AIX 5L Version 5.

3 򔻐򗗠򙳰

Commands Reference, Volume 1, a - c

SC23-4888-05
AIX 5L Version 5.3 򔻐򗗠򙳰

Commands Reference, Volume 1, a - c

SC23-4888-05
 Note
Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices,” on page 643.

Sixth Edition (November 2008)

This edition applies to AIX 5L Version 5.3 and to all subsequent releases of this product until otherwise indicated in
new editions.
A reader’s comment form is provided at the back of this publication. If the form has been removed, address
comments to Information Development, Department 04XA-905-6B013, 11501 Burnet Road, Austin, Texas
78758-3400. To send comments electronically, use this commercial Internet address: pserinfo@[Link]. Any
information that you supply may be used without incurring any obligation to you.
© Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 1997, 2008.
US Government Users Restricted Rights – Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract
with IBM Corp.
Contents
About This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
ISO 9000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
32-Bit and 64-Bit Support for the Single UNIX Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Related Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii

Alphabetical Listing of Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

ac Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
accept, reject Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
acctcms Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
acctcom Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
acctcon1 or acctcon2 Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
acctctl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
acctdisk or acctdusg Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
acctmerg Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
acctprc1, acctprc2, or accton Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
acctrpt Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
acctwtmp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
aclconvert Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
acledit Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
aclget Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
aclgettypes Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
aclput Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
adb Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
addbib Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
addrpnode Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
addX11input Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
adfutil Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
admin Command (SCCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
aixmibd Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
aixpert Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
aixterm Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
ali Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
alias Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
alog Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
alstat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
alt_disk_copy Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
alt_disk_install Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
alt_disk_mksysb Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
alt_rootvg_op Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
anno Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
ap Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
apply Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
apropos Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
ar Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
arithmetic Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
arp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
as Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
asa or fpr Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
at Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
ate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
atmstat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
atq Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1997, 2008 iii

atrm Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
attachrset Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
audit Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
auditbin Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
auditcat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
auditconv Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
auditmerge Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
auditpr Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
auditselect Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
auditstream Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
autoconf6 Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
automount Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
automountd Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
autopush Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
awk Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
back Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
backsnap Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
backup Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
banner Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
basename Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
batch Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
battery Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
bc Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
bdftopcf Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
bdiff Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
bellmail Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
bffcreate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
bfs Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
bg Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
bicheck Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
biff Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
bindintcpu Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
bindprocessor Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
binld Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
biod Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
bj Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
bootlist Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
bootparamd Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
bootpd Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
bootptodhcp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
bosboot Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
bosdebug Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
bs Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
bsh Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
bterm command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
bugfiler Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
burst Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
cachefslog Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
cachefsstat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
cachefswssize Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
cal Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
calendar Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
cancel Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
canonls Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
captoinfo Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
capture Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

iv Commands Reference, Volume 1

cat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
catman Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
cb Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
cd Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
cdc Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
cdcheck Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
cdeject Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
cdmount Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
cdromd Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
cdumount Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
cdutil Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
certadd Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
certcreate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
certdelete Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
certget Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
certlink Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
certlist Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
certrevoke Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
certverify Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
cfgif Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
cfginet Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
cfgmgr Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
cfgqos Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
cfgvsd Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
cflow Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
cfsadmin Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
chargefee Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
chauthent Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
chC2admin Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
chCCadmin Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
chcifscred Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
chcifsmnt Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
chclass Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
chcod Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
chcomg Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
chcondition Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
chcons Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
chcore Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
chcosi Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
chdev Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
chdisp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
checkeq or checkmm Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
checknr Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
chfilt Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
chfn Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
chfont Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
chfs Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
chgif Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
chginet Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
chgroup Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
chgrp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
chgrpmem Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
chhwkbd Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
chiscsi Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
chitab Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
chkbd Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Contents v
chkey Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
chlang Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
chlicense Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
chlpclacl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
chlpcmd Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
chlpracl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
chlpriacl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
chlprsacl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
chlv Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
chlvcopy Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
chmaster Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
chmod Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
chnamsv Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
chnlspath Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
chnfs Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
chnfsdom Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
chnfsexp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
chnfsim Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
chnfsmnt Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
chnfsrtd Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
chnfssec Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
chown Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
chpasswd Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
chpath Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
chprtsv Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
chps Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
chpv Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
chque Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
chquedev Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
chresponse Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
chrole Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
chroot Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
chrsrc Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
chsec Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
chsensor Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
chserver Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
chservices Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
chsh Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
chslave Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
chssys Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
chsubserver Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
chtcb Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
chtun Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464
chtz Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
chuser Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
chvfs Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
chvg Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
chvirprt Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
chvmode Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
chypdom Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
ckfilt Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
ckpacct Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
ckprereq Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
cksum Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
clear Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
clsnmp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

vi Commands Reference, Volume 1

cmp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
col Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
colcrt Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
colrm Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
comb Command (SCCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
comm Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
command Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
comp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
compare_report Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
compress Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
comsat Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
configassist Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
conflict Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
confsetcntrl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
cp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
cpcosi Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
cpio Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
cplv Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
cpp Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
cpupstat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
craps Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541
createvsd Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
crfs Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548
cron Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
cronadm Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
crontab Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
crvfs Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
csh Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
csmstat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
csplit Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
csum Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
ct Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
ctaclfck Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570
ctags Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
ctcasd Daemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
ctctrl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
cthactrl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580
cthagsctrl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
cthagstune Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
cthatsctrl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
cthatstune Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
ctlvsd Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
ctmsskf Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
ctscachgen Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
ctsidmck Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
ctskeygen Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
ctsnap Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
ctsthl Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
ctsvhbac Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
ctsvhbal Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
ctsvhbar Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
cu Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
curt Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
custom Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630
cut Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
cw or checkcw Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639

Contents vii
cxref Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641

Appendix. Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643

Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647

viii Commands Reference, Volume 1

About This Book
This book provides end users with complete detailed information about commands for the AIX operating
system. The commands are listed alphabetically and by category, and complete descriptions are given for
commands and their available flags. If applicable, each command listing contains examples. This volume
contains AIX commands that begin with the letters a through c. This publication is also available on the
documentation CD that is shipped with the operating system.

How to Use This Book

A command is a request to perform an operation or run a program. You use commands to tell the
operating system what task you want it to perform. When commands are entered, they are deciphered by
a command interpreter (also known as a shell) and that task is processed.

Some commands can be entered simply by typing one word. It is also possible to combine commands so
that the output from one command becomes the input for another command. This is known as pipelining.

Flags further define the actions of commands. A flag is a modifier used with the command name on the
command line, usually preceded by a dash.

Commands can also be grouped together and stored in a file. These are known as shell procedures or
shell scripts. Instead of executing the commands individually, you execute the file that contains the
commands.

Some commands can be constructed using Web-based System Manager applications or the System
Management Interface Tool (SMIT).

Highlighting
The following highlighting conventions are used in this book:

Bold Identifies commands, subroutines, keywords, files, structures, directories, and other items whose
names are predefined by the system. Also identifies graphical objects such as buttons, labels, and
icons that the user selects.
Italics Identifies parameters whose actual names or values are to be supplied by the user.
Monospace Identifies examples of specific data values, examples of text similar to what you might see
displayed, examples of portions of program code similar to what you might write as a programmer,
messages from the system, or information you should actually type.

Format
Each command may include any of the following sections:

Purpose A description of the major function of each command.

Syntax A syntax statement showing command line options.
Description A discussion of the command describing in detail its function and use.
Flags A list of command line flags and associated variables with an explanation of
how the flags modify the action of the command.
Parameters A list of command line parameters and their descriptions.
Subcommands A list of subcommands (for interactive commands) that explains their use.
Exit Status A description of the exit values the command returns.
Security Specifies any permissions needed to run the command.
Examples Specific examples of how you can use the command.
Files A list of files used by the command.
Related Information A list of related commands in this book and related discussions in other books.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1997, 2008 ix

Reading Syntax Statements
Syntax statements are a way to represent command syntax and consist of symbols such as brackets ([ ]),
braces ({ }), and vertical bars (|). The following is a sample of a syntax statement for the unget command:

unget [ -rSID ] [ -s ] [ -n ] File ...

The following conventions are used in the command syntax statements:

v Items that must be entered literally on the command line are in bold. These items include the command
name, flags, and literal charactors.
v Items representing variables that must be replaced by a name are in italics. These items include
parameters that follow flags and parameters that the command reads, such as Files and Directories.
v Parameters enclosed in brackets are optional.
v Parameters enclosed in braces are required.
v Parameters not enclosed in either brackets or braces are required.
v A vertical bar signifies that you choose only one parameter. For example, [ a | b ] indicates that you can
choose a, b, or nothing. Similarly, { a | b } indicates that you must choose either a or b.
v Ellipses ( ... ) signify the parameter can be repeated on the command line.
v The dash ( - ) represents standard input.

Listing of Installable Software Packages

To list the installable software package (fileset) of an individual command use the lslpp command with the
-w flag. For example, to list the fileset that owns the installp command, enter:
lslpp -w /usr/sbin/installp

Output similar to the following displays:

File Fileset Type
-----------------------------------------------------------------
/usr/sbin/installp [Link] File

To list the fileset that owns all file names that contain installp, enter:
lslpp -w "*installp*"

Output similar to the following displays:

File Fileset Type
-----------------------------------------------------------------
/usr/sbin/installp [Link] File
/usr/clvm/sbin/linstallpv [Link] File
/usr/lpp/[Link]/nim/methods/c_installp
[Link] File

Running Commands in the Background

If you are going to run a command that takes a long time to process, you can specify that the command
run in the background. Background processing is a useful way to run programs that process slowly. To run
a command in the background, you use the & operator at the end of the command:
Command&

Once the process is running in the background, you can continue to work and enter other commands on
your system.

At times, you might want to run a command at a specified time or on a specific date. Using the cron
daemon, you can schedule commands to run automatically. Or, using the at and batch commands, you
can run commands at a later time or when the system load level permits.

x Commands Reference, Volume 1

Entering Commands
You typically enter commands following the shell prompt on the command line. The shell prompt can vary.
In the following examples, $ is the prompt.

To display a list of the contents of your current directory, you would type ls and press the Enter key:
$ ls

When you enter a command and it is running, the operating system does not display the shell prompt.
When the command completes its action, the system displays the prompt again. This indicates that you
can enter another command.

The general format for entering commands is:

Command Flag(s) Parameter

The flag alters the way a command works. Many commands have several flags. For example, if you type
the -l (long) flag following the ls command, the system provides additional information about the contents
of the current directory. The following example shows how to use the -l flag with the ls command:
$ ls -l

A parameter consists of a string of characters that follows a command or a flag. It specifies data, such as
the name of a file or directory, or values. In the following example, the directory named /usr/bin is a
parameter:
$ ls -l /usr/bin

When entering commands, it is important to remember the following:

v Commands are usually entered in lowercase.
v Flags are usually prefixed with a - (minus sign).
v More than one command can be typed on the command line if the commands are separated by a ;
(semicolon).
v Long sequences of commands can be continued on the next line by using the \ (backslash). The
backslash is placed at the end of the first line. The following example shows the placement of the
backslash:
$ cat /usr/ust/mydir/mydata > \
/usr/usts/yourdir/yourdata

When certain commands are entered, the shell prompt changes. Because some commands are actually
programs (such as the telnet command), the prompt changes when you are operating within the
command. Any command that you issue within a program is known as a subcommand. When you exit the
program, the prompt returns to your shell prompt.

The operating system can operate with different shells (for example, Bourne, C, or Korn) and the
commands that you enter are interpreted by the shell. Therefore, you must know what shell you are using
so that you can enter the commands in the correct format.

Stopping Commands
If you enter a command and then decide to stop that command from running, you can halt the command
from processing any further. To stop a command from processing, press the Interrupt key sequence
(usually Ctrl-C or Alt-Pause). When the process is stopped, your shell prompt returns and you can then
enter another command.

ISO 9000
ISO 9000 registered quality systems were used in the development and manufacturing of this product.

About This Book xi

32-Bit and 64-Bit Support for the Single UNIX Specification
Beginning with Version 5.2, the operating system is designed to support The Open Group’s Single UNIX
Specification Version 3 (UNIX 03) for portability of UNIX-based operating systems. Many new interfaces,
and some current ones, have been added or enhanced to meet this specification, making Version 5.2 even
more open and portable for applications, while remaining compatible with previous releases of AIX.
To determine the proper way to develop a UNIX 03-portable application, you may need to refer to The
Open Group’s UNIX 03 specification, which can be accessed online or downloaded from
[Link] .

Related Information
The following books contain information about or related to commands:
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 2
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 3
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 4
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 5
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 6
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Files Reference
v Printers and printing
v Installation and migration
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 AIX Installation in a Partitioned Environment
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Network Information Services (NIS and NIS+) Guide
v Performance management
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Performance Tools Guide and Reference
v Security
v Networks and communication management
v Operating system and device management
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Technical Reference: Base Operating System and Extensions Volume 1
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Technical Reference: Base Operating System and Extensions Volume 2
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Technical Reference: Communications Volume 1
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Technical Reference: Communications Volume 2
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Technical Reference: Kernel and Subsystems Volume 1
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Technical Reference: Kernel and Subsystems Volume 2
v AIX 5L Version 5.3 Web-based System Manager Administration Guide
v Performance Toolbox Version 2 and 3 for AIX: Guide and Reference

xii Commands Reference, Volume 1

Alphabetical Listing of Commands
ac Command

Purpose
Prints connect-time records.

Syntax
/usr/sbin/acct/ac [ -d ] [ -p ] [ -w File ] [ User ... ]

Description
The ac command prints the total connect time for all users or the connect time for specified users.
Records are based on who logged in during the life of the current wtmp data file.

Connect-time records are created by the init and the login programs and are collected in the
/var/adm/wtmp file, if that file exists. The root user or a member of the adm group should create the
/var/adm/wtmp file with an initial record length of 0 (zero). Records should be processed periodically to
keep the file from becoming too full. If the file has not been created, the following error message is
returned:
No /var/adm/wtmp

If the file becomes too full, additional wtmp files are created. These files can be printed, if specified with
the -w flag.

Flags
-d Creates a printout for each day, from midnight to midnight.
-p Prints connect-time totals by individual login. Without this flag, a total for the time period is printed.
-w File Specifies a wtmp file other than the /var/adm/wtmp file.

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access to all users.

Examples
1. To obtain a printout of the connect time for all users who logged in during the life of the current wtmp
data file, enter:
/usr/sbin/acct/ac
2. To obtain a printout of the total connect time for users smith and jones, as recorded in the current
wtmp data file, enter:
/usr/sbin/acct/ac smith jones
3. To obtain a printout of the connect-time subtotals for users smith and jones, as recorded in the current
wtmp data file, enter:

/usr/sbin/acct/ac -p smith jones

Files
/usr/sbin/acct/ac Contains the ac command.
/var/adm/wtmp Contains the active data file for the collection of connect-time records.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1997, 2008 1

Related Information
The init and login commands.

For more information about the Accounting System, the preparation of daily and monthly reports, and the
accounting files, see System accounting in Operating system and device management.

Setting up an accounting subsystem in Operating system and device management explains the steps you
must take to establish an accounting system.

accept, reject Command

Purpose
Accepts/rejects print requests.

Syntax
accept Destinations

reject [ -r Reason ] Destination

Description
The accept command allows the queuing of print requests for the named Destinations. A Destination can
be either a printer or a class of printers. To find out the status of a destination, run lpstat -a command.

The reject command prevents queuing of print requests for the named destinations. A destination can be
either a printer or a class of printers. To find out the status of a destination, run lpstat -a command.

If you enter accept -? or reject -?, the system displays the command usage message and returns 0.

Flags
-r Reason Assigns a Reason for rejection of requests. The Reason applies to all of the specified Destinations.
The lpstat -a command reports the reason. If it contains blanks, Reason must be enclosed in
quotes. The default reason is unknown reason for existing destinations, and new destination for
destinations just added to the system but not yet accepting requests.

Files
/var/spool/lp/*

Related Information
The enable command, lpadmin command, and lpsched command.

acctcms Command

Purpose
Produces command-usage summaries from accounting records.

Syntax
/usr/sbin/acct/acctcms [ -t | -a [ -o ] [ -p ] ] [ -c ] [ -j ] [ -n ] [ -s ] [ File ... ]

2 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Description
The acctcms command reads each file specified by the File parameter, adds and sorts all records for
identically named processes, and writes the records to standard output. By default, the output file is in
binary format. Input files are usually in the acct file format.

When you use the -o and -p flags together, the acctcms command produces a report that combines prime
and nonprime time. Prime and nonprime times are defined by entries in the /etc/acct/holidays file. Prime
times are assumed to be the period when the system is most active, such as weekdays. Saturdays and
Sundays are always nonprime time for the accounting systems, as are any holidays that you specify in the
/etc/acct/holidays file. All the output summaries are of total usage, except for number of times run, CPU
minutes, and real minutes, which are split into prime and nonprime minutes.

Flags
-a Displays output in ASCII summary format rather than binary summary format. Each output line contains the
command name, the number of times the command was run, total kcore time (memory measurement in
kilobyte segments), total CPU time, total real time, mean memory size (in K-bytes), mean CPU time per
invocation of the command, and the CPU usage factor. The listed times are all in minutes. The acctcms
command normally sorts its output by total kcore minutes. The unit kcore minutes is a measure of the amount
of memory used (in kilobytes) multiplied by the amount of time it was in use. This flag cannot be used with the
-t flag.

