• “VERY VERY satisfied with the instructor and he is very much capable of being an perfect trainer”
  Quotation from student on AU61 HACMP System Administration II: Administration and Problem Determination – Bangalore India
• “The instructor is excellent in delivering the concepts. It really helped a lot to understand the contents of the course. Very satisfied with the instructors presentation of the course”
  Quotation from student on AU61 HACMP System Administration II: Administration and Problem Determination – Bangalore India
• “An enjoyable and interesting course, very well presented by the instructor.”
  Quotation from student on AU78AU System p LPAR and Virtualization II: Implementing Advanced Configurations – Sydney November 2008
• “The instructor was very possibly the best that I have ever had and this comment is from someone who was an IBM trainer for 7 years in Canada (IBM instructor code MACHAFRA), well done and don’t lose this guy!!!!”
  Quotation from student on AU75 System p LPAR and Virtualization III: Virtualization Performance Management course – Melbourne Jun 2008
• “The course and delivery is excellent. Thank you”
  Quotation from Student on AU54 HACMP System Administration I: Planning and Implementation – Malaysia August 2008
• “The presenter was very good”
  Quotation from Student on AU78 System p LPAR and Virtualization II: Implementing Advanced Configurations – Sydney December 2007
• “Paul is very knowledgeable on AIX course and very helpful to provide very good training for us”
  Quotation from Student on Customized Course combining AU73 and AU78 – Japan December 2007
• “Instructor was really technical with lots of practical and theoretical experience”
  Quotation from Student on Customized Course combining AU73 and AU78 – Japan December 2007
• “Paul was a great instructor, his knowledge of the subject matter was exceptionally high. I thoroughly enjoyed the course.”
  Quotation from Student on AU73 System p LPAR and Virtualization I: Planning and Configuration Sydney November 2007
• “Paul provided an excellent environment and delivered the course content very well”“I think Paul demonstrated excellent knowledge of the subject matter and conveyed it well to us.”“The instructor is very skilful and experienced on AIX platform. He had answered all of the technical questions.”
  Quotations from Students on AU73 System p LPAR and Virtualization I: Planning and Configuration Sydney August 2007

* Introducing PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX Standard Edition and PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX Enterprise Edition.
* PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX Standard Edition is the IBM Power Systems data center solution that helps protect critical business applications from outages; planned or unplanned.
* PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX Enterprise Edition includes the Standard Edition plus advanced capabilities such as failover to backup resources at remote locations.
* PowerHA SystemMirror Enterprise Edition supports High Availability and Disaster Recovery with EMC SRDF (Symmetrix Remote Data Facility) deployments.
* GLVM configuration wizard enables PowerHA SystemMirror Enterprise Edition clients to set up a two-node cross site configuration for disaster recovery.
* PowerHA SystemMirror deployed in DLPAR (dynamic logical partitioning) environments enables managed utilization of resources on a secondary node in the PowerHA SystemMirror cluster for POWER5™ and later processors.
* PowerHA SystemMirror product is compliant for IPv6 environments.

Other enhancements include: Improved SMIT interfaces and File Collections enhancements

The need for robust high availability and disaster recovery solutions
High Availability is a key component of Business Resiliency. It’s widely documented that outages increase the total cost of IT ownership as well as causing potential damage to client relationships and loss of revenue. Although hardware has become very reliable, research shows that unplanned outages occur and typically result from operator error, software bugs, environmental conditions and other non hardware related situations—problems that reliable hardware cannot prevent. Planned outages for application and system maintenance also impact business performance and businesses are aggressively shrinking the time allotted for this type of activity. Increasingly IT shops are moving away from outsourced DR operations to in-sourced DR operations based on continuous data replication between geographically dispersed locations. Modern DR solutions require both geographic dispersion and recovery point objectives as close to zero as possible. Increasingly, IT shops are being asked to prove that they can indeed recover operations at a remote facility. The simple fact is that owning your own DR solution is not only economically sensible but it gives you greater control over your environment. Finally, the IBM Power Systems™ strategy is to not only deliver more advanced functional capabilities for business resiliency but to enhance product usability and robustness through deep integration with AIX® and affiliated software stack technologies. PowerHA™ SystemMirror™ is architected by, developed by, integrated by, tested and supported by, IBM top to bottom.

IBM’s premier availability solution

PowerHA™ SystemMirror™ for AIX® V6.1 is the next generation of the popular PowerHA for AIX V5.5 and is available in one of two packages; the PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX Standard Edition, and the PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX Enterprise Edition. This offering approach was developed to give more price/value granularity as well as to enable clients to choose between a solution with a data center focus or a more advanced solution capability that includes the Standard Edition function plus extensions that enable cross site deployments.

The IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX Standard Edition helps you to protect your critical business applications from outages in the data center (single site solution), planned or unplanned. The Standard Edition provides reliable monitoring, failure detection and automated recovery of business application environments to backup resources, exploiting IBM’s suite of disk storage solutions which provide the core data resiliency foundation. IBM developers continuously invent, deploy, integrate and test to refine the usability and robustness of PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX.

PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX Enterprise Edition

The PowerHA™ SystemMirror™ for AIX® Enterprise Edition includes all of the capabilities of the Standard Edition and more. The Enterprise Edition package enables you to extend your data center solution across multiple sites and with V6.1 of PowerHA SystemMirror, the Enterprise Edition expands the HA/DR support to EMC SRDF replication environments. V6.1 also provides for many usability enhancements including a “wizard” to configure and deploy host based mirroring solutions (GLVM configuration wizard).

The Enterprise Edition supports ESS/Metro-Mirror and Storage System DS6000™/DS8000® Metro-Mirror, enabling automatic failover of disks that are Metro-Mirror pairs and creating a powerful solution for clients using storage subsystems with Metro-Mirror. By automating the management of Metro-Mirror, recovery time is minimized after an outage, regardless of whether the clustered environment is local or geographically dispersed. The Enterprise Edition, in combination with Metro-Mirror, manages a clustered environment to allow mirroring of critical data to be maintained at all times.

PowerHA SystemMirror Enterprise Edition supports IBM System Storage™ Metro-Mirror for SVC, which enables true high availability within the campus or city environment, and with V5.5.0 Global Mirror for SVC is also supported for unlimited geographic dispersion. Metro Mirror deployed solutions are completely synchronous and are therefore optimized for high availability operations while Global Mirror is asynchronous and is therefore optimized for geographic dispersion.

IBM AIX Power Systems™ customers who deploy their storage via EMC SRDF are now able to take advantage of the V6.1 PowerHA SystemMirror solution to manage and automate their HA/DR operations. Most common SRDF replication configurations are supported. PowerHA SystemMirror Enterprise Edition V6.1 uses the EMC SRDF interfaces to discover and manage the replication the Symmetrix SRDF volumes in multi site HA deployments. Customers can use the PowerHA SystemMirror SMIT or WebSMIT interfaces to specify the EMC SRDF volumes as cluster resources and manage them as part of failover operations. The PowerHA SystemMirror Enterprise Edition supports EMC device groups, composite groups, SRDF Synchronous and Asynchronous replication and consistency groups (SRDF/CG) for both. You will need to refer to PowerHA SystemMirror and EMC documentation to ensure that you have the necessary EMC software components for EMC SRDF to be deployed in the PowerHA SystemMirror cluster.

GLVM (geographic logical volume manager) is the AIX host based mirroring over IP network solution that enables clients to set up geographically dispersed PowerHA SystemMirror clusters. The PowerHA SystemMirror host based mirroring solution could lower your total cost of acquisition by eliminating the need to purchase high end storage solutions. The introduction of GLVM async mode support with PowerHA SystemMirror V5.5 enabled clients to extend the PowerHA SystemMirror cluster in cross site configurations with virtually unlimited distance between the primary and secondary nodes. With V6.1, Enterprise Edition clients will be able to set up two-node cross site configurations on their own via the GLVM configuration wizard (included in the Enterprise Edition package).

PowerHA FAQ

Question: What hardware and software is supported by PowerHA?

Answer: All PowerHA supported hardware and software is listed in the Sales Manual. Hardware requirements are located under the Technical Description topic.

Question: Does PowerHA SystemMirror work on different operating systems?

Answer: PowerHA SystemMirror is tightly integrated with the AIX operating system and Power Systems servers allowing for a rich set of features which are not available with any other combination of operating system and hardware.

Question: On which AIX levels is PowerHA SystemMirror supported?

Answer: PowerHA requires one of:

AIX V5.3
AIX V6.1

PowerHA will support future releases of AIX as they become available. To find the latest fixes available for PowerHA and AIX, refer to the TechSupport web site.

Question: What applications work with PowerHA?

Answer: All popular applications work with PowerHA including DB2, Oracle, SAP, WebSphere, etc. PowerHA provides Smart Assist agents to let you quickly and easily configure PowerHA with specific applications. PowerHA includes flexible configuration parameters that let you easily set it up for just about any application there is. If you are interested in using PowerHA with a new application, you can find out more under the topic What kinds of applications are best suited for a high availability environment?

Question: Does PowerHA support dynamic LPAR, CUoD, On/Off CoD, or CBU?

Answer: PowerHA supports Dynamic Logical Partitioning, Capacity Upgrade on Demand, On/Off Capacity on Demand and Capacity Backup Upgrade. See Announcement Letters 204-298 and 105-056.

Question: If a server has LPAR capability, can two or more LPARs be configured with unique instances of PowerHA running on them without incurring additional license charges?

Answer: Yes. PowerHA is a server product that has one charge unit: number of processors on which PowerHA will be installed or run. Regardless of how many LPARs or instances of AIX that run in the server, you are charged based on the number of active processors in the server that is running PowerHA. Note that PowerHA configurations containing multiple LPARs within a single server may represent a potential single point-of-failure. To avoid this, it is recommended that the backup for an LPAR be an LPAR on a different server or a standalone server.

Question: Does PowerHA support non-IBM hardware or operating systems?

Answer: Yes. PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX supports the hardware and operating systems as specified in the Sales Manual. For more information about non-IBM storage attachment, see EMC and Hitachi storage subsystems.

Question: Does PowerHA support EMC or Hitachi storage subsystems when connected to Power Systems servers?

Answer: The storage subsystems supported by PowerHA are those documented in the Sales Manual. New additions are announced via Flash. Current information can be retrieved from the online Sales Manual for PowerHA on AIX. PowerHA supports those IBM devices that have passed IBM qualification efforts, and for which IBM development and service are prepared to provide support.

With the PowerHA SystemMirror Enterprise Edition, clients using EMC storage with SRDF can take advantage of the PowerHA SystemMirror capabilities for HA/DR operations. EMC clients may also deploy PowerHA SystemMirror Standard Edition for data center operations.

There is a group, associated with development, that tests non-IBM storage subsystems for attachment to AIX systems and PowerHA. There are also cooperative service agreements in place with certain non-IBM storage vendors.

If a client has an PowerHA cluster containing storage hardware other than that supported by PowerHA, and they report a problem, IBM Service will address the problem as follows:

* If the problem is unrelated to that hardware, it will be addressed the same as any other problem.
* If the problem is related to that hardware, and the hardware is covered by a cooperative service agreement with the storage vendor, the problem will be forwarded to the storage vendor.
* If the problem is related to hardware for which no cooperative service agreement is in place, the client will be asked to refer the problem to the hardware manufacturer.

Question: Where do I find out about hardware or software not listed in the Sales Manual?

Answer: Inquiries related to non-IBM products should be directed to the specific vendor. For more information on newly announced IBM hardware and software products that are not listed in the Sales Manual, see Why does PowerHA support often come out after the hardware or software announcement?

Question: Why does PowerHA support often come out after the hardware or software announce?

Answer: PowerHA tests all new hardware and software in an PowerHA environment prior to announcing support. We do this because PowerHA exercises features and interfaces in unique and stressful ways which may not be exposed outside of an PowerHA environment. We don’t simply assume new hardware or software works—we bring it into our lab and run it through a qualification test. Sometimes problems are found or take time to resolve which means PowerHA cannot announce support at the same time as the hardware is announced.

Question: What is PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX? How does it differ from HACMP?

Answer: IBM PowerHA SystemMirror represents a new name for the IBM High Availability Cluster Multiprocessing (HACMP) product. The renaming is to align HACMP with the new IBM Power Systems Software initiative. PowerHA for AIX V5.5 is the follow-on release to HACMP 5.4. And PowerHA SystemMirror is the follow-on release to PowerHA for AIX 5.5.

It is one of the preferred telephony platform connection environments for WebSphere Voice Server-software resources for developing and deploying speech solutions.

* Supports speech recognition technologies that can replace traditional telephone keypad input with more natural voice responses and is highly scalable to support thousands of Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connections
* Complements WebSphere Voice Server V4.2 and V5.1, making it possible to create integrated Web and telephone self-service access to your business data and processes
* Enables Java™ and VoiceXML service creation environments for developing Web and telephone self-service applications that are easy to integrate when combined with the IBM Rational® Software Development Platform or WebSphere Studio
* Includes VoiceXML and Call Control XML industry-standard programming environments for telephony channel handling and voice call processing when integrated with WebSphere Portal Server, for a Business Portal Multichannel access point for voice-enabled e-business solutions
* Allows inclusion of WebSphere Voice Server for speech-enabled applications such as speech recognition or text-to-speech, and if required, WebSphere Voice Response and WebSphere Voice Server can be used together for non-IBM application server solutions
* Provides the self-service channel in many contact/call center solutions and can be deployed between the telephone network and the call center switch, either behind the call center switch, or in front of the PBX or automatic call distribution (ACD) switch
* Can be used in IP contact/call center solutions with VoIP SIP support, and with products from the main Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) suppliers to enable self-service applications to support conversational speech for more natural and friendly customer interaction

At a glance

WebSphere Voice Response for AIX, V4.2 features:

*

Network Equipment Building Standards (NEBS) compliant
*

BladeCenter® support
*

Enhanced Telephony Protocol support for next-generation voice networks — Voice over Internet Telephony using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
*

Service provider networks: SS7 (Signalling System #7) T1 (ANSI Signalling System #7) and E1 (ITU-ISUP Generic)
*

Enterprise networks — QSig, R2MFC Korean
*

Call Control XML (CCXML), V1.0 support
*

Enhanced VoiceXML, V2.1 scalability to 480 channels/system
*

Interoperability with WebSphere Voice Server, V4.2 and V5.1 (Voice XML only) — for conversational speech applications
*

Interoperability with WebSphere Voice Application Access, V5.0 for Voice Portal applications.
*

Improved echo cancellation for speech recognition-enabled applications
*

In-site migration from WebSphere Voice Response for AIX, V3.1
*

New fax card compatible with the latest IBM pSeries™ machines
*

Fully accessible WebSphere Voice Response when running CCXML and VoiceXML, V2.1 applications

WebSphere Voice Response is a proven platform for delivering solutions to service providers:

*

An open platform running UNIX with CCXML and VoiceXML industry-standard programming environments as well as IVR programming environments for its existing customers.
*

Resilient and highly scalable, with its pSeries, PCI telephony adapters, and AIX industrial strength support meeting NEBS compliance.
*

Highly scalable to 480 channels per pSeries system. Such systems can be clustered for large installs.
*

Improved highly scalable and redundant SS7 software is also provided in this release when connected to Telco switches.
*

Supports next-generation SIP networks with existing applications and services. Access to new signalling information allows development of new and enhanced services.
*

Mass-calling applications are supported.
*

Scalable, redundant, and resilient centralized application management using application servers.
*

IBM HACMP and WebSphere Voice Response Single System Image (SSI) clusters for state table and custom server applications.

What’s new in V4.2:

Support for Network Equipment Building Standards (NEBS) compliant BladeCenter

*

WebSphere Voice Response for AIX Version 4.2 can be used on a NEBS compliant BladeCenter computer for Voice Over Internet (VoIP) Telephony capability using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

Additional hardware adapter cards are no longer required to run WebSphere Voice Response for AIX

*

WebSphere Voice Response for AIX Version 4.2 can be used without the need for any adapter card on a BladeCenter or System p5™ computer for Voice Over Internet (VoIP) Telephony capability using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

AIX support upgraded to Version 5.3

*

WebSphere Voice Response for AIX Version 4.2 supports the use of AIX Version 5.3 as its operating system. AIX Version 5.2 is the minimum level that can be used when using an adapter card.

Significant enhancements in VoIP telephony using SIP are incorporated in WebSphere Voice Response for AIX, V4.2. V4.2 uses the DTNA software adapter implementation to connect to a VoIP network.

VoIP features include:

*

BladeCenter or System p5 computers can handle eight trunks and simulate up to 240 SIP endpoints
*

DTNA software adapter implementation supports Real Time Protocol/Real Time Control Protocol (RTP/RTCP) over 100 Mbit/s Ethernet for User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packetized voice data
*

DTNA can coexist with Digital Trunk Extended Adapter (DTXA) or DTTA in the same system unit allowing hybrid PSTN/VoIP configurations in, for example, IP Call Centers
*

DTNA supports uncompressed G.711
*

DTMF send/receive keys using RTP payload packets — RFC2833 (telephone event)
*

SIP protocol signaling support using system Ethernet port
*

SIP protocol support over TCP or UDP as per RFC 3261
*

Inbound call, outbound call, and blind and supervised call transfer supported
*

SIP connections to Soft phones, Hard phones, and proxies which conform to SIP RFC 3261
*

Existing and new state tables, Java and VoiceXML, CCXML applications can be programmed to handle SIP calls
*

Calls can be tromboned between DTNA channels using Trombone Custom Server. Tromboning between PSTN and SIP channels is not supported
*

Additional interface between SIP and applications using “Tagged Strings” (Diversion Header, From Header, To Header, Request Header, Alang Header, Final Response, Subject Header)
*

Reinvite from remote party allowing mid-call codec changes
*

Subject Header on Bye supported for end-of-call application to gateway information transfer
*

Blind notify for Message Waiting Indication (MWI) control
*

MWI manual table-driven DNS SRV support for MWI allowing configuration of primary and secondary proxies, and proxy pooling

Service Provider Networks: SS7 features

*

Reuse of E1 hardware adapters from previous solutions.
*

Improved scalability from 1400 to 2304 (T1) or 2880 (E1) channels.
*

Support for previous SS7 function with ITU-ISUP Generic as main switch connection.
*

Support for T1 ANSI (generic and MCI variant) networks.
*

Support for E1 ITU 1997, ITU White Book (1992, 1993), CCITT Blue Book (1988).
*

Standard T1 or E1 link is for signaling; no support the for the older serial V35, with insufficient bandwidth for 2000 channels. Newer VoIP transports are not supported.
*

The SS8 D7 product has a different redundancy strategy from the previous version. Two links, SS8 cards, and D7 stacks are both active (load-sharing) at all times so if one is lost, the other is ready with no loss of calls.

Enterprise-based signalling extensions: QSig: WebSphere Voice Response, V4.2 supports inbound and outbound calls and message waiting indicator using the QSig protocol.

