10    Preparing DMS Servers and Clients

This chapter describes the tasks that you must perform to set up a DMS server. Information includes:

• Requirements for DMS servers and clients

• Allocating disk partitions for DMS

• Setting up a local area network (LAN) and a Network File System (NFS)

• Planning and calculating disk space requirements for DMS

• Installing the operating system software on the DMS server

• Information required for DMS clients

• Registering DMS clients with network naming services

• DMS Security issues

10.1    Requirements for DMS Servers

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

• For client systems running Version 4.0F, the server must have Version 3.0 or higher of the operating system installed. The server can be any Alpha processor, with the exeption of those noted in Section 1.3. A single server can serve both DMS and RIS clients, however, a client cannot be registered to both. DMS servers can only serve 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 system to be a server.

  Note

  Software licensing lets you run software in a shared environment. As a minimum, the OSF-SVR or UNIX-SERVER software license must be installed for a system to be a server. See Software License Management 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 optical disk 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 4.4 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 because 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. Consult 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 because the root would not be large enough for many client areas and var likely 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. Refer to the POLYCENTER Advanced File System Utilities Technical Summary and the System Administration guide for more information about AdvFS.

Refer to the System Administration guide 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, refer to the Network Administration guide.

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, refer to the Network Administration guide. 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. Refer to the appropriate reference pages for information about starting these daemons. Enter the following command to display reference pages (this example shows how to display the reference page for the portmap daemon):

# 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.

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.

In addition to space needed for the mandatory subsets and the subsets required by DMS reserve the following space:

• Enough space for any layered products, such as DECnet/OSI 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. Refer to the first worksheet as you read the following example calculation.

Caution

Subset sizes in this example are for illustration only. The actual sizes for standard operating system subsets are listed in the Installation Guide.

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

Subset size information for layered products is included in the products' installation documentation.

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. You refer to the appropriate documentation and find that you want the following subsets:

Table 10-1:  Estimated Version 4.0F 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.

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

10.6.3    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

  Caution

  This type of kernel build is not recommended for DMS clients running Version 3.2C or higher of the operating system.

  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 must also 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 on the server. It is recommended that you perform a custom installation when installing software on the server because during a custom installation you have the opportunity to choose the disks and partitions on which to install the software. The Installation Guide contains lists of all the standard operating system software sets, both supported and unsupported, with subset names, sizes, and descriptions of subset contents. You need this information to install the operating system itself as well as to install DMS.

The following optional software subsets must be installed on the server to successfully use the DMS utilities 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 steps:

• Perform a custom installation and choose the subsets listed previously along with the other subsets you choose to install.

• Perform a default installation and then, after the installation is complete, use the setld utility to install the subsets listed previously and any additional software subsets.

For information about using the setld utility to load software subsets, refer to the Installation Guide or setld.

10.8    DMS Client Registration

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.

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

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

10.8.1    Obtaining Information About Each DMS Client

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 ) and numbers are permitted in host names. The host name 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 guide 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)

  Refer to the Installation Guide 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). Refer to 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 with DMS Servers

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)

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 Applicationutility is described in the Network Administration guide.

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 guide for information about setting up NIS and the BIND Configuration Application.

10.9    Security Considerations

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