Use the following options only with the -a option:

-o Displays a command summary of non-prime time commands.
-p Displays a command summary of prime time commands.

When you use the -o and -p flags together, the acctcms command produces a report that combines prime and
non-prime time. Prime and non-prime times are defined by entries in the /etc/acct/holidays file. Prime times
are assumed to be the period when the system is most active, such as weekdays. Saturdays and Sundays are
always non-prime time for the accounting systems, as are any holidays that you specify in the
/etc/acct/holidays file. All the output summaries are of total usage, except for number of times run, CPU
minutes, and real minutes, which are split into prime and non-prime minutes.

The default items have the following headings in the output:

TOTAL COMMAND SUMMARY

COMMAND NUMBER TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL

NAME CMDS KCOREMIN CPU-MIN REAL-MIN

MEAN MEAN HOG CHARS BLOCKS

SIZE-K CPU-MIN FACTOR TRNSFD READ
-c Sorts by total CPU time rather than total kcore minutes. When this flag is used with the -n flag, only the -n flag
takes effect.
-j Combines all commands called only once under the heading other.
-n Sorts by the number of times the commands were called. When this flag is used with the -c flag, only the -n
flag takes effect.
-o Displays a command summary of nonprime time commands. You can use this flag only when the -a flag is
used.
-p Displays a command summary of prime time commands. You can use this flag only when the -a flag is used.
-s Assumes that any named files that follow this flag are already in binary format.
-t Processes all records as total accounting records. The default binary format splits each field into prime and
nonprime time sections. This option combines the prime and non-prime time parts into a single field that is the
total of both, and provides upward compatibility with old style acctcms binary summary format records. This
flag cannot be used with the -a flag.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 3

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access only to members of the adm group.

Examples
To collect daily command accounting records in a today file and maintain a running total in a total file,
add the following to a shell script:
acctcms File . . . > today
cp total previoustotal
acctcms -s today previoustotal > total
acctcms -a -s total

The File parameters that you specify are redirected to a file called today, added to the previous total (in a
file renamed previoustotal) to produce a new total (called total). All files are binary files. In the last line,
the -a flag displays the total file in ASCII format so you can view the report.

Files
/etc/acct/holidays Specifies prime and nonprime time for accounting records.
/usr/sbin/acct/acctcms Contains the acctcms command.

Related Information
The lastcomm command, runacct command.

The acct file format, utmp, wtmp, failedlogin file format.

The acct subroutine.

For more information about the Accounting System, the preparation of daily and monthly reports, and the
accounting files, see the System accounting in Operating system and device management.

Setting up an accounting subsystem in Operating system and device management describes the steps you
must take to establish an accounting system.

Accounting commands in Operating system and device management.

Monitoring and tuning commands and subroutines in Performance management.

acctcom Command

Purpose
Displays selected process accounting record summaries.

Syntax
/usr/sbin/acct/acctcom [ [ -q | -o File ] | [ -a ] [ -b ] [ -c Classname ] [-f ] [ -h ] [ -i ] [ -k ] [ -m ] [ -r ] [ -t ] [
-v ] [ -w [ -X ] [ -W ]] [ -C Seconds ] [ -g Group ] [ -H Factor ] [ -I Number ] [ -l Line ] [ -n Pattern ] [ -O
Seconds ] [ -u User ] [ -e Time ] [ -E Time ] [ -s Time ] [ -S Time ] [ File ... ]

Description
The acctcom command reads process accounting records from files specified by the File parameter from
standard input or from the /var/adm/pacct file. Then the acctcom command writes the records you
request to standard output. This command is stored in the /usr/sbin/acct directory, for access by all users.

4 Commands Reference, Volume 1

If you do not specify a File parameter and if standard input is assigned to a workstation or to the /dev/null
file, as when a process runs in the background, the acctcom command reads the /var/adm/pacct file.

If you specify a File parameter, the acctcom command reads each file chronologically by process
completion time. Usually, the /var/adm/pacct file is the current file that you want the acctcom command
to examine. Because the ckpacct procedure keeps this file from growing too large, a busy system may
have several pacct files. All but the current file have the path name /var/adm/pacct?, where ? (question
mark) represents an integer.

Each record represents one completed process. The default display consists of the command name, user
name, tty name, start time, end time, real seconds, CPU seconds, and mean memory size (in kilobytes).
These default items have the following headings in the output:
COMMAND START END REAL CPU MEAN
NAME USER TTYNAME TIME TIME (SECS) (SECS) SIZE(K)

If a process was run by the root user, the process name is prefixed with a # (pound sign). If a process is
not assigned to a known workstation ( for example, when the cron daemon runs the process), a ?
(question mark) appears in the TTYNAME field.
Notes:
1. The acctcom command only reports on processes that have finished. Use the ps command to
examine active processes.
2. If a specified time is later than the current time, it is interpreted as occurring on the previous day.

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access to all users.

Flags
-a Shows some average statistics about the processes selected. The statistics are displayed after
the output records.
-b Reads backwards, showing the most recent commands first. This flag has no effect when the
acctcom command reads standard input.
-c Classname Selects processes belonging to the specified class.
Note: Accounting data cannot be retrieved for a deleted class.
-C Seconds Shows only processes whose total CPU time (system time + user time) exceeds the value
specified by the Seconds variable.
-e Time Selects processes existing at or before the specified time. You can use the current locale to
specify the order of hours, minutes, and seconds. The default order is hh:mm:ss.
-E Time Selects processes ending at or before the specified time. You can use the current locale to
specify the order of hours, minutes, and seconds. The default order is hh:mm:ss. If you specify
the same time for both the -E and -S flags, the acctcom command displays the processes that
existed at the specified time.
-f Displays two columns related to the ac_flag field of the acct.h file: the first indicates use of the
fork command to create a process, the second indicates the system exit value. Refer to the acct
structure described in the acct file format in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Files Reference.
-g Group Selects processes belonging to the specified group. You can specify either the group ID or the
group name.
-h Instead of mean memory size, shows the fraction of total available CPU time consumed by the
process (hog factor). This factor is computed as:
(total CPU time) / (elapsed time)
-H Factor Shows only the processes that exceed the value of the Factor parameter. This factor, called the
hog factor, is computed as:
(total CPU time) / (elapsed time)
-i Displays columns showing the number of characters transferred in read or write operations (the
I/O counts).

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 5

-k Instead of memory size, shows total kcore minutes (memory measurement in kilobyte segments
used per minute of run time).
-l Line (lowercase L) Shows only processes belonging to workstation /dev/Line.
-I Number (uppercase i) Shows only processes transferring more than the specified number of characters.
-m Shows mean main-memory size. This is the default. The -h flag or -k flag turn off the -m flag.
-n Pattern Shows only commands matching the value of the Pattern variable, where Pattern is a regular
expression. Regular expressions are described in the ed command. In addition to the usual
characters, the acctcom command allows you to use a + (plus sign) as a special symbol for the
preceding character.
-o File Copies selected process records to the specified file, keeping the input data format. This flag
suppresses writing to standard output. This flag cannot be used with the -q flag.
-O Seconds Shows only processes with CPU system time exceeding the specified number of seconds.
-q Displays statistics but not output records. The statistics are the same as those displayed using
the -a flag. The -q flag cannot be used with the -o flag.
-r Shows CPU factor. This factor is computed as:
(user-time) / (system-time + user-time)
-s Time Shows only those processes that existed on or after the specified time. You can use the current
locale to specify the order of hours, minutes, and seconds. The default order is hh:mm:ss.
-S Time Shows only those processes starting at or after the specified time. You can use the current locale
to specify the order of hours, minutes, and seconds. The default order is hh:mm:ss.
-t Shows separate system and user CPU times.
-u User Shows only processes belonging to the specified user. Enter one of the following for the User
variable: a user ID, a login name to be converted to a user ID, a # (pound sign) to select
processes run by the root user, or a ? (question mark) to select processes associated with
unknown user IDs.
-v Eliminates column headings from the output.
-w Displays the class names to which the processes belong.
-W Prints all available characters of each user name instead of truncating to the first 8 characters.
The output is also widened to 132 characters allowing the user name to use the additional space.
The -W option is mutually exclusive with the -X option. When both flags are used the second flag
is ignored.
-X Print all available characters of each user name instead of truncating to the first 8 characters.
The user name is also moved to the last column of the output. The -X option is mutually
exclusive with the -W option. When both flags are used the second flag is ignored.

Examples
1. To display information about processes that exceed 2 seconds of CPU time, enter:
/usr/sbin/acct/acctcom -O 2 < /var/adm/pacct

The process information is read from the /var/adm/pacct file.

2. To display information about processes belonging to the finance group, enter:
/usr/sbin/acct/acctcom -g Finance < /var/adm/pacct

The process information is read from the /var/adm/pacct file.

3. To display information about processes that belong to the /dev/console workstation and that run after
5 p.m., enter:
/usr/sbin/acct/acctcom -l /dev/console -s 17:00

The process information is read from the /var/adm/pacct file by default.

4. To display all information about processes on a machine that has greater than 8 character user names,
enter:
/usr/sbin/acct/acctcom -X < /var/adm/pacct

The process information is read from the /var/adm/pacct file.

6 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Files
/usr/sbin/acct/acctcom Contains the acctcom command.
/var/adm/pacct Contains the current process accounting file.
/etc/group Contains the basic group attributes of groups.
/etc/passwd Contains the basic attributes of users.

Related Information
The ed command, ps command, runacct command, su command.

The cron daemon.

The acct subroutine.

The acct file format, utmp, wtmp, failedlogin file format.

Accounting commands in Operating system and device management.

For more information about the accounting system, the preparation of daily and monthly reports, and the
accounting files, see the System accounting in Operating system and device management.

Setting up an accounting subsystem in Operating system and device management describes the steps you
must take to establish an accounting system.

Monitoring and tuning commands and subroutines in Performance management

The environment File describes environment variables and their functions.

acctcon1 or acctcon2 Command

Purpose
Performs connect-time accounting.

Syntax
acctcon1 [ -l File ] [ -o File ] [ -p ] [ -t ] [ -X ]

acctcon2 [ -X ]

Description
acctcon1
The acctcon1 command is called by the runacct command to convert a sequence of login and logoff
records (read from standard input) to a sequence of login session records (written to standard output).
Input is normally redirected from the /var/adm/wtmp file. The input file can be a file other than
/var/adm/wtmp, as long as it is in the correct format.

The acctcon1 command displays the following in ASCII format:

v Login device
v User ID
v Login name
v Prime connect time (seconds)

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 7

v Non-prime connect time (seconds)
v Session starting time (numeric)
v Starting date and time (in date/time format)

The acctcon1 command also maintains a list of ports on which users are logged in. When the acctcon1
command reaches the end of its input, the command writes a session record for each port that still
appears to be active. Unless the -t flag is used, the acctcon1 command assumes that input is a current
file and uses the current time as the ending time for each session still in progress.

The summary file generated with the -l flag helps an administrator track line usage and identify bad lines.
All hang-ups, terminations of the login command, and terminations of the login shell cause the system to
write logoff records. Consequently, the number of logoffs is often much higher than the number of
sessions.

acctcon2
The acctcon2 command, also called by the runacct command, converts a sequence of login session
records produced by the acctcon1 command into connect-time total accounting records. These records
are merged with other total accounting records by the acctmerg command to produce a daily report.

Flags
Note: The following flags are used with the acctcon1 command.

-l File (lowercase L) Writes a line-usage summary file showing the line name, the number of minutes
used, the percentage of total elapsed time, the number of sessions charged, the number of
logins, and the number of logoffs. If you do not specify a file name, the system creates the
information in the /var/adm/acct/nite/lineuse file.
-o File Writes to the specified file an overall record for the accounting period, giving starting time,
ending time, number of restarts, and number of date changes. If you do not specify a file name,
the system creates the /var/adm/acct/nite/reboots file.
-p Displays only input. Line name, login name, and time are shown in both numeric and date/time
formats. Without the -p flag specified, the acctcon1 command would display input, converting
input to session records, and write reports.
-t Uses the last time found in the input as the ending time for any current processes. This, rather
than current time, is necessary in order to have reasonable and repeatable values for files that
are not current.
-X Prints and processes all available characters for each user name instead of truncating to the
first 8 characters.
Note: The following flag can be used with both the acctcon1 and acctcon2 commands.

Security
Access Control: These commands should grant execute (x) access only to members of the adm group.

Examples
1. To convert a sequence of login records (in the /var/adm/wtmp file) to a sequence of login session
records (stored in the /var/adm/logsess file), include the following in a shell script:
acctcon1 -t -l/var/adm/acct/nite/lineuse \
-o/var/adm/acct/nite/reboots \
</var/adm/wtmp > /var/adm/logsess

The login session reports show an ending time that corresponds with the last time input was provided.
Two reports are generated: a line-usage summary file named /var/adm/acct/nite/lineuse, an overall
record for the accounting period, reported in the /var/adm/acct/nite/reboots file.

8 Commands Reference, Volume 1

2. To convert a series of login session records (in the /var/adm/acct/nite/ctmp file) to a total accounting
record (stored in the /var/adm/logacct file), include the following in a shell script:
acctcon2 < /var/adm/acct/nite/ctmp \
> /var/adm/logacct

Files
/usr/sbin/acct/acctcon1 Contains the acctcon1 command.
/usr/sbin/acct/acctcon2 Contains the acctcon2 command.
/var/adm/wtmp Contains connect-time accounting data, including login, logout, and
shutdown records.

Related Information
The acctmerg command, fwtmp, acctwtmp, or wtmpfix command, init command, login command,
runacct command.

The acct file format, utmp, wtmp, failedlogin file format.

The acct subroutine.

For more information about the Accounting System, the preparation of daily and monthly reports, and the
accounting files, see the System accounting in Operating system and device management.

Setting up an accounting subsystem in Operating system and device management describes the steps you
must take to establish an accounting system.

acctctl Command

Purpose
Controls advanced accounting.

Syntax
acctctl fadd file size

acctctl frm file

acctctl freset file

acctctl fquery [file]

acctctl fswitch [file]

acctctl isystem {time|off}

acctctl iprocess {time|off}

acctctl agproc {on|off}

acctctl agke {on|off}

acctctl agarm {on|off}

acctctl trquery [trid]

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 9

acctctl tron trid

acctctl troff trid

acctctl email {on|off|addr}

acctctl on

acctctl off

acctctl

acctctl turacct {on|off}

Description
The administration of Advanced Accounting (AACCT) is organized around the following high level tasks,
which are mostly performed by the acctctl command.
v Manage Accounting Data Files.
v Manage Project Definitions and Assignments.
v Manage Transactions.
v Manage Advanced Accounting Subsystem.

Managing Accounting Data Files

The first task is centered around file management. Files are pre-allocated and registered with the AACCT
subsystem, so that it can continuously stream accounting data to these files. When an accounting file is
filled, AACCT automatically switches to the next available registered file. If there is no such file, then
incoming data might be lost, unless the administrator or the billing application quickly reacts to the
problem.

Messages are sent alerting the administrator to the status of files, so that he can avoid these types of
problems before they occur. The best approach is to allocate sufficient file space up front. Messages are
sent, when a file approaches the full state, and when the system automatically switches to another file.
Messages are sent by way of the syslog facility and email. These subsystems have to be correctly
configured in order to receive messages.

When the system runs out of accounting files, it internally buffers accounting data, so data is not
immediately lost. If the administrator does not respond in time and data is lost, then the system internally
maintains some statistics about the outage, which it logs to the accounting subsystem, after the condition
has been corrected.

Before starting AACCT, the system administrator should create the accounting files that will be needed on
the system. The number and size of these files is workload dependent, so the administrator should choose
values that are appropriate for the specific installation. The only recommendation is that at least two files
be created, so that AACCT can remain active at all times.

The following commands are provided for managing files:

acctctl fadd file size Allocates and defines an accounting file with specified filename
and size. The size is in megabytes.
acctctl frm file Removes the specified accounting file from the accounting
subsystem. This will not remove the file from the file system.
acctctl freset file Indicates that the specified file can now be reused by the
accounting subsystem.
acctctl fquery [file] Queries the state and current utilization of the specified file, if
supplied, or all accounting files otherwise.

10 Commands Reference, Volume 1

acctctl fswitch [file] Forces accounting to switch to a new accounting file. The new
file can be optionally specified.

All files must be fully qualified path names. When creating a file, ensure that the file system has enough
space.

Managing Project Definitions and Assignments

The second task, Manage Project Definitions and Assignments, is supported through the projctl
command. Projects are optional. For a description of this capability, see the projctl command in AIX 5L
Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 4.

Managing Transactions
The third task, Manage Transactions, is designed to control the type of accounting data that is produced,
which is configuration dependent, because applications and middleware can provide transactions. The
following types of accounting are supported on all systems:
v Process
v Disk
v Network interfaces
v File systems
v System (provides global CPU and memory use)

Administrative control over these sources of accounting data is provided by enabling or disabling the
accounting records that they produce. Each accounting record is assigned a unique identifier, so that
report and analysis commands can apply the appropriate templates when processing the accounting file.
These identifiers also serve to name the different types of accounting that is supported and are specified
as parameters to the transaction specific commands. Identifiers are listed in the sys file.