CCXML, V1.0 support

*

Use of CCXML is optional. Existing applications not using CCXML do not need to change.
*

CCXML enables XML-based call control for Enterprise and service provider applications and enables all applications to be stored on central Web/application server for reliability and redundancy.
*

CCXML enables the routing of incoming calls to specific applications based on ANI, DNIS simplifying the configuration on base Voice Response platform.
*

CCXML can be used with VoiceXML, V2.1 and Java applications with basic inbound and outbound calls handled by CCXML.
*

The CCXML Browser will parse all tags according to the level to W3C standards it supports.
*

The WebSphere Voice Response signalling process can pass extra protocol data, such as ISDN and SS7 information elements and SIP Web sites (in tags using ECMA script) on incoming calls to CCXML applications.
*

The WebSphere Voice Response signalling process can present calls in alerting to CCXML application where protocol permits, enabling playing of announcement messages to caller without the caller being connected and caller being charged (including early media support).
*

CCXML enables specification of a channel group on an outbound call to select which protocol to make the outbound call, that is, PSTN like ISDN, SS7, or on VOIP like SIP.
*

Use with CTI products for contact center, call center applications, and solutions.
*

CCXML is responsible for call handling within an application with the ability to call out to CTI products.

The WebSphere Voice Toolkit provides a CCXML editor as the recommended method of creating CCXML applications. It enables CCXML to be developed using the same tooling as VoiceXML and Speech Grammar development.

Enhanced echo cancellation: Echo cancellation is on the DTTA adapter improving capability and reducing cost, without the need for external echo canceller boxes. Enhancements include the following:

*

Continuous convergence and cancellation, instead of initial convergence required by the previous canceller
*

Removes the need for an initial force play convergence prompt
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Improved echo cancellation during the call on account of the continuous convergence up to 32 msec echo delays
*

Removes possibility of failure of initial calibration due to excessive echo (currently, echo cancellation within the call is unusable if the initial calibration fails)
*

Improved overall echo cancellation (smaller echo residual signal means improved voice recognition and more reliable barge-in)

Enhanced scalability of VoiceXML to 480 channels with DTTA adapters

*

Simple VoiceXML V2.0/2.1 applications, with no speech recognition or text to speech, can be supported on a single server with four 1.5 GHz processors.
*

More complex applications with speech recognition or text to speech can be supported with 480 channels of telephony on a single server but with VoiceXML V2.0/2.1 browsers and WebSphere Voice Server systems distributed across other servers.

Additional on-demand feature: Customer-owned licenses can be managed using License Use Management (LUM) tools. Licenses can be shared across multiple servers and sites. This allows customers to be responsive to immediate demands on their systems and allocate channels on systems which need them. The licenses are enabled when the channels are enabled.

The Voice Toolkit is no longer included on CD in the WVR 4.2.3 Media Pack. You can download the latest version from the WebSphere Voice Toolkit Web site:

http://www.ibm.com/software/pervasive/voice_toolkit

The toolkit supports the CCXML 1.0 and the VoiceXML 2.1 specifications, and includes a grammar editor, pronunciation builder, and an audio recorder. You can configure a development environment to create, test, and debug custom voice portlets using VoiceXML 2.0 or 2.1. Other features of the toolkit include:

*

The ability to debug your portlets using the local debugging environment
*

The ability to create VoiceXML applications using the new Communication Flow Builder
*

An editor that can handle both CCXML and VoiceXML source code
*

A conversion wizard to assist you in migrating any VoiceXML 1.0 applications to 2.0 or 2.1
*

An integrated VoiceXML 2.1 Application Simulator and Debugger
*

Integrated concatenative text-to-speech (CTTS) and speech recognition engines

The toolkit editor also includes a wizard that allows you to select and customize Reusable Dialog Components (RDC) written to the VoiceXML 2.0 or 2.1 specification. These RDCs contain pretested code for commonly used functions such as credit card type, currency, date information, and so on.

The WebSphere Voice Toolkit V6.0 is enhanced to support the latest VoiceXML V2.1 specification.

Contact Spectrum for further information (09) 826 5588

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UNIX tips and tricks for a new user, Part 3: Introducing filters and regular expressions
Discover the power of UNIX(R) filters. In this tutorial, you’ll learn about the grep family in depth, including the syntax of regular expressions in many UNIX utilities. You’ll also find out more about the stream editor, sed, as well as examine the awk pattern scanning language through examples and explanations. 05 Dec 2006

UNIX tips and tricks for a new user, Part 2: The vi text editor
The vi text editor might seem counterintuitive to new users but, make no mistake, there is a good reason this 30-year old tool is still widely used by many of the best developers in the world. The vi text editor separates operations into insert mode and command mode, which gives you ultrafast access to key commands that can edit, insert, and move text in on-the-fly, user-defined segments. 07 Nov 2006

UNIX tips and tricks for a new user, Part 1: File maintenance tools
Systems administrators can use a number of programs to maintain files in a UNIX(R) system from the command line. In this tutorial, you’ll experiment with commands, such as cd, cp, and tar, to navigate a UNIX file system from the command line and work with files and directories. The cd command changes directories, cp duplicates files or directories, and tar quickly groups files into an archive. You’ll also learn how to deal with file permissions and perform simple input/output. 26 Sep 2006

Get started with GAWK: AWK language fundamentals
Discover the basic concepts of the AWK text-processing and pattern-scanning language. This tutorial gets you started programming in AWK: You’ll learn how AWK reads and sorts its input data, run AWK programs, manipulate data, and perform complex pattern matching. When you’re finished, you’ll also understand GNU AWK (GAWK). 19 Sep 2006

Use alternative methods to manage and monitor your UNIX servers
Make your systems and environment easier to use and administer by using tools, such as a Weblog, wiki, and Subversion, to record and track information and changes to your IT infrastructure. During the course of your UNIX(R) administration, you need to store and retain many different types of information and data. There are many ways of doing this, but one of the more radical solutions is to use a variety of free tools for the storage and retention of configuration data, configuration and administration change, and administration events. 12 Sep 2006

Produce device-independent documentation with Groff
Groff (GNU Troff) is the latest open source implementation of Troff, a document-preparation system that generates print and screen documents for various devices from the same input source. Get an introduction to the Groff system and learn how you can use it for preparing your documentation, help systems, reports, or any printed output where professional quality, portability, and support for multiple output formats are desired. 27 Jun 2006

Write text parsers with yacc and lex
Examine the processes behind building a parser using the lex/flex and yacc/bison tools, first to build a simple calculator and then delve into how you can adopt the same principles for text parsing. Parsing text — that is, understanding and extracting the key parts of the text — is an important part of many applications. Within UNIX(R), many elements of the operating system rely on parsing text, from the shell you use to interact with the system, through to common tools and commands like awk or Perl, right through to the C compiler you use to build software and applications. 31 May 2006

Working in the bash shell
Get an introduction to the Bash shell, which you can use on nearly any UNIX(R)-based operating system. Bash is a mature, powerful, yet easy-to-use shell that is freely available. This tutorial provides a brief history of Bash, which indicates how the Bash shell is different than some of the other popular UNIX shells, and also provides an overview of the major features available within Bash. Next, you’ll learn more about the UNIX file system, how to work with both directories and files, and several methods for customizing the appearance and behavior of Bash. Finally, the tutorial concludes with a discussion of the job control functionality of Bash. 30 May 2006

Retool your Linux skills for commercial UNIX
Examine how to best migrate your Linux(R) skills to take advantage of AIX(R) and Solaris. Linux is all the rage, but what if you have experience in Linux and need to apply it to a commercial UNIX(R) environment? UNIX and Linux are similar, and many of the same principles exist; there is a shell, root is still all powerful, and many of the tools and applications are the same. But how do you cope with understanding the nuances and differences? 30 Mar 2006

Expose Web performance problems with the RRDtool
Examine how to determine the root cause of Web performance problems. Without proper measurement, how do you know whether your Web application is performing well? By using open source tools such as the RRDtool, you can graph the key performance measurements of any Web application, use these graphs to determine the impact of changes in the environment, or point to changes that need addressing. 21 Mar 2006

Client/server programming using the Transport Driver Interface (TDI)
Examine implementation details for programming a client/server application at a kernel level using the Windows(R) Transport Driver Interface (TDI). In this tutorial, you’ll get an introduction to the commonly used TDIs, get step-by-step instructions in writing a TDI user datagram protocol (UDP) application, and learn how to port TDI UDP Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPV4) modules to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6). 14 Mar 2006

Write software for multiple UNIX platforms
If you write software for more than one UNIX(R) platform, you are aware of the difficulty of getting your software to compile on two platforms. This tutorial covers tools and tricks that can make the process of supporting different UNIX platforms significantly easier at the code level. The reason is not the lack of tools or a binary compatibility issue, but rather the problems with the header files and functions that set up a standard UNIX environment. 21 Feb 2006

Open source C/C++ unit testing tools, Part 2: Get to know CppUnit
In this second article in the series on open source unit testing utilities, get to know CppUnit, the C++ port of the JUnit test framework. Articles 12 Jan 2010

AIX V6.1 security and regulatory compliance
IBM AIX Version 6.1 is packed with security enhancements. Many of these features can be mapped with the security requirements laid by the regulatory compliances for federal, financial, and health care sectors. This article looks at AIX V6.1 security features and their mapping with the security criteria that can be derived from some of the compliances. The article helps security practitioners to get a compartmentalized view of the features and why AIX V6.1 can be a system to consider for a compliance-driven industry. Articles 12 Jan 2010

Migrating to AIX 6.1 with nimadm
This article demonstrates how to migrate to AIX 6.1 using the NIM Alternate Disk Migration tool. You’ll learn how to minimize the downtime required when migrating to the latest release of the AIX operating system. Articles 05 Jan 2010

Looking back at the tops from AIX and UNIX
Articles 22 Dec 2009

How to develop SMCLI commands for IBM Systems Director
SMCLI (systems management command-line interface) commands are an integral part of IBM Systems Director. They are used to perform many of the systems-management operations that can be accomplished from the IBM Systems Director Web interface. The aim of this tutorial is to introduce you to the basic concepts and steps regarding how to develop SMCLI commands for IBM Systems Director. Tutorial 15 Dec 2009

A comparison of virtualization features of HP-UX, Solaris, and AIX
Most AIX administrators understand the virtualization features available to them on their System p platform through PowerVM, which is also available on the System p for Linux. What about the other UNIX hardware platforms? What do they have to offer and how do some of their features compare to PowerVM. These topics are explored in this article. Articles 08 Dec 2009

IBM AIX TCP Traffic Regulation
IBM AIX TCP Traffic Regulation (TR), introduced in IBM AIX 6.1 TL2, provides centralized port-based regulation of TCP connection resource utilization. TCP firewall profiles, customized by a security administrator, can now be loaded into the AIX kernel for active mitigation of TCP-based Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. Articles 01 Dec 2009

UNIX turns 40
The systems world will shortly be celebrating a major anniversary milestone. UNIX is turning 40 years old! Most of us know the story of how UNIX was born, but what about why? Was it born strictly because its founders wanted to play a computer game on a different platform? And why does UNIX continue to thrive 15 years after an (in)famous Byte Magazine article that asked, “Is UNIX dead?” How has AIX (the only UNIX flavor that has increased its market share through the years) been a part of the evolution of UNIX and what are the current trends today in the UNIX arena? These are just some of the topics this article explores. Articles 01 Dec 2009

AIX as a porting platform
Building applications on a secondary platform is perhaps the simplest definition of a porting platform. This article explores the porting aspects in the context of AIX. Articles 24 Nov 2009

RPC programming
Using RPC programming is one of the most powerful and efficient ways to ensure communication between client and server entities. It forms the basis for almost any application running on distributed computing environments. This article deals with the basic flow of events between an RPC client and server and later deals with runtime handling of these events. The different routines that are dealt in this article are categorized appropriately and described based on their functionality. Articles 24 Nov 2009

AIX tips for RHEL4 administrators
Are you broadening your skills as a Linux systems administrator into various flavors of UNIX? Have you found yourself in charge of IBM UNIX servers on short notice? Get a rundown of the differences and similarities between Red Hat Enterprise Linux and IBM AIX so that you can perform day-to-day activities with ease. Articles 17 Nov 2009

Using alt_disk_copy
The alt_disk_copy is a built-in AIX utility that allows the cloning of a running rootvg. alt_disk_copy is typically used for upgrades that effect the running of AIX, cloning of disks for migration, and online backups of rootvg. Articles 10 Nov 2009

Speaking UNIX: Peering into pipes
The pipe operator connects one UNIX command to another to create ad hoc programs right on the command line. But a pipe is something of a black box, occluding the data flowing from one utility to the next. Pipe Viewer provides a peek into the pipeline. Here’s how to use it in day-to-day tasks. Articles 03 Nov 2009

Managing Storage Subsystems using IBM Systems Director V6.1.2
IBM Systems Director V6.1.2 is a tool that aids in the management of various devices such as servers, switches, and storage subsystems. This article addresses the nuances of managing the Storage Subsystem using the IBM Systems Director. IBM Systems Director uses the concept of a proxy provider that acts like an intermediate agent between the IBM Systems Director and Storage Subsystems. For DS3000 and DS4000 series Storage Subsystems, IBM Systems Director uses the LSI Storage Management Initiative–Specification (SMI-S) provider. Articles 03 Nov 2009

Resolving problems unmounting partitions
To cleanly shut down or hot swap storage hardware on a UNIX or UNIX-like system, you must be able to unmount any file system that uses storage on that device. However, you can’t unmount a file system if files or directories in that file system are in use. The lsof and fuser commands can help you identify and terminate the processes that are using files on or executing from the storage devices that your system is using. Using these commands simplifies the traditional detective work associated with finding the processes that are preventing you from unmounting storage devices, decreasing frustration, and helping you proceed with critical system administration tasks. Articles 27 Oct 2009

A quick guide to migrating to IBM Systems Director V6.1
IBM Systems Director Server V6.1 includes migration tools that remove the complexity of migrating from the previous version of IBM Systems Director Server to Version 6.1. This overview of the migration process will prepare the user for what needs to be done and what to expect so that the migration can be as quick and easy as possible. Articles 27 Oct 2009

Configuring an AIX client with multiple Kerberos realms
A typical customer environment is heterogeneous and includes AIX, Windows, and Linux, which can be servers or clients. In many situations, an AIX Kerberos client needs to interact with multiple Kerberos realms hosted on a Windows or AIX Kerberos server to handle the requested services. This article explains the configuration details required to set the AIX Kerberos client to interact with multiple realms hosted on Windows Kerberos servers. Articles 20 Oct 2009

Securing remote AIX V6.1 data at rest using the SLES Encrypt File Container
See how you can secure data at rest exported by AIX and consumed by SUSE Linux Enterprise Server via the NFS protocol using the Encrypt File Container feature provided with SLES. Articles 13 Oct 2009

Learning interprocess communication with the ACE Framework
For most programmers, interprocess communication (IPC) is synonymous with using the Socket API. Articles 13 Oct 2009

DB2 pureScale
DB2 pureScale reduces the risk and cost of business growth by providing unlimited capacity, continuous availability, and application transparency. DB2 pureScale on IBM Power Systems incorporates PowerHA pureScale technology to deliver levels of database scalability and availability unmatched on UNIX or x86 systems. This complements DB2 for z/OS and System z, the undisputed leader in total system availability, scalability, security and reliability. 08 Oct 2009

Cloud computing with Linux and Apache Hadoop
Many companies like IBM, Google, VMWare, and Amazon have provided products and strategies for Cloud computing. This article shows you how to use Apache Hadoop to build a MapReduce framework to make a Hadoop Cluster and how to create a sample MapReduce application which runs on Hadoop. You will also learn how to set up a time/disk-consuming task on the cloud. Articles 06 Oct 2009

Make sudo work harder
The sudo utility allows users to run commands as another, or privileged, user. Sudo has features not often used by administrators. This article demonstrates some of these features, such as include files, timeouts, and logical operations. Articles 06 Oct 2009

IBM and HP virtualization
Learn about the virtualization capabilities of both HP-UX and AIX, the fundamental differences between virtualization products on HP and IBM, and how these products integrate with the hardware platforms on which they run. The intent of this article is to educate you and also to help you make informed decisions as to which platform works best for you, from a feature and functionality standpoint and for your long-term strategic goals. Articles 29 Sep 2009

Configure single sign-on authentication on AIX
Single sign-on (SSO) is a mechanism that allows a user to access resources across multiple systems by just authenticating to the server once. This method is quite helpful in scenarios where the user database is centralized (like LDAP). Users can authenticate on one system and then access multiple systems. Articles 22 Sep 2009

Speaking UNIX: Advanced applications of rsync
Keeping multiple machines synced can be challenging. Fortunately, a powerful tool is available to make the task easier: rsync. Articles 22 Sep 2009

AIX user and group administration
Dive into the configuration files behind users and groups in IBM AIX, as well as command-line tools designed to help manage the users and groups easily. Articles 15 Sep 2009

Simplify AIX image management in a PowerVM environment using IBM Systems Director VMControl V2.1
The lifecycle management, provisioning, and configuration of virtual appliances (images) are very time-consuming but important tasks for virtual system management, especially in a PowerVM environment. This article introduces a new product, IBM Systems Director VMControl V2.1, which is designed to simplify the management of virtual environments across multiple virtualization technologies and physical platforms. It can visualize, navigate, manage, and deploy images from a centralized location. Explore the key functions of this product and learn how to manage AIX images in a PowerVM environment. Articles 15 Sep 2009

UNIX network performance analysis
Knowing your UNIX network layout will go a long way with understanding your network and how it operates. But what happens when the performance of your UNIX network and the speed at which you can transfer files or connect to services suddenly reduces? How do you diagnose the issues and work out where in your network the problems lie? This article looks at some quick methods for finding and identifying performance issues and the steps to start resolving them. Articles 08 Sep 2009

IBM Network Authentication Service Version 1.4.0.8 for AIX 6.1
IBM Network Authentication Service Version 1.4.0.8 was released with the AIX 6.1 expansion pack CD and is also available on the IBM AIX Web Download Pack Program. The new version has some good reasons, including new features and vital fixes, for AIX Kerberos administrators to upgrade. This article describes the features issued in this release and how these features can benefit your Kerberos infrastructure over AIX and help enhance security. The new release allows administrators to “ride up the grade,” not simply upgrade. Articles 08 Sep 2009

AIX higher availability using SAN services
Learn the scenarios in which remapping, copying, and reuse of SAN disks is allowed and supported. More easily switch AIX environments from one system to another and help achieve higher availability and reduced down time. These scenarios also allow for fast deployment of new systems using cloning. Articles 01 Sep 2009

High scalability and availability of AIX secldapclntd using the Tivoli Directory Server proxy
The secldapclntd daemon provides and manages connection between the AIX security LDAP load module of the local host and an LDAP server, and handles transactions from the LDAP load module to the LDAP server. Simple configuration steps do not allow us to specify highly available and scalable LDAP servers at the back end. This article lists the steps to configure a highly available and scalable back-end LDAP for the secldapclntd daemon using the Tivoli Directory Server proxy. Articles 01 Sep 2009

Resource controls in workload partitions
Resource control in workload partitions is based on the Workload Manager (WLM) technology that has been available in the AIX kernel since IBM AIX V4.3.3. The workload partition (WPAR) resource control encapsulates and extends the WLM technology. It presents a layer of abstraction above WLM, making it easier to administer resource control without having a need to possess an in-depth knowledge of WLM. Articles 25 Aug 2009

