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May the source be with you, but remember the KISS principle ;-)
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It's pretty strage but while AIX have the concept of run levels it does not use it. The only run level defined is run level 2. Runlevels 0-1 are reserved. AIX init man page was written by the guy with great sense of humor and states that they reserve for "future use"). Levels 3-9 theoretically are reserved for user defined runlevel, but I did not see a server on which they are used.
Again, it's important to understand to admins who case from Solaris or Linux that the only real runlevel is all-encompassing run level 2:
root@nti2171:/etc # who -r
. run-level 2 Aug 19 09:49 2 0 S
To change run levels telinit level number
The only operation that you can do with it is to restart those daemons that have keyword respawn in the init.
telinit q
On a typical system that will affect just a few processes:
# grep respawn /etc/inittab
srcmstr:23456789:respawn:/usr/sbin/srcmstr # System Resource Controller
cron:23456789:respawn:/usr/sbin/cron
cons:0123456789:respawn:/usr/sbin/getty /dev/console
uprintfd:23456789:respawn:/usr/sbin/uprintfd
The typical AIX boot method is the normal boot option. The normal boot option boots AIX from local disks to the server. When complete, the operating system will be in multi-user mode.
The next type of boot on an AIX system is called the stand-alone boot, or maintenance mode option. The stand-alone boot option is similar to the normal boot option, but instead of being brought up in multi-user mode, the system is brought up in single-user maintenance mode. You can stand-alone boot an AIX system in several ways, such as booting the server from removable media (tape or CD), clicking F5 (or F6, depending on the hardware) after the keyboard has been initialized during the initial hardware peripheral checks, or a possible issue has been found (corrupt file system) and the system must be repaired prior to entering normal boot. Some systems may have a key that you can turn to maintenance mode, as well. Stand-along booting the server allows you to install software, correct issues, run diagnostics, and configure hardware without the presence of other users and reducing the risk of locked resources.
The last type of boot is the network boot option. Again, similar to the normal boot option, the AIX system is booted into a multi-user mode. However, with this option, AIX receives its boot information from another server on the network.
The bootlist and how to manage it
Because you can boot AIX from several different types of media, you must have a way to manage the different types. This is where the bootlist comes into play. The bootlist maintains a list of all boot devices available to the system for each boot method.
To view a bootlist for a specific boot method, simply add the switch -o.
In the following example, the normal boot method is displayed. The order the server
will try to boot from is the first local disk (hdisk0), then by CD
(cd0), and finally by tape (rmt0).
# bootlist -m normal -o hdisk0 cd0 rmt0 |
-m
and the appropriate boot method followed by the desired boot devices. In the following
example, the bootlist for a normal boot is altered to attempt to boot the server
in the order of hdisk0, cd0, or cd1:
bootlist -m normal hdisk0 cd0 cd1
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-m switch has been used
each time to discern which boot method to modify or display. This option allows
modification to normal, service (single-user maintenance mode), both (normal and
service), and prevboot (the previous bootlist).
Now that you've selected the boot method, it's time to move to the actual sequence of events that occurs after the server is powered on.
Note: Throughout the rest of this article, you'll boot the server using normal boot mode.
After you've turned on the power and the server is starting, the server's hardware is verified and checked for possible issues. This step is called power-on self-test (POST). While the server is running through its process, POST is checking the memory, keyboard, sound card, and network devices. During this time, if you wanted to enter stand-alone mode (single-user maintenance), you would click F5 or F6 after the keyboard has been initialized. However, in this article, no keystrokes are entered, and the server boots into its normal boot mode.
After the POST process has finished, the bootstrap —or a smaller program used to load a larger program—is loaded into memory. The bootstrap then loads the Boot Logical Volume (BLV) into memory. After the BLV is loaded, the kernel takes over the boot process.
Boot Logical Volume and the bosboot command
The BLV is the location that contains AIX's bootable images. Typically, the BLV can be found on the local disk of the server. The BLV contains the AIX kernel, the rc.boot file, commands required during the boot process, and a trimmed-down version of the Object Data Manager (ODM).
To create bootable images, you use the bosboot command. Using
bosboot, you create a boot file (that is, a bootable image) from a
RAM disk, a file system, and a kernel. The bootable image is created along with
interfaces with the server's boot Read-Only Storage (ROS) and Erasable Programmable
Read-Only Memory (EPROM).
The following example shows how to create a bootable image on the default BLV on the local fixed disk from which the system boots:
bosboot -a
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The AIX kernel stored in the BLV creates the / (root), /usr, and /var file systems in RAM. Keep in mind that these file systems as well as the kernel are stored in RAM initially during the operating system boot process. Because they are in RAM, they are not accessible to anything outside the BLV.
