000-103 AIX 6.1 Basic Operations: Practice Tips and Key Commands

000-103 AIX 6.1 Basic Operations: Practice Tips and Key Commands

Overview

This exam covers foundational AIX 6.1 administration tasks: system start/stop, file systems, user and group management, process control, device/configuration basics, installation/update fundamentals, and basic troubleshooting. Focus on commands, configuration files, boot processes, and common maintenance tasks.

Study & practice strategy

1. Set up a lab: Use an AIX 6.1 VM (or dedicated test host). Hands-on practice is essential.
2. Daily short drills: Spend 30–60 minutes daily doing focused tasks (users, filesystems, package ops, boot/rescue).
3. Map objectives to commands: Create a one-page cheat sheet mapping exam objectives to commands and common options.
4. Simulate failures: Practice single-user mode, booting from alternate disks, filesystem recovery, and responding to kernel panics/log messages.
5. Use man pages: Habitually read man pages (e.g., man mkmount, man smit, man chuser).
6. Timed practice: Do tasks under time pressure to build speed and accuracy.
7. Log review practice: Examine /var/adm/wtmp, /var/adm/messages, and errlog output for diagnosing issues.

Key commands and where to use them

• System boot/shutdown
  • boot, shutdown, shutdown -F, bosboot, lssrc, stopsrc, startsrc
  • use: boot management, service management, rebuild boot images
• Runlevel and system services
  • telinit, rc, /etc/inittab, lssrc/smitty
  • use: change runlevels, control system services
• Filesystems and storage
  • lsdev, lspv, lsvg, lvm commands (mklv, rmlv), mkfs, mount, umount, chfs, df, du, df -k
  • use: create/resize logical volumes, mount/repair filesystems
• Volume groups and logical volumes
  • mkvg, lsvg, extendvg, reducevg, mklv, chlv, mirrorvg
  • use: manage PVs/VGs/LVs and mirrors
• Device management
  • cfgmgr, lsdev -Cc disk -S, make_netboot, /etc/filesystems
  • use: add/remove devices, reconfigure hardware
• Package and software management
  • installp, lslpp, smitty install, emgr, geninstallp, update_all
  • use: install/verify/remediate filesets and fixes
• User and group administration
  • mkuser, chuser, rmuser, lsuser, mkgroup, chpasswd, passwd
  • use: manage accounts, change passwords, set attributes
• Process and performance
  • ps -ef, topas, vmstat, iostat, svmon, kill, renice, no -o
  • use: monitor resource usage, control processes
• Network configuration
  • ifconfig, entstat, netstat -rn, route, smitty tcpip, mktcpip
  • use: configure interfaces, troubleshoot connectivity
• Security & permissions
  • chmod, chown, chgrp, authck, lsuser -a authentication, sudo config
  • use: set file permissions, verify authentication settings
• Backup & restore
  • mksysb, savevg, restore, tar, dd, fastback concepts
  • use: system backups, restoring filesystems and system images
• Logs and error reporting
  • errpt, errclear, errlog, /var/adm/messages, kdb, condebug
  • use: check hardware/software errors and triage

Configuration files to know

• /etc/inittab — runlevels and init actions
• /etc/filesystems — mount points and filesystem parameters
• /etc/hosts, /etc/resolv.conf — name resolution
• /etc/security/— authentication and user attributes
• /etc/rc.tcpip and related scripts — network startup
• /etc/netsvc.conf — name service order

Common exam-focused tasks to practice (ordered)

1. Boot into maintenance mode and fix /etc/filesystems errors.
2. Create a VG/LV, format filesystem, mount it and persist in /etc/filesystems.
3. Add a new