM. If you have a question on nmon, please go on the Performance Tools Forum site (see Resources) so that others can find and benefit from the answers. To protect your email address from junk mail, you need to create a USER ID first (takes 20 seconds at most).

The nmon tool runs on:

• AIX® 4.1.5, 4.2.0 , 4.3.2, and 4.3.3 (nmon Version 9a: This version is functionally established and will not be developed further.)
• AIX 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 (nmon Version 10: This version now supports AIX 5.3 and POWER5™ processor-based machines, with SMT and shared CPU micro-partitions.)
• Linux® SUSE SLES 9, Red Hat EL 3 and 4, Debian on pSeries® p5, and OpenPower™
• Linux SUSE, Red Hat, and many recent distributions on x86 (Intel and AMD in 32-bit mode)
• Linux SUSE and Red Hat on zSeries® or mainframe

The nmon tool is updated roughly every six months, or when new operating system releases are available. To place your name on the e-mail list for updates, contact Nigel Griffiths.

Use this tool together with nmon analyser (see Resources), which loads the nmon output file and automatically creates dozens of graphs.

Introduction

The nmon tool is designed for AIX and Linux performance specialists to use for monitoring and analyzing performance data, including:

• CPU utilization
• Memory use
• Kernel statistics and run queue information
• Disks I/O rates, transfers, and read/write ratios
• Free space on file systems
• Disk adapters
• Network I/O rates, transfers, and read/write ratios
• Paging space and paging rates
• CPU and AIX specification
• Top processors
• IBM HTTP Web cache
• User-defined disk groups
• Machine details and resources
• Asynchronous I/O -- AIX only
• Workload Manager (WLM) -- AIX only
• IBM TotalStorage® Enterprise Storage Server® (ESS) disks -- AIX only
• Network File System (NFS)
• Dynamic LPAR (DLPAR) changes -- only pSeries p5 and OpenPower for either AIX or Linux

Also included is a new tool to generate graphs from the nmon output and create .gif files that can be displayed on a Web site.

See the README file for more details.

[Jun 11, 2007] IBM Wikis - AIX 5L Wiki - nmonanalyser

Usage notes: The nmon_analyser tool is NOT OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED. No warrantee is given or implied, and you cannot obtain help with it from IBM.

The tool currently comes in the form of a spreadsheet for use with Microsoft® Excel™ 2000 or later.

The nmon_analyser tool is designed to work with the latest version of nmon, but it is also tested with older versions for backwards compatibility. The tool is updated whenever nmon is updated, and at irregular intervals for new function. To place your name on the e-mail list for updates, contact Stephen Atkins.

Benefits of the tool

The nmon_analyser tool is helpful in analyzing performance data captured using the nmon performance tool. It allows a performance specialist to:

• View the data in spreadsheet form
• Eliminate "bad" data
• Produce graphs for presentation to clients

The tool also automatically produces graphs for each major section of output.

In addition, the tool performs analyses of the nmon data to produce:

• Calculation of weighted averages for hot-spot analysis
• Distribution of CPU utilization by processor over the collection interval -- useful in identifying single-threaded processes
• Additional sections for IBM TotalStorage® Enterprise Storage Server (ESS) vpaths showing device busy, read transfer size, and write transfer size by time of day
• Total system data rate by time of day, adjusted to exclude double-counting of EMC hdiskpower devices -- useful in identifying I/O subsystem and SAN (Storage Area Network) bottlenecks
• Separate sheets for EMC Corporation (EMC) hdiskpower and ESS DS8000 (formerly FAStT) dac devices
• Analysis of memory utilization to show the split between computational and non-computational pages
• Total data rates for each network adapter by time of day
• Summary data for the TOP section showing average CPU and memory utilization for each command

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/aix/tools/perftools/perfpmr

AIX free perfomance tools (set of shell scripts)

Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 1 Setting up the Java environment

Develop a Java™ application on AIX® and learn how to extend it by using a PHP interface to look at the underlying Java code. It is possible to develop applications that employ both Java and PHP technology on AIX. You can use Java code for the core logic (or redeploy an existing Java-based application), while gaining the benefits of PHP as a Web-based interface platform. This article, the first in a series, examines the basics of the Java environment and PHP integration methods on AIX, provides a quick overview of a sample application that uses this structure, and then looks at the core elements required before you start developing the application itself by installing the Java programming language and Apache Tomcat.