The following commands are provided for managing transactions:

acctctl trquery [trid] Queries the state and name of the specified trid, if
supplied, or of all trids, otherwise.
acctctl tron trid Enables the specified transaction.
acctctl troff trid Disables the specified transaction.

By default, all transactions identifiers are enabled.

Not all transaction identifiers can be disabled, because some of them are derived types and are dependent
on other transactions. For example, the process aggregation record is dependent on the process record,
so it can’t be disabled by itself. Aggregation can be enabled or disabled, and process accounting can be
enabled or disabled, but the transaction identifier that corresponds to the aggregated process record can’t
be disabled. Aggregation is a convenience in the sense that it sums up data internally, so that fewer
records are produced. In some cases, data aggregation is provided to simplify data management.

Managing the Advanced Accounting Subsystem

The fourth task, Manage Advanced Accounting Subsystem, is concerned with controlling the execution
environment of the subsystem itself. Sub-tasks are oriented towards configuring, running, stopping, and
querying AACCT.

The following commands are provided for managing the subsystem:

acctctl email {on|off|addr} Sets up e-mail notifications. If given the on subcommand,

the last used e-mail address will be used. The e-mail
address is limited to 80 characters. Mail must be
configured for e-mail notification to function.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 11

acctctl iprocess {time|off} Enables process interval accounting every time minutes or
disables process interval accounting entirely.
acctctl isystem {time|off} Enables system interval accounting every time minutes or
disables system interval accounting entirely.
acctctl agproc {on|off} Enables or disables system-wide aggregation for
processes.
acctctl agke {on|off} Enables or disables system-wide aggregation for third
party kernel extensions.
acctctl agarm {on|off} Enables or disables system-wide aggregation for ARM
transactions.
acctctl dump pid Writes the accounting record for the named process into
the accounting file.
acctctl on Starts Advanced Accounting.
acctctl off Stops Advanced Accounting.
acctctl Queries overall accounting state.
acctctl turacct {on|off} Enables or disables the accounting based on Scaled
Performance Utilization Resources Register (SPURR) in
turbo mode.

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 The command executed successfully.

>0 An error occurred.

Security
Root authority is required to use this command.

Data files are created by this command. These files are owned by root, but are readable by members of
the adm group.

Examples
1. To display status, type:
acctctl

Output similar to the following is displayed:

Advanced Accounting is not running.
Email notification is off.
The current email address to be used is not set.
Process Interval Accounting is off.
System Interval Accounting is off.
System-wide aggregation of process data is off.
System-wide aggregation of third party kernel extension data is off.
System-wide aggregation of ARM transactions is off.
Files: 0 defined, 0 available.
2. To turn on accounting, type:
acctctl on
3. To add a 200 MB data file, type:
acctctl fadd /var/aacct/acctdata1 200
4. To enable the process interval so that it collects data every 2 hours, type:
acctctl iprocess 120
5. To set process aggregation, type:
acctctl agproc on

12 Commands Reference, Volume 1

6. To enable e-mail notification, type:
acctctl email on
7. To specify an e-mail address for notification, type:
acctctl email user@[Link]

Location
/usr/bin/acctctl

Files
/var/aacct Default directory for accounting data files.
/var/aacct/acctdata Default accounting data file.

Data files can be created in other locations by the system administrator.

Related Information
The projctl command in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 4.

AIX 5L Version 5.3 Advanced Accounting Subsystem.

Application transactions are supported through the Application Response Measurement (ARM) APIs, which
are documented in Application Response Measure (ARM) Issue 4.0 - C Binding, The Open Group. This
document is available at [Link]

acctdisk or acctdusg Command

Purpose
Performs disk-usage accounting.

Syntax
/usr/sbin/acct/acctdisk

/usr/sbin/acct/acctdusg [ -u File ] [ -p File ] [ -X ]

Description
The acctdisk and acctdusg commands are called by the dodisk command to perform disk-usage
accounting. Usually, this procedure is initiated when the cron daemon runs the dodisk command.

Normally, the output of the diskusg command becomes the input of the acctdisk command. If a more
thorough but slower version of disk accounting is needed, use the dodisk -o command to call the
acctdusg command instead of the diskusg command.

Accounting is only done for files on the local file system for local users. System administrators who want to
count remote users (such as YP clients or diskless clients) should use the acctdusg -p command.

acctdisk
The acctdisk command reads the output lines of the diskusg or acctdusg commands from standard
input, converts each individual record into a total accounting record, and writes the records to standard
output. These records are merged with other accounting records by the acctmerg command to produce
the daily accounting report.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 13

acctdusg
The acctdusg command is called by using the dodisk -o command, when a slow and thorough version of
disk accounting is needed. Otherwise, the dodisk command calls the diskusg command.

The acctdusg command reads a list of files from standard input (usually piped from a find / -print
command), computes the number of disk blocks (including indirect blocks) allocated to each file owner,
and writes an individual record for each user to standard output. By default, the command searches for
login names and numbers in the /etc/passwd file. You can search other files by specifying the -p File flag
and variable. Each output record has the following form:
uid login #blocks

The #blocks value is the number of 1KB blocks utilized by the user.

Flags
-p File Searches the specified file for login names and numbers, instead of searching the /etc/passwd
file.
-u File Places, in the specified file, records of the file names that are exempt from charges.
-X Turns on long username support.

Security
Access Control: These commands should grant execute (x) access only to members of the adm group.

Examples
1. To start normal disk accounting procedures, add a line similar the following to a crontab file so that the
cron daemon runs disk accounting commands automatically:
0 2 * * 4 /usr/sbin/acct/dodisk

In this example, the dodisk procedure runs at 2 a.m. (0 2) every Thursday (4) and the dodisk
procedure calls the diskusg and acctdisk commands to write disk usage records to the
/usr/adm/acct/nite/dacct file.
2. To start a thorough disk accounting procedure, add a line similar the following to a crontab file so that
the cron daemon runs disk accounting commands automatically:
0 2 * * 4 /usr/sbin/acct/dodisk -o

In this example, the dodisk procedure runs at 2 a.m. (0 2) every Thursday (4) and the dodisk
procedure calls the acctdusg and acctdisk commands to write disk usage records to the
/var/adm/acct/nite/dacct file.

Files
/usr/sbin/acct/acctdisk Contains the acctdisk command.
/usr/sbin/acct/acctdusg Containsthe acctdusg command.
/etc/passwd Contains the basic attributes of user.
/usr/sbin/acct Directory holding all accounting commands.

Related Information
The acctmerg command, diskusg command, dodisk command, runacct command.

The cron daemon.

The acct file format, utmp, wtmp, failedlogin file format.

14 Commands Reference, Volume 1

The acct subroutine.

System accounting in Operating system and device management provides more information about the
accounting system, the preparation of daily and monthly reports, and the accounting files.

Setting up an accounting subsystem in Operating system and device management describes the steps you
must take to establish an accounting system.

acctmerg Command

Purpose
Merges total accounting files into an intermediary file or a daily report.

Syntax
/usr/sbin/acct/acctmerg [ -a [ Specification ] ] [ -h [ Specification ] ] [ -i [ Specification ] ] [
-p [ Specification ] ] [ -q Filename ] [ -v [ Specification ] ] [ -X ] [ -t ] [ -u ] [ File ... ]

Description
The acctmerg command merges process, connect-time, fee, disk-usage, and queuing (printer) total
accounting records (in tacct binary or tacct ASCII format, tacctx binary, or tacctx ASCII format) and then
writes the results to standard output. (See the tacct structure in the acct File Format for a description of
the total accounting format or /usr/include/sys/tacct.h for a description of the tacctx format). The
acctmerg command reads the total accounting records from standard input and from the additional files
(up to nine) specified by the File parameter. The acctmerg command then merges the records by identical
keys, usually a user ID and name. To facilitate storage, the acctmerg command writes the output in binary
format unless you use either the -a, -v, or -p flag.

The acctmerg command is called by the runacct command to produce either an intermediate report when
one of the input files is full, or to merge the intermediate reports into a cumulative total. The intermediate
report is stored in the /var/adm/acct/nite(x)/daytacct file. The cumulative report is stored in the
/var/adm/acct/sum(x)/tacct file. The cumulative total is the source from which the monacct command
produces the ASCII-format monthly summary report. The monthly summary report is stored in the
/var/adm/acct/fiscal file.

The Specification variable allows you to select input or output fields, as illustrated in Example 1. A field
specification is a comma-separated list of field numbers, in the order specified in the tacct(x) structure in
the acct File Format. Field ranges may be used, with array sizes taken into account, except for the
ta_name characters. In the following example:

-h2-3,11,15-13,2

The -h flag causes column headings to display for the following types of data, in this order:
v login name (2)
v prime CPU (3)
v connect time (11)
v fee (15)
v queuing system (14, as implied in the range)
v disk usage data (13)
v the login name again (2)

The default displays all fields, otherwise specified as 1-18 or 1-, and produces wide output lines containing
all the available accounting data.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 15

Queueing system, disk usage, or fee data can be converted into tacct records by using the acctmerg -i
Specification command.

The tacct fields are:

No. Header Description

1 UID User ID number.
2 LOGIN NAME Login name of user.
3 CPU PRIME Cumulative CPU minutes during prime hours.
4 CPU NPRIME Cumulative during non-prime hours.
5 KCORE PRIME Cumulative minutes spent in the kernel during prime hours.
6 KCORE NPRIME Cumulative during non-prime hours.
7 BLKIO PRIME Cumulative blocks transferred during prime hours.
8 BLKIO NPRIME Cumulative during non-prime hours.
9 RW/WR PRIME Cumulative blocks read/written during prime hours.
10 RW/WR NPRIME Cumulative during non-prime hours.
11 CONNECT PRIME Cumulative connect time (minutes) during prime hours.
12 CONNECT NPRIME Cumulative during non-prime hours.
13 DISK BLOCKS Cumulative disk usage.
14 PRINT Queuing system charges. (pages)
15 FEES Fee for special services.
16 # OF PROCS Count of processes.
17 # OF SESS Count of login sessions.
18 # OF SAMPLES Count of count of disk samples.

Flags
-a[Specification] Produces output in the form of ASCII records.
-h[Specification] Displays column headings. This flag implies the -a flag, but is effective with -p or
-v.
-i[Specification] Expects input files composed of ASCII records, which are converted to binary
records.
-p[Specification] Displays input without processing. The output is in ASCII format.
-q Filename Reads the specified qacct file (accrec.h file format) and produces output records
sorted by user ID and user name. These records contain the user ID, user name,
and number of pages printed.
-t Produces a single record that contains the totals of all input.
-u Summarizes by user ID rather than by user name.
-v[Specification] Produces output in ASCII format, with more precise notation for floating-point
numbers.
-X Prints and processes all available characters for each user name instead of
truncating to the first 8 characters.

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access only to members of the adm group.

Examples
1. To merge disk accounting file dacct with field specification -i1-2,13,18 into an existing total
accounting file, tacct, enter:
acctmerg -i1-2,13,18 <dacct | acctmerg tacct >output

The acctmerg command reads the field specifications for the user ID, login name, number of blocks,
and number of disk samples (i1-2,13,18) from the dacct file, merges this information with a tacct
record, and writes the result to standard output.

16 Commands Reference, Volume 1

2. To make repairs to the tacct format file [Link], first enter:

acctmerg -v <[Link] >[Link]

Now edit the file [Link] as desired. This command redirects the content of [Link] to [Link],
with the output in ASCII format.
3. To redirect [Link] to [Link], with the output in binary record format, enter the following command:

acctmerg -i <[Link] >[Link]

Files
/usr/sbin/acct/acctmerg Contains the acctmerg command.
/usr/include/sys/acct.h Contains the acct and tacct file formats.
/var/adm/acct/nite/daytacct Contains an intermediate daily total accounting report in binary
format.
/var/adm/acct/sum/tacct Contains the cumulative total accounting report for the month in
binary format.
/var/adm/acct/fiscal Contains the monthly accounting summary report, produced
from the records in the /var/adm/acct/sum/tacct file.

Related Information
The acctcms command, acctcom command, acctcon1 or acctcon2 command, acctdisk command,
acctprc1, acctprc2, or accton command, fwtmp command, runacct command.

The acct file format, utmp, wtmp, failedlogin file format.

The acct subroutine.

System accounting in Operating system and device management.

Print spooler in Printers and printing.

Setting up an accounting subsystem in Operating system and device management describes the steps you
must take to establish an accounting system.

acctprc1, acctprc2, or accton Command

Purpose
Performs process-accounting procedures.

Syntax
/usr/sbin/acct/acctprc1 [ InFile ]

/usr/sbin/acct/acctprc2 [ -X ]

/usr/sbin/acct/accton [ OutFile ]

Description
The three acctprc commands, acctprc1, acctprc2, and accton, are called by the runacct command to
perform process-accounting shell procedures.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 17

The acctprc1 command reads records from standard input that are in the acct format, adds the login
names that correspond to user IDs, and then writes an ASCII record to standard output. This record
contains the user ID, login name, prime CPU time, nonprime CPU time, the total number of characters
transferred (in 1024-byte units), the total number of blocks read and written, and mean memory size (in
64-byte units) for each process.

If specified, the InFile parameter contains a list of login sessions in utmp format, sorted by user ID and
login name. If the File parameter is not specified, acctprc1 gets login names from the/etc/passwd
password file. The information in the InFile parameter helps distinguish among different login names that
share the same user ID.

The acctprc2 command reads (from standard input) the records written by the acctprc1 command,
summarizes them by user ID and name, and writes the sorted summaries to standard output as total
accounting records.

When the accton command is used without parameters, process accounting is turned off. If you specify
the OutFile parameter (an existing file), process accounting is turned on, and the kernel adds records to
that file. You must specify the OutFile parameter for process accounting to start. The OutFile parameter is
not created by the accton command. The file specified by the OutFile parameter must already exist with
the proper group, owner, and permissions. Many shell scripts expect the /var/adm/pacct file.

Flags
-X Process all available characters for each use rname instead of truncating to the first 8 characters. This
flag also causes the acctprc2 command to produce tacctx formatted binary records instead of tacct
binary records.
Note: This flag can only be used with the acctprc2 command.

Security
Access Control: These commands should grant execute (x) access only to members of the adm group.

Examples
1. To add a user name to each process-accounting record in a binary file and convert the records to an
ASCII file named [Link], enter the following commands or use the lines in a shell script:
/usr/sbin/acct/acctprc1 < /var/adm/pacct >[Link]
2. To produce a total accounting record of the ASCII output file in example 1, enter the following
commands or use the lines in a shell script:
/usr/sbin/acct/acctprc2 < [Link] > \
/var/adm/acct/nite/daytacct

The resulting file is a binary total accounting file in tacct format, containing individual records sorted by
user ID. The file /var/adm/acct/nite/daytacct is merged with other total accounting records by the
acctmerg command to produce the daily summary record in the /var/adm/acct/sum/tacct file.
3. To turn off process accounting, enter:
/usr/sbin/acct/accton

Files
/usr/sbin/acct/acctprc1 Contains the acctprc1 command.
/usr/sbin/acct/acctprc2 Contains the acctprc2 command.
/usr/sbin/acct/accton Contains the accton command.
/etc/accton Symbolic link to the actual accton command directory.

18 Commands Reference, Volume 1

/etc/passwd Contains the basic user attributes, including the user IDs used by the
acctprc1 command.

Related Information
The acctmerg command,runacct command.

The acct file format, utmp file format.

For more information about the accounting system, the preparation of daily and monthly reports, and the
accounting files, see the System accounting in Operating system and device management.

Setting up an accounting subsystem in Operating system and device management describes the steps you
must take to establish an accounting system.

Accounting commands in Operating system and device management.

Monitoring and tuning commands and subroutines in Performance management

acctrpt Command

Purpose
Generates advanced accounting subsystem data reports.

Syntax
acctrpt [ -f filename ] [ -F ] [ -U uid ] [ -G gid ] [ -P projID ] [ -C command ] [ -b begin_time ] [ -e end_time
] [ -p projfile ] [ -n ]

acctrpt [ -f filename ] [ -F ] -L resource [ -b begin_time ] [ -e end_time ]

acctrpt [ -f filename ] [ -F ] -T [ -b begin_time ] [ -e end_time ]

acctrpt { -c | -x } [ -f filename ] [ -p projfile ] [ -n ]

Description
The acctrpt command displays the advanced accounting statistics. advanced accounting subsystem
supports process accounting, LPAR accounting, and transaction accounting.

For process accounting, users can generate accounting reports by projects, by groups, by users, by
commands, or by a combination of these four identifiers. The command arguments -U, -G, -P, and -C
command arguments are used to generate process accounting reports. The order in which these
arguments are specified affects the order in which the data is displayed in the report. For example, the
acctrpt -U ALL -P ALL command sorts by UID first and project second.

