Preparing the server

Before you can use the InfoPrint Installer, you must prepare your AIX server to use this program. Make sure you have X-server installed on your workstation, you need X-Windows display support to run the InfoPrint Installer. Use this procedure if you are installing InfoPrint Manager for AIX for the first time on an AIX server.

  1. Log into the AIX system as root.
  2. Check to see that the size of your paging space is adequate. It is recommended that you have at least 1 gigabyte of paging space. You can check this with this command: lsps -a. If your paging space is smaller than 1 gigabyte (listed as 1024 MB by AIX), consult your AIX documentation to learn how to increase the size of your paging space. A smaller paging space does not prevent InfoPrint Manager from functioning, but does impact performance.
  3. Insert the most recent Service DVD into the DVD-ROM reader.
    Important: You should install InfoPrint Manager software using the most recent version of the InfoPrint Installer. Using an updated InfoPrint Installer lets you install and configure the latest InfoPrint Manager features. An updated InfoPrint Installer is found on the most recent Service DVD-ROM.
  4. Open a terminal window.

    If you are using the Common Desktop Environment (CDE), you can open a terminal window by clicking the terminal icon contained in the task bar (the task bar appears at the bottom of the screen). By default, the terminal icon is contained in a popup menu above the text editor icon that appears on the task bar.

  5. The first time you run the Installer, follow this procedure:
    1. Type this on the AIX command line: 
      smit cdrfs
    2. Select Add a CDROM File System from the list of choices presented.
    3. Click the List button and select your DVD-ROM device name (cd0 for example).
    4. Type this in the MOUNT POINT field: 
      /cdrom
    5. Click OK. The running person icon in the upper right corner of the SMIT interface raises its arms to indicate success. If it instead falls down and you see crfs: 0506-909 /cdrom file system already exists, do not interpret this message as a failure. The existing /cdrom file system is already mounted and should be usable.
    6. Press the F12 key to exit SMIT.
  6. Type this at the command line: 
    mount /cdrom

    If you want to view a help statement showing various install options, enter this command: 

    /cdrom/setup -h

  7. Disable your antivirus software. Installing InfoPrint Manager on a system running an antivirus software is not recommended.

    If your IT department does not let you disable antivirus software, set up exceptions within your antivirus software for these paths:

    • /usr/lpp/pd
    • /var/pd
    • /var/psf

The AIX Logical Volume Manager

AIX uses something called the Logical Volume Manager (LVM) to manage, at a logical level, all file systems and directories created in an AIX system. LVM is a disk management mechanism that is significantly different from traditional UNIX partitioning schemes. The LVM maps data between logical and physical storage, allowing data to be discontiguous, span multiple disks, flexible and dynamically expanded. One advantage is the ability to allocate extra space to a file system without the need to rebuild the disk. The LVM controls physical disk resources by providing a simplified logical view of the available storage space.

The logical storage structure that is the most common is called the volume group (VG). In AIX, storage allocation is performed at the volume group level. Data cannot span volume groups. When the AIX operating system is first installed, a volume group called rootvg is created. The rootvg contains the base operating system files for AIX.

Logical Volume Manager organization

Logical Volume Manager organization
Each individual disk drive is logically represented by a physical volume (PV). Each physical volume consists of several partitions called physical partitions (PP). The physical partitions are grouped into something called a logical volume that contains logical partitions. The logical volume, in turn, belongs to a volume group. Logical volumes contain the file systems (like the Journaling File System or JFS).

Detail of the Volume Group logical structure

Detail of the Volume Group logical structure
As you can see in the previous Figure, a volume group can have data that span more than one physical volume.

All logical volumes use JFS to store data. This file system uses database journaling techniques to maintain its structural consistency. This prevents damage to the file system when the system is halted abnormally. Other file systems that you might encounter on AIX might include JFS2, NFS (Network File System), and AFS (Andrew File System). The term file system is also used to describe the hierarchical structure (file tree) of files and directories.

You can create new volume groups. See AIX Commands Reference for more information. You can also manually create InfoPrint directory structures in a volume group by using the allocatefs command. See the RICOH InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Getting Started guide for more information about the allocatefs command.

Parent topic: Preparing to use the InfoPrint Manager Installer