Monitoring logs and command output
Monitoring system logs or the status of a command that produces file or directory output are common tasks for systems administrators. Two popular open source tools simplify these activities for modern systems administrators: the multitail and watch commands. Both are terminal-oriented commands, which means that they are easily ported to most UNIX or UNIX-like systems because they do not depend on any specific graphical desktop environment. Articles 25 Aug 2009

Forums and community
Get involved in the AIX(R) and UNIX(R) community by participating in the developerWorks blogs and forums. 20 Aug 2009

Growing green with virtualization: Virtualization as the backbone of green IT
Focus on virtualization as an excellent vehicle to address business needs while you control the ever growing challenges of IT costs and data center sprawl in this initial article of a series. For large and small businesses to remain viable in the ever evolving technology arena, companies need to adopt a strategy that works for them. Articles 18 Aug 2009

Making software testing greener
Recently there has been an increased emphasis on the effective utilization of resources. Testing plays a key role in any software development lifecycle. Hence, effective utilization of resources in testing becomes the prerogative for any product team. Read about the effective utilization of resources available for testing on both hardware and software, thus leading to more efficient testing. Articles 11 Aug 2009

Configuring Active Memory Sharing from a customer’s experience
Share the experience of being part of IBM’s Early Ship Program for Active Memory Sharing on POWER6. See how AMS was configured and deployed in a customer’s non-production AIX lab environment. Articles 04 Aug 2009

Speaking UNIX: Man oh man
UNIX has hundreds if not thousands of commands, and it’s impossible to remember every option and nuance. But, happily, you don’t have to: man, UNIX’s built-in, online reference system, is man’s best friend. Articles 28 Jul 2009

A memory-related issue unfolded using performance tools for AIX
Performance metrics of a system are based purely on what is expected from it and to what extent a computer system stands up to those expectations. The case study presented in this article is intended to discuss a memory-related issue faced by one of the customers and the steps followed to pin down the root cause of the problem. Articles 28 Jul 2009

Dynamic tracing facility
Problem determinations of the failures that occur in production environment pose a difficult challenge because of the complex environment and numerous different software stacks that interact with each other.This article provides a brief introduction to the Solaris dynamic trace facility and the ProbeVue facility on AIX and illustrates its use with examples. Articles 21 Jul 2009

Efficient I/O event polling through the pollset interface on AIX
This article explains how you can improve the performance of Java applications with intensive asynchronous I/O operations running on AIX platforms by using a pollset interface, which eliminates redundant copy operations of file descriptors between user and kernel spaces and improves the scalability and the polling time performance with a poll cache. Articles 21 Jul 2009

Avoid common errors in UNIX and Linux
Discover the most common errors in UNIX and Linux — and how to avoid them. Articles 14 Jul 2009

JS22 Live Partition Mobility
This article focuses on performing Live Partition Mobility between two JS22 Blades. It provides insight into what to expect before, during, and after a live migration in a real-world environment with SAP and Oracle on AIX. Articles 14 Jul 2009

Understanding advanced AIX features: MLS in simple steps
If you feel that the new features of AIX like RBAC and MLS are too confusing, this article will help you to understand the features in simple terms and with examples. This article is part two of a series. Articles 07 Jul 2009

AIX A-Z: Learning AIX’s spooler back-end programs
While most IBM AIX administrators know how to set up print queues and manage printing through the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) or the general print commands, there’s more to printing on the UNIX system. If you want to learn more than just how to set up or manage virtual printers on AIX, this article is for you. Most successful AIX and UNIX administrators thrive on learning more about the system they administer. Printing is only one facet of their system, but it’s an important one to know. Articles 07 Jul 2009

Producing documentation and reusing information in XML, Part 1: Document publishing using XML
XML provides a way to identify data items and subcomponents within any structured data set, but has its roots in documentation development and production. Robust, open standards for XML document markup and a rich set of freely available tools for XML document parsing and format conversion make it easy to install and configure a complete documentation development and formatting environment on any UNIX or Linux system. Articles 07 Jul 2009

High-performance concurrent communication development in UNIX using the ACE library framework
The ACE open source toolkit helps developers create robust, portable multithreading applications. Take a peek into some of the ways you can create applications that use ACE threads. Articles 30 Jun 2009

Understanding advanced AIX features: Role-based access control in simple steps
Security is a major concern of operating systems. This article series provides an understanding of the new features on AIX, role-based access control and multi-level security. Part 1 of this series discusses AIX role-based access control (RBAC) and how roles, responsibilities, and the authorization of a root user can be delegated to more than one user. Articles 23 Jun 2009

Python testing frameworks: Selecting and running tests
The recent emergence of industrial-strength Python testing frameworks means that Python tests are being written more succinctly, more uniformly, and with better reporting of results than ever before. This article examines how the three most popular testing frameworks identify and gather tests, and what support they provide for writing entire layers of tests that share common setup and teardown code. Articles 23 Jun 2009

Avoiding the gotchas of AIX LPAR migrations
Learn how to identify and get past the common roadblocks that can interfere with migrating IBM AIX servers to the latest in logical partition (LPAR) technology. Articles 16 Jun 2009

Upgrading from POWER5 to POWER6
Read about and learn from my experiences in upgrading a POWER5 595 to a new POWER6 595. Articles 09 Jun 2009

Working with filesystems using NFSV4 ACLs
Managing NFSv4 ACLs on different filesystem with different commands can become difficult. This article discusses and compares the different commands that you might use to migrate from one filesystem to another. Articles 02 Jun 2009

Python testing frameworks: Finding modules to test
The recent emergence of industrial-strength Python testing frameworks means that Python tests are being written more succinctly, more uniformly, and with better reporting of results than ever before. Here we look at how the leading testing frameworks provide robust auto-discovery of your application tests, and how this replaces the fragile central lists of tests that you used to maintain. Articles 02 Jun 2009

AIX 6.1, Solaris 10, and HP-UX and the System p
In recent years, HP, Sun, and IBM have all released new versions of their commercial UNIX-based operating systems. This article compares and contrasts some of the innovations in their releases. Learn the differences on how to work with certain tasks, such as networking and performance tuning. Also, see at a high level some of the virtualization differences among these big three. Articles 26 May 2009

Speaking UNIX: 10 great tools for any UNIX system
The universe of UNIX tools changes constantly. Here are 10 tools — some you may have overlooked and some new — to tinker with. Articles 12 May 2009

Python testing frameworks: Make your life easy with a Python testing framework
The recent emergence of industrial-strength Python testing frameworks means that Python tests are being written more succinctly, more uniformly, and with better reporting of results than ever before. This article begins to explore this new world by introducing the leading testing frameworks and looking at their most basic features. Articles 05 May 2009

UNIX network analysis
You can find out a lot about your network by using a variety of different tools. If you want to understand the layout of your network, where packets are going, and what people are doing, then you need to use a variety of different tools that can help you to build up a picture of your network and what is going on. This tutorial examines techniques for monitoring the traffic and content of your UNIX network and how to read and diagnose problems on your network. Tutorial 05 May 2009

Automating deployment and activation of virtual appliances for IBM AIX and Power Systems
Server virtualization enables you to rapidly provision new environments by using libraries of virtual image templates, or virtual appliances. Automated provisioning requires the management of operating system, network, and application-specific customization. This article provides a sample framework for automating virtual image deployment and activation on Power Systems, with a downloadable example that demonstrates how to provision a virtual appliance made up of IBM WebSphere Application Server V7.0 running on AIX V5.3. Articles 29 Apr 2009

Advanced performance tuning concepts
The performance of even the best application suffers if the underlying host is not configured properly. This article looks at the four key areas of performance tuning and identifies what to watch for in each of them. In addition, Java-based applications bring other performance tuning requirements with them, especially the garbage collection cycle. This article also looks at what you need to know about garbage collection. Articles 28 Apr 2009

AIX job spooler
Job spooling or spooled processing are mainframe concepts that are available in the IBM AIX environment, but are rarely implemented. This article describes the configuration, reasons, and purposes for implementing job spooling in AIX environments. Articles 28 Apr 2009

Thanks for the memory
Running out of Java heap isn’t the only cause of a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError. If native memory runs out, OutOfMemoryErrors that your normal debugging techniques won’t be able to solve can occur. This article explains what native memory is, how the Java runtime uses it, what running out of it looks like, and how to debug a native OutOfMemoryError on AIX. A companion article covers the same topics for Linux and Windows systems. Articles 21 Apr 2009

Green computing on AIX and POWER
This article introduces green computing as it relates to POWER systems and AIX. It discusses how server consolidation around AIX and POWER servers work in tandem with green computing. It discusses the datacenter and how POWER servers exemplify the concepts of green computing by lowering power and cooling costs. It also discusses recent innovations in the POWER6 architecture that lend themselves to green computing, such as live partition mobility and other related feature/functionality innovations. Finally, the article discusses recent improvements in AIX 6.1, such as WPAR and live application mobility, and shows why these are tailor-made for green computing. Articles 21 Apr 2009

Configuring Kerberos master-slave KDC with LDAP master-replica topology on AIX
Learn how to configure and manage the Kerberos master-slave Key Distribution Center with an LDAP master-replica setup. This article gives a step-by-step example of how to achieve one such complex Kerberos setup. Articles 21 Apr 2009

The rsync family
Synchronizing two machines (such as a laptop and a desktop computer) is easier and faster when you use rsync, which boasts an efficient algorithm and options for just about everything you might need. And if a command-line operation isn’t your thing, several graphic tools make using rsync easier still. Articles 14 Apr 2009

Secure file transfer in a heterogeneous environment
File transfer is an essential and important activity in the day-to-day computing world. Security lapses during file transfer can invite leak important data to the external world. As a result, securing FTP is of primary importance. Hence, in AIX V6.1, IBM has introduced a secure flavor of FTP (and ftpd), based on OpenSSL, using Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt both the command and the data channels of file transfer. This article shows the advantage of using this AIX V6.1 feature and its usage between AIX and other heterogeneous systems that already support this feature. This article focuses on AIX secure FTP with a Windows server. Articles 14 Apr 2009

Cloud computing on AIX and System p
What is cloud computing and how is it relevant to POWER systems and your organization? Learn guidelines around cloud computing and Power systems. Articles 07 Apr 2009

Introduction to distributed version control systems
Interested in distributed version control but intimidated by all the jargon? This article provides an introduction to the three main systems available (Git, Mercurial, and Bazaar), discusses some of the advantages to be had from adopting a distributed workflow, and provides a reference guide comparing common operations with subversion. Articles 07 Apr 2009

Port Fortran applications
Discover how to port Fortran-based High Performance Computing applications, such as computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling, weather modeling, and linear algebra packages, using IBM XL compilers and gnu compilers on large clusters. The solutions in this article are equally applicable in all types of porting work in Fortran or any UNIX(R)- or Linux-based systems. Though C/C++ and other programming languages are popular, with strong features and widespread use, Fortran is still the favorite for the scientific and engineering community because of its performance. Articles 01 Apr 2009

Solutions for tracing UNIX applications
If you are developing a UNIX application, then you can trace and debug the running application and extract the information you need from it. But what if you want to know what is going on inside a UNIX application and you don’t have access to the source code? This tutorial looks at some systems that enable you to trace the execution of applications and work out what they are doing without having to make any modifications to the source code, and even without having to stop and restart the application. Tutorial 31 Mar 2009

Multiprocessing with Python
Learn to scale your Unix Python applications to multiple cores by using the multiprocessing module which is built into Python 2.6. Multiprocessing mimics parts of the threading API in Python to give the developer a high level of control over flocks of processes, but also incorporates many additional features unique to processes. Articles 24 Mar 2009

Speaking UNIX: The Squirrel portable shell and scripting language
If you don’t want to commit to the idiosyncrasies of a specific shell running on a particular platform, try the Squirrel Shell. The Squirrel Shell provides an advanced, object-oriented scripting language that works equally well on UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows systems. Write a script once, and run it anywhere. Articles 17 Mar 2009

10 tips for sensible systems administration
Benjamin Franklin: scientist, scholar, statesman, and . . . systems administrator? Yes, 200 years or so before the birth of UNIX, Franklin scribed sage advice to keep systems humming. Here are 10 of Franklin’s more notable tips. Articles 10 Mar 2009

Multi-security mechanisms with multifactor authentications
Authentication is a key component of security-based solutions. This article discusses the risk associated with the use of the same security mechanisms in multifactor authentication systems and the use of GSS-API as a suitable option for achieving the multi-security mechanism with multifactor authentication for enhanced security for solutions designed over UNIX. Articles 10 Mar 2009

10 steps to UNIX nirvana
Discover several time-saving tips and freely available tools that both new and experienced C++ developers can use. Articles 03 Mar 2009

Configure Enterprise Identity Mapping (EIM) for AIX NFSv4 over a Kerberos cross-realm setup
Learn how to set up and configure Enterprise Identity Mapping (EIM) for AIX Network File System (NFS) version 4 over a Kerberos cross-realm setup. Articles 03 Mar 2009

Manage blogs on AIX
AIX provides an ideal environment for blogs and for the Web Content Management System (CMS) tools running those blogs because of its Web and text-processing power. You get the best of both worlds by combining open source CMS and AIX for a complete and ready-to-use content management tool with extensive support from the open source community, along with a secure and reliable server with high availability, scalability, and enterprise-level support from IBM. This article introduces some of the best CMS solutions for AIX available from the open source community, and helps readers understand the important differences among them. The article also provides a guideline for system architects and developers to help them choose the CMS that best fits their needs. Articles 24 Feb 2009

Host-based and PAM authentication methods
This article describes some authentication methods supported by OpenSSH. OpenSSH is a free tool that implements the SSH1 and SSH2 protocols. Understand the configuration of some of the authentication methods in OpenSSH as well as new features added in the IBM-supported version of OpenSSH. Articles 24 Feb 2009

Configure IBM Network Authentication Service master KDC with an LDAP back-end server on AIX
Learn how to configure the IBM Network Authentication Service (IBM Kerberos) with an LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) directory to store Kerberos principal and policy information. This article is a detailed guide for Kerberos administrators who want to achieve security, scalability, and high availability using Kerberos and LDAP on AIX. Articles 17 Feb 2009

Setting up UNIX file systems
Learn how you can improve your computer’s performance and help protect it from harm by setting up your file systems in an optimal manner. Articles 17 Feb 2009

Perform uniform mounting with generic NFS
To efficiently achieve uniform mounting in the presence of multiple, simultaneous NFS version exports, you need a generic NFS mount utility. Learn how a generic NFS mount utility can help reduce handling multiple NFS versions and simplify the management of those versions. The article describes the concept of the generic NFS mount, outlines the advantages and applications of the system, and gives some overall design details. Articles 11 Feb 2009

Speaking UNIX: Stayin’ alive with Screen
The command line is a powerful tool, but it has a fatal weakness: If the shell perishes, so does your work. To keep your shell and your work alive — even across multiple sessions and dropped connections — use GNU Screen, a windowing system for your console. Articles 10 Feb 2009

Configuration and usage of rquota daemon in NFS on AIX
This article explains how to set up rquota daemon in the Network File System (NFS) environment on AIX machines. The article also provides side-by-side hints to Linux users on how to configure rquota daemon on Linux boxes. Articles 10 Feb 2009

Synchronizing UNIX files
There are many tools available that allow you to synchronize files across UNIX directories, but doing it effectively, and securely, takes a little bit more effort. This article looks at solutions for synchronizing files across UNIX filesystems and different computer systems securely, and at solutions that allow you to synchronize encrypted versions of your files for the purposes of backup. Articles 03 Feb 2009

Performance Monitor Counter data analysis using Counter Analyzer
To understand what happens inside a processor when an application is executed, processor architects designed a set of special registers to count the events taking place when processors are executing instructions. These registers, called the Performance Monitor Counter, provide interesting information about the processor, such as how many I-cache misses take place, how many instructions are completed, and more. Counter Analyzer is one plugin of the Visual Performance Analyzer, an Eclipse-based performance analysis tool. It can analyze raw events, metrics, and CPI breakdown model, and help you better understand these events. This article introduces the Performance Monitor Counter and its related tools briefly, and then shows you how to use these tools and the Counter Analyzer together, using the Caesar cipher tool as example. Articles 03 Feb 2009

Performance tuning considerations in your application server environment
Understand how the various components of a Web application interact, and where you might find performance bottlenecks. Both developers and administrators will benefit from knowing this because performance is everyone’s responsibility. Articles 27 Jan 2009

Enterprise-Wide Unique identifiers
Successful implementation of business continuity in large IBM AIX environments is dependent upon the elimination of resource conflicts on the supporting computer systems. Many aspects of business continuity — such as virtualization, high availability, and disaster recovery — require unique identification values for many of the resource parameters involved in system configuration. Provided in this article is a discussion and mechanism for generating Enterprise-Wide Unique (EWU) identification values for a wide variety of configuration parameters. Articles 27 Jan 2009

IBM Network Authentication Service KDC configuration, Part 3: Configuring a slave KDC with LDAP on AIX
The first two parts of this three-part series covered how to configure IBM Network Authentication Service (NAS) master and slave KDCs with a legacy database and how to upgrade the slave KDC to behave as a master KDC. Taking this to the next level, this article shows how to configure the Kerberos slave KDC with the LDAP database and why there is a need to do so. Articles 20 Jan 2009

Optimizing N-tier J2EE applications on UNIX operating systems
Multi-tier Web applications provide a more flexible and scalable environment for business-critical applications and their 24 x 7 availability requirements. Today’s increasingly sophisticated deployments introduce additional complexity in system, infrastructure, and application interaction. Operating system and hardware selection, best practices for application design and coding, and performance and application monitoring can help maximize application performance today and scalability for tomorrow. Articles 20 Jan 2009

Kerberos LDAP master-slave configuration management
Kerberos and LDAP are designed to allow for a master/slave setup. In a centralized environment, user and group management can be handled through the LDAP/KRB5LDAP (Kerberos LDAP) protocol. This article explains how to configure KRB5LDAP (Kerberos LDAP) master/slave for KRB5LDAP clients. Articles 13 Jan 2009

Create a WebSphere Application Server 7.0 virtual appliance for AIX
This article describes a process for creating and using a WebSphere Application Server (Application Server) virtual appliance for AIX logical partition (LPAR) virtualization technology. It describes a source LPAR environment for building a Application Server virtual appliance and specifying the steps involved in preparation of the environment, including installation of Application Server and custom configuration needed to ensure that the installed version of Application Server can function as an appliance. To create the appliance, the prepared environment is used as a source for an image, saved as a binary file and is described using an Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF) file. The article concludes with a description of alternative scenarios for sharing the appliance, including one where the appliance is shared across the Internet and another where the appliance is shared within a data center. Articles 13 Jan 2009

Installing technology levels and service packs for AIX
One of the critical questions AIX systems administrators have to deal with is when to upgrade their systems. This article looks at some of the issues surrounding upgrades such as when and how systems administrators should deploy upgrades as well as methods for retrieving and performing updates. Learn some of the recent changes and best practices regarding the deployment of technology levels and service packs for AIX. Articles 06 Jan 2009

Auditing and serviceability management in IBM Network Authentication Service for AIX
Auditing is a vital aspect of any software, and even so more if the software provides security services. This article helps to understand the auditing and serviceability features provided in IBM Network Authentication Service. Learn about the different server-side log files, how to enable them, and how to analyze them. Also gain the expertise on how to turn on the debug message logging required for problem determination and support activities. Articles 06 Jan 2009

