Duration 3 Days – 21 hrs.

 

Overview

This intensive 3-day course provides participants with a practical introduction to AIX system administration and IBM Power virtualization. It covers IBM Power architecture, Hardware Management Console (HMC), Logical Partitions (LPARs), Dynamic LPAR, Virtual I/O Server (VIOS), Live Partition Mobility, AIX installation, system administration, storage management, backup and recovery, Network Installation Management (NIM), performance monitoring, and troubleshooting.

The course combines instructor-led discussions, demonstrations, guided exercises, and troubleshooting scenarios. Because of the extensive scope, the program provides accelerated coverage of essential concepts and common administrative procedures rather than advanced mastery of every technology.

 

Objectives

• Explain IBM Power architecture and virtualization concepts.
• Describe the functions of the Power Hypervisor and HMC.
• Plan, create, activate, modify, and troubleshoot AIX LPARs.
• Allocate CPU, memory, storage, and network resources to LPARs.
• Perform basic Dynamic LPAR resource operations.
• Explain the architecture and functions of the Virtual I/O Server.
• Configure basic virtual network and storage resources.
• Describe and perform the major steps involved in Live Partition Mobility.
• Explain AIX architecture, installation methods, and the boot process.
• Perform essential AIX user, filesystem, process, service, and network administration.
• Manage disks, volume groups, logical volumes, filesystems, and paging spaces.
• Use standard AIX backup, recovery, and cloning utilities.
• Explain NIM architecture and common deployment procedures.
• Use AIX performance-monitoring tools to identify CPU, memory, storage, and network issues.
• Apply a structured approach to basic AIX and Power virtualization troubleshooting.

 

Target Audience 

• AIX system administrators
• UNIX and Linux administrators transitioning to AIX
• IBM Power Systems administrators
• Infrastructure and platform engineers
• Data center operations personnel
• Technical support engineers
• System engineers and solution architects
• IT professionals responsible for AIX LPARs, VIOS, HMC, storage, backup, or system performance

 

Prerequisites 

• Basic knowledge of operating systems and system administration
• Familiarity with UNIX or Linux command-line operations
• Basic understanding of users, groups, files, directories, and permissions
• Basic knowledge of TCP/IP networking
• General understanding of server, storage, and network concepts
• Familiarity with virtualization concepts is helpful but not required
• Previous exposure to AIX or IBM Power Systems is beneficial but not mandatory

 

Hands-On Laboratory Requirements 

       For practical exercises, participants should have access to:

• An IBM Power Systems environment or authorized virtual laboratory
• At least one AIX LPAR per participant or participant group
• HMC access with appropriate training permissions
• VIOS access where configuration activities are included
• Sufficient CPU, memory, storage, and virtual network resources
• Terminal or SSH client software
• Administrator or root access to the assigned AIX laboratory system

Course Outline

 

Day 1 – IBM Power Virtualization and LPAR Administration

Module 1 – IBM Power Virtualization Fundamentals 

• IBM Power architecture
• Power virtualization concepts
• Power Hypervisor fundamentals
• Hardware Management Console
• Physical system versus LPAR
• Logical Partitioning architecture
• Partition isolation
• Dedicated versus shared resources
• CPU, memory, and I/O virtualization
• Partition profiles and system profiles

 Module 2 – LPAR Creation and Management 

• LPAR planning considerations
• CPU, memory, and I/O allocation
• Creating an LPAR through the HMC
• Creating partition and system profiles
• Activating an LPAR
• Starting and stopping LPARs
• Modifying partition profiles
• LPAR activation troubleshooting
• Overview of installing AIX into an LPAR

 Module 3 – Dynamic LPAR 

• DLPAR concepts and capabilities
• Dynamic CPU, memory, and I/O allocation
• Adding and removing resources
• Moving resources between LPARs
• DLPAR prerequisites
• Operating system and application considerations
• DLPAR troubleshooting

 Module 4 – Virtual I/O Server 

• VIOS architecture
• Role of VIOS in Power virtualization
• VIOS and client LPAR architecture
• VIOS installation and initial configuration
• Network and storage configuration
• Virtual Ethernet
• Virtual SCSI
• Virtual Fibre Channel
• Shared Ethernet Adapter
• Storage and LUN mapping
• VIOS administration and troubleshooting
• VIOS backup and recovery

 Module 5 – AIX Virtualization and Virtual I/O 

• Virtual processors and processing units
• Entitled capacity
• Capped versus uncapped LPARs
• Shared processor pools
• Dedicated processors
• Virtual Ethernet
• Virtual SCSI
• N-Port ID Virtualization
• Virtual Fibre Channel
• Storage and network virtualization
• VIOS redundancy concepts

 Module 6 – Live Partition Mobility 

• Live Partition Mobility concepts
• LPM architecture and components
• Source and destination system requirements
• HMC, VIOS, network, and storage requirements
• Performing LPM pre-checks
• Performing a partition migration
• Monitoring migration
• Post-migration validation
• Common LPM issues and troubleshooting

Suggested Day 1 Exercises

• Review an IBM Power managed system through the HMC.
• Examine LPAR and system profiles.
• Create or modify a training LPAR.
• Perform a guided DLPAR resource change.
• Examine VIOS network and storage mappings.
• Conduct an LPM readiness or validation check.

