10    Preparing DMS Servers and Clients

This chapter describes how to get DMS servers and clients ready to run in a dataless environment. Perform the following steps to prepare DMS servers and clients:

1. Meet requirements for DMS servers. (Section 10.1)

2. Meet requirements for DMS clients. (Section 10.2)

3. Allocate disk partitions for DMS. (Section 10.3)

4. Set up a local area network (LAN). (Section 10.4)

5. Set up a Network File System (NFS). (Section 10.5)

6. Plan and calculate DMS disk space requirements. (Section 10.6)

7. Install the operating system software on the DMS server. (Section 10.7)

8. Register DMS clients. (Section 10.8)

9. Understand DMS security issues. (Section 10.9)

10.1    Requirements for DMS Servers

Setting up a dataless environment requires that the following conditions be met for DMS servers:

• A DMS server must have Version 3.0 or higher of the operating system installed to serve client systems with the current version of the operating system. The server can be any Alpha-based processor, with the exception of those noted in Section 1.2. A single server can serve both RIS and DMS clients, but a client cannot be registered to both RIS and DMS at the same time. DMS servers can serve only clients running Version 3.0 or higher of the operating system.

• The DMS server must have the following software subsets installed:

  • Additional Networking Services (OSFINET)

  • Dataless Management Services (OSFDMS)

• The DMS server must have the OSF-SVR or UNIX-SERVER Product Authorization Key (PAK) loaded and registered. The OSF-SVR or UNIX-SERVER license allows an Alpha-based system to be a server.

  See the Software License Management manual for more information about software licensing.

• The DMS server must be able to install software into the DMS area:

  • The DMS server can have a CD-ROM drive to install software subsets for one or more specific products from the CD-ROM to the DMS area on the server.

  • The DMS server can use a Network File System (NFS) mount point to install software from a Remote Installation Services (RIS) area or an operating system distribution CD-ROM from another processor. See Section 4.5 for more information about using an NFS mounted RIS area.

• The DMS server must have at least one separate disk partition where the DMS environment and client areas reside. The root would not be large enough for many client areas and var likely would fill up after one environment was added. Smaller disks may not hold an entire DMS area.

• NFS must be set up on the DMS server.

• The DMS server and all DMS clients must be connected to an Ethernet or FDDI local area network (LAN).

10.2    Requirements for DMS Clients

Setting up a dataless environment requires that the following conditions be met for DMS clients:

• DMS clients must have a disk drive large enough to accommodate dump and swap file systems (approximately 200 MB).

• DMS clients must be registered with the server in one of the following ways:

  • Register the DMS client through either the NIS naming service using Network Information Service (NIS) or the BIND naming service using BIND Configuration Application.

  • Create an entry for the DMS client in the server's /etc/hosts file either by using Network Configuration Application or by manual entry using a text editor.

• DMS clients must be capable of booting over Ethernet or FDDI using the bootp and tftp protocols. This is the same requirement to be able to install the operating system from a RIS server. Most Alpha workstations and deskside servers have this capability, but most data center servers would not be configured as DMS clients. Look at your system's hardware documentation to determine whether it supports bootp and tftp over Ethernet or FDDI.

• The client must not be registered on another RIS or DMS server.

10.3    Allocating Disk Partitions on the DMS Server

The DMS server must have at least one separate disk partition to contain the DMS environment and client areas. Otherwise, the root file system is not large enough for many client areas and the var file system would fill up after one environment was added. Deciding how to allocate disk partitions is critical to the performance of dataless management. Consider the following factors when allocating disk partitions for the DMS environment (/var/adm/dms/dmsN .alpha) and client (/clients) area:

• The number of physical blocks available compared to the number of blocks required by the environments you expect to create on the disk.

• Spreading environments with large numbers of registered clients among different disks to reduce disk contention.

• Protecting against disk failures by using the Logical Storage Manager (LSM).

• Using the Advanced File System (AdvFS) on certain disks for faster system recovery. See the AdvFS Administration, System Configuration and Tuning, and System Administration manuals and advfs(4) for more information.

See the System Administration manual for more information about disk partitioning.

