IBM AIX 4.3 Migration installation, New and complete overwrite installation, Migration methods

Models: AIX 4.3 AIX5L

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2.3.1 Migration installation

2.3.1 Migration installation

Migration installation is the default method to move from AIX 3.2 or any release of AIX Version 4 to AIX 5L. During a migration, the installation process determines which optional software products are installed on the existing version of the operating system. Any configuration file that cannot be migrated will be saved in a specific directory under /tmp. System messages will inform you of the location of the saved files. Information will also be stored in the system installation log /var/adm/ras/devinst.log.

The migration process attempts to preserve all user configuration, while moving the operating system to a new level of software.

The advantage of a migration installation compared to a new and complete overwrite is that many files are preserved. This includes almost all directories, such as /home, /var, /usr, the root volume group, logical volumes, system configurations, and previously installed software. The only file system that will be refreshed after the migration is /tmp. You can easily avoid losing information you have stored in this directory by copying the important information to another directory before the migration and move it back afterwards. Additionally, after the migration, you can import your user volume groups. It is probably the easiest way to upgrade your system to AIX 5L while maintaining all customized information and configuration. Another migration advantage, especially if you need to minimize the downtime of your system, is that there are fewer reconfiguration tasks to perform when the migration process has completed.

If an application has the requirement to use a large file system in a server environment (up to 32 TB) you must use the JFS2 file system, which was introduced with AIX 5L. By doing a migration installation to move from AIX 4.3.3 to AIX 5L, existing JFS file systems cannot be converted to JFS2 file systems. This is only possible for new and complete overwrite and preservation installations. If installed graphics software support or other additional software, selected from the installation menu during an overwrite installation, this option is not available at migration installation time. However, after the migration is completed, you can select additional filesets to install from various CDs or, alternatively, you can prepare software resources over the network before migrating your system and install them after the migration process completes.

Note: After a migration installation, if you want to install the next recommended maintenance level of AIX, use the SMIT update_all fast path or the install_all_updates command to update the filesets currently installed.

2.3.2 New and complete overwrite installation

The new and complete overwrite installation should be used to install AIX 5L Version 5.1 on a new system or on a system on which you do not wish to preserve the existing version of AIX, its configuration, and possibly some of the user data. The main advantage of this method is that your resulting AIX 5L Version 5.1 installation is cleaned of obsolete data. On the other hand, the system will need to be reconfigured. The complexity of your installation will determine the amount of additional work required. This work must be evaluated before choosing such a method.

User-defined volume groups (non-root volume groups) will be preserved and will remain there after the new installation. You should import these volume groups and mount the file systems created on them.

Chapter 2. Migration methods

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IBM AIX 4.3, AIX5L manual Migration installation, New and complete overwrite installation, Migration methods