For LPAR accounting, users can generate accounting reports that describe the system-level use of
resources, such as processors, memory, file systems, disks, and network interfaces. The system
accounting interval must be enabled to collect accounting statistics for system resources. The -L command
argument is used to generate LPAR accounting reports.

Note: The -L argument provides OS image level statistics, so it can also be used on systems that are not
LPAR systems.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 19

For transaction accounting, users can generate accounting reports describing application transactions.
Transaction reports provide scheduling and accounting information, such as transaction resource usage
requirements. These reports consume data that is produced by applications that are instrumented with the
application response and measurement application programming interface (APIs). The -T command
argument is used to generate transaction accounting reports.

If the -U, -G, -P, -C, -L, and -T command arguments are not specified, individual process accounting
records are displayed.

Flags
-b begin_time Specifies the begin time of an interval. The begin_time
parameter is a 10-character string in the MMDDhhmmyy
format, where MM is month, DD is day, hh is hour, mm is
minute, and yy is the last 2 digits of the year. All
characters are numeric. If begin_time is not specified, all
encountered records that were written before end_time
are considered. If neither end_time or begin_time is
specified, all records are considered.
-C command Displays process accounting statistics for the specified
command. More than one command name can be
specified using a comma-separated list. Only the first 12
characters of the base command name are considered. To
display all commands, specify -C ALL.
-c Displays the project definitions in human readable format.
-e end_time Specifies the end time of an interval. The end_time
parameter is a 10-character string in the MMDDhhmmyy
format, where MM is month, DD is day, hh is hour, mm is
minute, and yy is the last 2 digits of the year. All
characters are numeric. If end_time is not specified, all
encountered records that were written after begin_time are
considered. If neither end_time or begin_time is specified,
all records are considered.
-f filename Specifies the path name of the accounting data file to be
used. More than one file can be specified using a
comma-separated list. If the -f flag is not specified, the
/var/aacct/aacctdata file is used by default.
-F Displays information about the specified accounting data
file. The report includes the host name, partition name,
machine model, and serial number of the system where
the accounting data file was generated.
-G gid Displays process accounting statistics for the specified
GIDs. More than one GID can be specified using a
comma-separated list. To display all GIDs, specify -G ALL.

20 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-L resource Displays LPAR accounting statistics for the specified
resource. The resource parameter must be one of the
following values:
cpumem
CPU and memory statistics
filesys File system statistics
netif Network interface statistics
disk Disk statistics
vtarget VSCSI target statistics
vclient VSCSI client statistics
ALL All LPAR resource statistics

The -L argument cannot be specified with the -U, -P, -G,

-C, or -T flags.
-n Displays the IDs in numbers. By default, names are
displayed.
-P projID Displays process accounting statistics for the specified
project ID. More than one project ID can be specified
using a comma-separated list. To display all projects,
specify -P ALL.
-p projfile Specifies the project definition file to be used to resolve
the projects associated with the transaction records. If -p
is not specified, the projects are resolved using the
currently loaded projects.
-T Displays transaction accounting statistics. The -T
argument cannot be specified with -U, -P, -G, -C, or -L
flags.
-U uid Displays process accounting statistics for the specified
UIDs. More than one UID can be specified using a
comma-separated list. To display all UIDs, specify -U ALL.
-x Displays the project definitions in the project definition file
format.

Exit Status
0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
1. To generate a file header report from the /var/aacct/acctdata data file, type:
acctrpt -F -f /var/aacct/acctdata
2. To generate process accounting report by Users from the /var/aacct/acctdata data file, type:
acctrpt -U ALL -f /var/aacct/acctdata
3. To generate a process accounting report for user ID 256 and user ID 257 and command uname from
the /var/aacct/acctdata data file, type:
acctrpt -U 256 257 -C uname -f /var/aacct/acctdata
4. To generate a process accounting report by projects and by users from the/var/aacct/acctdata data
file, type:
acctrpt -P ALL -U ALL -f /var/aacct/acctdata
5. To generate CPU and Memory statistics from the /var/aacct/acctdata data file, type:

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 21

 acctrpt -L cpumem -f /var/aacct/acctdata
6. To display the project definitions associated with the accounting records, type:
acctrpt -c -f /var/aacct/acctdata

Information similar to the following is displayed:

PROJNAME PROJID AGGR ORIGIN

System 0 ENABLED LOCAL

7. To display the associated IDs in numbers, type:
acctrpt -P ALL -f /var/aacct/acctdata -n

Standard Output
Based on the -f option, the acctrpt command displays the following values in the File Header report.

File Name Full path name of the accounting data file.

Open Date Timestamp of first transaction record in the data file.
Last Close Date Timestamp of last transaction record in the data file.
Host Name Host where the data file was produced.
Partition Name Partition where the data file was produced.
Partition ID Partition number where the data file was produced.
System Model System model where the data file was produced.
System ID System serial number where the data file was produced.

Based on one or more of the -P, -G, -U, or -C options, the acctrpt command displays the following values
in the Process Accounting report.

PROJID Project name (Project ID).

UID User name (User ID).
GID Group name (Group ID).
CMD Base name of the executed command.
CNT Count of transaction records aggregated per row of accounting report.
CPU CPU Time (in seconds).
LFILE Local File I/O (in MBs).
DFILE Other File I/O (in MBs).
LSOCKET Local Socket I/O (in MBs).
RSOCKET Other Socket I/O (in MBs).
DMEM Page Seconds of disk pages.
PMEM Page Seconds of real pages.
VMEM Page Seconds of virtual memory.

Based on the -L cpumem option, the acctrpt command displays the following values in the CPU and
Memory LDAP Accounting report.

CNT Count of transaction records aggregated per row of accounting report.

IDLE CPU idle time (in seconds).
IOWAIT CPU I/O wait time (in seconds).
SPROC System process time (in seconds).
UPROC User process time (in seconds).
INTR Interrupt time (in seconds).
IO Number of I/Os.
PGSPIN Number of page swap-ins.
PGSPOUT Number of page swap-outs.
LGPGUTIL Average utilization of large page pool.

22 Commands Reference, Volume 1

PGRATE Average page rate (per second).

Based on the -L filesys option, the acctrpt command displays the following values in the File Systems
LPAR Accounting report.

CNT Count of transaction records aggregated per row of accounting report.

DEVNAME Device name.
MOUNTPT Mount point name.
FSTYPE File system type.
RDWR Number of reads and writes.
OPEN Number of file opens.
CREATE Number of file creates.
LOCKS Number of file locks.
XFERS Data transferred (in MBs).

Based on the -L netif option, the acctrpt command displays the following values in the Network Interfaces
LPAR Accounting report.

CNT Count of transaction records aggregated per row of accounting report.

NETIFNAME Network interface name.
NUMIO Number of I/Os.
XFERS Data transferred (in MBs).

Based on the -L disk option, the acctrpt command displays the following values in the Disks LPAR
Accounting report.

CNT Count of transaction records aggregated per row of accounting report.

DISKNAME Disk name.
BLKSZ Disk block size (in bytes).
XFERS Number of disk transfers.
READ Number of reads from the disk.
WRITE Number of writes to the disk.

Based on the -L vtarget option, the acctrpt command displays the following values in the VSCSI Targets
LPAR Accounting report.

CNT Count of transaction records aggregated per row of accounting report.

CLIENT# Client partition number.
SERVERID Server Unit ID.
UNITID Device logical unit ID.
BYTESIN Data in (in MBs).
BYTESOUT Data out (in MBs).

Based on the -L vclient option, the acctrpt command displays the following values in the VSCSI Clients
LPAR Accounting report.

CNT Count of transaction records aggregated per row of accounting report.

CLIENT# Client partition number.
SERVERID Server Unit ID.
UNITID Device logical unit ID.
BYTESIN Data in (in MBs).
BYTESOUT Data out (in MBs).

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 23

Based on the -T option, the acctrpt command displays the following values in the Transaction Accounting
report.

PROJID Project name (Project ID).

CNT Count of transaction records aggregated per row of accounting report.
CLASS Account class.
GROUP Application group name.
NAME Application name.
TRANSACTION Transaction name
USER User name.
RESPONSE Response time (in milliseconds).
QUEUED Queued time (in milliseconds).
USER CPU time (in milliseconds).

Note: Some of the transaction records displayed by -U, -G, -P and -C cannot be aggregated. For
example, the transaction records that belong to the transaction ID TRID_agg_proc cannot be
aggregated on group IDs and command names because these transaction records do not have the
respective fields. For such records, the acctrpt command displays a * (asterisk) character in the
command name field and a value of -2 in the group ID field. It is an indication that these records
are not aggregated and the caller has to look up for the command name.

Files
/usr/bin/acctrpt Contains the acctrpt command.
/var/aacct/acctdata Contains the default accounting data file.

Related Information
The libaacct.a library interfaces in the in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Technical Reference: Base Operating System
and Extensions Volume 1.

AIX 5L Version 5.3 Advanced Accounting Subsystem.

acctwtmp Command

Purpose
Manipulates connect-time accounting records by writing a utmp record to standard output.

Syntax
/usr/sbin/acct/acctwtmp ″Reason″

Description
The acctwtmp command is called by the runacct command to write a utmp record to standard output.
The standard output includes the current date and time, plus a Reason string of 11 characters or less that
you must enter.

Flags
None.

Parameters
Reason String of 11 characters or less.

24 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Security
Access Control: These commands should grant execute (x) access only to members of the adm group.

Files
/usr/sbin/acct/accwtmp Contains the acctwtmp command.
/var/adm/wtmp Contains records of date changes that include an old date and a new
date.
/usr/include/utmp.h Contains history records that include a reason, date, and time.

Related Information
The acctcon1 or acctcon2 command, acctmerg command, fwtmp command, runacct command,
wtmpfix command.

Setting up an accounting subsystem in Operating system and device management.

Accounting commands in Operating system and device management.

aclconvert Command

Purpose
Converts the access control information of a file system object from one type to another.

Syntax
aclconvert [ -R ] [-I] -t ACLType File

Description
The aclconvert command converts the access control information (ACL) of the file system object specified
by the File parameter to another type as specified by ACLType argument input to command. The
conversion could fail if the target ACL type is not supported by the file system where File exists. Also note
that the ACL conversion will take place with the help of ACL type specific algorithm and invariably the
conversion will be approximate. So the conversion could result in potential loss of access control and it is
essential that the user of this command be sure that the converted ACL satisfies the necessary access
restrictions. The user might manually review the access control information after the conversion for the file
system object to ensure that the conversion was successful and fulfills the requirements of the desired
access control.

Flags
-I Does not display any warning messages.
-R Recursive option allows the user to convert ACL types for all the file system objects under a
directory structure to the desired ACL type.
-t ACLType Specifies the target ACL type to which the File’s ACL type will be converted. The conversion will
succeed only if the file system in question supports the ACL type requested. If the conversion is
lossy, a warning message will be issued. This kind of warning messages can be suppressed
using -I option.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 25

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 The command executed successfully and all requested changes were made.
>0 An error occurred.

Security
Access Control: This command should be a standard user program and have the trusted computing base
attribute.

Auditing Events: If the auditing subsystem has been properly configured and is enabled, the aclconvert
command will generate the following audit record (event) every time the command is executed:

Event Information
FILE_Acl Lists access controls.

Examples
1. To convert the access control information for the status file to AIXC ACL type, type:
aclconvert -t AIXC status

Conversion takes place and any warning or error message is displayed.

2. To convert the access control information for the all file system objects under directory dir1 file to
AIXC ACL type and ignore any warning messages, type:
aclconvert -RI -t AIXC dir1

This converts all file system objects under dir1 to the ACL type AIXC..

Location
/usr/bin/aclconvert

Files
/usr/bin/aclconvert Contains the aclconvert command.

Related Information
The acledit command, aclput command, chmod command.

Access control lists in Operating system and device management.

The Auditing Overview in Security explains more about audits and audit events.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

acledit Command

Purpose
Edits the access control information of a file.

26 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Syntax
acledit [ -t ACL_type ] [ -v ] FileObject

Description
The acledit command lets you change the access control information of the file specified by the FileObject
parameter. The command displays the current access control information and lets the file owner change it
with the editor specified by the EDITOR environment variable. Before making any changes permanent, the
command asks if you want to proceed.

Note: The EDITOR environment variable must be specified with a complete path name; otherwise, the
acledit command will fail. The maximum size of the ACL data is dependent on the ACL type.

The access control information displayed depends on the ACL type associated with the file system object.
Information typically includes access control entries displayed for owner and others. Also, file mode bits
associated with the object could be displayed.

The following is an example of the access control information of a file:

attributes: SUID
base permissions:
owner (frank): rw-
group (system): r-x
others : ---
extended permissions:
enabled
permit rw- u:dhs
deny r-- u:chas, g:system
specify r-- u:john, g:gateway, g:mail
permit rw- g:account, g:finance

Note: If the acledit command is operating in a trusted path, the editor must have the trusted
process attribute set.

Flags
-t This optional input specifies the ACL type in which the ACL data will be stored at the end of the
ACL editing process. If no option is specified, then the ACL currently associated with the file
system object will be edited in its ACL type format. If an ACL type is specified with this flag, then
it is assumed that user is trying to modify the current ACL type and store the ACL in a new ACL
type format. When this flag is specified and the ACL type does not match the type that exists
currently, it is expected that user will modify the contents of the ACL data to format into the new
ACL type specific format before saving.
-v Displays the ACL information in Verbose mode. Comment lines will be added to explain more
details about the ACL associated with the FS object. These comment lines are generated when
the command is executed and do not reside anywhere persistently. Hence, any modifications to
the same will be lost when acledit is exited.

Security
Access Control: This command should be a standard user command and have the trusted computing
base attribute.

Files Accessed:

Mode File
x /usr/bin/aclget
x /usr/bin/aclput

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 27

Auditing Events: If the auditing subsystem has been properly configured and is enabled, the acledit
command will generate the following audit record (event) every time the command is executed:

Event Information
FILE_Acl Lists access controls.

See ″Setting up Auditing″ in Security for more details about how to properly select and group audit events,
and how to configure audit event data collection.

Examples
To edit the access control information of the plans file, enter:
acledit plans

Files
/usr/bin/acledit Contains the acledit command.

Related Information
The aclget command, aclput command, auditpr command, chmod command.

Access control lists in Operating system and device management.

The Auditing Overview in Security explains more about audits and audit events.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

aclget Command

Purpose
Displays the access control information of a file.

Syntax
aclget [ -o OutAclFile ] [ -v ]FileObject

Description
The aclget command writes the access control information of the file specified by the FileObject parameter
to standard output or to the file specified by the OutAclFile parameter.

The information that you view depends on the ACL type and typically includes the Access Control Entries
(ACEs) depicting the access rights of the users in the system, including the owner of the file object.

Flags
-o OutAclFile Specifies that the access control information be written to the file specified by the OutFile
parameter.
-v Displays the ACL information in Verbose mode. Comment lines will be added to explain
more details about the ACL associated with the FS object. These comment lines are
generated when the command is executed and do not reside anywhere persistently.

28 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Security
Access Control: This command should be a standard user program and have the trusted computing
base attribute.

Access Control Lists

Access Control Lists form the core of protection of file system objects. Each file system object is uniquely
associated with one piece of data, called ACL, that defines the access rights to the object. ACL could
consist of multiple Access Control Entries (ACEs), each defining one particular set of access rights for a
user. Typically ACE consists of information such as identification (to whom this ACE applies) and access
rights (allow-read, deny-write). Note that ACE might also capture information such as inheritance flags and
alarm and audit flags. The format and enforcement of ACL data is entirely dependent on the ACL type in
which they are defined. AIX provides for the existence of multiple ACL types on the operating systems.
The list of ACLs supported by a file system instance is dependent on the physical file system
implementation for that file system instance. For more information, see Access Control Lists in Operating
system and device management for complete list of ACL types supported and also the details of individual
ACL type details.

Examples
1. To display the access control information for the status file, enter:
aclget status

An access control list appears, similar to the example in Access Control Lists.
2. To copy the access control information of the plans file to the status file, enter:
aclget plans | aclput status

This copies the access control information. In most cases, the ACL type associated with plans will be
the ACL type of ACL associated with the target status. However, it is possible that the target file
system does not support the ACL type associated with file system object plans. In this case, the
operation will fail and an error message is displayed. The target will retain its original associated ACL.
3. To save the access control information of the plans file in the acl1 file to edit and use later, enter:

aclget -o acl1 plans

Files
/usr/bin/aclget Contains the aclget command.

Related Information
The acledit command, aclput command, chmod command.

Access control lists in Operating system and device management.

The Auditing Overview in Security explains more about audits and audit events.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

aclgettypes Command

Purpose
Gets ACL types supported by a file system path.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 29

Syntax
aclgettypes FileSystemPath

Description
The aclgettypes command retrieves the list of ACL types supported for a given file system path and
displays the same. The default ACL type for the file system instance concerned will be displayed as the
first entry. See Security Guide more information regarding supported ACL types.

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 The command executed successfully and all requested changes were made.
>0 An error occurred.

