AIX System Administration - Part I
Course Code: ASA1
Duration: 5 days
AIX System Administration - Part I Course Overview
This IBM AIX System Administration training course is designed to give delegates practical experience in the administration of an AIX System. Reference will be made to the AIX commands required to administer the system, although practical work, where applicable, will concentrate on using the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) to achieve the course objectives.
Similarly, the course is targeted to closely follow the official IBM AIX curriculum for certification.
Although the course is based on AIX Version 7.1 it is also appropriate for prior releases of AIX.
Exercises and examples are used throughout the course to give practical hands-on experience with the techniques covered.
Course Objectives
On completion of the AIX System Administration - Part I course the delegate will have practical experience of the Systems Management Interface Tool (SMIT), allowing them to administer an IBM AIX System.
Who will the Course Benefit?
The course is designed for AIX System Administrators and Programmers and other Technical IT staff who require a full working knowledge of how to administer an AIX system.
Skills Gained
The delegate will learn and acquire skills as follows:
- Introduction to the P-series and AIX
- System Startup and Shutdown Procedures
- Using the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT)
- IBM Systems Director Console
- AIX Documentation
- Software Installation and Maintenance
- Managing Devices
- Managing Users and Groups
- AIX Security Features including Role Based Access Control
- Logical Volume Manager (LVM)
- Paging Space
- Managing and Configuring AIX Journaled Filesystems
- Backup and Restore Commands
- Background Jobs and Scheduling
- Basic Network Configuration
- NFS (Network File Systems)
- Introduction to Workload Partitions (WPAR)
AIX System Administration - Part I Training Course
Course Introduction
- Administration and Course Materials
- Course Structure and Agenda
- Delegate and Trainer Introductions
Session 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE P-SERIES AND AIX
- A Brief History
- RISC Technology
- IBM Power Systems Road Map
- The AIX Operating System
- Useful Commands
Session 2: STARTUP AND SHUTDOWN
- Normal Startup
- The Boot Sequence
- The INIT Process
- AIX Run Levels
- The System Resource Controller
- The ALOG Logging Utility
- System Shutdown Methods
- Workshop Session
Session 3: AIX ADMINISTRATION TOOLS
- System Management Tools
- SMIT
- SMIT Dialogue Screens
- SMIT Special Characters And Keys
- SMIT and Functions Keys
- SMIT Output Screen
- Recording SMIT Sessions
- The smit Command
- Workshop Session
Session 4: AIX ON-LINE DOCUMENTATION
- AIX Documentation
- The man Command
- Web Based IBM AIX Documentation
- Infocenter
- Anatomy of the Infocenter
- Workshop Session
AIX System Administration - Part I Training Course
Session 5: SOFTWARE INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE
- Software Installation
- Software - Units of Installation
- Bundles
- Naming Conventions
- Installation Directories
- Update and Maintenance Bundles
- The Fix Level Recommendation Tool (FLRT)
- Software States
- SMIT Installation Menus
- Install and Update Software
- Installing Bundles
- Installing Patches and Fixes
- Finding Out About Installed Software
- Maintaining Software
- Workshop Session
Session 6: DEVICES
- Devices
- Predefined Database
- Customized Database
- Device States
- AIX Location Codes (Non-SCSI Devices)
- AIX Location Codes (SCSI Devices)
- AIX Location Codes VS Physical Location Codes
- Listing Devices
- Configuring Devices
- Manually Configured Devices
- Smit Devices Menu
- The mkdev Command
- The chdev Command
- The rmdev Command
- Useful Device Names to Remember
- Logical Volume Structures
- Documenting Hardware Setup
- Workshop Session
AIX System Administration - Part I Training Course
Session 7: USERS AND GROUPS
- Users and Groups In AIX
- The /etc/passwd File
- Long User and Group Name Support
- Verify and Change User Name Limit
- Verify and Change User Name Limit through the Command Line
- Listing User Information
- Adding a New User
- The /etc/group File
- Registering a New User
- Adding Users
- Adding a Group
- More about Groups
- More about Users
- Removing Users from the System
- Other Useful Commands
- Workshop Session
Session 8: AIX SECURITY FEATURES
- The security Directory
- The /etc/security/passwd File
- The /etc/security/user File
- The /etc/security/login.cfg File
- The /etc/security/group File
- Security Audit File
- Losing the Root User's Password
- Role Based Access Control
- Privileged Escalation with Set User
- Identification (SUID)
- Adding a Role to a User
- Creating a User Defined Role
- The Root User and Enhanced RBAC
- Disabling the Root User
- Enabling the Root User
- Disabling root user in WPARs
- Workshop Session
Session 9: THE LOGICAL VOLUME MANAGER
- The Logical Volume Manager
- AIX Disk Storage
- Physical Volumes and LVM
- Volume Group Descriptor Areas
- SMIT and Volume Groups
- Physical and Logical Storage
- Scalable Volume Groups
- Uses of Logical Volumes
- Mirroring
- LVM Hot Spare Disk in a Volume Group
- Enabling Hot Spare Disk Support in an Existing Volume Group
- Striping
- Disk Placement Policies
- Creating and Managing Logical Volumes
- Migrating Contents of Physical Volumes
- Other Useful Commands
- Workshop Session
AIX System Administration - Part I Training Course
Session 10: PAGING SPACE
- What is Paging Space?