10.4    Setting Up a Local Area Network (LAN)

You must connect the DMS server and all of the client processors to an Ethernet or FDDI LAN. For instructions on setting up a LAN, see the Network Administration: Connections manual.

10.5    Setting Up a Network File System

The Network File System (NFS) must be set up before you install DMS. For instructions on setting up NFS, see the Network Administration: Services manual. After you install NFS, ensure the portmap, mountd, nfsd, and nfsiod daemons are running by entering the following command:

# ps ax | grep -E "portmap|mountd|nfsd|nfsiod"

If these daemons are not all running, start the inoperative ones. See the appropriate reference pages for information about starting these daemons. For example, enter the following command to display the portmap(8) reference page:

# man portmap

10.6    Planning Disk Space for DMS

You must calculate the amount of disk space required to ensure that you have enough space in the DMS areas in which the dmu utility will be created. DMS clients' system disk space is located on the server in a DMS area. See Section 9.3.2 for a description of the DMS area's contents. A server can have multiple DMS areas in which some of the files (for example the contents of the /usr area) are duplicated. This necessary duplication imposes additional space requirements on the server.

The following sections describe:

• Disk space required for DMS environments (Section 10.6.1)

• Estimating disk space for DMS clients (Section 10.6.2)

• The types of kernel builds (Section 10.6.3)

Throughout this guide, the server's environment file systems are designated as /var/adm/dms/dmsN .alpha and /clients/hostname where hostname is the name of the client. The root areas are designated dmsN .alpha where the letter N represents the number assigned to the specific file system or common root area when it is installed. The client's private portion of the common root area is designated /clients/hostname.

Disk space is required on the server for each DMS server area file system. The following sections provide guidelines for estimating the disk space required by the DMS area.

Appendix B contains worksheets to help you calculate your space requirements.

10.6.1    Disk Space Required for DMS Environments

Each dmsN .alpha environment must have the following software subsets installed:

• Additional Networking Services (OSFINET)

• Dataless Management Services (OSFDMS)

Each dmsN .alpha environment also can contain additional software for the clients registered to access that environment. Section 11.2 describes how to install software in DMS environments.

Reserve the following space in addition to space needed for the mandatory subsets and the subsets required by DMS:

• Enough space for any layered products that you plan to install at any time in the future

• An additional 10 percent of the required disk space to allow for file system administration tasks and file system information

Appendix B contains worksheets for calculating the amount of space you need for a single DMS environment. Look at the first worksheet as you read the calculation illustrated in Table 10-1.

Note

Subset sizes in this example are for illustration only. The actual sizes for standard operating system subsets are listed in the Release Notes. Subset size information for layered products is included in the product installation documentation.

To determine the names of the subsets you want to install, look at to the descriptions listed in the Installation Guide.

Assume that you want to install all of the mandatory and optional subsets plus one layered product. You need at least one DMS environment, /var/adm/dms/dmsN .alpha.

For example, you look at the Release Notes and determine the estimated subset sizes in Table 10-1:

Table 10-1:  Estimated Subset Sizes for DMS

The subset sizes add up to 700 MB. Allowing another 10 percent of this space (70 MB) for file system administration and information, you arrive at a total size of 770 MB for the /var/adm/dms/dmsN .alpha environment. Reserve additional space for any other software products you plan to install later. These products' space requirements must be factored into the 10 percent overhead allocation.

10.6.2    Estimating Disk Space for Clients

You must reserve disk space in the /clients file system on the server for clients' root areas. The amount of disk space required depends upon the type of kernel build you choose for the client.

See the second DMS worksheet in Appendix B to calculate the amount of space needed for a /clients area.

10.6.3    Considering Types of Kernel Builds

When you are adding clients to a DMS environment, you have the option to choose: no build, full build, or partial build kernel support. When determining the amount of space required by a client, you must keep in mind the type of build support you choose for the client.

Clients' volatile files, such as those in the /tmp, /var/spool, /var/sys, and /var/adm directories are located in the individual client's root area. The client's root area requires a minimum of 40 MB of disk space. Use the following guidelines for estimating disk space requirements, in addition to the 30 MB minimum required by the client:

• No build support

  This type of kernel build is not recommended. Providing no build area means that the clients cannot build kernels and must run the Generic DATALESS kernel supplied by the system administrator. No build support is available only when the server and client are on the same version of the operating system. Additionally, no build support kernel build type does not allow the client to build a customized kernel. If you choose no build support, you do not need to allow for extra disk space other than the required minimum 30 MB.

