Define remote install resource

Select this option to define a remote location for an operating environment installation resource on a Network Installation Management (NIM) Server that the Hardware Management Console (HMC) can use for installing the operating environment on a partition. You can define a remote resource for AIX and Virtual I/O Server operating environments only.

To define a remote NIM server installation resource, you must meet a number of prerequisite conditions to ensure that the HMC can access and use the installation resource:

• The complete set of necessary operating environment installation files must exist on the NIM server within a uniquely named resource group.
• You can define multiple remote installation resources for a specific operating environment version and modification level, as long as each installation resource is within a different NIM named resource group.
• You must know the fully qualified host name of the NIM server.
• You must know the resource group name that contains the necessary set of operating environment installation files.
• The HMC must be able to access the NIM server and use the operating environment installation files during system plan deployment. To do this, the HMC must be able to run secure shell commands by means of an ssh connection to access the NIM server successfully. Consequently, you need to ensure that SSH is configured and working on the HMC. You must also ensure that the HMC can provide an appropriate cryptographic key to the NIM server by completing the following steps:
  1. Open an HMC command prompt and run the following command to generate ssh RSA keys for the HMC and place them in an accessible file in the HMC HOME directory: ssh-keygen -t rsa -f /home/hscroot/ssh_keys. This command creates two files: one called ssh_keys and one called ssh_keys.pub that contain the needed RSA keys. The ssh_keys file contains the private key that the HMC needs for establishing an ssh connection and this file needs to remain in the /home/hscroot subdir; the ssh_keys.pub file contains the public key that the NIM server must have to complete the ssh connection with the HMC.
  2. On the remote NIM server, append or copy the content of the /home/hscroot/ssh_keys.pub file into the /.ssh/authorized_keys file on the NIM server.

Note: Remote clients defined on the NIM server remain in place after installation of the operating environment on a partition for post installation management. The short hostname of the system will identify this remote client.

If you select this option, you must specify the following information:

• Operating environment name
• Operating environment version
• NIM Master host name
• NIM resource group