ClientHostName.info File

Files Reference

ClientHostName.info File

Purpose

Created by the Network Installation Management (NIM) software to deliver information to the boot environment of NIM client machines.

Note: In AIX Version 4, this is an internal file to the Network Installation Management software and should not be modified manually.

Description

The NIM software creates the ClientHostName.info file to deliver information to the boot environment of NIM client machines. The file resides in the /tftpboot directory on the server of the NIM Shared Product Object Tree (SPOT), with a format of <ClientHostName>.info where <ClientHostName> is the hostname of the client machine.

After the client machine performs a network boot, it retrieves a copy of the <ClientHostName>.info file from the boot server using tftp. The client machine then uses the contents of the <ClientHostName>.info file to define environment variables for further processing in the boot process.

The <ClientHostName>.info file is used to support network boot for three types of NIM operations:

Installation of the AIX Base Operating System onto standalone machines
Initialization of diskless/dataless machines
Diagnostics boot.

Some of the variables defined in the <ClientHostName>.info file are common to both operations while others are operation-specific.

Following are descriptions of variables that may be defined in the <ClientHostName>.info file:

Note: The following are managed by the nim command and should not be modified by other means.

NIM_NAME	Name that identifies the client machine in the NIM environment.
NIM_HOSTNAME	Hostname that identifies the client machine.
NIM_CONFIGURATION	Machine configuration that describes the client's resource requirements. Possible values are: standalone, diskless, dataless.
NIM_MASTER_HOSTNAME	Hostname that identifies the NIM master in the network.
NIM_MASTER_PORT	Port number on the NIM master that should be used for NIM communications.
RC_CONFIG	File that defines the configuration procedures that the client machine should follow as it boots. Possible values are: rc.bos_inst, rc.dd_boot, rc.diag.
NIM_BOSINST_RECOVER	Script that initializes the bos installation environment for NIM.
SPOT	Location of the Shared Product Object Tree resource that will be used during the boot process.
ROOT	Location of the root filesystem that will be mounted by diskless/dataless machines.
DUMP	Location of the dump resource that will be mounted by diskless/dataless machines.
NIM_CUSTOM	Command to execute a NIM script during post-installation processing.
NIM_BOS_IMAGE	Image from which the Base Operating System will be installed.
NIM_BOS_FORMAT	Format of the image that will be used to install the Base Operating System.
NIM_HOSTS	ip addresses and hostnames of the NIM machines that will participate in the operation.
NIM_MOUNTS	Filesystems that will be mounted during the operation.
ROUTES	Routes from the client machine to other networks in the NIM environment. The format of each value is a colon-separated list of the network ip address, the network subnet mask, and the ip address of the gateway to the network.

Example

This example shows the contents of the file /tftpboot/devon.austin.ibm.com.info after a bos installation has been enabled via the following command:

      nim -o bos_inst -a source=rte devon
 
export NIM_NAME=devon
export NIM_HOSTNAME=devon.austin.ibm.com
export NIM_CONFIGURATION=standalone
export NIM_MASTER_HOSTNAME=redfish.austin.ibm.com
export NIM_MASTER_PORT=1058
export RC_CONFIG=rc.bos_inst
export
NIM_BOSINST_RECOVER="/../SPOT/usr/lpp/bos.sysmgt/nim/methods/
      c_bosinst_env -a
hostname=devon.austin.ibm.com"
export SPOT=redfish.austin.ibm.com:/spot/myspot/usr
export
NIM_CUSTOM="/../SPOT/usr/lpp/bos.sysmgt/nim/methods/c_script -a
location=redfish.austin.ibm.com:/export/nim/scripts/devon.script"
export NIM_BOS_IMAGE=/SPOT/usr/sys/inst.images/bos
export NIM_BOS_FORMAT=rte
export NIM_HOSTS=" 129.35.134.9:devon.austin.ibm.com
9.3.84.202:redfish.austin.ibm.com "
export NIM_MOUNTS="
redfish.austin.ibm.com:/lppsource/imagedir:/SPOT/usr/sys/inst.images:dir "
export ROUTES=" 9.3.84.128:255.255.255.128:129.35.128.201 "

Files

/tftpboot/ClientHostName.info

Default location of the ClientHostName.info file.

Related Information

Network Installation Management Concepts in AIX Network Installation Management Guide and Reference.

The nim command.