Security
Access Control: This command should be a standard user program and have the trusted computing
base attribute.

Examples
1. To display ACL types supported by a file system instance that contains path /home/plan1, type:
aclgettypes /home/plan1

Location
/usr/bin/aclgettypes

Files
/usr/bin/aclgettypes Contains the aclgettypes command.

Related Information
The acledit command, aclput command, chmod command.

Access control lists in Operating system and device management.

The Auditing Overview in Security explains more about audits and audit events.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

aclput Command

Purpose
Sets the access control information of a file.

Syntax
aclput [ -i inAclFile ] [ -R ] [ -t acl_type ] [ -v ]FileObject

30 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Description
The aclput command sets the access control information of the file object specified by the FileObject
parameter. The command reads standard input for the access control information, unless you specify the -i
flag.

Note: If you are reading from standard input your entries must match the expected format of the access
control information or you will get an error message. Use the Ctrl-D key sequence to complete the
session.

Access Control List

Access Control Lists form the core of protection for file system objects. Each file system object is uniquely
associated with one piece of data, called ACL, that defines the access rights to the object. ACL could
consist of multiple Access Control Entries (ACEs), each defining one particular set of access rights for an
user. Typically, ACE consists of information such as identification (to whom this ACE applies) and access
rights (allow-read, deny-write). ACE might also capture information such as inheritance flags and alarm
and audit flags. The format and enforcement of ACL data is entirely dependent on the ACL type in which
they are defined. AIX provides for existence of multiple ACL types on the operating system. The list of
ACLs supported by a file system instance is dependent on the physical file system implementation for that
file system instance. See Access Control Lists in Operating system and device management for complete
list of supported ACL types.

Flags
-i inAclFile Specifies the input file for access control information. If the access control information in the file
specified by the InFile parameter is not correct, when you try to apply it to a file, an error
message preceded by an asterisk is added to the input file.

Note: The size of the ACL information depends on the ACL type.
-R Applys ACL to this directory and its children file system objects recursively.
-t ACL_type Specifies the ACL type of the ACL information being displayed. If this option is not provided the
actual ACL data in its original ACL type will be displayed.
-v Verbose option. This option displays many comment lines as part of the ACL data display. This
could help in understanding the details of complex ACL types.

Security
Access Control: This command should be a standard user program and have the trusted computing
base attribute.

Auditing Events: If the auditing subsystem has been properly configured and is enabled, the aclput
command will generate the following audit record (event) every time the command is executed:

Event Information
FILE_Acl Lists file access controls.

See ″Setting up Auditing″ in Security for more details about how to properly select and group audit events,
and how to configure audit event data collection.

Examples
1. To set the access control information for the status file with information from standard input, enter:
aclput status
attributes: SUID

and then press the Ctrl-D sequence to exit the session.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 31

2. To set the access control information for the status file with information stored in the acldefs file,
enter:

aclput -i acldefs status

3. To set the access control information for the status file with the same information used for the plans
file, enter:
aclget plans | aclput status
4. To set the access control information for the status file with an edited version of the access control
information for the plans file, you must enter two commands. First, enter:

aclget -o acl plans

This stores the access control information for the plans file in the acl file. Edit the information in the
acl file, using your favorite editor. Then, enter:

aclput -i acl status

This second command takes the access control information in the acl file and puts it on the status
file.

Files
/usr/bin/aclput Contains the aclput command.

Related Information
The acledit command, aclget command, auditpr command, chmod command.

Access control lists in Operating system and device management.

The Auditing Overview in Security explains more about audits and audit events.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

adb Command

Purpose
Provides a general purpose debug program.

Syntax
adb [ -k ] [ -l Directory ] [ -w ] [ ObjectFile [ CoreFile ] ]

Description
The adb command provides a debug program for programs. With this debug program, you can examine
object and core files and provide a controlled environment for running a program.

Normally, the ObjectFile parameter is an executable program file that contains a symbol table. If the
ObjectFile parameter does not contain a symbol table, the symbolic features of the adb command cannot
be used, although the file can still be examined. The default for the ObjectFile parameter is [Link].

The CoreFile parameter is a core image file produced by running the ObjectFile parameter. The default for
the CoreFile parameter is core.

32 Commands Reference, Volume 1

While the adb command is running, it takes standard input and writes to standard output. The adb
command does not recognize the Quit or Interrupt keys. If these keys are used, the adb command waits
for a new command.

In general, requests to the adb command are in the following form:

[Address] [,Count] [Command] [;]

where Address and Count are expressions. The default for the Count expression is a value of 1. If the
Address expression is specified, the . (period) variable is set to Address.

The interpretation of an address depends on the context in which it is used. If a subprocess is being
debugged, addresses are interpreted in the usual way in the address space of the subprocess.

Enter more than one command at a time by separating the commands with a ; (semicolon).

The adb debug program allows the use of various:

v expressions
v operators
v subcommands
v variables
v addresses

See the adb Debug Program Overview in AIX 5L Version 5.3 General Programming Concepts: Writing and
Debugging Programs for detailed information.

Note: If the object file does not contain the symbol table, the adb command will not be able to show the
value of static, automatic, and external variables of a program.

Flags
-k Causes kernel mapping.
-l Directory Specifies a directory where files to be read with $< or $<< are sought. The default is the
/usr/ccs/bin/adb file.
-w Opens the ObjectFile and the Corefile parameters for reading and writing. If either file does
not exist, this flag creates the file.

Return Values
The adb debug program is printed when there is no current command or format. The adb command
indicates such things as inaccessible files, syntax errors, and abnormal termination of commands. Exit
status is a value of 0, unless the last command was unsuccessful or returned non-zero status.

Files
/dev/mem Provides privileged virtual memory read and write access.
[Link] Provides common assembler and link editor output.
core Contains an image of a process at the time of an error.

Related Information
The cc command, dbx command.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 33

adb Debug Program Overview in AIX 5L Version 5.3 General Programming Concepts: Writing and
Debugging Programs.

addbib Command

Purpose
Creates or extends a bibliographic database.

Syntax
addbib [ -a ] [ -p PromptFile ] Database

Description
The addbib command uses a series of prompts to guide the user through creating or extending a
bibliographic database. The user can define responses to these prompts. All default prompts and
instructions are contained in the refer message catalog.

The first prompt is Instructions?. If the answer is affirmative, you can receive directions.

If the answer is negative or if you press the Enter key, you cannot receive directions. The addbib
command then prompts for various bibliographic fields, reads responses from the terminal, and sends
output records to the database specified by the Database parameter.

Pressing the Enter key (a null response) means to omit a particular field. Typing a - (minus sign) means to
return to the previous field. A trailing backslash allows a field to be continued on the next line. The
repeating Continue? prompt allows you to resume, to quit the current session, or to edit the database. To
resume, type the defined affirmative answer or press the Enter key. To quit the current session, type the
defined negative answer.

To edit the database, enter any system text editor (vi, ex, edit, ed).

Flags
-a Suppresses prompting for an abstract. Prompting for an abstract is the default. Abstracts are
ended by pressing a Ctrl-D key sequence.

34 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-pPromptFile Causes the addbib command to use a new prompting skeleton, which is defined in the file
specified by the PromptFile parameter. This file contains prompt strings, a tab, and the key
letters written to the specified database.

The following are the most common key letters and their meanings. The addbib command
insulates you from these key letters, since it gives you prompts in English. If you edit the
bibliography file later, you need to know this information.
%A Author’s name
%B Book containing article referenced
%C City (place of publication)
%D Date of publication
%E Editor of book containing article referenced
%F Footnote number or label (supplied by the refer command)
%G Government order number
%H Header commentary, printed before reference
%I Issuer (publisher)
%J Journal containing article
%K Keywords to use in locating reference
%L Label field used by -k flag of the refer command
%M Bell Labs memorandum (undefined)
%N Number within volume
%O Other commentary, printed at end of reference
%P Page numbers
%Q Corporate or foreign author (unreversed)
%R Report, paper, or thesis (unpublished)
%S Series title
%T Title of article or book
%V Volume number
%X Abstract used by the roffbib command, not by the refer command
%Y,Z Ignored by the refer command.

Note: Except for the %A key letter, each field should be given just once. Only relevant fields
should be supplied.

Examples
The following is an example of a bibliography file:
%A Bill Tuthill
%T Refer - A Bibliography System
%I Computing Services
%C Berkeley
%D 1982
%O UNIX 4.3.5.

Related Information
The indxbib command, lookbib command, refer command, roffbib command, sortbib command.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 35

addrpnode Command

Purpose
Adds one or more nodes to a peer domain definition.

Syntax
addrpnode [−c] [−h] [−TV] node_name1 [node_name2 ... ]

addrpnode [−c] { −f │ −F { file_name │ ″–″ } } [−h] [−TV]

Description
Before running addrpnode:
To set up the proper security environment, run the preprpnode command on each node that is to be
added to the peer domain.

The addrpnode command adds the specified nodes to the online peer domain in which it (addrpnode) is
run. This command must be run on a node that is online to the peer domain in which the new nodes are
to be added. Though a node can be defined in multiple peer domains, it can only be online in one peer
domain. To add one or more nodes to the peer domain, more than half of the nodes must be online.

To enable addrpnode to continue when there is an error on one of the nodes, use the -c flag.

The addrpnode command does not bring the added nodes online in the peer domain. To do this, use the
startrpnode command.

Flags
−c Continues processing the command as long as at least one node can be added to the peer
domain.
By default, if the addrpnode command fails on any node, it will fail on all nodes. The -c flag
overrides this behavior, so that the addrpnode command will run on the other nodes, even if it
fails on one node.
−f | −F { file_name | ″–″ }
Reads a list of node names from file_name. Each line of the file is scanned for one node name.
The pound sign (#) indicates that the remainder of the line (or the entire line if the # is in column
1) is a comment.
Use -f ″-″ or -F ″-″ to specify STDIN as the input file.
-h Writes the command’s usage statement to standard output.
-T Writes the command’s trace messages to standard error. For your software service organization’s
use only.
-V Writes the command’s verbose messages to standard output.

Parameters
node_name1 [node_name2 ... ]
Specifies the node (or nodes) to be added to the peer domain definition.
The node name is the IP address or the long or short version of the DNS
host name. The node name must resolve to an IP address.

36 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Security
The user of the addrpnode command needs write permission for the [Link] resource class
and the [Link] resource class on each node that is to be added to the peer domain. This is set
up by running the preprpnode command on each node to be added. Specify the names of all the nodes
online in the peer domain with the preprpnode command. This gives the online nodes the necessary
authority to perform operations on the nodes to be added.

Exit Status
0 The command ran successfully.
1 An error occurred with RMC.
2 An error occurred with a command-line interface script.
3 An incorrect flag was entered on the command line.
4 An incorrect parameter was entered on the command line.
5 An error occurred that was based on incorrect command-line input.

Environment Variables
CT_CONTACT
Determines the system where the session with the resource monitoring and control (RMC)
daemon occurs. When CT_CONTACT is set to a host name or IP address, the command contacts
the RMC daemon on the specified host. If CT_CONTACT is not set, the command contacts the
RMC daemon on the local system where the command is being run. The target of the RMC
daemon session and the management scope determine the resource classes or resources that are
processed.
CT_IP_AUTHENT
When the CT_IP_AUTHENT environment variable exists, the RMC daemon uses IP-based
network authentication to contact the RMC daemon on the system that is specified by the IP
address to which the CT_CONTACT environment variable is set. CT_IP_AUTHENT only has
meaning if CT_CONTACT is set to an IP address; it does not rely on the domain name system
(DNS) service.

Restrictions
This command must be run on a node that is online in the peer domain in which the new nodes are to be
added.

Implementation Specifics
This command is part of the Reliable Scalable Cluster Technology (RSCT) fileset for AIX.

Standard Input
When the -f ″-″ or -F ″-″ flagd is specified, this command reads one or more node names from standard
input.

Standard Output
When the -h flag is specified, this command’s usage statement is written to standard output. All verbose
messages are written to standard output.

Standard Error
All trace messages are written to standard error.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 37

Examples
To add the nodes nodeB and nodeC to the peer domain ApplDomain where nodeA is already defined
and online to ApplDomain, run this command on nodeA:
addrpnode nodeB nodeC

Location
/usr/sbin/rsct/bin/addrpnode

Related Information
Books: RSCT: Administration Guide, for information about peer domain operations

Commands: lsrpnode, mkrpdomain, preprpnode, rmrpnode, startrpdomain, startrpnode

Information Files: rmccli, for general information about RMC-related commands

addX11input Command

Purpose
Adds an X11 input extension record into the ODM (Object Data Manager) database.

Syntax
addX11input

Description
The addX11input command is used to add an X11 input extension record into the ODM database. When
you enter addX11input on the command line, the addX11input command requests DeviceName,
GenericName, and ModuleName values in turn. The entire record is then added to the ODM database.

The command is a root/system user command. Its action fails with a permissions error if an unauthorized
user attempts to add a record.

Error Codes
ODM could not open class Returned if the X11 Input extension records in the ODM database are
not found in the /usr/lib/objrepos directory.

Related Information
The deleteX11input command, listX11input command.

adfutil Command

Purpose
Provides the capability to merge Micro Channel information for PS/2 adapters with the Configuration
Database in AIX 5.1 and earlier.

Syntax
adfutil [ -d Device | -f File ] [ -a AdapterName | -c PS/2CardID ] [ -m FileName ... ] [ -q ]

38 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Description
The adfutil command provides the capability to field merge Micro Channel resource information for
existing PS/2 adapters with predefined information in the Configuration database for AIX 5.1 and earlier.
This is accomplished by processing information found on DOS formatted diskettes provided with the PS/2
adapter hardware. Included on these diskettes are adapter description files that are ASCII representations
of adapter hardware attributes.

The naming convention for an adapter description file found on the DOS formatted diskette is
@[Link] where XXXX is the PS/2CardID. If the command is invoked without arguments, the search
centers around the home directory of the default device. If no files are found in the form of @[Link],
an error message is sent to standard output and the adfutil command ends. If a single adapter description
file is found, execution is continued on that file. If multiple adapter description files are found, an error
message is written to standard output and processing ends. If the -c flag is specified, a string is built that
represents the corresponding DOS file name representation of the desired adapter description file. If this
file does not exist on the specified device and path name or default, an error message is sent to standard
output and processing ends.

When the adapter description file is found, the contents are written in the /tmp/adfnnn file where nnn is
the current process ID. This ID is removed after successful completion of the command.

Microcode files can be loaded independently of any adapter description file processing, and without
disturbing the adapters database representation. Use the -m flag to load microcode files into the
/usr/lib/microcode directory.

Attention: Micro Channel adapters require bus attribute processing beyond what is supported by the
bus configuration program, and should not be added to the system due to the possibility of adversely
effecting the configuration of other devices on the system.

Flags
-a AdapterName Searches the ODM database for candid information to form correct DOS filename for the
adapter description file. The AdapterName parameter is a valid device name.
-c PS/2CardID Identifies the PS/2CardID for the adapter. The card identifier is a four character
alpha-numeric string that is found in the root of the DOS filename of the adapter
description file. There is no default.
-d Device Identifies the Device where the adapter description file resides. The default is /dev/fd0.
-f File Identifies the file system path name for source adapter description file. If the -f flag is
specified, any microcode keyword found in the adapter description file must specify a file
system path name of the microcode source file.
-m FileName Loads only microcode files found on diskette. If the FileName parameter is specified, files
are loaded into the /usr/lib/microcode file. This is a microcode only flag.
-q Toggles off the message to insert the adapter description file diskette.

Examples
1. To search the diskette drive /dev/fd0 in the home directory for an adapter description file, enter:
adfutil
2. To read /home/owner/[Link] as an adapter description file, enter:

adfutil -f /home/owner/[Link]
3. To search the default device /dev/fd0 for the adapter description file labeled @[Link] without
interrupting execution for the insert diskette prompt, enter:

adfutil -c 0FFE -q
4. To load adapter microcode without processing adapter description file information, enter:
Alphabetical Listing of Commands 39
 adfutil -m FileName

Related Information
The dosdir command.

admin Command (SCCS)

Purpose
Creates and controls Source Code Control System (SCCS) files.

Syntax
To Create New SCCS Files
admin { -n -i[FileName ] } [ -a { User | GroupID } ] ... [ -f HeaderFlag[Value ] ... ] [ -r SID ] [ -t FileName ] [
-m ModificationRequestList ] [ -y[Comment ] ] File ...

Note: Do not put a space between a flag and an optional (bracketed) variable.

To Modify Existing SCCS Files

admin [ -a { User | GroupID } ] ... [ -e { User | GroupID } ] ... [ { -d HeaderFlag | -f HeaderFlag[Value ] ... }
] [ -m ModificationRequestList ] [ -t[FileName ] ] [ -y[Comment ] ] File ...

Note: Do not put a space between a flag and an optional (bracketed) variable.

To Check Damaged SCCS Files

admin -h File ...

To Correct Damaged SCCS Files

admin -z File ...

