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I'm trying to set up nim to do mksysb restores of existing servers for
a test at Sungard. This is the first time I have set up nim. I have
it on a server running AIX 53 ML4. I've been able to create mksysb
resources for all the servers and have their mksysb's on the master.

I made spot and lpp_source's for the os levels of my servers (mostly
5.3) from CD and I see it put spot files under /tftpboot. But when I
made the mksysb resources, nothing for the servers showed up under
/tftpboot. As a result, I can't restore the server from the SMS menu
because I think it is looking for a file with that hostname under
/tftpboot. I guess I missed a configuration step somewhere. How do
you get the tftpboot files for each server to generate?

rstorch1@netzero.net wrote:
> I'm trying to set up nim to do mksysb restores of existing servers for
> a test at Sungard. This is the first time I have set up nim. I have
> it on a server running AIX 53 ML4. I've been able to create mksysb
> resources for all the servers and have their mksysb's on the master.
>
> I made spot and lpp_source's for the os levels of my servers (mostly
> 5.3) from CD and I see it put spot files under /tftpboot. But when I
> made the mksysb resources, nothing for the servers showed up under
> /tftpboot. As a result, I can't restore the server from the SMS menu
> because I think it is looking for a file with that hostname under
> /tftpboot. I guess I missed a configuration step somewhere.
You have a misunderstanding how nim works
...

To get an understanding of NIM you should read:
1) AIX 5.3 Installation Guide - AFAIK it contains a section for nim
installation
2) NIM: From A to Z in AIX 4.3
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg245524.pdf
Its for AIX 4.3 but still imho a good book to get a little bit deeper
into nim

Some basic:
First: Almost al NIM object are POINTER to a valid and existing FILE

Filesystems:
/tftpboot:
Contains the kernels for platform type and supported os version.
Normaly created during a spot creation.
If you setup a client via NIM for installation a link in /tftpboot is
created which starts with the client name and points to a kernel.

/export/lpp_source: ( Or any direrectory you choice for NIM )
Contains the LPP sources meaning its a software repository

/export/spot
Contains for each configured spot a ./usr filesystem. Its needed for
network installation since the kernel is only the kernel and not a
minimal working aix environment

/export/mksysb
Contains mksysb images from clients with can be used for installation.

Installation
Prerequisets:
1) Allocating all needed NIM resource for the particula client and
actived within NIM the client for installation.
2) Set on the client the correct ip parameters and boot the machine

The client boot process does:
1) Get via bootp the information about the boot image name
2) Load via tftp the kernel and start the kernel
3) Start the installation

Depending on the configuration on the nim master for the client the
installation is normaly done from a lppsource ( new installation ) or
from a mksysb ( recovery / cloning )

So to get back to your original problem:
A mksysb has nothing todo with the kernel files in /tftpboot
( For the advanced users: I am setting aside the point of creating a
spot from a mksysb thus also a kernel - might confuse the OP )

See please read the above mentioned guide and get a better
understanding before you continue to get lost with NIM

hth
Hajo