[May 23, 2006] IBM AIX 6 Previewing AIX 6 and open beta program

AIX 6 beta will be available at the end of the year. Stable version of AIX 6 will be available somewhere in 2008. IBM tries to match Solaris 10 feature by feature (they implemented RBAC, Zones, hardware error detection and correction capabilities, DTrace, patch application without rebooting, etc) and provide some useful enhancements to existing Solaris 10 capabilities like live zone migration (called Live Application Mobility).

Imitation is the highest form of flattery you know :-). I hope that linux developers wake up and do the same.

Here are the most important enhancements:

• Workload Partitions (similar to Solaris Zones)

  AIX 6 introduces a new, software-based, virtualization approach called Workload Partitions (WPAR) that complements the existing IBM System Logical Partitions by reducing the number of operating system images that have to be managed when consolidating workloads. Workload Partitions enable the system administrator to consolidate multiple applications inside of a single running instance of AIX 6.

  Each Workload Partition can be separately administered from other WPARs in the system, including separate security and root level user. WPARs obtain a regulated portion of the system resources available to the instance of AIX 6 and share the AIX 6 resources such as kernel resource and I/O.

  • Live Application Mobility  (not yet available in Solaris 10 10/06)
    
    Workload Partitions can also be moved from one system to another without restarting the application or causing significant disruption to the application end user. This capability, called "Live Application Mobility" will be enabled though a separately offered licensed program product, the Workload Partitions Manager that will generally available at the same time as the AIX 6 OS.
     
• Role Based Access Control (Similar to Solaris RBAC)
  Provides improved security and manageability by allowing administrators to grant authorization for management of specific AIX resources to users other than root by associating those resources with a role that is then associated with a particular system user. Role Based Access Control can also be used to associate specific management privileges with programs, which can reduce the need for run those programs under the root user or via setuid.
   
• Secure by Default installation option
  The AIX 6 installation process will offer a new option, Secure by Default that enables only the minimal number of system and network services to provide the maximum amount of security. Secure by Default works best when used in conjunction with the AIX Security Expert to tightly control the security configuration of each system.

• Network Installation Manager support for NFSv4 (NIM is analog of JumpStart)
  The Network Installation Manager (NIM) has been enhanced to provide additional security and flexibility by enabling the use of NFS version 4. NIM can use NVSv4 to provide stronger, Kerberos based security during the installation of AIX 6 and other software.

• Concurrent AIX kernel update
  Concurrent AIX updates provides a new capability to deliver some kernel updates as Interim Fixes that will not require a system reboot to put into effect. This can reduce the number of unplanned outages required to maintain a secure, reliable system.
   
• Dynamic tracing
  AIX 6 provides a new dynamic tracing capability that can simplify debugging complex system or application code. This dynamic tracing facility will be introduced via a new tracing command, probevue, that allows a developer or system administrator to dynamically insert trace breakpoints in existing code without having to recompile the code.
   
• Enhanced software first failure data capture
  One of the key innovations used to improve the reliability, availability and serviceability of the AIX OS is the introduction of First Failure Data Capture (FFDC) technology. First Failure Data Capture, a concept borrowed from the mainframe, gathers diagnostic information about problems at the time the problem occurs-dramatically reducing the need to recreate the problem (and impact performance and availability) at a later time just to generate diagnostic information.

[Apr 12, 2007] AIX Reference for Sun Solaris Administrators

Old but useful Redbook. Also available from Amazon.  See also Quick ReferenceSolaris to AIX

[Dec 7, 2006] IBM New AIX V5.3 training - IBM Training - United States

• Q1314 - AIX 5L System Administration I: Implementation
• Q1316 - AIX 5L System Administration II: Problem Determination
• Q1318 - AIX 5L System Administration III: Performance Management
• Q1320 - AIX 5L System Administration IV: Storage Management
• Q1335 - AIX 5L Kernel Internals
• Q1818 - AIX 5L Jumpstart for UNIX Professionals
• Q1307 - AIX 5L Configuring TCP/IP
• Q1554 - HACMP System Administration I: Planning and Implementation
• Q1370 - pSeries Logical Partitioning (LPAR) for AIX 5L
• Q1371 - AIX CSM Administration
• Q1373 - Logical Partitioning (LPAR) on POWER5 pSeries Systems
• Q1374 - p5 Logical Partitioning (LPAR) for pSeries POWER4 Administrators

