Specifications

364 IBM Flex System p260 and p460 Planning and Implementation Guide
8.2.4 Cloning methods
There are two cloning methods available for an AIX installation. The most
common method of cloning is to create a mksysb image on one machine and
restore it in the cloned machine. This method clones all of your OS (rootvg) but
no non-rootvg vg OSes or file systems. This method is a fast way of cloning your
AIX installation, and it can be performed using tape devices, DVD media, or a
NIM installation.
Ensure that the IP address is not cloned in this process. If you are using NIM to
restore the mksysb, the IP address given to the client during the network boot
overrides the IP address on the interface used by NIM.
It is also important to determine if all device drivers that are needed to support
the hardware on the target system are in the mksysb. This task can be
accomplished by installing the necessary device drivers in the image before
creating the mksysb, or, when using NIM to restore the mksysb, ensure that an
lpp_source is specified that contains the needed drivers.
You can also use the ALT_DISK_INSTALL method, but this method work only if
you have SAN disks attached or removable disks that can be attached to the new
server. You can use the ALT_DISK_INSTALL method to create a full copy of your
system rootvg, and then you can remove that disk from the server and assign it
to another server. When you start your system, your system is cloned.
8.3 Installation procedures
For the rest of this chapter, we describe the installation methods for the Power
Systems compute node-supported operating systems. We describe the
following topics:
򐂰 Installing AIX
򐂰 Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux
򐂰 Installing SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
򐂰 Installing IBM i
8.3.1 Installing AIX
There are three possible methods to install AIX on your Power Systems compute
node:
򐂰 NIM installation with lpp_source installation
򐂰 NIM installation with mksysb
򐂰 Optical media installation