Make a product-specific debugger in AIX
This article discusses the requirements needed to make a product-specific debugger for support products. The product-specific debugger helps in customizing the data you might want to dig, analyze, and debug. Articles 23 Dec 2008

Install and configure WebSphere Application Server on UNIX and Linux systems
Learn how application servers are used in modern enterprise environments and how to install IBM WebSphere Application Server on UNIX and Linux systems to provide the cornerstone of a robust, well-supported enterprise Web environment. This tutorial also explains how to integrate WebSphere Application Server into the startup and shutdown processes on your UNIX and Linux servers and provides links to many other resources that will help you get up and running quickly with WebSphere Application Server. Tutorials 22 Dec 2008

Speaking UNIX: Opening Windows with Cygwin
Cygwin is a UNIX-like environment for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It includes a real UNIX shell, a Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) emulation library, and thousands of UNIX utilities ported to Windows. Articles 16 Dec 2008

From parallel SCSI to serial SCSI
SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), often called Parallel SCSI, is almost 30 years old and can hardly keep up with the demands of today’s IT environment. Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) was developed to address the limitations inherent in SCSI. This article highlights the differences between these two interfaces and points out the attributes that account for the increasing popularity of SAS. Articles 16 Dec 2008

Using AIX Security Expert
AIXPert is an all-purpose GUI and command-line security tool that incorporates over 300 security configuration settings. Learn about recent enhancements implemented with AIX V6.1, including SOX auditing support, and go through real scenarios to show how AIXPert can be used from the command line, smit, and the GUI. Articles 09 Dec 2008

Ruby for systems administrators
Apart from its use as a powerful Web application development platform, in combination with the Rails framework Ruby has another less-heralded side of itself, which is as a powerful scripting language, such as Python or Perl. It has immense capabilities, owing to the availability of many built-in and external libraries, the power of which can be harnessed to solve a great deal of the scripting needs that come up in any typical systems administrative work environment. Also, it’s fun to program in Ruby! Articles 09 Dec 2008

Resources on the IBM Network Authentication Service and related technologies for AIX
Get the answers to your questions about the AIX Network Authentication Service and related technologies in one place. This article provides developers and administrators with a listing of the developerWorks articles that cover configuration, administration, interoperability, Kerberized filesystems (NFS V4), and different Kerberized login modules based on IBM NAS for AIX. For your convenience and ease of usage, the articles have be categorized into appropriate sections. Articles 03 Dec 2008

Speaking UNIX: Go fish!
The Friendly Interactive Shell, or fish, is a joy to use. Its syntax, context-sensitive help, and color-coded command-line interface (CLI) greatly simplify the use of UNIX and ease the burdens of scripting. Articles 25 Nov 2008

Samba on AIX
Samba is an open source, free software suite that provides seamless file and print services between Windows clients and UNIX-like platforms. It can be run on a UNIX-like platform like AIX, BSD UNIX, Linux, IBM 390 and OpenVMS. Samba uses the TCP/IP protocol that is installed in the host server. When configured, this server software allows the host machine to share files and printers and make them accessible from Windows clients. Articles 25 Nov 2008

Naming standards for business continuity
In today’s partitioned and virtualized computing environments, the requirement for naming standards is more apparent than ever before. Unfortunately, there is a widespread lack of understanding between the different categories of names used to identify managed systems, LPAR’s, profiles, node names, host names, and aliases. This article defines naming categories and provide standards for creating enterprise-wide unique names associated with each category. This article also explains why it is important to distinguish between the different naming categories and how they are an integral part of data center automation projects and an overall business continuity plan. Articles 25 Nov 2008

Comparison of SLES (SUSE) and RHEL (Red Hat) on IBM System p
Most system administrators planning to install Linux on IBM System p eventually run into an important question: Which Linux distribution should I install? This article compares two distributions from Red Hat and Novell, and weighs the pros and cons of each. We’ll discuss Linux on POWER (LoP), the history of both distributions, the relationship IBM has with them, and the factors that should go into your decision-making process. We’re also going to compare and contrast what it takes to create logical volumes on SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Articles 18 Nov 2008

Comparison of SLES (SUSE) and RHEL (Red Hat) on IBM System p
Most systems administrators planning to install Linux on IBM System p eventually run into an important dillemma: Which Linux distribution should I install? This article compares two distributions from Red Hat and Novell, and weighing the pros and cons of each. We’ll discuss Linux on POWER (LoP), the history of both distributions, the relationship IBM has with them, and the factors that should go into your decision-making process. We also compare and contrast what it takes to create logical volumes on SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Articles 18 Nov 2008

IBM Network Authentication Service KDC configuration, Part 2: Upgrading a slave KDC to a master KDC
Become an expert administrator of a reliable Kerberos environment with high availability, involving multiple Kerberos master-slave Key Distribution Centers (KDC) on AIX and many clients. Part 2 of this series covers how to upgrade the slave KDC to perform as a master KDC. Part 1 covered how to configure and manage the basic master-slave KDC setup, and Part 3 will show how to configure the slave KDC with LDAP as the back end for storing Kerberos data. Articles 11 Nov 2008

Distributed compilation
Learn about open source tool options that can help speed up your build process by distributing the process across multiple machines in a local area network. Articles 11 Nov 2008

Automating Linux cloud installations
A simplified process for installing operating systems can reduce the amount of time you spend on administration of your cloud computing environment. This article describes how you can automate the installation of SUSE Linux on a new IBM Power System or System p LPAR. You can also use the same techniques to install Red Hat Linux or AIX. Articles 11 Nov 2008

SSL configuration for IBM Tivoli Directory Server 6.0
Gain an overview of SSL configuration for IBM Tivoli Directory Server 6.0 on the AIX 5L operating system. Learn about command line configuration steps for SSL key database creation, certificate creation, certificate extraction, SSL authentication mechanisms, troubleshooting for SSL issues, and steps to perform LDAP client-server communication. Articles 06 Nov 2008

Implement two-factor authentication for AIX using Kerberos
In the ever-growing need for higher security systems, multi-factor authentication is preferred for network security. Since Kerberos is one of the most popular network authentication mechanisms, learn how to design a multi-factor authentication over the Kerberos protocol. Understand the use of One-Time Password (OTP) and GSS-API to achieve this. Articles 04 Nov 2008

Install and configure an enterprise-level Web server
Learn how Web servers are used in modern enterprise environments and how to install and integrate IBM HTTP Server. This tutorial explains why IBM HTTP Server, a key component of IBM WebSphere Application Server, is also an excellent choice as a stand-alone Web server because of its standard configuration and seamless upgrade path for evolving enterprise Web environments. Tutorials 04 Nov 2008

Python and LDAP
At some point in their careers, most systems administrators need to interact with an LDAP server. This article shows how LDAP can be used for Apache authentication, as well as how to perform CRUD, or Create, Read, Update, and Delete operations on an OpenLDAP database, using the Python module python-ldap. Articles 28 Oct 2008

Enabling DB2 applications for HACMP Smart Assist
HACMP Smart Assist validates the applications before getting them configured. This involves some preparation work for applications that are to be integrated with HACMP. This article documents the steps to enable DB2 applications for HACMP. Articles 28 Oct 2008

Introducing the Boost parser framework
Learn to use Boost’s highly scalable Spirit parser framework, which works on an EBNF specification and can significantly reduce your development time. Articles 21 Oct 2008

Initial steps on kdb
kdb is a utility that is primarily intended for performing analysis of a system dump image. This article describes the initial steps for system dump analysis. Articles 21 Oct 2008

AIX commands you should not leave home without
Do you wish you could answer some of your own questions when you work with AIX and your System p server? Do you ever feel you could save time by not having to call on the support professionals all the time? Well, wish no more. Shiv Dutta discusses some of the AIX commands that answer those questions and tells you how to enlarge the list of such answers. Articles 14 Oct 2008

Advanced Accounting in WPAR
AIX 6.1 introduced the software-based partition technology, Workload Partitions, that supports Advanced Accounting along with its generic features like interval accounting, data aggregation, and dynamic classification of accounting data. This article gives an overview on configuration of Advanced Accounting for WPARs with examples, methods of enabling WPAR Accounting, and the various reporting tools available for viewing the accounting records. Articles 07 Oct 2008

Using cron to automate maintenance
To leverage round-the-clock computing, tasks must run at all hours of the day. You could punctuate your sleep with waking interludes to log in and run this command or that command on dozens of machines, or you can enjoy your forty winks and turn the work over to the ubiquitous cron, a daemon, or perennial process, to execute commands on a schedule. From very often to every so often, cron happily minds the clock and runs jobs day or night. Learn how to configure and maintain cron, and discover just some of its many uses. Tutorials 07 Oct 2008

Speaking UNIX: !$#@*%
Learn how to use pipelines, redirections, operators, and more in UNIX. Articles 30 Sep 2008

IBM Network Authentication Service for AIX backup and restore management
Learn how to back up your important Kerberos data as a part of your business continuity plan and other backup processes. In the Kerberos production environment, taking a regular and proper backup of Kerberos data is vital to ensure 24×7 reliable and consistent support to the users. This article educates the Kerberos administrators on what data to consider for your backup plan. Articles 30 Sep 2008

IBM System Planning Tool (SPT) and the System p
The System Planning Tool (SPT) is a wonderful utility that is a must for any System p architect or administrator. It is browser-based, and helps you architect your entire managed system by assisting in the planning, design, and validation of your system. Furthermore, it is tightly integrated with the IBM System Workload Estimator (WLE), which allows you to plan systems based upon either existing or new workloads. Follow along in this article for details on how to install and get the most from this important tool. Articles 23 Sep 2008

AIX WPAR auditing
AIX V6.1 introduced the software-based partition technology called Workload Partitions (WPAR). This article provides an overview of auditing subsystems in a WPAR environment with examples about global auditing, WPAR auditing, and global-initiated WPAR auditing. The article also presents information about the audit reporting tools that can be used to view the audit records. Articles 23 Sep 2008

Expand the capabilities of your Tomcat Web server
This tutorial is a must-have guide for any Web or application server administrator. Although the implementations are slightly different from Apache Tomcat and other Web servers, this tutorial breaks down in a logical and concise way many advanced administrative tasks necessary for successfully hosting, deploying, and managing multiple Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) Web applications. Learn how to set up, configure, and secure your Tomcat server, and discover tips and tools for advanced deployment considerations. Tutorials 16 Sep 2008

Crossing the border
For almost 15 years, z/OS has come with UNIX, in the form of UNIX Systems Services (USS). However, programming between USS and traditional z/OS (accessing USS services from native z/OS or vice versa) still remains a mystery for most programmers. This article fills in these gaps. It explains to native z/OS programmers how to benefit from UNIX on z/OS, and shows UNIX programmers how to interact with traditional z/OS. Articles 16 Sep 2008

Speaking UNIX: More shell scripting techniques
Like other UNIX operating systems and Linux, the IBM AIX operating system has several powerful tools that arm systems administrators, developers, and users to tackle day-to-day tasks and to simplify their or their customers’ business and life. One such tool in UNIX is the ability to write shell scripts to automate tasks, simplifying difficult or long and tedious jobs. Articles 09 Sep 2008

IBM Network Authentication Service KDC configuration, Part 1: Configuration and management of slave KDC in IBM Network Authentication Service on AIX
Become an expert administrator of a reliable Kerberos environment with high-availability involving multiple Kerberos master-slave Key Distribution Centers (KDC) on AIX and many clients. In this article, part 1 of three-part series, learn how to configure and manage the basic master-slave KDC setup. Part 2 will cover how to update the slave KDC to the master KDC. Part 3 will educate how to configure the master-slave KDC with LDAP as the back end for storing Kerberos data. Articles 09 Sep 2008

Writing plug-ins in Python
Learn how to extend your Python command-line tools by writing plug-ins. Articles 02 Sep 2008

KornShell 93 auditing
New features of the Korn Shell provide system administrators and management with the ability to monitor, track, record, and audit every command executed by any user of a system. This is different from the normal shell history, and provides detailed information that includes date, time, tty, user, and the command. This information can be stored locally or transmitted in real time to a remote logging system. Articles 02 Sep 2008

Tcsh shell variables
Tcsh is one of the most popular UNIX shells. Learn how you can use tcsh shell variables to make your work easier and take advantage of tcsh’s advanced security features. Articles 26 Aug 2008

Introduction to ProbeVue
Application development and troubleshooting can be difficult tasks, even for a seasoned programmer or system administrator. Even the best debugger and all its bells and whistles sometimes can’t compete with the ability to use simple print statements to capture the essence of what the application is doing. IBM AIX V6 adds a new tool called ProbeVue to its arsenal of debugging tools. This article briefly describes ProbeVue usage and its associated programming and scripting language, concluding wit Articles 26 Aug 2008

Speaking UNIX: The new and improved Vim editor
If you’ve worked on IBM AIX, another flavor of UNIX, or Linux, you’ve more than likely used the vi editor. Since its conception in 1976, vi has become a staple for anyone wanting to edit files. How could someone make a more powerful editing tool than vi, you may ask? The answer is Vim, and this article provides details on the many enhancements that have made Vim a highly used and acceptable editor in the world of UNIX and Linux. Articles 19 Aug 2008

Configure IBM NAS version 1.4.0.7 for AIX to make use of non-default encryption type
This article provides step-by-step procedures of how to enable and make use of non-default encryption type such as “aes128-cts” in the Kerberos setup (IBM Network Authentication Service). It also explains the reasoning behind every action taken in this regard. The explanation and reasoning will help Kerberos administrators make use of any other non-default encryption types in their Kerberos setups. Articles 19 Aug 2008

Using the GNU C/C++ compiler on AIX
Learn from IBM experts about using the GCC compiler on AIX(R). The authors explain why you should use GCC compiler, which compiler options are specific to pSeries, what you need to know about shared libraries, and common gotchas and solutions. [Updated "Installing GCC on AIX" section with new product levels and links.] Articles 12 Aug 2008

Using SQLAlchemy
SQLAlchemy is a next-generation Python Object Relational mapper. Learn how to use the new 0.5 API, work with third-party components, and a build a basic Web application. Articles 12 Aug 2008

Take a closer look at OpenBSD 4.3
OpenBSD provides a UNIX distribution with a primary emphasis on security and cryptography. If you’re looking for a UNIX distribution to deploy in the most critical nexus in your network infrastructure, look no further than OpenBSD. The recent release of OpenBSD — version 4.3 — includes several new features and bug fixes that this article reviews. Articles 12 Aug 2008

The importance of UNIX in SOA environments
These are exciting times in solution architecture — days of Web 2.0, SOA, Web services, mash-ups, and the full integration of technical solutions derived from business models integrating with old and new systems alike. Discover how and why existing systems and applications with which you are already familiar deployed on operating systems that you know well are so critical to the present and future of Web-based computing, particularly in the area of SOA. Articles 05 Aug 2008

DB2 and the Live Partition Mobility feature of PowerVM on IBM System p using storage area network (SAN) storage
Learn about Live Partition Mobility, a feature of the System p virtualization PowerVM Enterprise edition. See how Live Partition Mobility can be applied to DB2 deployments, and how it helps you migrate AIX and Linux partitions and hosted applications from one physical server to another compatible physical server. Live Partition Mobility allows hardware maintenance, firmware upgrades, system maintenance, and on-the-fly server consolidation without application outage. Setup, configuration, best-practices, and performance characterization for Storage Area Network (SAN) and DB2 are covered. Articles 05 Aug 2008

Learning doxygen for source code documentation
Maintaining and adding new features to legacy systems developed using C/C++ is a daunting task. Fortunately, doxygen — a documentation system for the C/C++, Java, Python, and other programming languages — can help. Discover the features of doxygen in the context of projects using C/C++ as well as how to document code using doxygen-defined tags. Articles 29 Jul 2008

AIX security commands
Security is an important aspect of the AIX operating system. Follow along with this quick reference guide on AIX Security commands to learn more. Articles 22 Jul 2008

Traversing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 on System p
So you’ve been the AIX guru on your team for years now and your bosses have determined that they want to try Linux on System p. You can fight the change, or you can embrace it and learn Linux, if not learn to love it. The purpose of this article is to introduce Linux to AIX administrators. It will show you what you need to know to make the transition to Linux simpler. It will also show you the equivalent commands to perform specific tasks and also discusses process management, filesystem management, how to peruse systems information, install packages, and other important bits of information that you as the systems administrator will need to know. While you will not become an expert at Linux from this article, this should give you a good head start in what you need to know. Articles 22 Jul 2008

Install and configure a development Web server in UNIX
Get a detailed, step-by-step approach to installing and configuring a development or test Apache Tomcat server. Along the way, pick up helpful tips on how to build and administer your Web or application server in a UNIX environment. Tutorials 15 Jul 2008

From scripting to object-oriented Python programming
Often it is difficult to make the transition from procedural scripting to object-oriented programming. This article explores how to reuse knowledge from PHP, Bash, or Python scripting to transition to object-oriented programming in Python. The article also briefly touches on the appropriate use of functional programming. Articles 14 Jul 2008

Overview of utility classes from the Boost library
Utility-class development and maintenance eats into programmer time. Boost simplifies the process by providing several high-quality libraries that you can easily integrate into your existing code base. This article gives a quick overview of some of the more popular Boost utility classes and helps you understand how to put them to work. Articles 08 Jul 2008

Understanding the Trusted Execution environment in AIX V6
This article covers the advanced security features of IBM AIX V6.1, Trusted Execution environment. It educates AIX system administrators on how to ensure system integrity at run-time as well as at stand-by time. This article, which acts as a starting point to learn about the Trusted Execution environment, also covers the most commonly used commands and examples. Articles 08 Jul 2008

Enhanced password strength in IBM Network Authentication Service for AIX
In a Kerberos environment, protecting principals’ passwords is imperative to preserve the system security. Learn how Kerberos administrators can take advantage of the password protection and password strength enhancement features provided by IBM Network Authentication Service for AIX. Articles 01 Jul 2008

Speaking UNIX: Just a few clicks
The way you interface with a computer is changing constantly. Operating systems that once started as a command line-only interface have moved to a graphical front end. Sometimes, however, moving away from the building blocks that made the operating system isn’t necessarily a step in the right direction. Thankfully, the IBM AIX operating system has kept to what’s important: the stability, functionality, and robustness of a computer’s operating system. Articles 01 Jul 2008

Running Oracle on AIX
A systems administrator always needs to be cognizant of system performance. This article drills down into the many aspects of tuning AIX to run Oracle. We’ll look at the Virtual Memory Manager (VMM), CPU, Memory and I/O (disk and network). We’ll examine some of the tools that you can use to analyze bottlenecks, while also making some changes to the system. Finally, we’ll also review some Oracle tools you can use to help with your performance tuning. Articles 24 Jun 2008

Manage your logical volumes with Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM) V5 for AIX 5.3 and 6.1
Learn to install, configure, and troubleshoot Veritas (Symantec) 5.0 Volume Manager (VxVM) on AIX 5L and AIX 6 machines using command line options. The article includes a brief explanation of VxVM basic concepts, troubleshooting, and easy fixes for a few sundry problems. Articles 24 Jun 2008

Easy procedure to assign disks from storage (DS8000/DS6000) to an AIX host
Assigning disks from storage disks (IIBM System Storage DS8000/DS6000) to an AIX host using GUI is easy but time consuming. This article explains a easier and faster way of assigning disks. You can use the this procedure to automate the disk-assigning process. Articles 17 Jun 2008