Description
The admin command creates new Source Code Control System (SCCS) files or changes specified
parameters in existing SCCS files.

The admin command can change the parameters controlling how the get command builds the files that
you can edit. The parameters can also set conditions about who can access the file and which releases of
the files may be edited.

If the file specified by the File parameter exists, the admin command modifies the file as specified by the
flags. If the file does not exist and you supply the -i or -n flag, the admin command creates a new file and
provides default values for unspecified flags.

If you specify a directory name for the File parameter, the admin command performs the requested
actions on all SCCS files in that directory. All SCCS files contain the s. prefix before the file name. If you
use a - (minus sign) for the File parameter, the admin command reads standard input and interprets each
line as the name of an SCCS file. An end-of-file character ends input.

You must have write permission in the directory to create a file. All SCCS file names must have the form
[Link]. New SCCS files are created with read-only permission. The admin command writes to a
temporary x-file, which it calls [Link]. If it already exists, the x-file has the same permissions as the
original SCCS file. The x-file is read-only if the admin command must create a new file. After successful
completion of the admin command, the x-file is moved to the name of the SCCS file. This ensures that
changes are made to the SCCS file only if the admin command does not detect any errors while running.

40 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Directories containing SCCS files should be created with permission code 755 (read, write, and execute
permissions for owner, read and execute permissions for group members and others). The SCCS files
themselves should be created as read-only files (444). With these permissions, only the owner can use
non-SCCS commands to modify SCCS files. If a group can access and modify the SCCS files, the
directories should include group write permission.

The admin command also uses a temporary lock file (called [Link]), to prevent simultaneous updates to
the SCCS file by different users.

You can enter flags and input file names in any order. All flags apply to all the files. Do not put a space
between a flag and an optional variable (variable enclosed in bracket). Header flags can be set with the -f
flag and unset with the -d flag. Header flags control the format of the g-file created with the get command.

Flags
-a User or -a GroupID Adds the specified user to the list of users that can make sets of
changes (deltas) to the SCCS file. The User value can be either a
user name or a group ID. Specifying a group ID is the same as
specifying the names of all users in that group. You can specify
more than one -a flag on a single admin command line. If an
SCCS file contains an empty user list, anyone can add deltas. If a
file has a user list, the creator of the file must be included in the
list in order for the creator to make deltas to the file. If the User or
GroupID parameter is preceded by an ! (exclamation point),
specified users are denied permission to make deltas. For
example, enter -a !User.
-d HeaderFlag Deactivates the effects of the specified header flag within the
SCCS file. You can specify this flag only with existing SCCS files.
You can also specify more than one -d flag in a single admin
command. Refer to the list of header flags that follows to learn
more about the supported values.
-e User or -e GroupID Removes the specified user from the list of users allowed to make
deltas to the SCCS file. Specifying a group ID is equivalent to
specifying all User names common to that group. You can specify
several -e flags on a single admin command line.
-f HeaderFlag[Value ] Activates the specified header flag and value in the SCCS file.
You can specify more than one header flag in a single admin
command. There are 12 header flags. Refer to the list of header
flags that follows to learn more about the supported values. Do
not put a space between the HeaderFlag and Value variables.
-h Checks the structure of the SCCS file and compares a newly
computed checksum with the checksum that is stored in the first
line of the SCCS file. When the checksum value is not correct, the
file has been improperly modified or damaged. This flag helps you
detect damage caused by the improper use of non-SCCS
commands to modify SCCS files, as well as accidental damage.
The -h flag prevents writing to the file, so it cancels the effect of
any other flags supplied. If an error message is returned indicating
the file is damaged, use the -z flag to re-compute the checksum.
Then test to see if the file is corrected by using the -h flag again.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 41

-i[FileName ] Gets the text for a new SCCS file from the FileName variable.
This text is the first delta of the file. If you specify the -i flag but
omit the file name, the admin command reads the text from
standard input until it reaches an end-of-file character. If you do
not specify the -i flag, but you do specify the -n flag, the
command creates an empty SCCS file. The admin command can
only create one file containing text at a time. If you are creating
two or more SCCS files with one call to the admin command, you
must use the -n flag, and the SCCS files created will be empty.
Each line of the file specified by the FileName variable cannot
contain more than 512 characters. The file name can include
MBCS (multibyte character set) characters. Do not put a space
between the flag and the FileName variable.
-m ModificationRequestList Specifies a list of Modification Request (MR) numbers to be
inserted into the SCCS file as the reason for creating the initial
delta. A null or empty list can be considered valid, depending on
the validation program used. The v header flag must be set. The
MR numbers are validated if the v header flag has a value (the
name of an MR number validation program). The admin
command reports an error if the v header flag is not set or if MR
validation fails.
-n Creates a new, empty SCCS file. When the -n flag is used without
the -i flag, the SCCS file is created with control information but
without any file data.
-r SID Specifies the SCCS identification string (SID) file version to be
created. The SID variable accepts a delta with four levels:
release, level, branch, and sequence, for example [Link]. If only
release is specified, the admin command automatically assumes
level 1. If you do not specify the -r flag, the initial delta becomes
release 1, level 1 (that is, 1.1). For more details on specifying the
SID, refer to the SID Determination table described in the get
command.

You can specify the -r flag only if you also specify the -i or -n flag.
Use this flag only when creating an SCCS file.
-t [FileName] Takes descriptive text for the SCCS file from the file specified by
the FileName variable. If you use the -t flag when creating a new
SCCS file, you must supply a file name. In the case of existing
SCCS files:
v Without a file name, the -t flag removes any descriptive text
currently in the SCCS file.
v With a file name, the -t flag replaces any descriptive text
currently in the SCCS file with text in the named file.
v The file name can include MBCS (multibyte character set)
characters.

Do not put a space between the flag and the FileName variable.
-y [Comment] Inserts the specified comment into the initial delta in a manner
identical to that of the delta command. Use this flag only when
you create an SCCS file. If you do not specify a comment, the
admin command inserts a line of the following form:
date and time created YY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS by Login

The comments can include MBCS (multibyte character set)

characters. Do not put a space between the flag and the
FileName variable.

42 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-z Re-computes the SCCS file checksum and stores it in the first line
of the SCCS file (see the -h flag).

Attention: Using the admin command with the -z flag on a

damaged file can prevent future detection of the damage.
This flag should only be used if the SCCS file is changed
using non-SCCS commands because of a serious error.
File Specifies the name of the file created or altered by the admin
command. If a - (minus sign) is specified, the admin command
reads from standard input. An end-of-file character ends standard
input.

Header Flags
The following list contains the header flags that can be set with the -f flag and unset with the -d flag.
Header flags control the format of the g-file created with the get command.

b Lets you use the -b flag of a get command to create branch deltas.
c Number Makes the Number variable the highest release number that a get -e command can use. The
value of the Number variable must be greater than 0 and less than or equal to 9999. (The
default value is 9999.)
d SID Makes the SID variable the default delta supplied to a get command.
f Number Makes the Number variable the lowest release number that a get -e command can retrieve.
The Number variable must be greater than 0 and less than 9999. (The default value is 1.)
i [String] Treats the following informational message, issued by the get or delta command, as an error:
There are no SCCS identification keywords in the file. (cm7)

In the absence of this flag, the message is only a warning. The message is issued if no SCCS
identification keywords are found in the text retrieved or stored in the SCCS file (refer to the
get command). If a string is supplied, the keywords must match exactly the given string. The
string must contain a keyword and have no embedded newlines.
j Permits concurrent get commands for editing the same SID of an SCCS file. Use of the j
header flag allows multiple concurrent updates to the same version of the SCCS file.
lList (lowercase L) Locks the releases specified by the List variable against editing, so that a get -e
command against one of these releases fails. The list has the following syntax:
<List> : : = <Range> | <List> , <Range>
<Range> : : = SID | a

where character a in the list is equivalent to specifying all releases for the named SCCS file.
m Module Substitutes the Module variable for all occurrences of the 59 keyword in an SCCS text file
retrieved by a get command. The default Module variable is the name of the SCCS file without
the s. prefix. The module name can include MBCS (multibyte character set) characters.
n Causes the delta command to create a null delta in any releases that are skipped when a delta
is made in a new release. For example, if you make delta 5.1 after delta 2.7, releases 3 and 4
will be null. Releases 3 and 4 will be created as null delta entries in the delta table of the s. file.
The resulting null deltas can serve as points from which to build branch deltas. Without this
flag, skipped releases do not appear in the SCCS file.
q Text Substitutes the specified text for all occurrences of the keyword in an SCCS text file retrieved
by a get command.
t Type Substitutes specified type for all keywords in a g-file retrieved by a get command.
v [Program] Makes the delta command prompt for Modification Request (MR) numbers as the reason for
creating a delta. The Program variable specifies the name of an MR-number validity-checking
program. If the v flag is set in the SCCS file, the -m flag must also be used, even if its value is
null. The program name can include MBCS (multibyte character set) characters.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 43

Locating Damaged SCCS Files
Although SCCS provides some error protection, you may need to recover a file that was accidentally
damaged. This damage may result from a system malfunction, operator error, or changing an SCCS file
without using SCCS commands.

SCCS commands use the checksum to determine whether a file was changed since it was last used. The
only SCCS command that processes a damaged file is the admin command when used with the -h or -z
flags. The -h flag tells the admin command to compare the checksum stored in the SCCS file header
against the computed checksum. The -z flag tells the command to re-compute the checksum and store it
in the file header.

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
These examples use an imaginary text file called test.c and an editor such as ed to edit files.
1. First, create an ordinary SCCS file. To create an empty SCCS file named [Link].c, enter:
$ admin -n [Link].c

Using the admin command with the -n flag creates an empty SCCS file.
2. To convert an existing text file into an SCCS file, enter:
$ admin -itest.c [Link].c
There are no SCCS identification keywords in the file (cm7)
$ ls
[Link].c test.c

If you use the -i flag, the admin command creates delta 1.1 from the specified file. Once delta 1.1 is
created, rename the original text file so it does not interfere with SCCS commands:
$ mv test.c back.c

The message There are no SCCS identification keywords in the file (cm7) does not indicate an
error. SCCS writes this message when there are no identification keywords in the file. Identification
keywords are variables that can be placed in an SCCS file. The values of these variables provide
information such as date, time, SID, or file name. See the get command for an explanation of
identification keywords. If no identification keywords exist, SCCS writes the message. However, if the i
header flag is set in the s. file, this message causes an error condition. This flag is set by the user.
Give the SCCS file any name, beginning with s.. In the preceding example, the original file and the
SCCS file have the same name, but that is not necessary.
Because you did not specify a release number, the admin command gave the SCCS file an SID of
1.1. SCCS does not use the number 0 to identify deltas. Therefore, a file cannot have an SID of 1.0 or
[Link], for example. All new releases start with level 1.
3. To start the test.c file with a release number of 3.1, use the -r flag with the admin command, as
shown below, and enter:
$ admin -itest.c -r3 [Link].c

To restrict permission to change SCCS files to a specific set of user IDs, list user IDs or group ID
numbers in the user list of the SCCS file by using the -a flag of the admin command. This flag may
appear multiple times on the command line. These IDs then appear in the SCCS file header. Without
the -a flag to restrict access, all user IDs can change the SCCS files.
4. To restrict edit permission to the user ID dan, enter:
44 Commands Reference, Volume 1
 $ admin -adan [Link].c
5. Check SCCS files on a regular basis for possible damage. The easiest way to do this is to run the
admin command with the -h flag on all SCCS files or SCCS directories, as follows:
$ admin -h s.file1 s.file2 ...
$ admin -h directory1 directory2 ...

If the admin command finds a file where the computed checksum is not equal to the checksum listed
in the SCCS file header, it displays this message:
ERROR [s. filename]:
1255-057 The file is damaged. (co6)

If a file was damaged, try to edit the file again or read a backup copy. After fixing the file, run the
admin command with the -z flag and the repaired file name:
$ admin -z s.file1

This operation replaces the old checksum in the SCCS file header with a new checksum based on the
current file contents. Other SCCS commands can now process the file.

Files
/usr/bin/admin Contains the SCCS admin command.

Related Information
The delta command, ed command, get command, prs command, sccshelp command, what command.

The sccsfile file format.

List of SCCS Commands in AIX 5L Version 5.3 General Programming Concepts: Writing and Debugging
Programs.

Source Code Control System (SCCS) Overview in AIX 5L Version 5.3 General Programming Concepts:
Writing and Debugging Programs.

aixmibd Daemon

Purpose
Provides the AIX Enterprise Management Information Base (MIB) extension subagent, for use with the
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) version 3 agent, that collects data from system for
variables defined in the AIX Enterprise Specific MIB.

Syntax
aixmibd [ -f FileName ] [ -d Level ] [ -a Host ] [ -c Community ]

Description
The AIX Enterprise MIB extension subagent is a daemon, aixmibd, that collects data from system for
variables defined in the AIX Enterprise Specific MIB. The subagent receives SNMP requests and sends
data via the SNMP-DPI API for communication with the mainAIX snmpd daemon. An Enterprise
Management application or other simple application (example snmpinfo command) uses SNMP protocol to
get or set AIX MIB objects.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 45

One focus of the subagent is on the data related to the file systems, volume groups, logical volumes,
physical volumes, paging space, processes, print queues, print jobs, system users, system groups, users
currently logged in, subsystems, subservers, system environment, and various devices.

Another focus of the subagent is on important system traps. Traps, which are also called indications, or
notifications, are event reports and are used to decrease the length of time between when the event
happens and when it is noticed by a manager so that the event can be handled timely. Traps are
generated periodically to report the status change and operating status of the system. From analyzing the
data, a manager can determine if a device and the whole system are functioning properly and securely,
and make appropriate adjustment. For example, when the /home file system reaches the threshold 95%
(percent used size), a trap can be generated to report the event to a manager. The manager can respond
by sending an email, paging, and so on. To indicate system critical events instantly, a series of traps will
be generated by the subagent.

Note: TheAIX enterprise subagent should be started by the System Resource Controller (SRC). Entering
aixmibd at the command line is not recommended.

Flags
-a Host Causes the request to be sent to the specified host.
-c Community Specifies the community name.
-d Level Specifies the tracing/debug level. The default level is 56.
The debug levels are defined as follows:
v 8 = DPI® level 1
v 16 = DPI level 2
v 32 = Internal level 1
v 64 = Internal level 2
v 128 = Internal level 3
Add the numbers to specify multiple trace levels.
-f File Specifies a non-default configuration file.

Examples
1. In order to cause the aixmibd subagent to connect to the SNMP agent on the host ’host1’ with the
community name ’instrum’, enter the following:
startsrc -s aixmibd -a "-a host1 -c instrum"
2. Because the aixmibd subagent is controlled by SRC, it can be activated by startsrc. After the
aixmibd subagent is activated by startsrc in this example, the subagent will connect to the SNMP
agent on the host nmsu over TCP with default community name ’public’:
startsrc -s aixmibd -a "-a nmsu"

Files
/etc/[Link] Contains the configuration file for the aixmibd subagent.
/usr/samples/snmpd/aixmibd_security_readme /usr/samples/snmpd/aixmibd_security_readme contains
the example configurations for different views and
information about related security issues. Also contains
information describing how to set the variables in
/etc/[Link].
/usr/samples/snmpd/[Link] Contains the MIB definitions for the aixmibd subagent.

46 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Related Information
The clsnmp command, snmpinfo command, SNMP version 3 daemon snmpdv3, the snmptrap
command.

aixpert Command

Purpose
Aids the system administrator in setting the security configuration.

Syntax
aixpert

aixpert -l high|medium|low|advanced|default [-n -o filename ] [ -a -o filename ]

aixpert -l h|m|l|a|d [ -n -o filename ] [ -a -o filename ]

aixpert -c

aixpert -u [Link]

aixpert [-f filename ] [ -a -o filename ]

aixpert [-v filename]

aixpert -e -i filename -o filename

Description
The aixpert command sets a variety of system configuration settings to enable the desired security level.
For more information on which setting can be used in a typical environment, see AIX Security Expert.

Running aixpert with the only the -l flag set implements the security settings promptly without letting the
user configure the settings. For example, running aixpert -l high applies all the high-level security settings
to the system automatically. However, running aixpert -l with the -n -o filename option saves the security
settings to a file specified by the filename parameter. The user can then use the -v flag to view the file and
view the settings. The -f flag then applies the new configurations.

After the initial selection, a menu is displayed itemizing all security configuration options associated with
the selected security level. These options can be accepted in whole or individually toggled off or on. After
any secondary changes, aixpert continues to apply the security settings to the computer system.

Note: It is recommended that aixpert be rerun after any major systems changes, such as the installation
or updates of software. If a particular security configuration item is deselected when aixpert is
rerun, that configuration item is skipped.