- Paging Space Calculations
- Paging Space Placement on Disk
- Listing Paging Space
- Adding Paging Space:
- mkps Command
- smit mkps
- Changing Paging Space:
- chps Command
- smit chps
- Removing Paging Space:
- rmps
- smit rmps
Session 11: AIX FILE SYSTEMS
- AIX Filesystems
- AIX Supported Filesystems
- JFS Structure
- The Enhanced Journaled File System
- Dynamic Disk Inode Allocation
- On-Line File System Free Space Defragmentation
- JFS2 Enhancements
- JFS2 File System Shrink
- Shrink A File System Using Smit
- Disabling JFS2 logging
- JFS2 Snapshot Image
- Overview of JFS2 Snapshot
- Creation of a JFS2 Snapshot
- JFS Internal Snapshot
- Listing File System Information
- AIX 7.1 /admin/tmp System Directory
- Mount Points
- SMIT and Journaled File Systems
- Building A JFS on a Logical Volume
- Managing Existing Filesystems
- Checking and Repairing File Systems
- Removing a File System
- Workshop Session
Session 12: BACKUP AND RESTORE
- Backup and Restore
- Backup Media
- The mksysb and savevg Functions
- The backup Command
- The restore Command
- Using the cpio Command
- The cpio -o Command
- Using the find Command with cpio
- The cpio -i Command
- Using the cpio -p Command
- Using the tar Command
- Creating an Archive
- Reading/Verifying an Archive Further tar Options
- Tape Control Commands
- Workshop Session
AIX System Administration - Part I Training Course
Session 13: SCHEDULING JOBS
- Starting Background Jobs
- The nohup Command
- Using cron Processes
- Creating cron Processes
- Creating crontab Entries
- Using the crontab Command
- The at Command
- Authorisation for the at Command
- Creating a crontab Entry
- Using the at Command
- Workshop Session
Session 14: BASIC NETWORKING
- Overview
- Testing Network Connectivity
- Network Configuration at Boot Time
- Using Ifconfig Commands to Configure a NIC in Aix
- How to Disable/Enable a Network Interface
- Assign an IP, Netmask, and Broadcast to Network Interface
- Using mktcpip Commands to Configure a NIC In Aix
- Difference Between Ethernet Interface(en0) and Ethernet Adapter (ent0)
- Network Addressing
- Routing
- Displaying Routing Tables
- Network Information Files
- Network Commands
- User Equivalence
- Displaying Network Details
- Copying File
- Executing Remote Commands
Session 15: NFS
- NFS Terminology
- NFS Server and Client Environment
- Server Side NFS
- Client Side NFS
- Setting Up NFS Using SMIT
Session 16: INTRODUCTION TO WORKLOAD PARTITIONS (wpars)
- What are Workload Partitions?
- System WPARs
- System WPARs Observations
- System WPAR Examples
- WPAR File Systems
- Starting a WPA
- Logging in to a WPAR
- Stopping a WPAR
- Rebooting a WPAR
- Changing a WPAR
- Removing a WPAR
- Application WPARs
- Application WPARs Observations
- Application WPAR Examples
- Application / System WPAR Comparisons
- Workshop Session
AIX System Administration - Part I Training Course
Session 20: Appendix A
- AIX TECHNOLOGY LEVELS AND SERVICE PACKS
Session 21: Appendix B
- LOGICAL VOLUME SPREADING
- Course technical content is subject to change without notice.
- Course content is structured as sessions, this does not strictly map to course timings. Concepts, content and practicals often span sessions.
Examinations
This course together with the AIX Basics and AIX System Administration - Part II courses are an excellent choice for delegates preparing to take the following exam:
- Exam S1000-007 IBM AIX v7 Administrator Specialty
Attending these courses and studying the associated reference materials can form part of the preparation to achieve certification. Experience, practice, self-study and aptitude are also key requirements for exam success.
Before taking any exam, ensure you have the recommended experience. The IBM website lists all exam requirements and these are updated regularly.
Exams are not included as part of the course.
Requirements
This AIX System Administration - Part I course assumes good knowledge of a Unix operating system in an Enterprise environment to the level covered in the AIX Basics course. Alternatively, relevant experience of Unix or Linux servers is required, preferably within an Enterprise environment.
Knowledge of AIX Shell Programming to the level covered on the AIX Shell Programming course would also be beneficial but is not essential. This skill can be gained by attending the AIX Shell Programming course.
Pre-Requisite Courses
Further Learning
Course Reviews
Great course with useful examples and a fantastic instructor. Really enjoyed this course and would recommend.
Anthony - Application support/sever ops - Government
The content covered in this course will assist me greatly in carrying out my current role and expanding my knowledge of AIX systems. The trainer was excellent in his detailed explanations and support when carrying out practical work and answering any questions. I would definitely recommend this course to colleagues and it has been a pleasure learning with your institution.
Cherice - Unix Systems Administrator - Finance
A great course delivered at a good pace by a very enthusiastic instructor. Would definitely recommend.
Aidan - IT Consultant - Finance
Very good course for a beginner to AIX, with the trainer having excellent knowledge.
Alan - Computer Operator - Finance
Very good course for new sys admins. Kept relevant to IBM exams. Great instructor - with free entertainment thrown in!
Harmeet - Jnr AIX systems administrator - Finance
Very good course, an excellent lecturer who kept course moving at a good pace all week and as importantly, 'interesting' and interactive.
Paul - Operations Support - Finance
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