Korn shell scripting
Korn shell scripting is something all UNIX users should learn how to use. Shell scripting provides you with the ability to automate many tasks and can save you a great deal of time. It may seem daunting at first, but with the right instruction you can become highly skilled in it. This article will teach you to write your own Korn shells scripts. Articles 17 Jun 2008

Speaking UNIX: It is all about the inode
Have you ever wondered what Iused and %Iused mean in UNIX commands like df or what people are talking about when the say inode? UNIX and Linux systems both use inodes, and IBM AIX is no different. Discover what an inode is and why inodes are important to UNIX, the structure of an inode, and commands for working with inodes. Articles 10 Jun 2008

Concepts of WPARs and configuring DB2
WPAR (Workload Partition) is a licensed program product shipped with IBM AIX 610. Tthis article teaches WPAR concepts and configurations. By following the examples in this article, you will be able to install and configure DB2 on a system and application WPAR. Articles 10 Jun 2008

Live Application Mobility in AIX 6.1
The most popular innovation of AIX 6.1 is arguably workload partitioning. Workload partitioning allows you to have fewer operating system images on your managed system, which is accomplished by allowing virtualization of operating system resources. Live Application Mobility is an important component of workload partitioning and provides for increased availability for workload partitions (WPARs). Simply put, it allows you to move WPARs from one logical partition (LPAR) to another while the WPARs are up and running. It provides automatic, policy-based relocation of workload between systems using WPARs. This article explores how and when to use Live Application Mobility and how to configure a system and its applications to run it. Articles 03 Jun 2008

Practical threaded programming with Python
Threaded programming in Python can be done with a minimal amount of complexity by combining threads with Queues. This article explores using threads and queues together to create simple yet effective patterns for solving problems that require concurrency. Articles 03 Jun 2008

Configure and enable the Kerberos authentication in telnet, FTP, and r-commands on AIX V6
Learn to make use of the Kerberos authentication tickets in the day-to-day network services on AIX V6 and discover how Kerberos can be useful in getting rid of the password hassles for network service logons. This is another method towards achieving single sign on (SSO) on an AIX system network. Articles 27 May 2008

UNIX tips: Learn 10 more good UNIX usage habits
As a follow-up to Michael Stutz’s excellent article, this article provides 10 more good habits to adopt that will improve your UNIX command-line efficiency. Learn about common errors and how to overcome them, and discover exactly why these 10 UNIX habits are worth picking up. Articles 27 May 2008

Configuring Infiniband for AIX
IBM AIX 610 supports Infiniband hardware and various protocols that run over Infiniband. This article shows how to configure Infiniband and set up IP over Infiniband interface (IPoIB) in AIX. Also, this article explains how to use RDS (Reliable Datagram Sockets), a protocol (similar to UDP) designed to work over Infiniband to send and receive data using sockets. Articles 20 May 2008

Tips on designing a preprocessor for C++ using Antlr
Learn how to use Antlr to create a C++ preprocessor. Using this approach to create the C++ compiler, you don’t need a separate preprocessor engine. Instead, the preprocessor engine can be integrated as part of the lexer. Articles 20 May 2008

Speaking UNIX: Booting up
Ever wonder what makes a computer tick or how a UNIX server does what it does? For those who wonder what happens when you push the power button on your computer, here’s your inside look. This article discusses the different boot types, managing the IBM AIX bootlist, and the AIX boot sequence. After reading this article, you should have a better understanding of what exactly is happening when your server starts. Articles 13 May 2008

Automatic generation of configuration data for HACMP/XD-PPRC
HACMP/XD uses PPRC mirroring technology to provide disaster recovery for critical applications’ data. To achieve high availability for distributed applications over extended distances, administrators need to configure PPRC in an HACMP/XD environment. This involves collecting configuration data from the storage as well as from the cluster nodes; at times this can be tedious. This article shows you how, using pprc4hacmp, configuration data is generated for HACMP/XD-PPRC automatically. Articles 13 May 2008

Shared library memory footprints on AIX 5L
Learn about shared library mechanisms and memory footprints on AIX. This article is essential for developers writing server code or administrators managing production AIX systems. It offers developers and administrators commands and techniques, and gives the understanding necessary to analyze memory requirements of server processes on AIX. It also helps developers and administrators avoid resource shortages that can’t be identified with other standard runtime analysis tools such as ps or topas. The article is intended for systems administrators or developers of native applications on AIX. Articles 06 May 2008

openssh with AIX chroot
Sometimes you might want to restrict users to specific directories so that they are not able to look into the whole system. This can be achieved by creating the chroot users. This article describes how to set up an AIX chroot environment and use it with ssh, sftp, and scp. You will also learn about the prerequisites for AIX and openssh, and how to configure and use a chroot environment. A downloadable sample shell script that automatically sets up this environment is also provided. Articles 05 May 2008

Learn the Perl/Tk module, Part 3: Advanced widgets
Although Perl-based Web interfaces have limitations, Perl is one of the most commonly used Web development languages. UNIX users who have a programming background in shell scripting, Perl, or another language can breathe new life into Perl-based Web interfaces by using the Perl/Tk module. Articles 29 Apr 2008

Speaking UNIX: Inside TCP/IP
The Internet has played a huge role in the advancement of technology, business, and everyday life for huge numbers of the world’s people. Configuring a computer to communicate over a network and connecting to the Internet has become an essential task for administrators. This article shows how to configure a server running IBM AIX to connect to and use the Internet. Articles 22 Apr 2008

Example-driven ZODB
Relational databases are not the only solution available for Python programmers in the enterprise. Often an object database can be a more natural fit for solving certain problems. This article discusses ZODB, a scalable and redundant object database that specializes in storing extensible objects, without the natural Object-relational impedance mismatch that can occur by attempting to make an Object Oriented Language and a Relational Query System map objects to relations. Articles 15 Apr 2008

Systems Administration Toolkit: Using SNMP data
The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is built in to many devices, but often the tools and software that can read and parse this information are too large and complicated when you only want to check a quick statistic or track a particular device or issue. This article looks at some simplified methods for getting SNMP information from your devices and how to integrate this information into the rest of your network’s data map. Articles 15 Apr 2008

Discover the Boost Filesystem Library
The absence of a well-defined library that deals with file system manipulation is a long-running issue for the C++ language. In the past, programmers have had to use native APIs to work around the problem. Discover a library that provides a safe, portable, and easy-to-use C++ interface to facilitate file system operations: the Boost Filesystem Library. Articles 08 Apr 2008

Workload Partitioning (WPAR) in AIX 6.1
The most popular innovation of IBM AIX Version 6.1 is clearly workload partitioning (WPARs). Once you get past the marketing hype, you’ll need to determine the value that WPARs can provide in your environment. What can WPARs do that Logical Partitions (LPARs) could not? How and when should you use WPARs? Equally as important, when should you not use Workload Partitioning. Finally, how do you create, configure, and administer workload partitions? These topics will all be discussed in this article. Articles 08 Apr 2008

Implementing Java on AIX: Download, installation, and configuration
Get short, simple, and complete instructions for downloading, installing, and configuring Java for the IBM AIX operating system from the IBM Systems, UNIX, and ISV Technical Support Team for AIX and Java in Austin, Texas. If you take the steps in the article before contacting the support center for problems, you can save a lot of time and headaches. Articles 01 Apr 2008

Discover tput
One of the strongest assets UNIX has is the ability to make shell scripts to ease users’ lives. These scripts can range from simple one-liners to several thousand lines. Many times, shell scripts evolve into menu-based scripts, and the scripter wants to display more to users than simply scrolling text. Other times, a simple line or two of output are displayed to users, and the shell scripter wants to put emphasis on a warning message. Articles 01 Apr 2008

Troubleshooting Java code on AIX: Data collection for AIX core dumps
Do you want to save some time? This article has instructions for troubleshooting Java code for the IBM AIX operating system. In this article, the IBM Java Support on AIX Technical Team provides short, simple, and complete instructions for collecting an AIX core file and other files for analyzing process exceptions with Java applications running on AIX. You’ll also learn how to package and send data to IBM Support. Articles 25 Mar 2008

Configuring and troubleshooting ITDS 6.1 on AIX
This article is an introduction to the IBM Tivoli Directory Server and the use of native LDAP commands to create, configure, and unconfigure an ITDS instance. Articles 25 Mar 2008

Shell Curses function library
“Shell Curses” is a library of script functions that provide the shell programmer the ability to perform text-based cursor movements to specified locations on the screen. This ability permits the creation of menuing and data-entry systems using shell scripts without the need for compiled binaries. These functions are similar to the “C” language “Curses” library. Articles 25 Mar 2008

Using Python to create UNIX command line tools
If you work in IT, as a UNIX Sysadmin, a software developer, or even a manager, there a few skills that will set you apart from the crowd. Do you fully understand the OSI model? Are you comfortable with subnetting? Do you understand UNIX permissions? Let me add to this list the humble command line tool. By the end of this article, anyone involved in IT at any capacity should be able to create at least a simple command line tool. Articles 18 Mar 2008

Building custom language parsers
There are certain things about ANTLR that, if understood, help in faster debugging and provide a fuller appreciation of how the tool works. Learn how to use ANTLR to create smarter parsing solutions. Tutorials 11 Mar 2008

Changing UIDs and GIDs
It’s important to know what happens to file ownership in AIX once you make a UID or GID change. If you don’t understand the results of altering a UID or GID, you could cause serious issues to your server and environment. Articles 04 Mar 2008

Systems Administration Toolkit: Understanding DNS
The Domain Name System (DNS) is the service that converts hostnames and domain details into the IP addresses required for application to communicate. Under UNIX, the primary DNS service is based on BIND, and DNS itself is a key part of most UNIX installations. This article looks at the basics of DNS setup, how servers and requests are distributed and exchanged, and how to set up and keep a DNS environment running smoothly. Articles 04 Mar 2008

Systems Administration Toolkit: Log file basics
A typical UNIX or Linux machine creates many log files during the course of its operation. Some of these contain useful information; others can be used to help you with capacity and resource planning. This article looks at the fundamental information recorded within the different log files, their location, and how that information can be used to your benefit to work out what is going on within your system. Articles 26 Feb 2008

Extending non-IBM LDAP servers to support full AIX functionality
Managing users and controlling their access in a centralized LDAP environment is a challenging task in a heterogeneous environment. Some platforms may lose their OS-specific functionality due to the lack of schema support from the LDAP server. This presents a solution for some non-IBM LDAP servers to support full AIX user management functionality by providing the AIX LDAP schema for these server types, the steps for updating these LDAP server type with the schema, and the proper configuration on AIX to take advantage of the added AIX LDAP schema. Articles 19 Feb 2008

Building your own memory manager for C/C++ projects
Performance optimization of code is serious business. It’s fairly common to see a piece of functionally correct software written in C or C++ that takes way too much memory, time, or, in the worst case, both. As a developer, one of the most powerful tools that C/C++ arms you with to improve processing time and prevent memory corruption is the control over how memory is allocated or deallocated in your code. This tutorial demystifies memory management concepts by telling you how to create your very own memory manager for specific situations. Tutorials 19 Feb 2008

Transition to AIX from Solaris
You’ve been working with Solaris for ten years now and, like many other companies, you have just started a large server consolidation and migration project to AIX(R) 6.1 from Solaris 10. Many of the commands are similar, but you need to know how to work with partitioning and virtualization. What are the partitioning differences between an IBM(R) and Sun server? Furthermore, what do you need to know about workload partitions (WPARs) to make a successful transition from containers? What are some of the similarities and differences between WPARs and zones, and how does the process differ from creating zones and WPARs? Finally, what can you do on the IBM System p(TM) that you can’t do with Sun servers? These are some of the questions addressed in this article, with the objective of making your transition easier. Articles 12 Feb 2008

Secure RPC using DES authentication on AIX 5.3
Find out how to use Secure RPC using Data Encryption Standard (DES) authentication on AIX(R) 5.3 to achieve a secure communication between the client and server. In this article, you’ll examine the setup required to initiate Secure RPC between the client and server, DES authentication, and how to make applications secure using the Secure RPC application programming interfaces (APIs). Articles 12 Feb 2008

Optimizing AIX 6.1 performance tuning
Just when you thought you understood performance tuning on AIX(R) Version 5.3, here comes AIX 6.1 on its heels to throw you a curveball. In this article, get up-to-date information on the recent changes to performance monitoring and tuning in AIX 6.1, including CPU, virtual memory, and I/O (disk and network). Many of the changes are really less about kernel innovations and more about ancillary changes, such as improving default parameters to more accurately reflect real-world data processing. Other enhancements include unique tunable documentation, restricted tunables, and various other improvements to certain subsystems. You’ll learn more about a performance tuning methodology, which needs to be a part of any tuning strategy. Articles 05 Feb 2008

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Tuning network performance, Part 3
This three-part series on AIX (R) networking focuses on the challenges of optimizing network performance. Part 1 provided a networking overview and also discussed the tools you need to monitor your hardware, including netstat, netpmon, entstat, and nmon. Part 2 discussed monitoring and tuning NFS subsystems. This final part, Part 3, shows you how to monitor network packets. The series also offers best practices for network I/O performance tuning. Articles 29 Jan 2008

Understanding EFS
Safeguard your data with the Encrypted File System (EFS), a new AIX(R) 6.1 security feature, and get a comprehensive picture on the configuration of EFS and its usage. EFS can store the content of a file in an encrypted format at the file system level. If you’re new to EFS, this article is a good starting point for reviewing the need for EFS, its features, and most commonly used commands. Articles 29 Jan 2008

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Tuning network performance, Part 2
This three-part series on AIX (R) networking focuses on the challenges of optimizing network performance. Part 1provided a networking overview and also discussed the tools you need to monitor your hardware, including netstat, netpmon, entstat, and nmon. Part 2 focuses on tuning NFS. You’ll learn about monitoring utilities such as nfsstat and nmon, and you’ll also tune with nfso. The series also offers best practices for network I/O performance tuning. Articles 22 Jan 2008

Systems Administration Toolkit: Spam and virus filtering for e-mail
Look beyond tools like SpamAssassin and Amavis to see how you can extend them and provide additional filtering facilities to lower the amount of spam hitting the e-mail boxes of your users. Most companies use spam and virus filtering services on their UNIX(R) platforms, but there are some methods that you can use that help improve your filtering scores and might even eliminate spam reaching inboxes. Articles 22 Jan 2008

Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 6: Building the Java business application
Set up a PHP Web interface for the Java(TM) business application using a database created in earlier in this series. The PHP Web interface collects information from users and sends the session data to the Java business application for processing and for a response. Tutorials 15 Jan 2008

AIX NFS Version 4 configuration over Kerberos inter-realm setup
Learn how to configure an inter-realm setup between IBM(R) Network Authentication Service (IBM NAS) and Microsoft(R) Active Directory for AIX(R) Network File System (NFS) Version 4. Articles 08 Jan 2008

Overview of AIX page replacement
Go through detailed information on how the AIX(R) virtual memory manager (AIX VMM) works and how to use tunable parameters to adjust the operation of the AIX VMM. The AIX VMM is responsible for managing all of the memory on a system. The operation of the AIX VMM is critical to the performance of a system, and it also provides several tunable parameters that you can use to optimize its operation for different workloads. Articles 08 Jan 2008

IBM Network Authentication Service KDC and administration servers discovery using LDAP for AIX
Implement effective ways to configure IBM(R) Network Authentication Service (IBM NAS) with Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) on AIX(R) to get the maximum reliability and scalability in your Kerberos environment. This article shows you different ways of setting up the dynamic, yet consistent, Kerberos environment. Articles 31 Dec 2007

Systems Administration Toolkit: Monitoring mail usage
Examine methods for reporting on e-mail usage and getting detailed statistics on mailbox use. E-mail logs can provide a wealth of information about your users and their e-mail habits, including how often and frequently they use their e-mail. Depending on your UNIX(R) systems, you might even be able to glean more detailed information, such as identifying which users are using their folders effectively and who could benefit from further training and advice. Articles 18 Dec 2007

Configuration of AIX Fast Connect and SMBFS
Follow along with this quick reference guide to configure AIX(R) Fast Connect and SMBFS on AIX and Windows(R). Articles 18 Dec 2007

Using Net-SNMP and IPython
Data centers and production facilities are embracing Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) as a way to get a handle on dense and complex infrastructures. The Net-SNMP library now has Python(TM) bindings, and it is an excellent choice to write custom code to manage a data center or supplement full-blown Network Management Systems (NMS). Due to the complexity of SNMP, using an interactive tool like IPython can make all the difference. In this article, learn how to use Net-SNMP, Python, and the IPython shell to interactively explore and manage a network. Articles 11 Dec 2007

Kerberos policy management in IBM Network Authentication Service for AIX Version 5.3
Use IBM(R) Network Authentication Service (IBM NAS) for AIX(R) to learn more about the Kerberos policy management for passwords, and get acquainted with anything and everything about IBM NAS policy. Also examine complete commands, examples, and scenarios to assist you in using the kerberos password policy to its fullest. Articles 11 Dec 2007

Accessing DFS and NFS V4 directories simultaneously
This article provides guidance to DCE or DFS users who are migrating from DCE or DFS to Kerberos/NFS V4. During the transition period, these users need to be authenticated and authorized to use both DFS and NFS V4 directories. This article answers some basic questions, such as, “Can the DCE authentication server be used as a Kerberos server for NFS V4 with a Kerberos client?” Articles 04 Dec 2007

Systems Administration Toolkit: Network scanning
Discover how to scan your network for services and how to regularly monitor your services to keep uptimes to a maximum. A key way of ensuring the security of your network is to know what is on your network and what services individual machines are at risk of exposure. Unauthorized services, such as Web servers or file sharing solutions, not only degrade performance, but others can use these services as routes into your network. In this article, learn how to use these same techniques to ensure that genuine services remain available. Articles 04 Dec 2007

Learn the Perl/Tk module, Part 2: Intermediate widgets
Although Perl-based Web interfaces have limitations, Perl is one of the most commonly used Web development languages. UNIX(R) users who have a programming background in shell scripting, Perl, or another language can breathe new life into Perl-based Web interfaces by using the Perl/Tk module. In this second article of the series, learn about intermediate widgets, including radiobutton, checkbutton, menu, menubutton, and scrollbar. Articles 27 Nov 2007

Configuring Network Information Service server and client on AIX
Security and user and group management are important aspects with respect to any operating system. In distributed networks, one of the most important tasks is to maintain the user and group information. For centralized management, many customers use Network Information Service (NIS). This article provides an overview of NIS and the steps to install and configure NIS as a server and client. Articles 27 Nov 2007

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Tuning network performance, Part 1
This three-part series on AIX(R) networking focuses on the challenges of optimizing network performance. In the first installment, you’ll review some best practices for network configuration, and utilize those practices for efficient monitoring of your hardware by taking advantage of network tools such as netstat, netpmon, entstat, and nmon. You’ll also examine certain tools used to look at your interfaces to see how to configure them. Articles 20 Nov 2007

AIX 6.1 Workload Partitions
Workload Partitions (WPARs) are a new virtualization feature of AIX 6.1. This article helps you decide whether WPARs are right for your AIX workloads, and then gives you step-by-step guidance on how to learn more about WPARs and begin using them. Articles 20 Nov 2007

