Upgrading to AIX 6.1 TL8 SP02

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When upgrading a system (AIX 6.1 TL6 SP6) to TL8 SP2 using the AIX install media (an .iso mounted from the VIOS to a LPAR), I found that after a while the system would just sit and spin. It seemed to have an issue with fileset 449: DirectorCommonAgent

Thus, you have two options.

Option 1: (Cancel the upgrade and attempt again)

Cancelling the TL Upgrade puts the system in a precarious situation.   The standard installp -C to cleanup a “failed” installation would also just sit and spin. However, in this case it doesn’t “fail” to install the fileset. This can be confirmed with lslpp -l |grep DirectorCommonAgent. You will notice that 3 of the 4 filesets are “Committed”, with one in the “Applying” state. Detailed below are the steps to reverse it, so the cleanup operation will succeed.


/opt/ibm/director/agent/runtime/agent/bin/endpoint.sh stop
stopsrc -s platform_agent
stopsrc -s cimsys
## Validate they aren't running: ps auxww | egrep 'platform|cimsys' # If still running do a kill -9 on the pid
ps auxww |grep slp_srvreg # kill the slp_srvreg pid if running

Now prior to running an installp -C, one should enable the debug output with, then do an installp -C operation.

export INST_DEBUG=yes
installp -C

While viewing the debug output you’ll notice a couple of lines which stand out, notably:

ACTIVE = INACTIVE

Upon looking at the debug output, you’ll see reference to: /var/opt/tivoli/ep/bin/lwistatus.sh. So run that script and your output should state “INACTIVE”. This is one of the items stopping the installation / cleanup of DirectorCommonAgent. So by perusing that directory structure, you’ll find the launch script. You will want to run this script in a seperate terminal window (or screen session).

After you run that script /var/opt/tivoli/ep/bin/launchlwi.sh you’ll notice your previous installp -C operation will finish successfully.  You should follow the steps in the next section to finish installing the missing filesets.

Work-around to install DirectorCommonAgent

Part of the problem causing your issue is the user/group of pconsole doesn’t exist.  So create the group pconsole:
mkgroup pconsole. Then create the user:
useradd -g pconsole -G pconsole,staff pconsole

Afterwords you should run smit update_all to finish installing the missing filesets that were missed when you cancelled the TL upgrade operation.  Afterwords, you will get warned that DirectorCommonAgent isn’t installed properly. As this is clustering software you may not need it. Removing it may be preferable with: installp -u DirectorCommonAgent. This may need to be done more than once, as each fileset installs a root and usr part.

Option 2: (Continue installation without cancelling)

I successfully got the TL upgrade to install using a screen session.  However with my successful test, I had created the pconsole user PRIOR to attempting a TL update.  Thus, your results may vary.

Steps for this are:

  • mount the AIX install media DVD #1 of 6.1 TL8 SP2
  • create pconsole user (mkgroup pconsole; useradd -g pconsole -G pconsole,staff pconsole)
  • start TL upgrade with smit update_all (and point the installation directory to where you AIX media is mounted and append /installp/ppc to the end).  example: mounted to /mnt, so the installation directory would be /mnt/installp/ppc
  • During the installation the system will eventually make it to installing fileset 449 (of 475) DirectorCommonAgent – so create another screen session (ctrl-a, then c).  If you weren’t running screen, then open another terminal window on that server
  • Within the new terminal window, launch “/var/opt/tivoli/ep/bin/lwistatus.sh” and look at the output.  If it is INACTIVE, then it needs to be launched.  Launch it with “/var/opt/tivoli/ep/bin/launchlwi.sh” and jump back to your TL Upgrade terminal session.
  • Your TL upgrade should finish installing DirectorCommonAgent in a few minutes (3 in my case) and afterwords the installation is done and no complaints from the system.
Category: AIX