• Full build support

  A full build area creates an entire /sys area for the client and consumes the most disk space. You should select this option if the client modifies kernel objects and performs kernel builds. If you choose a full build, allow an additional 100 MB for each client's root area.

• Partial build support

  Default for clients running Version 3.2C or higher of the operating system

  A partial build area creates a build area that contains only configuration data. All kernel objects are obtained from the server. You should select this type of build if the client performs kernel builds but does not modify kernel objects. If you choose a partial build, allow an additional 15 MB for each client's root area.

The space required by individual clients will not be the same, but you can add all the needed spaces together to arrive at the total requirement for the /clients area. You also must remember to reserve additional space for clients that add files to their root areas.

10.7    Installing the Operating System on the DMS Server

The Installation Guide describes how to install the operating system and describes the standard operating system software subsets. Subset sizes are listed in the Release Notes.

The following optional software subsets must be installed on the server to set up a DMS environment:

• Additional Networking Services (OSFINET)

• Dataless Management Services (OSFDMS)

To install these software subsets, you can follow either one of these procedures:

• Perform a Full Installation and choose the OSFINET and OSFDMS subsets along with any other subsets you choose to install.

• Perform a Full Installation with mandatory subsets only. After the installation is complete, use the SysMan Menu to install the subsets listed previously and any additional software subsets.

For information about using the SysMan Menu to load software subsets, see the Installation Guide or sysman(8).

10.8    Registering DMS Clients

Before you can use DMS to serve a client, you must register the client with a network naming service and with the DMS server. You must perform the following tasks to prepare to register clients:

1. Obtain information about each client (Section 10.8.1).

2. Fill out a copy of the DMS Client Setup Worksheet for each client (Appendix B).

3. Register each client's host name and IP (Internet Protocol) address with the appropriate naming service, either by using the NIS or BIND Configuration Application or by placing an entry for the client in the server's /etc/hosts file, see Section 10.8.2.

10.8.1    Obtaining DMS Client Information

You need to know the following information about each processor you plan to add as a client to a /var/adm/dms/dmsN .alpha environment and to register the client with the appropriate naming service:

• The host name

  Only lowercase letters ( a-z ), numerals ( 0-9 ), and the period ( . ) and dash ( - ) characters are permitted in host names, which must begin with a letter.

• The DMS environment and client areas to which you want to register the client

• The client's network interface type, subnet mask and gateway address for this network interface

  The gateway address is required when the server and client are on different networks.

  See the Network Administration: Connections manual for information about network interfaces, subnet masks and route for network.

• The client's Ethernet or FDDI hardware address

  See the Network Programmer's Guide or Section 6.2 for information about how to obtain hardware addresses.

• The swap device and partition and swap device drive type (swapping is done on the client's local disk)

  See the Installation Guide — Advanced Topics manual for guidelines on planning swap space on the client's local disk. However, keep in mind that because the /usr file system is not on the client's local disk, you have much more space on the client to allocate for swap space.

• The type of kernel build to be supported (full, partial, or none). See Section 10.6.3 for a description of the types of kernel build support for the client.

10.8.2    Registering Clients Host Names and IP Addresses

If the host system is served by any of the following naming services, check with your site administrator to be sure that your clients are registered with the appropriate naming service servers:

• The server's /etc/hosts file

• Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND)

• Network Information Services (NIS), formerly called Yellow Pages (YP)

By using the Network Configuration Application, you can place each client processor's host name and IP (Internet Protocol) address in the /etc/hosts file when you initially set up your LAN. The Network Configuration Application is described in the Network Administration: Connections manual.

You also can place the host name and IP address in the /etc/hosts file by using a text editor such as vi. The host name and IP address for each client processor must be unique.

See the Network Administration: Services manual for information about setting up NIS and the BIND Configuration Application.

10.9    Considering Security Issues

C2 security may be installed on the server and the clients. However, DMS uses the bootp protocol, which is not a secure protocol. Therefore, your dataless environments may not be secure.