Emacs editing environment, Part 7: Let Emacs help you out
Part 7 of this series shows you why Emacs is the self-documenting editor, and the many ways in which you can take advantage of the help and assistance offered in this editor. In this tutorial, learn about describing keystrokes, commands, and functions. You’ll also read, browse, and search through a complete Emacs reference manual. Tutorials 13 Nov 2007

Virtualization in System p
Capitalize on the benefits virtualization can provide to maximize the usage of your resources. Virtualization is a modern approach and is available on all System p(TM) servers, starting from POWER4. This article discusses physical and logical partitioning, with special relevance to how to implement logical partitioning. Articles 13 Nov 2007

Windows to UNIX porting, Part 2: Internals of porting C/C++ sources
Part 1 of this series covered the typical C/C++ project types you work with in a Microsoft(R) Visual Studio(R) environment and introduced the processes of porting dynamic and static library project variants to a UNIX(R) platform. Part 2 delves into some of the compiler options used to build Visual C++ projects and the UNIX and g++ equivalents, takes a closer look at the g++ attribute mechanism as it relates to porting, and examines some common problems you might encounter while porting from a 32-bit Windows(R) environment to a 64-bit UNIX environment. It concludes with an overview of concepts for porting multithreaded applications and an example project that shows you how to pull all these pieces together. Articles 06 Nov 2007

Know your TCP system call sequences
The TCP/IP programming interface provides various system calls to help you effectively use the protocol. The TCP stack code is vast, and a complete call sequence down to the kernel level would help in understanding the TCP stack. This article is a one-stop shop for details about TCP stack level function calls and describes the sequence of function calls, at the kernel level, when system calls are made at the application level. In this article, review and study the TCP call sequence, including references to FreeBSD and important function calls that occur in the TCP stack after a system call is made at the user level. Articles 06 Nov 2007

Maximizing Java performance on AIX: Part 2: The need for speed
This 5-part series provides several tips and techniques that are commonly used for tuning Java(TM) applications for optimum performance on AIX(R). A discussion of the applicability of each tip is also provided. Using these tips, you should be able to quickly optimize the Java environment to suit your application’s needs. Articles 03 Nov 2007

Key-enabling kernel extensions for the IBM AIX Version 6.1 operating system
Diagnose and service memory overlays and addressing errors more efficiently with POWER6(TM) processors and AIX(R) Version 6.1. In the AIX operating system, software components share the kernel address space, creating a serviceability issue for the AIX kernel and kernel extensions. Articles 30 Oct 2007

The power of Network Installation Manager
Get step-by-step instructions for configuring a Network Installation Manager server and clients using the smitty tool. If you have an environment with many AIX(R) systems, then you know that installing, upgrading, and maintaining the software can take a considerable amount of time. The AIX Network Installation Manager can help you with installation and software maintenance in a client and server environment. Articles 30 Oct 2007

Exchange data using arrays in SQL PL
IBM DB2 9.5 for Linux, UNIX and Windows introduces support for array data types in SQL Procedural Language (SQL PL). In addition to being useful as a data structure to develop algorithms, arrays are particularly useful in SQL PL as a vehicle for exchanging collections of data between applications and stored procedures and between stored procedures and relational statements. This article gives you an overview of arrays in SQL PL and includes examples that illustrate the different operations on arrays, the different ways of creating array values, and the use of arrays on the client side. You will also see a brief comparison of DB2’s arrays with the VARRAY data type supported in Oracle. Articles 25 Oct 2007

Systems Administration Toolkit: Monitor user usage
Explore new ways to record UNIX(R) logins and other system activities in a number of different logs, and take advantage of this information to monitor user usage. This can be helpful from a number of perspectives, either to use for chargeback reporting or just to get an idea of how busy and active individual users are on the system to help when planning and allocating resources. Articles 23 Oct 2007

developerWorks download
This is a developerWorks download, abc, to help developers code. Articles 18 Oct 2007

High-performance network programming, Part 2: Speed up processing at both the client and server
This article provides more techniques for UNIX(R)-based programmers who want to enhance their network throughput. Learn how to speed up processing at both the client and server using mmap, gathering scattered I/O, and other methods. Articles 16 Oct 2007

POSIX file capabilities: Parceling the power of root
Linux has been using capabilities for years, but has recently acquired POSIX file capabilities. POSIX file capabilities split root user powers into smaller privileges, such as the ability to read files or to trace processes owned by another user. By assigning capabilities to a file, you can enable an unprivileged user to execute the file with those specified privileges. In this article, learn how to program using capabilities and how to switch on the ability of your system setuid root binaries to use file capabilities. Articles 16 Oct 2007

Learn the Perl/Tk module, Part 1: The basics of Perl/Tk
Although Perl-based Web interfaces have limitations, Perl is one of the most commonly used Web development languages. UNIX(R) users who have a programming background in shell scripting, Perl, or another language can breathe new life into Perl-based Web interfaces by using the Perl/Tk module. Articles 16 Oct 2007

DB2 problem determination using AIX commands and utilities
Are you a DBA for a DB2 installation on AIX? Read on, to learn how you can use AIX utilities and commands to administer and troubleshoot issues that affect the operation of your DB2 database such as CPU usage, orphan processes, memory leaks, hangs, and more. This article also discusses the data collection process, which you can use to troubleshoot problems yourself or to send collected data over to IBM Technical Support. Articles 11 Oct 2007

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Tuning disk performance, Part 3
Part 3 of this series covers how to improve overall file system performance, how to tune your systems with the ioo command, and how to use the filemon and fileplace utilities. Articles 09 Oct 2007

Implement lower timer granularity for retransmission of TCP
Reduce the overhead of per-tick processing with a timer wheel algorithm that implements the retransmission timer. The AIX(R) Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) has seven timers (per-connection) and uses global timer functions with two granularities to implement the timers. In this article, learn how to get lower granularity with your retransmission timer by using the AIX TCP fast timer, and discover other advantages of lower timer granularity. Articles 09 Oct 2007

High-performance network programming, Part 1: Squeeze maximum usage out of your network resources
If you have UNIX(R)-based programming experience, then you’ve probably worried at some point about enhancing your network throughput. In this article, learn some useful techniques to squeeze the most out of your bandwidth, and get a big performance boost with some of the methods described here. Articles 02 Oct 2007

nanoHUB does remote computing right
nanoHUB is a virtual computing center created to support nanotechnology research. It uses open source components to achieve far more powerful results than previous “remote access” facilities. This article details specific configurations and enhancements necessary to make the most of the performance, security, and usability such common software as VNC and WebDAV provides. Articles 02 Oct 2007

Emacs editing environment, Part 6: Customize your Emacs world
This tutorial, the sixth in a series, walks you through some of the useful ways you can customize and configure the Emacs environment. Learn how to change everything about the Emacs environment to your liking, from the behavior of minor modes to the default key bindings. Along the way, figure out how to set variables, make all your customizations automatic with a startup file, save and recall any window and frame customizations that you make, and use the easy customizer that comes built into Emacs. Tutorials 02 Oct 2007

Isolate and resolve memory leaks using MALLOCDEBUG on AIX Version 5.3
Take advantage of MALLOCDEBUG, the malloc subsystem monitoring tool shipped with AIX(R) Version 5.3 that helps you isolate memory leaks. Memory leaks can be tough and costly problems to solve, so it makes sense to use good tools to clearly point out and understand where the leaks are coming from. Study the example code presented in this article and use it as an approach to tackle memory leaks. Articles 25 Sep 2007

Speaking UNIX, Part 13: Ten more command-line concoctions
This month, discover ten more secrets of the UNIX command-line wizards. Articles 25 Sep 2007

Logical volume management
Volume management is not new in the -ix world (UNIX, AIX, and so forth). And logical volume management (LVM) has been around since Linux kernel 2.4v1 and 2.6.9v2. This article reveals the most useful features of LVM2–a relatively new userspace toolset that provides logical volume management facilities–and suggests several ways to simplify your system administration tasks. Based on reader feedback, the author has updated Listings 10, 14, 15, and 16. -Ed. Articles 20 Sep 2007

AIX disaster recovery
Recovering AIX(R) IT resources after a disaster requires the personnel performing the recovery to concentrate on working the prepared plan. Unexpected deviations from the plan can cause immense delays in the disaster recovery project. Often, these unexpected deviations are due to a lack of adherence to business continuity policies, guidelines, standards, and procedures. This article identifies resource conflicts that typically occur during a disaster recovery implementation and provides suggestions for resolving these conflicts. Articles 18 Sep 2007

Windows to UNIX porting, Part 1: Porting C/C++ sources
Software programs are often made to run on systems that are completely different from the system in which the program is coded or developed. This process of adapting software across systems is known as porting. You might need to port software for any one of several reasons. Perhaps your end users want to use the software in a new environment, such as a different version of UNIX(R), or perhaps your developers are integrating their own code into the software to optimize it for your organization’s platform. Articles 18 Sep 2007

Top ten AIX and UNIX articles and tutorials—August 2007
See what AIX(R) and UNIX(R) content your peers found most valuable. 11 Sep 2007

Systems Administration Toolkit: Testing system validity
Examine methods of storing and later checking the validity of your configuration files. Despite all the security systems you have in place, it is still possible that somebody has accessed your system and changed your configuration or security settings. Articles 11 Sep 2007

Python for system administrators
Adopt Python to manage UNIX(R) systems while incorporating concepts of good program design. Python is an easy-to-learn, open source scripting language that lets system administrators do their job more quickly. It can also make tasks more fun. Articles 07 Sep 2007

Simplified kernel extensions with AIX Version 6
Discover why you need to change your applications and build environments that supply 32-bit-only kernel extensions to accommodate IBM AIX(R) Version 6. With AIX Version 6, the kernel environment is 64-bit kernel only. Previously, the AIX operating system provided both 32-bit and 64-bit kernels, requiring 32-bit and 64-bit kernel extensions. In this article, apply two easy solutions to help you make the transition and start reaping the benefits of the simplified kernel environment. Articles 28 Aug 2007

Install and configure NIS+
Ease your system administration tasks and use Network Information Service plus (NIS+) to quickly handle maintenance and security issues for information. NIS+ is a network-wide naming and administration service that works on a client-server model. The server maintains all the details of the users and clients in a central database. In this article, get step-by-step instructions on how to install, configure, and administer NIS+. Articles 28 Aug 2007

Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 5: Installing and integrating the PHP Java Bridge
It is possible to develop applications that employ both Java(TM) and PHP technology on AIX(R). Part 5 of this six-part series teaches you how to install, set up, and integrate the PHP Java Bridge into the Tomcat application server, making you all set for developing a PHP Web interface. Articles 21 Aug 2007

Speaking UNIX, Part 12: Do-it-yourself projects
If your UNIX(R) system lacks a tool you need, chances are you can find an apt solution in the enormous inventory of software available online. This month, learn how to build software from source code. Articles 21 Aug 2007

Logging in multi-threaded applications efficiently with ring buffer
No software is bug free, and application users can encounter unexpected results during the run time of programs. To analyze and find the cause of problems, logging is a method widely used by programmers. In this article, learn how to use a ring buffer for efficient logging with memory operations in place of file operations. Choosing an appropriate size for the buffer ensures that relevant messages are dumped, which can help when debugging. Articles 14 Aug 2007

System Administration Toolkit: Distributed administration using SSH
Use Secure Shell (SSH) to run commands on remote UNIX(R) systems and, with some simple scripts, put together a system that enables you to manage many systems simultaneously from one machine without having to log in directly to the machines themselves. Also examine the basics of a distributed management system and some scripts and solutions using the technique. Articles 14 Aug 2007

Use auditing to track reads and writes in a file
In this article, discover how to track several events on AIX(R) with auditing, a major feature of AIX security, and learn how to use auditing to keep track of the read and write operations on a file. Also examine commands, such as ls or istat, to check a file’s time stamp. Articles 07 Aug 2007

Emacs editing environment, Part 5: Shape your Emacs view
This tutorial, the fifth in a series, shows you how to manage and manipulate the shape your Emacs session — examine how to partition the Emacs screen, create multiple X client windows for a single Emacs session, and display multiple buffers in each window, dividing the screen with horizontal and vertical divisions. You also learn about mouse window control and characteristics so that by the time you’re through, you can make your Emacs session look and work the way you want it to. Tutorials 07 Aug 2007

Expect plays a crucial role in network management
Expect is an indispensable tool for efficient system and network management, and it’s also widely misunderstood. In this article, find out the benefits Expect provides in common use cases. Articles 31 Jul 2007

Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 4: Building the Java business application
Part 4 of this six-part series shows you how to deploy a Java(TM) business application and database as a Java Web service running on a pSeries(R) system with the IBM AIX(R) 5.3 operating system. Tutorials 24 Jul 2007

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Tuning disk performance, Part 2
Discover how to use appropriate disk placement prior to creating your logical volumes to improve disk performance. Part 2 of this series focuses on monitoring your logical volumes and the commands and utilities (iostat, lvmstat, lslv, lspv, lsvg) used to analyze results. Articles 24 Jul 2007

Leverage Nagios with plug-ins you write
Learn more about Nagios and find out what new system monitoring possibilities exist with this software. Nagios is open source monitoring software that scans hosts, services, and networks for problems. The two main differences between Nagios and other similar packages are that Nagios reduces all information to “working,” “questionable,” and “failure” statuses; and Nagios supports a particularly rich “ecosystem” of plug-ins. These features result in effective installations where users are not overwhelmed with details, but have just the information they need. Articles 17 Jul 2007

Emacs editing environment, Part 4: Options, registers, and bookmarks
Take charge of your editing session within Emacs and use it to your advantage. This tutorial is the fourth in a series, and shows you three areas of Emacs that control some aspect of the editing session: various command-line options, the register, and bookmark facilities for setting and saving positions and data. Knowing how and when to use these features, and what tricks are possible with them, are important topics in power editing. Tutorials 17 Jul 2007

Top ten AIX and UNIX articles and tutorials—July 2007
See what AIX(R) and UNIX(R) content your peers found most valuable. 15 Jul 2007

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Tuning disk performance, Part 1
Learn more about direct I/O, concurrent I/O, asynchronous I/O, and best practices for each method of I/O implementation. This three-part series on the AIX(R) disk and I/O subsystem focuses on the challenges of optimizing disk I/O performance. While disk tuning is arguably less exciting than CPU or memory tuning, it is a crucial component in optimizing server performance. In fact, partly because disk I/O is your weakest subsystem link, you can do more to improve disk I/O performance than on any other subsystem. Articles 10 Jul 2007

Top ten AIX and UNIX articles and tutorials—June 2007
See what AIX(R) and UNIX(R) content your peers found most valuable. 10 Jul 2007

System Administration Toolkit: Build intelligent, unattended scripts
Look at how to create scripts that are able to record their output, trap and identify errors, and recover from errors and problems so that they either run correctly or fail with a suitable error message and report. Building scripts and running them automatically is a task that every good administrator has to handle, but how do you handle the error output and make intelligent decisions about how the script should handle these errors? This article addresses these issues. Articles 03 Jul 2007

Speaking UNIX, Part 11: Ramble around the UNIX file system
Many directories in the UNIX(R) file system serve a special purpose, and certain directories are named per long-standing convention. In this installment of the “Speaking UNIX” series, discover where UNIX stores important files. Articles 21 Jun 2007

Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 1: Setting up the Java environment
Develop a Java(TM) application on AIX(R) and learn how to extend it by using a PHP interface to look at the underlying Java code. It is possible to develop applications that employ both Java and PHP technology on AIX. You can use Java code for the core logic (or redeploy an existing Java-based application), while gaining the benefits of PHP as a Web-based interface platform. This article, the first in a series, examines the basics of the Java programming language and PHP integration methods on AIX, provides a quick overview of a sample application that uses this structure, and then looks at the core elements required before you start developing the application itself by installing the Java programming language and Apache Tomcat. Articles 20 Jun 2007

Top ten AIX and UNIX articles and tutorials—May 2007
See what AIX(R) and UNIX(R) content your peers found most valuable. 20 Jun 2007

Top ten AIX and UNIX articles and tutorials—April 2007
See what AIX(R) and UNIX(R) content your peers found most valuable. 20 Jun 2007

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Tuning your memory settings, Part 3
Get an introduction to swap (paging) space, learn how to configure and administer it, capture statistics, and tune your Virtual Memory Manager (VMM) settings to provide for optimum swap (paging) space configuration and performance. Articles 19 Jun 2007

Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 3: Integrating the Java business application with DB2 Version 9
It is possible to develop applications that employ both Java(TM) and PHP technology on AIX(R). You can use the Java programming language for the core logic (or redeploy an existing Java-based application), while gaining the benefits of PHP as a Web-based interface platform. In this article, the third of the series, find out how to connect the core application created in the second installment to a DB2(R) database for the storage of the survey questions and responses. Articles 19 Jun 2007

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Tuning your memory settings, Part 2
Use ps, sar, svmon, and vmstat to monitor memory usage and analyze the results. This three-part series focuses on the various aspects of memory management and tuning on IBM System p(TM) servers running AIX(R). Part 1 provided an overview of memory on AIX, including a discussion of virtual memory and the Virtual Memory Manager (VMM). It also drilled down into the tuning parameters and outlined recent improvements in AIX Version 5.3 with respect to memory management. Part 2 focuses on the detail of actual memory subsystem monitoring and discusses how to analyze the results. Part 3 deals specifically on swap space and how best to tune your VMM settings to provide for optimum swap space configuration and performance. Throughout this series, I’ll also cover some of the best practices of memory performance tuning and monitoring. Articles 14 Jun 2007

Coming soon to developerWorks AIX and UNIX
See what’s coming to the developerWorks AIX and UNIX site. 14 Jun 2007

Know your regular expressions
You can build and test regular expressions (regexps) on UNIX(R) systems in several ways. Discover the available tools and techniques that can help you learn how to construct regular expressions for various programs and languages. Articles 14 Jun 2007

Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 2: Building the Java business application
It is possible to develop applications that employ both Java(TM) and PHP technology. You can use Java for the core logic (or redeploy an existing Java-based application), while gaining the benefits of PHP as a Web-based interface platform. In this tutorial, the second part of a six-part series, create a simple Java business application and then deploy it as a servlet on the Apache Tomcat application server on a System p(TM) system with the IBM AIX(R) Version 5.3 operating system. Tutorials 05 Jun 2007

Speaking UNIX, Part 10: Customize your shell
You can customize the UNIX(R) shell to save time, to save typing, and to adapt to your style of work. Shell startup files capture your preferences and recreate your shell environment session after session, even machine to machine. Articles 29 May 2007

Developing a file system for AIX
Learn the intricacies of the AIX(R) file system framework. Every operating system provides a native kernel framework that kernel developers have to understand and adhere to when developing a piece of a kernel component for that operating system. This article sheds some light on the AIX file system framework. You need to understand the framework in order to develop a new file system, or to port an existing file system to the AIX operating system. Articles 29 May 2007

Explore powerful UNIX writer’s tools
Long ago, UNIX(R) had a proprietary package called the Writer’s Workbench (WWB). Developers, administrators, and technical writers who used to use this package in their work deeply miss it — its powerful capabilities made the UNIX workstation a preferred environment for document editing and proofreading. Today, many new implementations of those tools are available for all UNIX systems, and you can also find open source equivalents of the key WWB tools. Discover these tools and learn how to use them, building a custom style guide checker in the process. Tutorials 22 May 2007

