Section 1 - Planning
A. Determine device needs (e.g., communication adapters, disk controllers, HBAs, tape drives, CD-ROM drives, etc.)
B. Determine the AIX OS level compatibility
C. Determine redundancy requirements for levels of availability (e.g., multiple I/O controllers, multiple communication controllers, multiple processors, multiple power supplies, RAID-level protection, dynamic CPU deallocation, dead gateway detection)
D. Select appropriate IBM resources for system planning
E. Describe LPAR and dLPAR features and benefits
F. Determine disk requirements
Section 2 - AIX Installation and Updates
A. Install AIX from Media using CDROM or DVD or tape
B. Describe the NIM installation process and configuration
C. Identify why install hangs or fails
D. Identify installation LED codes
E. Describe the purpose of Trusted Computing Base (TCB)
F. Describe the Alt Disk installation process and its advantages
G. Describe the process to clone a system from a mksysb
H. Describe the differences between migration, preservation, and new and complete overwrite installation
I. Install software updates (e.g., PTFs)
J. Describe the options available for adding and removing filesets (e.g., commit, apply, remove, reject)
K. Describe the AIX installation packaging
L. Given an operating system or application requirement, select the appropriate AIX installation method
M. Manage filesets (eg: bffcreate and inutoc)
N. Identify the operating system maintenance level and installed filesets
O. Verify integrity of OS (e.g., lppchk and its flags)
P. Describe the differences between installp and rpm
Section 3 - Boot Process
A. Describe the boot process (cfgmgr, file system mounts, application startup, rootvg varyon, BIST, POST, boot sector load, login enablement)
B. Describe the use of the /etc/inittab
C. Describe LED codes (121, 223, 229, 551, 552, 553, 581, OC31, OC32)
D. Describe how to recover from a hung boot process
E. Describe run levels 0 through 9
F. Describe the use of the following rc.* files (rc.net, rc.tcpip, rc.boot, rc., rc.local)
G. Show, modify and reset bootlist
Section 4 - Configuration
A. Describe the function of the ODM and the locations of its files
B. Query ODM
C. Describe the function of smit
D. Describe the process to run a Linux application under AIX
E. Configure the network using the following: TCP/IP, /etc/hosts, hostname, ifconfig, chdev, route, /etc/resolv.conf, etc/netsvc.conf, no, /etc/ntpd.conf
F. Configure Ethernet adapter (speed, duplex, virtual ethernet)
G. Use NFS to import/export file systems (e.g., /etc/exports, biod, nfsd)
H. Configure, list and modify paging space
I. Determine/modify existing device configuration
J. Reconfigure system to move from 32-bit to 64-bit and vice versa
K. Check for possible exposure in system access files (e.g., /etc/hosts.equiv, .rhosts, .netrc, .forward)
Section 5 - Storage and LVM<
A. Describe the relationship between physical and logical volumes and volume groups
B. Describe the relationship between logical volumes and filesystems
C. Describe the differences between JFS vs. JFS2
D. Manage volume groups (varyonvg, varoffvg, mkvg, importvg, exportvg, lsvg)
E. Manage logical volumes
F. Manage filesystems (mount, fsck, chfs, mkfs, defragfs)
G. Describe the relationship between physical partition size and physical disk size
H. List the attributes of volume groups, logical volumes, and filesystems that cannot be changed
I. Migrate data from one physical volume to another
Section 6 - Monitoring and Tuning
A. Monitor root mail for error messages
B. Monitor file systems growth to prevent a full file system
C. Monitor the error log for hardware and software errors
D. Use and interpret output from vmstat and sar to determine performance problems
E. Use /etc/tunables for customization of system parameters
F. Given system performance problems, select the appropriate tool(s) (e.g., vmstat, iostat, topas, netstat, sar, /proc)
G. Use and interpret output from netstat and iostat to determine performance problems
H. Use and interpret the output of /proc commands for problem determination
I. Configure and monitor syslog for error conditions
J. Describe the system commands that document current system configuration
K. Use the Resource System Controller (RSCT) to set up resource and system monitoring
L. Describe the advantages of using Workload Manager (WLM) for system resource allocation
M. Describe Partition LoadManager features
N. Describe how to determine and recover from a full file system
Section 7 - Problem Determination and Resolution
A. Given a system problem, determine which tool (e.g., errpt, diag, netstat, ifconfig, ping, filemon, traceroute) is appropriate for problem determination
B. Monitor, interpret and manage the error log using errpt and/or errclear
C. Identify reasons to monitor the root user's mail
D. Identify when to use PerfPMRs
E. Manage a support call with IBM (e.g., open, severity levels, escalation, closing)
F. Determine how to size and configure dump devices
G. Describe hot plug processes for replacing devices
H. Given user problems, determine appropriate actions (e.g., usrck, grpck, file permissions, resetting failed login attempts, user limits)
I. Given a hardware related problem, identify the probable cause
J. Given failed disk situations, describe the procedures for replacing the bad disk
K. Access rootvg in maintenance mode
L. Use alog to examine boot messages to locate startup problems
M. Troubleshoot system hangs when trying to start desktop
N. Troubleshoot error unable to open display
Section 8 - Backup and Recovery / Disaster Recovery
A. Describe methods of backing up and restoring the operating system (e.g., mksysb)
B. Describe methods of managing / positioning tape backup media for backup and restore purposes
C. Describe methods of backing up and restoring data and data structures (savevg and restvg, backup and restore, tar, cpio, pax, mkcd, gzip and gunzip)
D. Describe methods to list / verify contents of backup media
E. Describe methods of selectively altering / excluding data during backup and restore process
F. Identify the elements of disaster recovery plans based on business needs
G. Describe the differences between full, differential, and incremental backups and their effect on backup and restore windows
Section 9 - Daily Management
A. Add / delete / alter userids and passwords
B. Alter default user profiles and limits (i.e., command shell profiles and /etc/security)
C. Describe methods to monitor and manage processes (e.g., ps, kill, nice, fuser, topas, svmon)
D. Identify and correct errors in shell script examples
E. Define AIX file and directory permissions (e.g., user, group, other) and ownership
F. Define and/or modify file permissions and ownership (e.g., chmod, chown, chgrp)
G. Describe differences between foreground and background processes
H. Describe how to check and alter priority of a process
I. Describe the differences between local and global variables and how to set, unset and show them
J. Describe how to enable System V printing
K. Manage the print queuing subsystem
L. Edit a file using vi
M. Describe methods to read / create / delete / configure email
N. Describe use of metacharacters and wildcards within the shell
O. Describe how to redirect stdin, stdout, and stderr
P. Use cron to schedule tasks
Q. Control system processes using System Resource Controller (SRC)