[Dec 7, 2006] IBM Training /AIX Security - IBM Training - United States

Course title	Delivery type	Course code	Public price	Public schedule
AIX 5L Configuring TCP/IP	Classroom	Q1307	USD $2,795	Yes
AIX 5L Security I: System Administration	Classroom	AU410	USD $3,195	Yes
AIX 5L Security I: System Administration	Classroom	Q1345	USD $3,195	Yes
AIX 5L Security II: Network Administration	Classroom	AU420	USD $3,995	Yes
AIX 5L Security II: Network Administration	Classroom

[PDF] AIX 5L: Essential Knowledge Guide for Power Users

[Aug 30, 2006] AIX commands you should not leave home without

[Feb 6, 2006] OpenSSH is now bundled with AIX

OpenSSH is a free software tool that supports SSH1 and SSH2 protocols. It's reliable and secure and is widely accepted in the IT industry to replace the r-commands, telnet, and ftp services, providing secure encrypted sessions between two hosts over the ...

Quick ReferenceSolaris to AIX

A User's Guide to UNIX and Workstations

[Mar 07, 2002] The Register IBM preps AIX 5L 5.2 for October release By ComputerWire

IBM is said to be working hard to get the next release of its Unix operating system, AIX 5L V5.2, ready to roll by October of this year, and is expected to deliver the kicker to this release sometime in the second half of 2003, Timothy Prickett Morgan writes.

Historically, IBM puts out a major update to AIX once every two years or so. The annual releases for AIX 5L V5.2 in 2002 and V5.3 in 2003 do not represent IBM ramping up its rate of release on AIX - IBM is cutting in half what it would have delivered by 2003 and doing it in two steps rather than one.

These releases seem to be timed with future Power4-II servers due in late 2002 and Power5 servers, due sometime in the second half of 2003.

Much of the inner plumbing of AIX was replaced with AIX 5L 5.1, which was known under the code-name of Project Monterey until IBM branded it AIX 5L in January 2001.

The L in AIX 5L stands for Linux affinity, which means that many of the Linux APIs are supported within AIX so applications written for Linux can be recompiled to run natively on PowerPC and Power4 processors. IBM had originally intended to offer the ability to run Linux binaries compiled for Intel processors on AIX 5L, but this part of the operating system never got off the ground because of the performance penalties involved with running emulated X86 instructions on the IBM Power chip architecture.

AIX 5l V5.1 includes support for Power4 processors, 32-way symmetric multiprocessing, rudimentary static logical partitions, 256Gb of main memory, and 64-bit AIX kernel and drivers. The prior AIX 4.3 releases supported 24-way SMP and 96Gb of main memory and had support for some 64-bit APIs.

According to sources familiar with IBM's plans, AIX 5L V5.2 will have support for dynamic logical partitions - presumably only on Power4-based pSeries 690 servers, but perhaps also on S-Star PowerPC-based pSeries 680 servers.

These S-Star servers have the electronics that allow dynamic OS/400 and Linux logical partitions on IBM's iSeries (formerly AS/400) line, so it seems possible that IBM could offer dynamic partitions on these machines as well. For all anyone knows, the entire pSeries line running S-Star processors has been given electronics to support dynamic logical partitions. IBM has been mum on this.

AIX 5L V5.2 will also include performance enhancements and tuning specifically for the Power4 processors and will support multipath I/O, something that the iSeries line also has already. AIX 5L V5.2 will also include a new workload manager and various eLiza self-healing enhancements. The October 2002 release of AIX will be limited to 32-way SMP support, which suggests that IBM will not deliver the 64-way Power5 servers until AIX 5L V5.3 begins shipping sometime in the second half of 2003.

AIX 5L V5.3 is expected to coincide with the initial Power5-based servers, which will support 64-way SMP and up to 512Gb of main memory.

It is unclear whether AIX 5L V5.2 or V5.3 will provide NUMA clustering that expands beyond the 32-way or 64-way SMP clustering of the base operating system to provide a single system image for very large databases and application sets.

But one of these two releases is expected to offer such capabilities. The limits of this NUMA clustering are also unknown, but it seems likely that IBM will allow 8, 16, or 32 giant pSeries servers to be clustered in a NUMA configuration for customers who need such capabilities, particularly to support datawarehousing needs.