Linux tip: Bash parameters and parameter expansions
Do you sometimes wonder how to use parameters with your scripts, and how to pass them to internal functions or other scripts? Do you need to do simple validity tests on parameters or options, or perform simple extraction and replacement operations on the parameter strings? This tip helps you with parameter use and the various parameter expansions available in the bash shell. Articles 16 May 2007

Writing endian-independent code in C
Architectures, processors, network stacks, and communication protocols all have to define endianness at some point. This article explains how endianness affects code, how to determine endianness at run time, and how to write code that can reverse byte order and free you from being bound to a certain endian. Articles 15 May 2007

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Tuning your memory settings, Part 1
This three-part series on memory tuning dives right into tuning parameters, focusing on the many challenges and the various best practices of optimizing memory performance, and it also discusses some improvements in AIX(R) Version 5.3. While memory tuning might be more difficult to implement than Central Processing Unit (CPU) tuning, it certainly is no less important. You can do more to tune memory on an AIX server than on any other subsystem. Changing some memory parameters on your system can increase performance dramatically, particularly when these parameters are not optimized for the environment which you are running. Part 1 of this series provides an overview of memory on AIX, including a discussion of virtual memory and the Virtual Memory Manager (VMM). Articles 15 May 2007

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Monitoring your CPU, Part 3
Part 3 of this series focuses on arguably the least understood area of Central Processing Unit (CPU) performance tuning: controlling thread usage and CPU binding. This article addresses key tools and utilities you can use to analyze threads and administrate your processes. Articles 15 May 2007

Setting up a multicluster environment using General Parallel File System
Learn how to construct and deconstruct a simple multicluster of System x(TM)and System p(TM) computers using the General Parallel File System (GPFS). You can remotely add an existing GPFS cluster to another cluster. See how to mount a file system from the remote cluster using the GPFS secure communication protocol. Articles 11 May 2007

Guaranteed porting for a heterogeneous UNIX environment
Use a componentized build system to automatically port Java(TM) projects with native extensions on heterogeneous UNIX(R) platforms. Today, many large-scale Java systems running on UNIX-like platforms require third party native library support, or you have to develop your own native components. Many utilities and system calls on these platforms do not have corresponding Java wrappers. Constructing a “Write once, run anywhere” Java application under these environments requires maintenance of separate native source sets, and integrating a separate build system for every platform has many shortcomings. Articles 08 May 2007

Improve your memory programming
Are you tired of spending countless hours devoted to fixing memory faults? Do you find yourself constantly being bogged down in programs that leak memory, violate memory bounds, use uninitialized data, and devote an excessive amount of run time to memory management? Use this article to help you conquer these pesky memory defects. Articles 04 May 2007

Emacs editing environment, Part 3: Advanced Emacs text operations
This tutorial, the third in a series, builds on what you’ve learned by taking you through a tour of some of the more advanced Emacs features for text operations. You get a hands-on demonstration of advanced editing techniques, including how to perform a recursive edit, mark and use rectangles of text, and handle complex selection techniques using the kill ring and the secondary selection. Tutorials 01 May 2007

LDAP configuration management and troubleshooting on AIX
Learn how to diagnose IBM Directory Server problems and how to identify what is needed to resolve the issues. This article is a quick reference for IBM Directory Server configuration management on AIX(R). Articles 01 May 2007

Top ten AIX and UNIX articles and tutorials — March 2007
See what AIX(R) and UNIX(R) content your peers found most valuable. 26 Apr 2007

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Monitoring your CPU, Part 2
Identify which AIX(R) tools to use to monitor your Central Processing Unit (CPU) for a given situation and find out why some tools might be better than others. Part 1 of this series discussed the tuning methodology and the importance of having procedures for CPU performance tuning. It also briefly introduced some performance tools to use as a part of your tuning repertories, gave an overview of the POWER CPU, and discussed how the architectural improvements of the evolution of the POWER Chip have contributed to the hardware improvements of the System p(TM) product line. Articles 24 Apr 2007

Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Monitoring your CPU, Part 1
Just when you thought it was going to be an ordinary day, you receive a phone call and hear the worst six words dreaded by most AIX(R) administrators. Which of course is, “Why is the system so slow?” If you have done your homework, the answer to that question is relatively simple. Articles 17 Apr 2007

Speaking UNIX, Part 9: Regular expressions
Virtually all non-trivial problems require you to filter good data from bad. Discover the many UNIX(R) command line utilities that use regular expressions to discern the relevant from the irrelevant. Articles 17 Apr 2007

Configure IBM LDAP netgroups with Windows Active Directory server
Netgroups create network-wide groups, and you can use them to provide special permissions to those groups. Users configured under netgroups can have different privileges compared to other users. This article explains how to configure netgroups on the IBM Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) client (AIX(R)) with Microsoft Active Directory server. Articles 10 Apr 2007

Emacs editing environment, Part 2: Learn the essential modes and editing features of Emacs
One of the powerhouses of UNIX computing, the open source Emacs editor is a large, complex application that does everything from edit text to function as a complete development environment. This tutorial, the second in a series, introduces you to some of the essential concept of modes, shows you some of the powerful text manipulation functions available, and teaches you how to use the built-in search, replace, and spell check facilities of Emacs. Tutorials 10 Apr 2007

Techniques for memory debugging
Exercise good memory-related coding practices by creating a comprehensive program to keep memory errors under control. Memory errors are the bane of C and C++ programming: they’re common, awareness of their importance for over two decades hasn’t eradicated them, they can impact applications severely, and few development teams have a definite plan for their management. The good news, though, is that they needn’t be so mysterious. Articles 04 Apr 2007

Speaking UNIX, Part 8: UNIX processes
On UNIX(R) systems, each system and end-user task is contained within a process. The system creates new processes all the time, and processes die when a task finishes or something unexpected happens. Here, learn how to control processes and use a number of commands to peer into your system. Articles 03 Apr 2007

Set up Kerberos Version 5 KDC to use AES encryption
Learn how to set up a Key Distribution Center (KDC) to use Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption to secure tickets. Developers use KDC in systems to control the permission for users to access certain services. The KDC uses tickets as a means to flag permission for accessing a particular service, or for authenticating users and providers of services. Articles 03 Apr 2007

Back up and restore your AIX system, Part 2: Implementing your backup strategy and restoration processes
Explore different recovery options to restore your data. Part 2 of this two-part series shows you how to implement the backup strategy discussed in Part 1. Part 1 covered the importance of backing up your system, the methods available to you through the command line, how to use the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) to perform backups, and the difference between system data and user data. Tutorials 27 Mar 2007

State of the VNC art
Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is widely used, but it is also widely misunderstood. This article carefully outlines both the VNC basics that make it such a value during daily development and administration chores, along with a few of the latest VNC advances. Articles 27 Mar 2007

Emacs editing environment, Part 1: Learn the basics of Emacs
Master the Emacs editor and delve into the depths of its most advanced editing commands that have made it famous. The open source Emacs editor (one of the powerhouses of UNIX(R) computing) is a large, complex application that does everything from editing text to functioning as a complete development environment. It’s rich in features and is unlike any other program you’re likely to have encountered, especially in the way you specify and input commands. This tutorial, the first in a series, gets you going by providing a concise, hands-on introduction to the most important Emacs editing concepts and features. Tutorials 20 Mar 2007

Process priority and control on AIX
Managing processes is quite straightforward with tools like kill and nice, but what happens when you want to provide even finer management control over your processes? You can assign processes and threads to specific processors in a multi-processor system using AIX(R), but how do you chose the right applications and organize a larger system in order to optimize the applications appropriately? In this article, discover the tools available to you for organizing your processes, and take a look at the theory behind organizing and choosing processes and how to prioritize effectively. Articles 20 Mar 2007

Top ten AIX and UNIX articles and tutorials — January 2007
See what AIX(R) and UNIX(R) content your peers find interesting. 14 Mar 2007

Rexx and what it means for AIX
Nearly thirty years of growth haven’t exhausted the the potential of the REstructured eXtended eXecutor (Rexx) language. The first of the widely used “scripting” languages continues to expand its capabilities and platform range, and it makes for a particularly good match with AIX(R). Articles 13 Mar 2007

Back up and restore your AIX system, Part 1: The when, why, and how of backing up
Take a look at some of the reasons, methods, and tools for backing up your AIX(R) system. As business and data changes at the speed of light, your systems are at an even greater risk of system corruption and lost data. To protect your company’s data, you need to have a solid backup strategy, multiple backups, offsite storage of data, and a fully tested and proven plan of restoring data to your systems. Having a solid backup strategy decreases company downtime. Tutorials 13 Mar 2007

Transition from Solaris to AIX
So you’ve been the UNIX(R) guru on your team for years now and senior management has determined, without your input, to migrate to IBM from Sun Microsystems. Other than updating your resume, what do you need to do? Can you make the transition to AIX(R)? What does IBM offer as an alternative to either VERITAS or Solaris Volume Manager (SVM)? In this article, use the filesystem management and tools available to you on AIX to make your transition easier. Articles 06 Mar 2007

Remote kernel debugging in FreeBSD using serial communication
Explore how to remotely debug a FreeBSD kernel that is running on a target machine without affecting system performance. In this article, examine setting up the debug environment using serial communication port, compiling modified kernel code, debugging, and troubleshooting tips. Articles 06 Mar 2007

Using AIX accounting
Accounting has been a part of the UNIX(R) operating system since the very early days. Most variants of UNIX have process and connect-time accounting available. As such, it’s possible to merge accounting records in a heterogeneous environment for billing or monitoring purposes. Tutorials 28 Feb 2007

Partition Load Manager logging and monitoring
Accomplish server resource virtualization with the help of the Partition Load Manager. Because the Partition Load Manager reallocates resources dynamically across partitions based on their workload, conventional tools for monitoring and analyzing resources become useless. So, what’s a developer to do? You can use the On-demand Monitoring System (OMS) tool for the Partition Load Manager. It works as an integral component providing real-time and historical utilization and allocation data. Articles 23 Feb 2007

UNIX tips and tricks for a new user, Part 4: Some nifty shell tricks
When writing a shell program, you often come across some special situation that you’d like to handle automatically. This tutorial includes examples of such situations from small Bourne shell scripts. These situations include base conversion from one string to another (decimal to hex, hex to decimal, decimal to octal, and so on), reading the keyboard while in a piped loop, subshell execution, inline input, executing a command once for each file in a directory, and multiple ways to construct a continuous loop. Part 4 of this series wraps up with a collection of shell one-liners that perform useful functions. Tutorials 20 Feb 2007

Linux tip: Bash test and comparison functions
Are you confused by the plethora of testing and comparison options in the Bash shell? This tip helps you demystify the various types of file, arithmetic, and string tests so you will always know when to use test, [ ], [[ ]], (( )), or if-then-else constructs. Articles 20 Feb 2007

System Administration Toolkit: Set up remote access in UNIX through OpenSSH
Use OpenSSH to provide a secure environment for running a remote terminal. The basics of OpenSSH and terminal usage are quite simple but, in this article, examine additional elements that allow automatic login to remote hosts, methods for running remote applications, and how to securely copy files between hosts. Articles 13 Feb 2007

Linux tip: Printing DVI files with CUPS
Have you ever tried to print DVI or other files in Linux and gotten an “unsupported format” message? This tip shows you how to combine existing tools to make a CUPS print filter for printing DVI files. Articles 07 Feb 2007

Securing the Hardware Management Console
Get step-by-step instructions for things you should do during installation of the Hardware Management Console (HMC), measures you can take after installation, and maintenance guidelines to ensure that a secure system stays secure. The HMC, which plays a central role in the IBM virtualization strategy, controls hardware, configures logical partitions (LPAR), and assigns both physical and virtual devices. It is vital to systems management in a virtualized environment. Articles 06 Feb 2007

Speaking UNIX, Part 7: Command-line locution
UNIX(R) has a dialect all its own, and its vocabulary of commands is quite large. But you don’t have to learn everything all at once. Here, discover more command-line combinations and expand your mastery of the UNIX language. Articles 06 Feb 2007

Mathematics on a UNIX workstation
Many tools are available for use on UNIX(R) that can satisfy your quest for mathematical enlightenment. Some are built in; most are just a download away. This article shows you the way to mathematical nirvana on a UNIX workstation. Articles 02 Feb 2007

Create uniform namespace using autofs with NFS Version 3 clients and servers
Do you have trouble accessing data exported from multiple file servers? If so, try using open source implementations of autofs and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), with Network File System (NFS) Version 3, to access data under the same global mount point. In this article, study and compare five different methods to create a uniform namespace using autofs. A handy table with a comparative evaluation is available to help you choose the best technique for your scenario. Articles 30 Jan 2007

DB2 9 XML performance characteristics
Learn about the performance and scalability characteristics of a simulated securities brokerage transaction processing environment using DB2 9 XML, IBM POWER5+, AIX 5.3, and TotalStorage DS8100. This scenario includes use of the FIXML schema, a financial industry standard. Articles 30 Jan 2007

Share application data with UNIX System V IPC mechanisms
The UNIX(R) operating system provides a rich set of features that allows processes to communicate with each other. Known as Inter-Process Communication (IPC), you can use this communication method to reconfigure an application at run time or to share data between different processes that are running in parallel. This article teaches you how to identify the methods that applications can use to communicate with each other, select the most appropriate method for your application, and begin your implementation. Articles 30 Jan 2007

Introduction to extending SMIT
The AIX(R) System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) is a menu application to aid you in performing various system administration tasks. This article is intended for experienced AIX administrators, familiar with shell programming, smit(1), and smitty(1), who wish to add to or otherwise modify SMIT. The ability to use a UNIX(R) text editor is assumed. Articles 23 Jan 2007

Avoid traps when porting Java Web applications from Windows to AIX
Examine three traps you could fall in when porting Java(TM) Web applications from Windows(R) to AIX(R), and learn how to maneuver around them. When developing applications, you normally do so in a development environment and then deploy to a production environment. If you develop on Windows and deploy to a UNIX(R)-like platform, you might encounter subtle pitfalls. The first trap sets up different line separators in Windows and AIX, the second shows the best approach to locate a file in different development environments and operating systems, and the third is a common exception in socket communication. Articles 23 Jan 2007

Save time with text editing one-liners
Take a quick look at some essential editing one-liners that can save you time and effort. Text-editing operations are normally done interactively, inside a text editor application. Some tasks, however, can be accomplished quickly and easily, right from the UNIX(R) command line. What’s more, these one-liners can be used in scripts to automate various editing procedures. Articles 16 Jan 2007

Take logical partitioning in the p5 environment to the next level
Learn how to configure a p5 server to provide redundancy and recoverability in a production environment. In a previous article, you examined the basics of how to set up logical partitioning on a p5 server. This included the creation of one Virtual I/O Server (VIO Server) and one logical partition (LPAR), which used the VIO Server for its rootvg and Ethernet connection. Articles 09 Jan 2007

Training
Start here to find the tutorials and courses you need to stay up-to-date with AIX and UNIX application development and system administration. 03 Jan 2007

Delve into UNIX process creation
Examine the life cycle of a process so that you can relate what you see happening on your system to what’s going on within the kernel. System administrators must know how processes are created and destroyed within the UNIX(R) environment in order to understand how the system fits together and how to manage misbehaving processes. Similarly, developers must understand the UNIX processes model in order to write solid applications that run unattended and won’t cause problems for system administrators. Articles 03 Jan 2007

Speaking UNIX, Part 6: Automate, automate, automate!
Discover how shell scripts can mechanize virtually any personal or system task. Scripts can monitor, archive, update, report, upload, and download. Indeed, no job is too small or too great for a script. Here’s an introduction. Articles 03 Jan 2007

AIX 5L LDAP user management
Get an overview of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol- (LDAP) related enhancements in the AIX 5L(TM) operating system V5.3 TL5 update. Some of the enhancements include support for Active Directory, multiple base distinguished (DN) support, and extended base DN format.

You hear a lot about green computing, but what exactly is it, why is it important, and what is IBM’s involvement in green computing? In essence, green computing defines the environmentally responsible way of deploying computer-based resources and technology. But why should you care? The short answer is that as a responsible person or company whose clients are increasingly becoming more eco-friendly and responsible themselves, it is imperative that you start your efforts towards green computing for both indirect and direct reasons. The direct reasons involve the cost of doing business, and the indirect reasons relate to environmental, eco-friendly concerns.

The biggest challenges for implementing green computing revolve around the server, the rack, and the datacenter. IBM has made significant progress in all three areas, much of it around the POWER6. Through various studies, IDC has estimated that for every dollar spent on hardware, another 50 cents is actually spent on energy and that number is expected to increase to 71 cents by 2011. In a typical datacenter, 55% of energy goes to power and cooling, with the remainder going towards server management. In a society with dramatically rising energy costs, where levies are being imposed on carbon production in many countries, it has become a fiscal, legal, and moral imperative to look towards responsible methods of implementing computing technology. Make no mistake, financial penalties already exist in many countries and more are coming. The bottom line is, do you want to be (or work with) a proactive organization that thinks seriously about environmental concerns, or do you want to be reactive and take measures only when threatened with a loss of revenue?

IBM has long been on the forefront of responsible computing. It has had the size, wherewithal, and experience to help themselves and customers implement green computing. For example, between 1990 and 2005, long before green became sexy, IBM’s Global conservation efforts actually reduced carbon consumption by 40% of its 1990 emissions. Chip manufacturers have always been under a tremendous amount of pressure to developer faster, smaller transistors, which usually run hotter and consume more electricity. The rising temperatures add to the consumption of power, which in turn requires additional cooling. Rather than this decreasing the amount of iron needed in the datacenter, the amount of systems in the datacenter has actually increased through the years. This is because users have been taking advantage of these gains to drive applications and databases that require yet more power. Furthermore, some of these small chips allow manufacturers to produce smaller rackable systems that allow even greater computing power to be brought back to the datacenter, again, with even more demands on energy, power, and cooling. While virtualization has certainly helped cut down on the number of physical boxes necessary to support instances, it also has created new demands on IT to become that much more efficient in its ability to deploy new instances. The net is that the better the technology, the more in demand it is, not less. Studies have shown that even with virtualization, the number of servers in datacenters has increased 18%.

Project Big Green to the rescue

In May of 2007, IBM announced a one-billion dollar investment to increase energy efficiency within their own datacenters and the clients that use them. This defined “Project Big Green,” which targeted datacenters and included a team of engineers of over 800 energy engineers worldwide to work on the initiative. The plan ultimately was to reduce datacenter costs by an average of 42%. The five areas that would be covered included: diagnose (assessment of exiting faculties), build (plan build out of datacenters), virtualization (virtualize infrastructure), manage (using software to manage the process), and cooling (exploitation of liquid cooling resources). Active energy management, which allows for the capability to manage facilities, cooling, and electrical systems within the datacenter, is a big part of this initiative.

One of the primary drivers for Project Big Green was purely operational, meaning that customers had a hard time deploying new servers because of datacenter energy requirements and heating issues. Cost also became a huge factor, as increased reliance on the datacenter and the increase in data capacity also required substantial increase in cooling costs. The social and environmental factors also started coming into play. Without question, customers wanted to put in place more energy-efficient systems. This was in response to pressure from customers, shareholders, and even the government. With a new environmentally conscious administration, this pressure will only increase. IBM has even started a program with its business partners to help develop programs that will provide for more efficiency. As companies increasingly ask to become more eco-responsible, hardware vendors needs to react to that. IBM has been very proactive in this respect.

