Client Configuration and Booting Standalone Diagnostics from the NIM Server
To run standalone diagnostics on a client system from the NIM server, do the following:
1.Remove all removable media (tape or
2.Stop all programs, including the AIX operating system (get help if needed).
3.Turn off the system unit power.
4.Turn on the system unit power.
5.When the keyboard indicator displays (the word keyboard on an ASCII terminal or on a graphical display), press the number 1 key on the keyboard to display the SMS menu.
6.Enter any requested passwords.
7.Depending on the console type, select RIPL or Remote Initial Program Load Setup.
8.Depending on the console type, select Set Address or IP Parameters.
9.Enter the client address, server address, gateway address (if applicable), and subnet mask at the Remote Initial Program Load (RIPL) screen. If there is no gateway between the NIM server and the client, set the gateway address to 0.0.0.0. To determine if there is a gateway, either ask the system network administrator or compare the first 3 octets of the NIM server address and the client address. If they are the same, (for example, if the NIM server address is 9.3.126.16 and the client address is 9.3.126.42, the first 3 octets (9.3.126) are the same), set the gateway address in the RIPL field to 0.0.0.0.
Note: RIPL is located under the main menu in System Management Services
(SMS) and should be referred to for information on setting these parameters.
10.If the NIM server is set up to allow the pinging of the client system, use the ping option in the RIPL utility to verify that the client system can ping the NIM server. Under the ping utility, choose the network adapter that provides the attachment to the NIM server to do the ping operation. If the ping returns with an OK prompt, the client is prepared to boot from the NIM server. If ping returns with a FAILED prompt, the client does not proceed with the boot.
Note: If the ping fails, refer to ″Boot Problems/Concerns″ in the service guide for the system unit. Then follow the steps for network boot problems.