After the file systems have been loaded into RAM, the kernel executes the
init process, which now takes over the boot process.
The AIX kernel loads the process init as process identifier (PID)
1. This process is the parent, or root, process to all other processes running
on AIX. After the init process has been loaded and is running the boot
process, init calls rc.boot.
The rc.boot file has three important cases of execution during the AIX boot-up
process. The first section of rc.boot initializes the system's hardware to prepare
it for the operating system to boot. A limited amount of devices needed to start
the system are configured at this time with the Configuration Manager command
cfgmgr.
During the second section of rc.boot, the file systems /, /usr, and /var as well
as the paging space are mounted. After these file systems have been mounted,
init is replaced with init on the disk as PID 1, and the
RAM is cleared.
In the third and final section of rc.boot, the actual init process
is executed from disk. When init is executed, the /etc/inittab file
is read, and each item is executed. During this time, the /tmp file system is now
being mounted to disk. Now that the system is in the last leg of the boot process,
the cfgmgr command is run again on the remaining devices that were
not configured in the first section of rc.boot.
After the init process has been executed, the next step is for
init to open /etc/inittab and read each entry. The purpose of the /etc/inittab
file is to deliver to the init process those processes that are started
at boot-up and during normal operations.
The format of the /etc/inittab file is very specific, and each field is colon delimited. The format of the /etc/inittab is as follows:
<ID>:<Run Level>:<Action>:<Command> |
The descriptions for the fields defined in the /etc/inittab file are:
init level. For example, if an entry in /etc/inittab is set to
have a run level of 2, when the operating system enters init
level 2, the command will be executed.
The init or run levels are different on AIX from other UNIX-
or Linux®based systems. The following run levels are defined in AIX:
init is executed
to a run level a, b, or c, processes are not killed. Processes in these
run levels that are not running will be executed, but processes from the
previous run level are not touched.) init to rescan the /etc/inittab
file init process
how to treat the process in each respective entry in the inittab file. The following
are values to the action field that AIX uses:
init receives
a power fail signal. init receives
a power fail signal, and wait until the process terminates before continuing
to scan the inittab file. init is initially
executed. init accesses
the console before login. sh -c exec <command>. The following example shows running a shell script named /usr/bin/rc.atc_bin when run level 2 has been initiated and respawn every other time run level 2 is called:
CORMANY_BIN:2:respawn:/usr/bin/rc.atc_bin |
CORMANY_BIN:245780:respawn:/usr/bin/rc.atc_bin |
AIX has commands to make your life easier rather than manually changing the /etc/inittab file. The commands follow the same naming convention as other AIX commands:
mkitab: Add records to the inittab file.
The following example adds the /usr/bin/rc.atc_bin script in the inittab with a run level 2.
mkitab “CORMANY_BIN:2:respawn:/usr/bin/rc.atc_bin” |
chitab: Changes records in the inittab file. The syntax
is identical to the actual record in the inittab file.
The following example changes the previous example's /usr/bin/rc.atc_bin script in the inittab file to run level 3:
chitab "CORMANY_BIN:3:respawn:/usr/bin/rc.atc_bin" |
lsitab: List records in the inittab file. Using
lsitab is a safe means of viewing the inittab records individually
or all together.
The following example views all records in the inittab file:
lsitab -a |
This example views only the record identified as CORMANY_BIN:
lsitab CORMANY_BIN |
rmitab: Remove records from the inittab file.
The following example removes the record identified by CORMANY_BIN from the inittab file:
rmitab CORMANY_BIN |
Now that the inittab file has been read and all the proper processes have been executed, the system is at a login waiting for you! You may now log in to and enjoy your AIX system.
It may not seem like a lot when you press the power button on a server and it magically starts up, but as you can see, there's a lot to the AIX system when it is starting. Hopefully, by reading this article you have gained a new appreciation of what AIX has to go through to provide the base of a solid operating system.
Old Newshow to reload the inittab on AIX 5.2.0.0 - 05 without reboot (3rd Response) - Toolbox for IT Groups
From the man pages from init:
1. To request the init command to reexamine the /etc/inittab file, enter:
telinit q
If the init entry has respawn in it it will most likely restart the entry without having to do anything at all.
Sun Solaris to IBM AIX 5L migration
pSeries and AIX Information Center
Commands reference
This topic contains links to information about the AIX commands, including syntax statements, flag descriptions, and usage examples. Commands are listed alphabetically and categorically.
- Alphabetical list of commands
This topic contains links to information about the AIX commands, including syntax statements, flag descriptions, and usage examples. Commands are listed alphabetically.- Categorical list of commands
This topic contains links to information about the AIX commands, including syntax statements, flag descriptions, and usage examples. Commands are listed by category.