Flags
-a The settings with the associated level security options are written in abbreviated
file format to the file specified by the -o flag.
-c Checks the security settings.
-e The settings with the associated level security options are written in expanded file
format to the file specified by the -o option.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 47

-f Applies the security settings in the provided filename. For example, aixpert -h -n
writes all of the high level security options to the /etc/security/aixpert/core/
[Link] file. After commenting out any undesired options, you can apply
these security settings with the aixpert -f /etc/security/aixpert/core/
[Link] command. This option also allows for consistent security settings
to be applied from system to system by securely transferring and applying an
[Link] file from system to system.
-i Stores security input to the file pointed to by filename. The input file has its read
and write permissions set to root as a security precaution. This file should be
protected against unwanted access.
-l Sets the system security level to Low. When used in conjunction with the -n flag,
no action is taken and the low level security options are written only to the
/etc/security/aixpert/core/[Link] file. This flag takes the following
options:
h high Specifies high-level security options. When used in conjunction with the
-n flag, these security options are not implemented on the system, and
the settings are written only to the /etc/security/aixpert/core/
[Link] file. This output can be directed to different output files
with the -o flag.
m medium
Specifies medium-level security options. When used in conjunction with
the -n flag, these security options are not implemented on the system,
and the settings are written only to the /etc/security/aixpert/core/
[Link] file. This output can be directed to different output files
with the -o flag.
l low Specifies low-level security options. When used in conjunction with the -n
flag, these security options are not implemented on the system, and the
settings are written only to the /etc/security/aixpert/core/[Link]
file. This output can be directed to different output files with the -o flag.
a advanced
Uses all security rules: high, medium, and low. This option does not
provide a higher level of security than the -h flag, but it can be used to
view all possible security settings. Some rules may be mutually exclusive.
When used in conjunction with the -n flag, these security options are not
implemented on the system, and the settings are written only to the
/etc/security/aixpert/core/[Link] file. This output can be
directed to different output files with the -o flag.
d default
Uses the default setting, which is no additional security rules. and
undoes any configured security settings. When used in conjunction with
the -n flag, these security options are not implemented on the system,
and the settings are written only to the /etc/security/aixpert/core/
[Link] file. This output can be directed to different output files
with the -o flag.

Attention: Using the d option can overwrite previously configured

security settings that were set through aixpert or independently, and
restores the system to its traditional open configuration.

-n The settings with the associated level security options are written only to the
/etc/security/aixpert/core/[Link] file. When used in conjunction with the
-o flag, the options are written to the file specified by the -o flag.
-o Stores security output to the file pointed to by filename. The output file has its
read and write permissions set to root as a security precaution. This file should be
protected against unwanted access.
-u [Link] Undoes the security settings that have been applied.
-v Allows for the graphical viewing of the security setting in a particular file.

48 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Parameters
filename The output file that stores the security settings. Root permission is required to access
this file.

Security
The aixpert command is executable only by root.

Examples
1. To start the graphical user interface to step through the security settings in wizard fashion, type:
aixpert
2. To write all of the high level security options to an output file, type:
aixpert -l high -a -o /etc/security/aixpert/plugin/[Link]

After completing this command, the output file can be edited, and specific security roles can be
commented out by enclosing them in the standard xml comment string (<-- begins the comment and
-\> closes the comment).
3. To apply the security settings from a configuration file, type:
aixpert -f /etc/security/aixpert/plugin/[Link]
4. To view the security settings that have been applied to the system, type:
aixpert -v /etc/security/aixpert/core/[Link]

Location
/usr/sbin/aixpert/
Contains the aixpert command.

Files
/etc/security/aixpert/core/[Link] Contains an xml listing of all possible security settings. Has -r--------
permissions, and requires root security.
/etc/security/aixpert/core/ Contains an xml listing of applied security.
[Link]
/etc/security/aixpert/core/[Link] Contains an xml listing of selected security settings.
/etc/security/aixpert/log/[Link] Contains a trace log of applied security settings. This does not use
syslog. [Link] writes directly to the file. Has -rw------- permissions,
and requires root security.

Related Information
AIX Security Expert in Security.

aixterm Command

Purpose
Initializes an Enhanced X-Windows terminal emulator.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 49

Syntax
aixterm [ -ah ] [ -ar ] [ -autopush ] [ -b NumberPixels ] [ -bd Color ] [ -bg Color ] [
-bw NumberPixels ] [ -cc CharRange:Value [ ,... ] ] [ -cr Color ] [ -csd CharShape ] [ -cu ] [
-C ] [ -display Name:Number ] [ -dw ] [ -f0 Font ] [ -f1 Font ] [ -f2 Font ] [ -f3 Font ] [
-f4 Font ] [ -f5 Font ] [ -f6 Font ] [ -f7 Font ] [ -f0 FontSet ] [ -f1 FontSet ] [ -f2 FontSet ] [
-f3 FontSet ] [ -f4 FontSet ] [ -f5 FontSet ] [ -f6 FontSet ] [ -f7 FontSet ] [ -fb Font ] [
-fg Color ] [ -fi FontSet ] [ -fn Font ] [ -fs Font ] [ -fullcursor ] [ -geometry Geometry ] [
#geometry Geometry ] [ -help ] [ -i ] [ -ib File ] [ -im InputMethod ] [ -j ] [ -keywords ] [
-lang Language ] [ -l ] [ -leftscroll ] [ -lf File ] [ -ls ] [ -mb ] [ -mc Number ] [ -ms Color ] [
-mn ] [ -n IconName ] [ -name Application ] [ -nb Number ] [ -nobidi ] [ -nonulls ] [
-nss NumShape ] [ -orient Orientation ] [ -outline Color ] [ -po Number ] [ -ps ] [ -pt Preedit ]
[ -reduced ] [ -rfb Font ] [ -rfi Font ] [ -rfn Font ] [ -rfs Font ] [ -rf0 Font ] [ -rf1 Font ] [
-rf2 Font ] [ -rf3 Font ] [ -rf4 Font ] [ -rf5 Font ] [ -rf6Font ] [ -rf7 Font ] [ -rf0 FontSet ] [
-rf1 FontSet ] [ -rf2 FontSet ] [ -rf3 FontSet ] [ -rf4 FontSet ] [ -rf5 FontSet ] [ -rf6 FontSet ] [
-rf7 FontSet ] [ -rv ] [ -rw ] [ -s ] [ -sb ] [ -sf ] [ -si ] [ -sk ] [ -sl NumberLines ] [ -sn ] [
-st ] [ -suppress ] [ -symmetric ] [ -T Title ] [ -text TextType ] [ -ti ] [ -tm String ] [
-tn TerminalName ] [ -ut ] [ -v ] [ -vb ] [ -W ] [ -xrm String ] [ -132 ] [ -e Command ]

Description
The aixterm command provides a standard terminal type for programs that do not interact directly with
Enhanced X-Windows. This command provides an emulation for a VT102 terminal or a high function
terminal (HFT). The VT102 mode is activated by the -v flag.

The aixterm command supports the display for up to 16 colors at a time.

The aixterm terminal supports escape sequences that perform terminal functions such as cursor control,
moving and deleting lines, and aixterm private functions.

Many of the special aixterm terminal features (like the scroll bar) can be modified under program control
through a set of private aixterm command escape sequences. You can also use escape sequences to
change the title in the title bar.

There are three different areas in the aixterm window:

v Scroll bar
v Status line
v Terminal window.

By default, only the terminal window is initially displayed.

The terminal window is the area provided for terminal emulation. When you create a window, a pseudo
terminal is allocated and a command (usually a shell) is started.

The aixterm command automatically highlights the window border and the text cursor when the mouse
cursor enters the window (selected) and unhighlights them when the mouse cursor leaves the window
(unselected). If the window is the focus window, the window is highlighted regardless of the location of the
mouse cursor. Any window manager, as in the case of the AIXwindows Window Manager (MWM), can
cover the aixterm border, and the highlight and border color do not show.

The WINDOWID environment variable is set to the resource ID number of the aixterm window.

When running in an aixterm window, the TERM environment variable should be TERM=aixterm.

The TERM environment variable on your home machine determines what the TERM environment variable
should be on the remote machine (unless it is overridden by your .profile).

50 Commands Reference, Volume 1

When you use the rlogin, tn, or rsh commands to login to a different machine, the TERM environment
variable should be set to aixterm. If this operation does not occur, you can perform the following two
command line operations:
1. TERM=aixterm
2. export TERM

If commands (for example, the vi command) do not recognize the term type aixterm when you login to
another system, perform the following one-time operation on the remote system:
1. su
2. cd/tmp
3. mkdir Xxxxx
4. cd Xxxxx
5. ftp LocalSystemName
6. cd /usr/share/lib/terminfo
7. get [Link]
8. quit
9. TERMINFO=/tmp/Xxxxx
10. export TERMINFO
11. tic [Link]
12. ls
13. ls a
14. mkdir /usr/share/lib/terminfo/a
15. cp a/aixterm* /usr/share/lib/terminfo/a
16. cd /tmp
17. rm -r /tmp/Xxxxx
18. exit
19. On the remote machine, enter the following:
a. TERM=aixterm
b. export TERM

Arabic/Hebrew Support
The aixterm command supports bidirectional languages such as Arabic and Hebrew. This command can
open a window to be used with Arabic/Hebrew applications. You can create an Arabic/Hebrew window by
specifying an Arabic or Hebrew locale (ar_AA, Ar_AA, iw_IL, or Iw_IL) with the -lang flag or by
predefining an Arabic or Hebrew locale from SMIT for the system. You can also use the Web-based
System Manager wsm system fast path and selecting the Cultural Environment icon.

The Arabic/Hebrew window supports bidirectional text display. Thus, English and Arabic or Hebrew text
can be displayed on the same line. There are different aspects in the Arabic/Hebrew window:
v Screen Orientation
v Text mode
v Character shaping
v Numeric representation
v Status line

Screen Orientation: The screen orientation in an Arabic/Hebrew window can be either left-to-right or
right-to-left. The default orientation is left-to-right unless otherwise specified with a flag or in the .Xdefaults
file. While the window is active, you can reverse the screen orientation using special key combinations.
You can reverse the screen orientation according to your needs.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 51

Text Mode: An Arabic/Hebrew window supports two text modes and their corresponding manipulation:
v Implicit
v Visual

In the implicit text mode, characters are stored in same order that they are entered. The text is
transformed into its visual form only when it is displayed. In the visual text mode, characters are stored in
the same way that they are displayed on the window.

Character Shaping: The Arabic/Hebrew window represents Arabic and Hebrew texts differently,
according to its context. Text is represented in one of the following forms:
v Automatic
v Isolated
v Initial
v Middle
v Final

Arabic/Hebrew can also be shaped according to the passthru mode. For more information on character
shaping, see ″Character Shaping″ in AIX 5L Version 5.3 National Language Support Guide and Reference.

Numeric Representation: Numerics can be represented in Arabic numerals, Hindi numerals, or in

passthru mode. In implicit text mode, numerals can also be represented according to their contextual form.
Thus, Arabic numbers can be displayed in English text or Hindi numbers can be displayed in Arabic text.

Status Line: The Arabic/Hebrew window can display an optional status line that shows the current status
of the window. The status line contains the following values:

Value Current Setting

E English language
N National language
SCR-> Left-to-right screen orientation
<-SCR Right-to-left screen orientation
alef Auto shape mode
blank Passthru shaping mode
ghain Displayed in the currently used shaping mode
I Implicit text mode
V Visual text mode
U Context numbers
A Arabic numbers
H Hindi numbers
P Passthru for numbers

Note: Use the implicit text mode (the default text mode) for more efficient data sorting.

Use the following key combinations in an Arabic/Hebrew window to change certain settings.

Key Combination Purpose

Alt + Enter Reverses screen direction.
Alt + Right Shift Enables Arabic/Hebrew keyboard layer.
Alt + Left Shift Enables English keyboard layer.

For Implicit Mode only:

Alt + Kpd* Adjusts the column heading.

52 Commands Reference, Volume 1

For Visual Mode only:

Alt + Kpd 1 Shapes characters in their initial form.

Alt + Kpd 2 Shapes characters in their isolated form.
Alt + Kpd 3 Shapes characters in their passthru form.
Alt + Kpd 4 Shapes characters automatically (Valid also for Implicit).
Alt + Kpd 7 Shapes characters in their middle form.
Alt + Kpd 8 Shapes characters in their final form.
Shift + Kpd / Toggles the Push Mode (Push/End Push).
Alt + Kpd / Toggles the Autopush function.

For more information on the Autopush function, the Push/End Push function, or other Arabic/Hebrew
functions, see the telnet,tn or tn3270 command.

Using the aixterm Command Data-Stream Support

The following is a list of the escape sequences supported by the aixterm command.

Some escape sequences activate and deactivate an alternate screen buffer that is the same size as the
display area of the window. This capability allows the contents of the screen to be saved and restored.
When the alternate screen is activated, the current screen is saved and replaced with the alternate screen.
Saving lines scrolled off of the window is disabled until the original screen is restored.

The following table uses these abbreviations in the right hand column:
Xv Supported by the aixterm command running in VT100 mode.
Xh Supported by the aixterm command running in HFT mode.
H Found in the HFT data stream.
V Found in the VT100 data stream.

Name
BEL
Function (single-byte control)
Bell
Data Stream
0x07
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
BS
Function (single-byte control)
Backspace
Data Stream
0x08
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
HT
Function (single-byte control)
Horizontal tab
Data Stream
0x09
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 53

LF
Function (single-byte control)
Linefeed
Data Stream
0x0A
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
VT
Function (single-byte control)
Vertical tab
Data Stream
0x0B
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
FF
Function (single-byte control)
Form feed
Data Stream
0x0C
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
CR
Function (single-byte control)
Carriage return
Data Stream
0x0D
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
SO
Function (single-byte control)
Shift out
Data Stream
0x0E
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
SI
Function (single-byte control)
Shift in
Data Stream
0x0F
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
DCI
Function (single-byte control)
Device control 1
Data Stream
0x11
Support
H, V

54 Commands Reference, Volume 1

DC3
Function (single-byte control)
Device control 3
Data Stream
0x13
Support
H, V
CAN
Function (single-byte control)
Cancel
Data Stream
0x18
Support
H, V
SUB
Function (single-byte control)
Substitute (also cancels)
Data Stream
0x1A
Support
H, V
ESC
Function (single-byte control)
Escape
Data Stream
0x1B
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
SS4
Function (single-byte control)
Single Shift 4
Data Stream
0x1C
Support
H
SS3
Function (single-byte control)
Single Shift 3
Data Stream
0x1D
Support
H
SS2
Function (single-byte control)
Single Shift 2
Data Stream
0x1E
Support
H

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 55

SS1
Function (single-byte control)
Single Shift 1
Data Stream
0x1F
Support
H
cbt
Function (single-byte control)
cursor back tab
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn Z
Support
Xv, Xh, H
cha
Function (single-byte control)
cursor horizontal absolute
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn G
Support
Xv, Xh, H
cht
Function (single-byte control)
cursor horizontal tab
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn I
Support
H
ctc
Function (single-byte control)
cursor tab stop control
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn W
Support
H
cnl
Function (single-byte control)
cursor next line
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn E
Support
H
cpl
Function (single-byte control)
cursor preceding line
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn F
Support
Xv, Xh, H

56 Commands Reference, Volume 1

cpr
Function (single-byte control)
cursor position report
Data Stream
ESC [ Pl; Pc R
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
cub
Function (single-byte control)
cursor backward
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn D
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
cud
Function (single-byte control)
cursor down
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn B
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
cuf
Function (single-byte control)
cursor forward
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn C
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
cup
Function (single-byte control)
cursor position
Data Stream
ESC [ Pl; PC H
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
cuu
Function (single-byte control)
cursor up
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn A
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
cvt
Function (single-byte control)
cursor vertical tab
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn Y
Support
H

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 57

da1
Function
Device attributes
v request (host to vt100)
v response (vt100 to host)
Data Stream
v For a request, ESC [ c
v For a request, ESC [ 0 c
v For a response, ESC [ ? 1 ; 2 c
Support
Xv, Xh, V
dch
Function (single-byte control)
delete character
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn P
Support
Xv, Xh, H
decaln
Function (single-byte control)
screen alignment display
Data Stream
ESC # 8
Support
Xv, Xh, V
deckpam
Function (single-byte control)
keypad application mode
Data Stream
ESC =
Support
Xv, V
deckpnm
Function (single-byte control)
keypad numeric mode
Data Stream
ESC >
Support
Xv, V
decrc
Function (single-byte control)
restore cursor & attributes
Data Stream
ESC 8
Support
Xv, Xh, V

58 Commands Reference, Volume 1

decsc
Function (single-byte control)
save cursor & attributes
Data Stream
ESC 7
Support
Xv, Xh, V
decstbm
Function (single-byte control)
set top & bottom margins
Data Stream
ESC [ Pt; Pb r
Support
Xv, Xh, V
dl
Function (single-byte control)
delete line
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn M
Support
Xv, Xh, H
dsr
Function (single-byte control)
device status report
Data Stream
ESC [ Ps n
Support
v 0 response from vt100: ready—Xv, Xh, V
v 5 command from host: please report status—Xv, Xh, V
v 6 command from host: report active position—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 13 error report sent from virtual terminal to host—H

dmi
Function (single-byte control)
disable manual input
Data Stream
ESC ` (back quote)
Support
H
emi
Function (single-byte control)
enable manual input
Data Stream
ESC b
Support
H