Fatbrain.com Storefront MQ series books

AIX 5L Version 5.1

Recommended Links

IBM Links

• Comp.Unix.Aix archive
• New AIX 5L Electronic Fix Distribution Services
• Problem reporting
• Service bulletins and security advisories
• Preventive maintenance Troubleshooting
• High performance computing offerings
• IGS services
• Redbooks
• New eServer Support web site
• IBM AIX Home Page
• IBM Technical Journals
• IBM Redbooks
• IBM Redbooks AIX 4.3 Elements of Security Effective and Efficient Implementation
• IBM Redbooks TCP-IP Tutorial and Technical Overview
• How to: Easily Configure TCP/IP on Your AIX System, REDP0103
  Redpaper, published December-18-2000
• Learning Practical TCP/IP for AIX V3.2/V4.1 Users: Hints and Tips for Debugging and Tuning, SG24-4381-00
  Redbook, published May-23-1996
• Beyond DHCP - Work Your TCP/IP Internetwork with Dynamic IP, SG24-5280-01
  Redbook, published January-10-2000
• IBM Certification Study Guide AIX V4.3 System Administration, SG24-5129-00
  Redbook, published May-17-1999
• IBM Certification Study Guide AIX Support, SG24-5139-00
  Redbook, published March-1-1999
• AIX 5L Differences Guide Version 5.1 Edition, SG24-5765-01
  Redbook, published June-6-2001
• AIX 5L and Windows 2000: Side by Side, SG24-4784-02
  Redbook, published June-6-2001
• Running Linux Applications on AIX, SG24-6033-00
  Redpiece, last update June-12-2001
• IBM Certification Study Guide AIX Installation and System Recovery, SG24-6183-00
  Redbook, published December-21-2000
• IBM Certification Study Guide AIX Problem Determination Tools and Techniques, SG24-6185-00
  Redbook, published December-21-2000

Redbooks

AIX EXTRA: Migrating from Solaris to AIX This is the first in a two-part series. Part two will cover some key differences system administrators will find between Solaris and AIX and provide resources that can introduce Solaris administrators to the AIX environment.

Quick Reference: Solaris to AIX Use this reference to contrast the AIX Version 5.1 and Solaris 8 operating systems.

AIX Reference for Sun Solaris Administrators This redbook is written for Sun Solaris administrators who want to transfer their knowledge of Solaris UNIX skills to the AIX 5L operating system.

All about AIX Learn how AIX 5L compares to what you're used to, and how it's beyond compare.

Migrating Solaris Applications to AIX White paper reviews various migration scenarios.

A Secure Way to Protect Your Network: IBM SecureWay Firewall for AIX V4.1, SG24-5855-00
Redbook, published November-19-1999

Additional AIX Security Tools on IBM e(logo)server pSeries, IBM RS/6000, and SP/Cluster, SG24-5971-00
Redbook, published December-20-2000, last updated January-19-2001

Elements of Security: AIX 4.1, GG24-4433-00
Redbook, published September-29-1994

AIX 4.3 Elements of Security Effective and Efficient Implementation, SG24-5962-00
Redbook, published August-18-2000

Reference

Quick Reference Solaris to AIX

Disks and Filesystems

Transition from Solaris to AIX

Aix Security

***** Strengthening AIX Security A System-Hardening Approach

**** IBM AIX- AIX Service Provider Utility Pack - interesting (2000 update is obsolite)

Geocrawler.com - fw-1 - [FW1] Guide for Hardening AIX.

IBM Redbooks Additional AIX Security Tools on IBM e(logo)server pSeries, IBM RS-6000, and SP-Cluster Chapter 8 is good.

AIX Network Hardening Kit from Reg Quinton,

There is a security principle that says you should Configure computers to provide only selected network services (CERT® Coordination Centre). The basic idea is this: every network service you offer is an opportunity for the bad guys (alternatively a risk to your system). That's not to say that you shouldn't offer any services -- a mail server that doesn't offer mail services isn't very useful. Instead, the principle says you should have a good understanding of network services and you should not offer any service unless there are very good reasons for doing so. This paper is a discussion of network hardening measures for AIX 4.3 -- an application of the security principle.

Some security packages address the problem by stripping all (or nearly all) network services and then instruct you to be careful about what you add to the system. That's a great approach but requires that you "get your hands on" the system before anyone layers anything onto it and you understand what you're adding to the system when you add it back in. Two conditions that don't apply at many sites.

The approach here is different. We consider services offered by the AIX 4.3 operating system, try to explain what each does, note the risks involved with each and make recommendations about what one ought to do to mitigate the risk. For each issue discussed a hardening tool (a shell script) is provided to handle the issue. Typically, the issue is handled by removing a service that you don't need. Several policies are provided to harden typical systems and an implementation tool is provided to enforce the policy.

A traditional Unix tar kit containing all scripts to harden each issue discussed, sample polices and a driver to implement policies is available here.

