Originally posted by: pdonnelly

Hello All,

I am new to AIX and have just unwillingly inherited an AIX enviroment to assume responsibility for. I know Unix and Linux but AIX is a little different. The developers who use this box say they need AIX 5.3-03 for some Java compiling or what have you... I cannot find any info on how to update or upgrade the system. I see under the software downloads for the server on IBMs support site that there are service packs, are these what I need? If so how do I install them and how do I make sure they are specifically 5.3-03, picky developers want this specific system. Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks,
Pat

Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Hi,

If I understand your requirement correctly, I think they are asking you upgrade the Technology level (TL) of your AIX Machine.

Including the TL, you need to check with the them that what's the Service pack they need on TL3.

Provide the following information's. Let me try to help you on this activity.

what's your current oslevel ? - Execute "oslevel -s"
Do you have mirrored root disk ? - "lsvg -p rootvg"
Do you have any fileset's inconsistency ? -

"lppchk -v"
instfix -i | grep ML
instfix -i | grep SP

Do you have HMC available for this server ?

"lsrsrc IBM.ManagementServer"

Do you have NIM server available on this machine ?

Check on your inventory.

you can download the TL3 and SP (you will get it from application team) from IBM Fixcentral site.

http://www-933.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/aix/selectFixes?release=5.3&function=release

Let me know, if you have any queries on the same.

Kannan.

Originally posted by: pdonnelly

Hello Kannan,

First I just want to start by saying thank you very much for your help.

I ran the commands you asked:

oslevel -s is 5300-00-00

lsvg -p rootvg output is
rootvg:
PV_NAME PV STATE TOTAL PPs FREE PPs FREE DISTRIBUTION
hdisk0 active 542 0 00..00..00..00..00

lppchk -v output is
lppchk: The following filesets need to be installed or corrected to bring
the system to a consistent state:

bos.loc.utf.ZH_CN 4.1.3.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.utf.ZH_CN 4.1.3.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.utf.ZH_CN 4.1.3.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
OpenGL.OpenGL_X.rte.base 5.1.0.50 (not installed; requisite fileset)
OpenGL.OpenGL_X.rte.soft 5.1.0.50 (not installed; requisite fileset)
X11.fnt.ucs.ttf_CN 4.2.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
X11.fnt.ucs.ttf_CN 5.3.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.com.JP 5.2.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.com.JP 4.3.3.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.com.JP 4.1.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.com.bidi 4.1.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.iso.ko_KR 4.3.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.iso.ko_KR 4.1.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.iso.zh_TW 4.1.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.utf.HI_IN 5.0.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.utf.ZH_CN 5.3.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
devices.chrp.IBM.HPS.rte 1.2.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
devices.common.IBM.sni.rte 1.2.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
ldap.client.rte 4.1.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
sysmgt.websm.webaccess 5.3.0.30 (BROKEN)

1. instfix -i | grep ML

All filesets for 5.3.0.0_AIX_ML were found.
Not all filesets for 5300-01_AIX_ML were found.
Not all filesets for 5300-02_AIX_ML were found.
Not all filesets for 5300-03_AIX_ML were found.

instfix -i | grep SP ... nothing.

1. lsrsrc IBM.ManagementServer

Resource Persistent Attributes for IBM.ManagementServer

As far as NIM I dont know.

I guess I just need to update the TL to 3 and that's what they need, I just dont know how to do this. Put it on a CD?
Thanks,
Pat

Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Looks like someone already tried upgrade to TL3 on this server.

This machine does have fileset's inconsistencies. Also does not have mirrored root disk and HMC.

what's your machines Power series ? "prtconf | head"

Also, "lspv | grep -i rootvg"

Are you working from remote or at datacenter where this servers is located.

CD is not required. we can download the full TL3 package from IBM site.

Have you checked with application team or developers that which Service pack they need on TL3 ?
Kannan.

Originally posted by: pdonnelly

System Model: IBM,7046-B50
Processor Type: PowerPC_604e
Number Of Processors: 1
Processor Clock Speed: 375 MHz
CPU Type: 32-bit
Kernel Type: 32-bit
LPAR Info: -1 NULL
Memory Size: 1024 MB
Good Memory Size: 1024 MB
/usr/sbin/prtconf: There is no process to read data written to a pipe.

and

hdisk0 00035a1a72ff700f rootvg active

I am working remote right now but I will be at the data center tomorrow. They want the latest service pack for TL3 installed. I wonder what went wrong when the previous admin tried to upgrade?

I have downloaded the TL3 file from IBM. It is on my local machine right now, should I transfer it over to the AIX system? If so where is the best location to put it?

Thanks again for your help.

Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Okay. what I suspected is correct. This basically a old hardware.

check whether you have any other serial console available for this machine apart from HMC.

Since you don't have console, check you have VGA adapter on the server. If yes, then you can connect a monitor on it.

If the server is not booting after the upgrade, Surely you would need monitor to check the issue.

yeah, you can download the latest service pack for TL3 from IBM site (Make sure you are downloading the full package).. If you have the full package after download check the size, it will be more a GB. If not then, its not the correct download.

Once the download completed then you can keep the package on any machine where the space is available and then you can do NFS mount.

If you have space available on this machine, then you can keep it on this machine on /tmp/TL3SP* and remove it after the activity.

Since you have only one disk on the rootvg, we cannot perform alt_disk_copy process. For the roll back, it will take time.

Note :- You need to take mksysb backup (OS backup) on this machine before performing this task. So that incase, If you met in an issue where you cannot recover. then you can restore the mksysb image.

you can take the mksysb backup on either tape or NIM server.

The following points are the risk for this activity. You can record on this change, if you are following the change management.