IBM just started a Big-Green service, where they will work with customers on the five datacenter areas the article already discussed: diagnosis, building, virtualization, managing, and cooling. An important part of this program is IBM’s mobile measurement technology, which can actually measure temperature in datacenters, looking for air leakage and other problems. Along with this, IBM will also provide a thermal analysis for high-density computing that provides additional options for savings.

POWER6

The POWER6 was built on IBM’s 65-nanometer process technology. In essence, it reduced the size of silicon, which allowed engineers to reduce overall processor consumption. At the same time, IBM also was able to increase its performance to 4.7 GHz while not increasing the energy costs at all. IBM did this by keeping the number of pipeline stages static. This is the number of operations that must be completed in a single cycle of clock time. Doubling the performance while using the same thermal envelope is perhaps the most impressive innovation of the POWER6. The design of the chip also itself supports the separation of circuits that have problems supporting low voltages. This further allows the actual power to be reduced on other circuits within the chip.

The clock itself can also be dynamically turned off when no work is being done and then turned back on again when needed. This is due to the PowerSave mode of the POWER6, which provides the means to drop voltage and frequency of the system, enabling power usage savings of approximately 30%. The POWER6 processor actually drops to 35 percent of power consumption when it is idle. Furthermore, memory can also be shut on and off as required to help balance server workloads, which have the effect of further decreasing energy consumption.

Other POWER6 innovations include:

* IBM’s POWER6 JS22 blade (The first POWER6, which was introduced in 2007). IBM’s BladeCenter® was equipped with a shared power infrastructure, which provided more efficient power supplies that could reach peak efficiency even with a minimal load, saving approximately 28% over other power supplies. IBM’s calibrated vector cooling technology further allowed the system to save money by providing for dual paths of air for each component, adding to the longevity of systems and reducing wasteful air movement.
* IBM’s Power 575. To increase the rack density, IBM created a new modular water cooling and distribution system. Part of this system includes a rear door heat exchanger that can extract 60% of the heat generated by the servers themselves. Next generation systems may even be able to extract 100% of server heat generation. Imagine an environment that does not need cooling at all!
* PowerVM™ virtualization front. Live partition mobility (a POWER6 virtualization innovation) provides for the ability of customers to save energy by relocating and consolidation active partitions, which can further free up resources. You can also power down entire servers that are not needed.

EnergyScale™

EnergyScale is another important innovation on POWER6, which provides for the ability to control power and cooling, allowing for better facilities planning, energy control, and systems availability. Among other features, it has a power-capping mode, allowing users to actually configure maximum levels of power access across systems. This feature provides datacenter operators with the ability to put caps on the amount of power that certain servers are using, ensuring that the system can never exceed a certain amount of power. By doing so, the operator can free up power across the datacenter for servers that really need the power. This feature is available on all POWER6 systems.

Some other important features of EnergyScale include:

* Power trending. This provides for the collection of power consumption data in real time. The usage itself is displayed by Active Energy Manager, now a component of IBM Systems Director. One can monitor consumption daily, weekly, or even monthly. It’s important to note that for the Power 560 and 570 models, an Intelligent Power Distribution Unit is required, which provides the power to the computer. The other systems have built-in power meters and do not require add-ons.
* Thermal reporting. This innovation allows for the lowering of processor frequency and voltage by a fixed amount. This has the effect of reducing power consumption on the system while still delivering peak performance. Active energy manager actually is the mechanism that enables and disables the powersaver mode. An example of where this can be used is on weekends where workload levels can shift down dramatically.
* Energy-optimized fan control. This works with the firmware on POWER6 systems and allows for an adjustment in fan speed based upon power consumption and temperature, among other variables.
* NAP core. The processor has a low power mode that stops processor execution when there is no work going on. This mode is called nap mode. The way it works is that the OS detects when a thread is idle and then gives control of the hardware back to the hypervisor, which puts the thread into nap mode.
* EnergyScale for I/O. Power Systems can now power-off pluggable, PCI adapter slots that are not being utilized, saving approximately 14 watts per slot. The slot is powered off as soon as it is removed from the partion. All POWER6 processor systems support this mode. This is available for hot-pluggable PCI slots only.
* Processor folding. This is a technique that dynamically adjusts the amount of processors dispatched, which try to match the workload. In essence, it increases the energy savings of the system during low to moderate workloads. The tougher the workload, the greater the amount of processors become available. In a way, this is similar to using logical partitioning changes but with much greater efficiency, because it does not impact the configuration of the partition nor processor utilization of the partition itself.

Active Energy Manager

Active Energy Manager (AEM) is the next generation product to PowerExecutive, which was previously only available on x86 systems. Driven by IBM System Director, it allows you to monitor and manage server requirements. When utilized correctly, AEM will allow you to lower power usage on servers, use less power and cooling on the systems, determine power usage for rack components, and perform power/thermal trending and analysis of energy consumption to help with future capacity planning. Starting with version 4.1, it is now the preferred user interface for EnergyScale functions on POWER6 servers and runs from within IBM Director 6.1. The way this works is that one can connect one instance of Active Energy Manager to many other platforms, including System i®, System p®, System z®, and System x®. There are client agents for each type of environment. Some new features as a result of this integration include the ability to configure events for power, temperature and CPU speed, power-save mode for POWER6 servers, extended power capping ranges, and command-line support. It’s also important to note that the IBM System Director Console for AIX is included as part of AIX 6.1 and all you need is a functioning Web browser in order for it to work.

AIX 6.1 – Workload Partitions (WPARs)

Virtualization unquestionably saves a lot of money on power and cooling. The more partitions you can carve on your existing systems, the better utilization you will have. WPAR, a new innovation of AIX 6.1, allow for operating systems virtualization, outside of traditional hypervisor-based logical partitioning. In essence, it allows you to carve up multiple workload environments inside of one host and OS kernel. So you can now have one single instance of AIX 6.1 and using WPARs you can have four different test environments working within that instance, appearing like separate operating system instances. Prior to WPARs, you would need to carve out separate logical partitions (LPARs) within the physical server.

This new feature of AIX 6.1 has the effect of reducing the amount of physical devices necessary to support your logical environments. Though one can conceivably get by with the bare minimum of physical devices for a logical partition, the WPAR is clearly the most efficient means that you can use when creating a new environment. This is purely an AIX innovation, unrelated to the POWER6. Furthermore, Live Application Mobility, another AIX 6.1 innovation, allows you to relocate running WPARs from one LPAR to another. IBM is the first vendor that allows for this feature without having to shut down the application or partition. This helps promote energy savings by allowing datacenter operators to move around workloads in such a way as to allow physical servers to sleep during non-peak periods. This feature is available on Power5™ servers and even Power4™ as well!

Consolidation and virtualization: Servers and datacenter

Unquestionably, server consolidation and virtualization go hand-in-hand. The bottom line is that server consolidation allow users to scale vertically — by consolidating to fewer more scaleable servers, from larger, more inefficient, and scattered traditional server farms. The way it can do this is through PowerVM, IBM’s Power virtualization product, which supports both AIX and Linux® operating systems. Server consolidation means doing the same or more with fewer hardware resources. Fewer hardware resources mean less money to spend on electrical power and cooling for physical devices. IBM has already released significant case studies around their POWER servers, proving how energy savings and POWER go hand-in-hand.

Pacific Gas and Electric consolidated 300 servers into six POWER servers and estimates are in for an 80% reduction in energy consumption (see Resources). Further, IBM’s Door Heat eXchanger water-cooling technology on POWER servers reduced heat by approximately 60%. PowerVM, through IBM’s hypervisor-based virtualization method, allows you to create as many as 10 logical partitions on one physical core. It also supports Symmetric Multi-Threading (SMT), which allows two separate instruction sets to run on the same physical processor — further increasing throughput by approximately 30%, which allows for the ability to function with less hardware.

There has been a trend in recent years away from distributed systems and toward the datacenter, particular with the rise of servers and datacenter consolidation. In the 1980s and early 1990s, a typical datacenter was usually very light, and there were distributed servers all over the place. When businesses realized this was not efficient — there were all sorts of issues from resiliency, to cost of maintenance, to disaster recovery, to systems not being backed up at all — the pendulum started to swing again. What was the effect of this?

The datacenter itself needed to be equipped to handle this change: power, cooling, and footprint. How much does power does a POWER server consume anyway? An IBM p575 weighs as much as a typical car providing 32 kW per hour, which is enough to heat most family homes. IBM has started to offer preconfigured modular datacenters (500 to 1000 square feet) that can actually be configured in less than four months. So how does datacenter consolidation help Green? The fewer datacenters and servers that you maintain, the lower the datacenter costs. Because the POWER architecture supports AIX and Linux, it further allows for many more consolidation opportunities. This is because it allows you to consolidate Linux operating systems around the POWER architecture and away from those commodity PCs that are never maintained properly. A new innovation around PowerVM is PowerVM Lx86, which allows you to run x86 Linux applications on POWER without needing a native compile. This feature really brings forth the ability to consolidate around the Power architecture in a huge way!

IBM: Big Green innovations

The IBM Big Green team applies science, modeling tools, and business expertise to address environmental management opportunities of all types. Among other areas, they are presently working on Advanced Water Management, Alternative Energy, and Computational modeling. Some recent highlights include:

* In mid-March (2009), IBM announced a new Public Sector Energy and Enviremental Diagnostic consulting server and strategic water information management solutions platform — two new initiatives to try to help the environment.
* IBM has just started the strategic carbon management service, a consulting arm that helps business formulate plans around smarter consumption of carbon. It does this by helping companies outline strategic goals around how to reduce energy use and carbon emissions, along with reduced cost. IBM’s goal is to bring emission savings to 50%. Rising energy prices are obviously a big factor. Lastly it has been shown that carbon, a major cause of greenhouse gas, is also a cause of climate change in terms of global warming.

Summary

For years, green computing has been a staple of IBM’s overall datacenter strategy. In recent years, through a myriad of innovations on the midrange, IBM has now brought green computing to Power Systems and AIX. The POWER6 and AIX 6.1 has been the impetus from which IBM has been able to provide many of the green computing initiatives through the past several years. IBM has also integrated technologies such as EnergyScale into their POWER architecture, which further has allowed for green opportunities. Datacenter and server consolidation projects have also been a driving factor towards green computing, as these projects easily leverage many of the benefits of green computing. These benefits include cost savings as well as environmental factors and regulatory drivers. IBM clearly has positioned themselves to continue to be on the forefront of innovation around green computing.

Systems Director 6.1 allows for automation that drives operational agility by increasing responsiveness and the ability to scale quickly and efficiently.

Qualifying Customer Pain-points
• Increased Cost Recurring IT costs for training and maintaining multiple tools in absence of a single interface for managing virtual and physical systems.
• IT Management Complexity and Performance Complex operations results in poor performance and delayed data access. A heterogeneous server and storage environment can lead to increased complexity, costs, low efficiency and inefficient capacity usage.

Why IBM Director
• Reduces the complexity of virtualisation through understanding and communicating the relationship of physical servers to virtual servers
• Reduces the time associated with analysing unavailable systems by providing topology graph views to show relationships between virtual and physical systems and their manageable components to simplify troubleshooting
• Enhances productivity through a simplified easy to use Web-based user interface for management of virtual and physical systems
• Protects IT investments by utilising an open standards-based design that facilitates the management of IBM multisystems environments and select non-IBM systems
• Seamlessly integrates with enterprise management products from IBM Tivoli and other software vendors
• Improves IT efficiency by easily integrating with single system platform management products for AIX, IBM i, System z, System x and even Solaris (!)
• Reduces IT costs for training and maintaining multiple tools by providing one easy to use interface for management of virtual and physical systems
• Reduces systems maintenance window churn by supporting currency for physical and virtual servers as well as operating systems
• Reduces human error by providing automated support of VMware’s Motion based upon physical hardware status information.

* Easily set dozens of AIX security configuration settings to match external compliance standards
* Includes profiles with recommended system settings for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and the US Department of Defense Security Technical Implementation Guide
* Simple command line interface minimizes training requirements and administrative workload
* Reports that simplify demonstrating compliance
* Support for AIX 6 and AIX V5.3

Insuring system compliance with third party security standards is often a labor intensive and time consuming process.

Compliance standards are typically long, complex documents that are difficult to translate into the appro-priate AIX operating system settings.

And, since standards often encom-pass many different area of operating system configuration, an admin-istrator frequently had to use several different administrative interfaces to configure a system to support standards compliance. The IBM Compliance Expert Ex-press Edition is designed to simplify the administrative effort associated with complying with two common ex-ternal standards.

The Compliance Expert Express Edition consists of a simple com-mand line interface and preconfig-ured compliance profiles for the Payment Card Industry Data Secu-rity Standard Version 2 (PCI DSS) and the US Department of Defense Security Technical Implementation Guide for UNIX (DoD STIG) stan-dards.

Administrators can use the IBM Compliance Expert Express Edition to set all relevant system parame-ters required by these standards.

The profiles include recommended settings for several areas of AIX configuration, including aspects such as minimum password length, password reuse, number of unsuc-cessful login attempts before lockout and other configuration aspects.

The administrator can run reports that show whether the system is configured to be compliant. These reports can alert the administrator to unauthorized parameter changes and to provide a foundation for compliance audits.

All external security standards in-clude aspects outside the realm of system configuration settings. The use of a tool like the IBM Compli-ance Expert Express Edition will not, by itself, insure standards compli-ance. The Compliance Expert is de-signed to simplify the management of systems configuration setting, al-lowing the administrators to focus on the other aspects of standards com-pliance.

Contact Spectrum for further information…

Trusted AIX® enhances the security of the standard AIX operating system by providing for label-based-security capabilities within the operating system.

Trusted AIX label-based environment can be installed by choosing the install time options. If you install Trusted AIX, you will not be able to go back to a regular AIX environment without performing an overwrite install of regular AIX. Once installed, Trusted AIX environment will apply to the entire AIX system, including any WPARs created within the AIX environment. While label based security (also termed as Multi Level Security, or MLS) is often used in the defence and intelligence industries, it can also be used in the commercial industries. This can be achieved by customizing the labels available on Trusted AIX. A fresh install of Trusted AIX provides for labels that adhere to standard MLS implementations.

Trusted AIX environment consists of regular AIX with some additional packages and file sets. Additionally, kernel switches will force the kernel to operate in Trusted AIX mode. When booted through a CD or DVD, the system boots in the regular AIX environment. When install menus are displayed, the installer can choose the Trusted AIX option and start installing the MLS-related files. When installation is complete, the installer must initiate the first boot resequence. During the first boot sequence, Config Assistant provides menus for the various users and ISSO, SA, and SO users are set up; then, the system completes the boot operation and the MLS is established.
Trusted AIX enhances system security through four primary elements of information security:

* Confidentiality
* Integrity
* Availability
* Accountability

In addition to the security features provided by AIX, Trusted AIX adds the following capabilities:

Sensitivity labels (SLs)
All processes and files are labeled according to their security level. Processes can only access objects that are within the process’ security range.
Integrity labels (TLs)
All processes and files are labeled according to their integrity level. Files cannot be written by processes that have a lower integrity level label than the file. Processes cannot read from files that have a lower integrity level label than the process.
File security flags
Individual files can have additional flags to control security related operations.
Kernel security flags
The entire system can have different security features enabled or disabled.
Privileges
Many commands and system calls are only available to processes with specific privileges.
Authorizations
Each user can be granted a unique set of authorizations. Each authorization allows the user to perform specific security-related functions. Authorizations are assigned to users through roles.
Roles
Role Based Access Control function, as part of Trusted AIX, provides for selective delegation of administrative duties to non-root users. This delegation is achieved by collecting the relevant authorizations into a Role and then assigning the role to a non-root user.

Confidentiality

Threats centered around disclosure of information to unauthorized parties are a confidentiality issue.

Trusted AIX provides object reuse and access control mechanisms for protecting all data resources. The operating system ensures that protected data resources can only be accessed by specifically authorized users and that those users cannot make the protected resources available to unauthorized users either deliberately or accidentally.

Administrators can prevent sensitive files from being written to floppy disks or other removable media, from being printed on unprotected printers, or from being transferred over a network to unauthorized remote systems. This security protection is enforced by the operating system and cannot be bypassed by malicious users or rogue processes.
Integrity

Threats centered around modification of information by unauthorized parties are an integrity issue.

Trusted AIX offers numerous security mechanisms which ensure the integrity of trusted computing base and protected data, whether the data is generated on the system or imported via network resources. Various access control security mechanisms ensure that only authorized individuals can modify information. To prevent malicious users or rogue processes from seizing or disabling system resources, Trusted AIX eliminates the root privilege. Special administrative authorizations and roles allow the separation of administration duties, rather than giving a user root privileges.
Availability

Threats centered around accessibility of services on a host machine are an availability issue. For example, if a malicious program fills up file space so that a new file cannot be created, there is still access, but no availability.

Trusted AIX protects the system from attacks by unauthorized users and processes that can create a denial of service. Unprivileged processes are not allowed to read or write protected files and directories.
Accountability

Threats centered around not knowing which processes performed which actions on a system are an accountability issue. For example, if the user or process that altered a system file cannot be traced, you cannot determine how to stop such actions in the future.

This enhanced security feature ensures identification and authentication of all users prior to allowing user access to the system. The audit services provide the administrator a set of auditable events and an audit trail of all security-related system events.

Notes® about Trusted AIX
* Trusted AIX is installed through the AIX install menus. Additional options can be chosen during installation of Trusted AIX. The option related to LSPP EAL4+ configuration is supported.
* Trusted AIX environment cannot revert to regular AIX environment without performing an overwrite install of regular AIX.
* Root is disabled from logging in a Trusted AIX environment.
* In a Trusted AIX environment, any WPARs created will also operate in the Labeled Security environment.
* Trusted AIX supports both MAC (Mandatory Access Control) and MIC (Mandatory Integrity Control). Customer can define separate sets of labels for MAC and MIC.
* Label Encodings file is located in the /etc/security/enc directory and captures the label-to-binary translation information. The default Label Encodings file adheres to the Compartmented Mode Workstations (CMW) labels-related naming requirements.
* NIM installs are supported when initiated from Client. NIM install push from Server is not possible because root is disabled for logins on MLS systems.
* The JFS2 (J2) file system (using Extended Attributes version 2) has been enabled for storing Labels in AIX. Other file systems (such as J1 or NFS) can only be mounted in a Trusted AIX environment as single-level file systems (label assigned to the mount point).
* X environment is disabled for Trusted AIX.
* Trusted AIX supports CIPSO and RIPSO protocols for netowork-based label-based communication. These protocols are supported for both IPv4 and IPv6.
* Some AIX security mechanisms are common between regular AIX and Trusted AIX. Two of these common security mechanisms are Role Based Access Control (RBAC) and Trusted Execution for integrity verification.
* Since root is disabled when Trusted AIX is installed, the installer must set up passwords for ISSO, SA, and SO users during the first boot after install. The system remains usable until these passwords are created.
* The AIX 6 security features Redbook contains use cases and examples for Trusted AIX.