 

 Day 2 – AIX Installation and Core System Administration

Module 7 – AIX Installation and Configuration 

• AIX architecture
• AIX installation methods
• Overview of installation media and network installation
• AIX boot process
• System Management Services
• Managing the boot list
• BOSBOOT
• Device configuration
• Using cfgmgr
• Using lsdev
• Using lscfg
• Using lsattr
• Object Data Manager fundamentals
• Basic installation and boot troubleshooting

 Module 8 – AIX System Administration 

• User and group administration
• File and directory administration
• Permissions and basic security
• Process monitoring and management
• System Resource Controller
• Basic TCP/IP configuration and administration
• Network File System
• Secure Shell
• System logs
• AIX error reporting
• Basic operating system troubleshooting

 Module 9 – AIX Logical Volume Manager 

• LVM architecture
• Physical Volumes
• Volume Groups
• Logical Volumes
• Physical and Logical Partitions
• Using lspv, lsvg, and lslv
• Volume Group and Logical Volume administration
• Filesystem creation and management
• Paging-space administration
• Logical-volume mirroring
• Disk replacement procedures
• Filesystem expansion
• Common LVM problems and troubleshooting

Suggested Day 2 Exercises

• Examine AIX boot and device configuration.
• Create and manage users and groups.
• Manage permissions, processes, and system services.
• Review TCP/IP settings and system logs.
• Create a volume group and logical volume.
• Create and expand a filesystem.
• Diagnose a simulated device or LVM issue.

  

Day 3 – Backup, Recovery, NIM, Performance, and Troubleshooting

Module 10 – AIX Backup and Recovery 

• AIX backup and recovery concepts
• Creating and managing mksysb backups
• Using savevg
• Using backup and restore
• Using tar
• Using cpio
• Using dd
• RootVG recovery concepts
• Alternate Disk Installation
• AIX system cloning
• Disaster-recovery concepts
• Backup verification and recovery planning

 Module 11 – Network Installation Management 

• NIM architecture
• NIM Master
• NIM Client
• NIM resources and networks
• NIM Master setup
• Creating and managing lpp_source
• Creating and managing SPOT resources
• Managing mksysb resources
• Installing AIX using NIM
• Installing AIX LPARs using NIM
• AIX cloning through NIM
• Software installation
• NIM maintenance
• Common NIM problems and troubleshooting

 Module 12 – AIX Performance Monitoring 

• Performance-monitoring methodology
• Real-time monitoring with topas
• CPU and memory analysis with vmstat
• Disk performance analysis with iostat
• Historical performance monitoring with sar
• Memory analysis with svmon
• File and disk I/O analysis with filemon
• Network monitoring with netstat
• Error analysis with errpt
• CPU troubleshooting
• Memory troubleshooting
• Disk I/O troubleshooting
• Network troubleshooting
• Correlating performance data with system errors

       Suggested Day 3 Exercises

• Create or review an AIX mksysb backup.
• Examine Alternate Disk Installation procedures.
• Review NIM resources and client definitions.
• Perform a guided NIM deployment workflow or demonstration.
• Collect CPU, memory, disk, and network performance data.
• Analyze errpt output.
• Diagnose a simulated AIX performance problem.

 

Important Delivery Note 

This is an intensive, broad-coverage 3-day course. The complete outline includes several technologies that are normally delivered as separate intermediate or advanced courses, particularly VIOS, Live Partition Mobility, NIM, backup and recovery, and performance tuning.

Within three days:

• Essential concepts, common commands, administrative workflows, demonstrations, and selected exercises will be prioritized.
• Complex setup activities may be instructor-demonstrated instead of completed independently by every participant.
• VIOS installation, LPM, full NIM deployment, disaster recovery, and advanced performance tuning will be covered at an introductory or operational level.
• The exact depth of hands-on activities will depend on laboratory access, system resources, participant experience, and available administrative permissions.
• Participants seeking independent, production-level mastery should attend an extended 5- to 7-day program or separate advanced courses for Power virtualization, VIOS, NIM, and AIX performance tuning.