1. Outdated Hardware (Check whether IBM is still providing support this hardware)
2. Console / HMC not available
3. Single disk rootvg. we cannot perform alt_disk_copy operation for the fast roll back. So we need to do the mksysb restoration from Tape, it will take time for the roll back.

The previous person who tried to do the upgrade, they are not performed the proper roll back steps.
Kannan.

Originally posted by: alethad

Kannan gave you some really good advice.

Another point I'd like to make is that when installing simple updates such as this TL you're about to do ALWAYS ALWAYS APPLY these filesets. You are really running on the new software version. But the main purpose is when you apply them you can rollback to your previous version. You can do this through the smit install menus. There is a "Remove APPLIED Software". If you commit filesets they are permanent and the only way to rollback is to restore your mksysb.

You cannot apply major updates like going from 5.3 to 6.1.

Hope you got this before you did update.
Good luck.

Originally posted by: alethad

Forgot to say once you've determined the update is performing fine on your system then go back and commit the filesets. You can run as APPLIED as long as you want there is no deadline on that. In fact I don't commit my filesets until the next update.

Best practice is to commit your filesets before each installation. You can install new APPLIED on top of previous APPLIED software but you can't do a rollback if you do which is why you want to always start with committed software.

Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Thanks for adding your points alethad.

Originally posted by: Yuvabose

Explanation you gave is very good. This is highly appreciated. Kannan.

Originally posted by: pdonnelly

Hello All,

Sorry I have been working on other projects for the past week. I am back to the IBM server and have backed up all the data. I tried to upgrade using smitty update_all and used the defaults... and it said successful, I rebooted but oslevel -s still says 5300-00-00. Any advice?

Thanks,
Pat

Originally posted by: alethad

Do a lppchk -v

This will tell you if you have any missing requisites. If you do you'll have to install them to bring your TL3 up to level.

Originally posted by: pdonnelly

Here is the output:

bos.loc.utf.ZH_CN 4.1.3.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.utf.ZH_CN 4.1.3.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.utf.ZH_CN 4.1.3.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
OpenGL.OpenGL_X.rte.base 5.1.0.50 (not installed; requisite fileset)
OpenGL.OpenGL_X.rte.soft 5.1.0.50 (not installed; requisite fileset)
X11.fnt.ucs.ttf_CN 4.2.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
X11.fnt.ucs.ttf_CN 5.3.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.com.JP 5.2.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.com.JP 4.3.3.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.com.JP 4.1.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.com.bidi 4.1.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.iso.ko_KR 4.3.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.iso.ko_KR 4.1.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.iso.zh_TW 4.1.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.utf.HI_IN 5.0.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
bos.loc.utf.ZH_CN 5.3.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
devices.chrp.IBM.HPS.rte 1.2.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
devices.common.IBM.sni.rte 1.2.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)
ldap.client.rte 4.1.0.0 (not installed; requisite fileset)

All these things need to be installed? Where can I find them? Sorry, I am just getting into the world of AIX.

Thank you for your help everyone.

Originally posted by: alethad

You can search thru the set CD's of your base 5.3.0. Or check thru your TL3 you downloaded. You should always say yes to the "Install requisite software" so you don't miss anything.
Put CD's in the drive and go to the smitty install menu and list the files on the media. Or jsut list thru the PATH of the TL3 if you want to search that. Just know that as a general rule TL's do not contain base level software.

If you hit the / you will be prompted for a search pattern so use it to search for your missing req's.

You can get most of this info if not all from Redbooks so I would highly recommend you search those for help first.

Just as an aside technically you can run fine without these pre-req's especially if you know you aren't using those. It just messes with your oslevel. But best practice is not to leave it like that even though on rare occasions you may have to.

good luck.

Originally posted by: pdonnelly

I have looked through both AIX 5.3 discs and listed the software in smitty, and nothing. Not one thing in my list is there. I have googled and googled and I cant find the software anywhere. I don't understand how it can be required but not there...

Does anyone have any suggestions for me as to where I can find some of the software in my list?

Originally posted by: alethad

You looked through the expansion pack CD and the other CD's also just to be sure? And you looked through Fix Central? I'll poke around myself if I can and let you know.

It looks like most of these are language support files.
I just noticed on your original post you have a fileset with the BROKEN status. Have you tried to "Clean up after a Failed or Interupted Install"? The broken one should be fixed after that and possibly the others but can't say for sure.
Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Originally posted by: pdonnelly

Just for the fun of it I tried to update to TL 1 and was successful. I found out what the developers want to do, its install java version "1.6.0_26" or later. Is this possible on AIX 5.3 TL3? I read somewhere only on TL7 I could do this.

Running oslevel -s shows 5300-01-00
I checked through the two CDs I have which are labeled AIX 5.3 Disc 1 and AIX 5.3 Disc 2.

I dont know about the expansions CDs, if those were every around they aren't anymore.

I appreciate all the help, if anyone can tell me how to get Java 1.6.0_26 installed it would be very helpful. I have a feeling I still need to upgrade to a newer TL tho.

Thanks,

Patrick

Originally posted by: pdonnelly

Just for the fun of it I tried to update to TL 1 and was successful. I found out what the developers want to do, its install java version "1.6.0_26" or later. Is this possible on AIX 5.3 TL3? I read somewhere only on TL7 I could do this.

Running oslevel -s shows 5300-01-00
I checked through the two CDs I have which are labeled AIX 5.3 Disc 1 and AIX 5.3 Disc 2.

I dont know about the expansions CDs, if those were every around they aren't anymore.

I appreciate all the help, if anyone can tell me how to get Java 1.6.0_26 installed it would be very helpful. I have a feeling I still need to upgrade to a newer TL tho.

Thanks,

Patrick