*** Unix Aix Computer Security Servers Risc 6000 Hardening checklists  complied by Daniel Fidel Ferrer -- just links

Steps for Recovering from a UNIX or NT System Compromise
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/win-UNIX-system_compromise.html

How to Examine a Unix Box for Possible Compromise
http://www.sans.org/newlook/resources/IDFAQ/unixbox.htm

Rootkits: Hiding a Successful System Compromise
http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/College/unix/docs/rootkit.html

Compromise FAQ
http://xforce.iss.net/security_library/faqs/compromise.php

CERT
http://www.cert.org/
Plus, Phone - CERT/CC hotline
412-268-7090 (24-hour hotline)
CERT/CC personnel answer 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. EST(GMT-5) / EDT(GMT-4) on working days; they are on call for emergencies during other hours and on
weekends and holidays.

General Aix technical support
http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/server/support

IBM Support and Downloads:
http://www.ibm.com/support/

Aix problem solving
http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/server/solveproblems

IBM Downloads and drivers search
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/download_search.html

AIX 4.3 System and Product Libraries
http://www.rs6000.ibm.com/doc_link/en_US/a_doc_lib/aixgen/

Aix Glossary - large.
http://www.rs6000.ibm.com/doc_link/en_US/a_doc_lib/aixuser/glossary/toc.htm

FAQ AIX November, 2000
http://www.emerson.emory.edu/services/aix-faq/

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

IBM Redbooks you should have:
1) Elements of Security: AIX 4.1, GG24-4433-00.
2) AIX 4.3 Elements of Security Effective and Efficient Implementation, SG24-5962-00.
3) Additional AIX Security Tools on IBM pSeries, IBM RS/6000, and
SP/Cluster, SG24-5971-00
4) TCP/IP Tutorial and Technical Overview, GG24-3376-06
5) IBM Certification Study Guide AIX Installation and System Recovery.

Aix Security Alerts SANS
http://www.sans.org/newlook/digests/SAC/AIX.htm

Choosing good passwords
http://www.auscert.org.au/Information/Auscert_info/Papers/good_password.html

UNIX Configuration Guidelines
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/unix_configuration_guidelines.html

Security software tools
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/security_tools.html

UNIX Security Checklist v2.0
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/usc20_full.html

National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC)
http://www.nipc.gov/

National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) CyberNotes
http://www.nipc.gov/cybernotes/cybernotes.htm

The Twenty Most Critical Internet Security Vulnerabilities (Updated)
The Experts' Consensus Version 2.501 November 15, 2001
http://www.sans.org/top20.htm

IT World Unix security articles
http://www.itworld.com/nl/unix_sec/

INFOSYSSEC
The Security Portal for Information System Security Professionals
http://www.infosyssec.com/infosyssec/unixsec1.htm

FAQ: Network Intrusion Detection Systems March 2001
http://www.ticm.com/kb/faq/idsfaq.html

Google Groups E-mail:
http://groups.google.com/

General Computer Security Information
http://www.alw.nih.gov/Security/

Security Software from NIH
http://www.alw.nih.gov/Security/security-prog.html

General Security Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) NIH
http://www.alw.nih.gov/Security/security-faqs.html

General Miscellaneous Documents Security from NIH
http://www.alw.nih.gov/Security/security-docs.html

Computer Security News Daily
http://www.MountainWave.com/

Security Daily News and Indexes
http://www.sse.ie/securitynews.html

Internet Security Systems X-force Alerts
http://xforce.iss.net/alerts/

Internet Weekly Security and Management
http://www.internetwk.com/browse/management.htm

The Computer Security Division (CSD) of NIST
Additional Government links. Cryptographic stuff
http://csrc.ncsl.nist.gov/

SSH
http://www.openssh.com/

OpenSSH including Aix
http://www.openssh.com/portable.html

SSH Manual pages
http://www.openssh.com/manual.html

TCP Wrappers
ftp://ftp.porcupine.org/pub/security/

PGP
http://www.pgpi.org/

MD5 hash
ftp://coast.cs.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/crypto/md5/

Tripwire 1.3
ftp://coast.cs.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/ids/tripwire/

Anzio
http://www.anzio.com/

IBM AIX Version 5:

• AIX 5L for Itanium-based Systems
• AIX 5L Version 5.1 Operating System
• IBM UNIX
• IBM Project Monterey: Overview
• IBM AIX: The Future Of IBM's Enterprise UNIX Fact Sheet

IBM AIX and Linux Together:

• AIX, Linux draw closer together
• AIX, Linux draw closer together | Computerworld News & Features Story
• AIX, Linux draw closer together, 01/12/01