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 59

ea
Function (single-byte control)
erase area
Data Stream
ESC [ Ps O
Support
v 0 erase to end of area—Xv, Xh, H
v 1 erase from area start—Xv, Xh, H
v 2 erase all of area—Xv, Xh, H

ed
Function (single-byte control)
erase display
Data Stream
ESC [ Ps J
Support
v 0 erase to end of display—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 1 erase from display start—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 2 erase all of display—Xv, Xh, H, V

ef
Function (single-byte control)
erase field-e,s,all
Data Stream
ESC [ Ps N
Support
v 0 erase to end of field—Xv, Xh, H
v 1 erase from field start—Xv, Xh, H
v 2 erase all of field—Xv, Xh, H

el
Function (single-byte control)
erase line
Data Stream
ESC [ Ps K
Support
v 0 erase to end of line—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 1 erase from line start—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 2 erase all of line—Xv, Xh, H, V

ech
Function (single-byte control)
erase character
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn X
Support
Xv, Xh, H

60 Commands Reference, Volume 1

hts
Function (single-byte control)
horizontal tab stop
Data Stream
ESC H
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
hvp
Function (single-byte control)
horizontal and vertical position
Data Stream
ESC [ Pl; Pc f
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
ich
Function (single-byte control)
insert character
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn @
Support
Xv, Xh, H
il
Function (single-byte control)
insert line
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn L
Support
Xv, Xh, H
ind
Function (single-byte control)
index
Data Stream
ESC D
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
ls2
Function (single-byte control)
lock shift G2
Data Stream
ESC n
Support
Xv
ls3
Function (single-byte control)
lock shift G2
Data Stream
ESC o
Support
Xv

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 61

nel
Function (single-byte control)
next line
Data Stream
ESC E
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
ksi
Function (single-byte control)
keyboard status information
Data Stream
ESC [ Ps p
Support
H
pfk
Function (single-byte control)
PF key report
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn q
Support
Xh, H
rcp
Function (single-byte control)
restore cursor position
Data Stream
ESC [ u
Support
Xv, Xh, H
ri
Function (single-byte control)
reverse index
Data Stream
ESC M
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V
ris
Function (single-byte control)
reset to initial state
Data Stream
ESC c
Support
Xv, Xh, H, V

62 Commands Reference, Volume 1

rm
Function (single-byte control)
reset mode, restore mode, save mode
Data Stream
v reset mode, ANSI specified modes (see sm)—ESC [ Ps;...;Ps
v reset mode, other private modes and XTERM private modes (see sm)—ESC [ ?
Ps;...;Ps l
v restore mode, other private modes and XTERM private modes (see sm)—ESC [ ?
P;...;Ps r
v save mode, other private modes and XTERM private modes (see sm)—ESC [ ?
Ps;...;Ps s

sapv
Function
select alternate presentation variant
v 0 set default values for BIDI
v 1 set Arabic numeric shapes
v 2 set Hindi numeric shapes
v 3 set symmetric swapping mode for directional characters
v 5 the following graphic character is presented in its isolated form (Arabic only)
v 6 the following graphic character is presented in its initial form (Arabic only)
v 7 the following graphic character is presented in its middle form (Arabic only)
v 8 the following graphic character is presented in its final form (Arabic only)
v 13 set Special shaping mode
v 14 set standard shaping mode
v 15 reset symmetric mode
v 18 Passthru (everything)
v 19 Passthru (everything except numbers)
v 20 Contextual numbers (device dependent)
v 21 lock 5, 6, 7, 8
v 22 unlock
v 23 set the nonull mode
v 24 reset the nonull mode
v Values 5-8 affect only the following character unless used with values 21 or 22
Data Stream
ESC [Psl;...Psn]
Support
Xh
scp
Function (single-byte control)
save cursor position
Data Stream
ESC [ s
Support
Xv, Xh, H

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 63

scs
Function (single-byte control)
select character set
v United Kingdom Set
v ASCII Set (USASCII)
v special graphics
Data Stream
United Kingdom Set:
v ESC ( A (GO)
v ESC ) A (G1)
v ESC * A (G2)
v ESC + A (G3)
ASCII Set (USASCII):
v ESC ( B (GO)
v ESC ) B (G1)
v ESC * B (G2)
v ESC + B (G3)
special graphics:
v ESC ( 0 (GO)
v ESC ) 0 (G1)
v ESC * 0 (G2)
v ESC + 0 (G3)
Support
Xv, V
sd
Function (single-byte control)
scroll down
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn T
Support
H
sl
Function (single-byte control)
scroll left
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn Sp @
Support
H
spd
Function (single-byte control)
select screen direction
v 0 turn screen to left-to-right, set to Latin keyboard
v 1 turn screen direction to right-to-left set to National keyboard
Data Stream
ESC [Ps1;1 S
Support
Xh

64 Commands Reference, Volume 1

sr
Function (single-byte control)
scroll right
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn Sp A
Support
H
srs
Function (single-byte control)
select reversed string
v 0 end push
v 1 start push
Data Stream
ESC [Ps[
Support
Xh
ss2
Function (single-byte control)
single shift G2
Data Stream
ESC N
Support
Xv
ss3
Function (single-byte control)
single shift G3
Data Stream
ESC O
Support
Xv
su
Function (single-byte control)
scroll up
Data Stream
ESC [ Pn S
Support
Xv, Xh, H

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 65

sgr
Function (single-byte control)
set graphic rendition
Data Stream
ESC [ Ps m
Support
v 0 normal—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 1 bold—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 4 underscore—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 5 blink (appears as bold)—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 7 reverse—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 8 invisible—Xh, H
v 10..17 fonts—Xh, H
v 30..37 foreground colors—Xh, H
v 40..47 background colors—Xh, H
v 90..97 foreground colors—Xh, H
v 100..107 background colors—Xh, H

sg0a
Function (single-byte control)
set GO character set
Data Stream
ESC ( <
Support
Xh, H
sg1a
Function (single-byte control)
set G1 character set
Data Stream
ESC ) <
Support
Xh, H

66 Commands Reference, Volume 1

sm
Function (single-byte control)
set mode
v ANSI specified modes
v Other private modes
Data Stream
v ANSI specified modes—ESC [ Ps;...;Ps h
v Other private modes—ESC [ ? Ps;...;Ps h
Support
v (ANSI) 4 IRM insert mode—Xv, Xh, H
v (ANSI) 12 SRM send/rec mode—H
v (ANSI) 18 TSM tab stop mode—H
v (ANSI) 20 LNM linefeed/newline—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 1 normal/application cursor—Xv, V
v 3 80/132 columns—Xv, Xh, V
v 4 smooth/jump scroll—Xv, Xh, V
v 5 reverse/normal video—Xv, Xh, V
v 6 origin/normal—Xv, Xh, V
v 7 on/off autowrap—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 8 on/off autorept—Xv, Xh, V
v 21 CNM CR-NL—H
v (XTERM) 40 132/80 column mode—Xv, Xh
v (XTERM) 41 curses(5) fix—Xv, Xh
v (XTERM) 42 hide/show scroll bar—Xv, Xh
v (XTERM) 43 on/off save scroll text—Xv, Xh
v (XTERM) 44 on/off margin bell—Xv, Xh
v (XTERM) 45 on/off reverse wraparound—Xv, Xh
v (XTERM) 47 alternate/normal screen buffer—Xv, Xh
v (XTERM) 48 reverse/normal status line—Xv, Xh
v (XTERM) 49 page/normal scroll mode—Xv, Xh

tbc
Function (single-byte control)
tabulation clear
Data Stream
ESC [ Ps g (default Ps =0)
Support
v 0 clear horizontal tab stop at active position—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 1 vertical tab at line indicated by cursor—H
v 2 horizontal tabs on line—H
v 3 all horizontal tabs—Xv, Xh, H, V
v 4 all vertical tabs—H

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 67

VTD
Function (single-byte control)
virtual terminal data
Data Stream
ESC [ x
Support
Xv, Xh, H
VTL
Function (single-byte control)
virtual terminal locator report
Data Stream
ESC [ y
Support
Xh, H
VTR
Function (single-byte control)
vt raw keyboard input
Data Stream
ESC [ w
Support
Xh, H
vts
Function (single-byte control)
vertical tab stop
Data Stream
ESC I
Support
H
xes
Function (single-byte control)
erase status line
Data Stream
ESC [ ? E
Support
Xv, Xh
xrs
Function (single-byte control)
return from status line
Data Stream
ESC [ ? F
Support
Xv, Xh
xhs
Function (single-byte control)
hide status line
Data Stream
ESC [ ? H
Support
Xv, Xh

68 Commands Reference, Volume 1

xss
Function (single-byte control)
show status line
Data Stream
ESC [ ? S
Support
Xv, Xh
xgs
Function (single-byte control)
go to column of status line
Data Stream
ESC [ ? Ps T
Support
Xv, Xh
xst
Function (single-byte control)
set text parameters
v 0 change window name and title to Pt
v 1 sets only the icon name
v 2 sets only the title name
v Everything between ESC-P and ESC\ is ignored. aixterm will work as usual after the
ESC\.
Data Stream
ESC ] Ps ; Pt \007
Support
Xv, Xh

Copy, Paste, and Re-execute Functions

When you create a terminal window, the aixterm command allows you to select text and copy it within the
same window or other windows by using copy, paste, and re-execute button functions. These text
functions are available in HFT and VT102 emulations. The selected text is highlighted while the button is
pressed.

The copy, paste, and re-execute button functions perform as follows:

Copy The left button is used to save text into the cut buffer. The aixterm command does a text cut, not
a box cut. Move the cursor to beginning of the text, hold the button down while moving the cursor
to the end of the region, and release the button. The selected text is highlighted and saved in the
global cut buffer and made the PRIMARY selection when the button is released.
v Double clicking selects by words.
v Triple clicking selects by lines.
v Quadruple clicking goes back to characters, and so on.

Multiple clicking is determined from the time the button is released to the time the button is
pressed again, so you can change the selection unit in the middle of a selection.

The right button extends the current selection. If you press this button while moving closer to the
right edge of the selection than the left, it extends or contracts the right edge of the selection. If
you contract the selection past the left edge of the selection, the aixterm command assumes you
really meant the left edge, restores the original selection, and extends or contracts the left edge
of the selection. Extension starts in the selection unit mode that the last selection or extension
was performed in; you can multiple click to cycle through them.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 69

Paste Pressing both buttons at once (or the middle button on a three-button mouse) displays (pastes)
the text from the PRIMARY selection or from the cut buffer into the terminal window that contains
the mouse cursor, inserting it as keyboard input.
Re-execute Pressing the Shift key and the left mouse button takes the text from the cursor (at button release)
through the end of the line (including the new line), saves it in the global cut buffer and
immediately retypes the line, inserting it as keyboard input. The selected text is highlighted.
Moving the mouse cursor off of the initial line cancels the selection. If there is no text beyond the
initial cursor point, the aixterm command sounds the bell, indicating an error.

By cutting and pasting pieces of text without trailing new lines, you can take text from several places in
different windows and form a command to the shell. For example, you can take output from a program and
insert it into your favorite editor. Since the cut buffer is globally shared among different applications, you
should regard it as a file whose contents you know. The terminal emulator and other text programs should
treat it as if it were a text file, that is, the text is delimited by new lines.

Menu Usage
The aixterm command has two different menus:
v Options
v Modes

Each menu pops up under the correct combinations of key and button presses. Most menus are divided
into two sections that are separated by a horizontal line. The top portion contains various modes that can
be altered. A check mark is displayed next to a mode that is currently active. Selecting one of these
modes toggles its state. The bottom portion of the menu provides the command entries; selecting one of
these performs the indicated function.

The Options menu pops up when the Ctrl key and the left mouse button are pressed simultaneously while
the mouse cursor is in a window. The menu contains items that apply to all emulation modes.

The Modes menu sets various modes for each emulation mode. The menu is activated by pressing the
Ctrl key and the middle mouse button at the same time, while the mouse cursor is in the window. In the
command section of this menu, the soft reset entry resets the scroll regions. This is convenient when a
program leaves the scroll regions set incorrectly. The full reset entry clears the screen, resets tabs to
every eight columns, and resets the terminal modes (such as wrap and smooth scroll) to their initial states
after the aixterm command finishes processing the command-line options. When the Auto Linefeed option
is turned on, a carriage return is added when a carriage return, vertical tab, or form feed is received. The
shells generally do this for the linefeed, but not for the vertical tab or form feed.

Scroll Bar
The aixterm command supports an optional scroll bar composed of a scroll button that displays at the top
of the scroll bar and a scroll region that displays at the bottom. The scroll bar is hidden until you request it
to display.

The scroll region displays the position and amount of text currently showing in the window (highlighted)
relative to the amount of text actually saved in the scrolling buffer. As more text is saved in the scrolling
buffer (up to the maximum), the size of the highlighted area decreases.

The scroll button causes the window to scroll up and down within the saved text. Clicking the right button
moves the window position up (the text scrolls downward); clicking the left button moves the window
position down (the text scrolls upward). The amount of scrolling is modified by the Shift and Ctrl keys. If
neither key is pressed, the window scrolls a single line at a time. Pressing the Shift key causes the text to
scroll a full window at a time, minus one line. Pressing the Ctrl key causes the text to be positioned at the
extreme top or bottom of the file.

70 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Character Classes
Clicking the left mouse button (the copy function) twice in rapid succession causes all characters of the
same class (that is, letters, white space, punctuation, and so on) to be selected. Because people have
different preferences for what should be selected (for example, if file names be selected as a whole or
only the separate subnames), you can override the default mapping by using the charClass (class
CharClass) resource.

The charClass resource is a list of CharRange:Value pairs where the range is either a single number or a
low-to-high number in the range of 0 to 127, corresponding to the ASCII code for the character or
characters to be set. The value is arbitrary, although the default table uses the character number of the
first character occurring in the set.

The default table is as follows:

static int charClass[128] = {
/* NUL SOH STX ETX EOT ENQ ACK BEL */
32, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* BS HT NL VT NP CR SO SI */
1, 32, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* DLE DC1 DC2 DC3 DC4 NAK SYN ETB */
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* CAN EM SUB ESC FS GS RS US */
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* SP ! " # $ % & ’ */
32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,
/* ( ) * + , - . / */
40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47,
/* 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* 8 9 : ; < = > ? */
48, 48, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63,
/* @ A B C D E F G */
64, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* H I J K L M N O */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* P Q R S T U V W */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ */
48, 48, 48, 91, 92, 93, 94, 48,
/* ` a b c d e f g */
96, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* h i j k l m n o */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* p q r s t u v w */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* x y z { | } ~ DEL */
48, 48, 48, 123, 124, 125, 126, 1};

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 71

For example, the string ″33:48,37:48,45-47:48,64:48″ indicates that the ! (exclamation mark), % (percent
sign), - (dash), . (period), / (slash), and & (ampersand) characters should be treated the same way as
characters and numbers. This is very useful for cutting and pasting electronic mailing addresses and UNIX
file names.

Key Translations
It is possible to rebind keys (or sequences of keys) to arbitrary strings for input. Changing the translations
for events other than key and button events is not expected, and causes unpredictable behavior.

The actions available for key translations are as follows:

insert() Processes the key in the normal way (that is, inserts
the ASCII character code corresponding to the keysym
found in the keyboard mapping table into the input
stream).
string(String) Rebinds the key or key sequence to the string value;
that is, inserts the string argument into the input
stream. Quotation marks are necessary if the string
contains white space or non-alphanumeric characters.
If the string argument begins with the characters ``0x,’’
it is interpreted as a hex character constant and the
corresponding character is sent in the normal way.
keymap(Name) Takes a single string argument naming a resource to
be used to dynamically define a new translation table;
the name of the resource is obtained by appending
the string Keymap to Name. The keymap name None
restores the original translation table (the very first
one; a stack is not maintained). Uppercase and
lowercase is significant.
insert-selection(Name[,Name]...)
Retrieves the value of the first (leftmost) named
selection that exists and inserts the value into the
input stream. The Name parameter is the name of any
selection, for example, PRIMARY or SECONDARY.
Uppercase and lowercase is significant.

For example, a debugging session might benefit from the following bindings:
*[Link]: #override <Key>F13: keymap(dbx)
*[Link]:\
<Key>F14: keymap(None) \n\
<Key>F17: string("next") string(0x0d) \n\
<Key>F18: string("step") string(0x0d) \n\
<Key>F19: string("continue") string(0x0d) \n\
<Key>F20: string("print") insert-selection(PRIMARY)

Key and Button Bindings

The key and button bindings for selecting text, pasting text, and activating the menus are controlled by the
translation bindings. In addition to the actions listed in the Key Translations section, the following actions
are available:

mode-menu() Posts one of the two mode menus, depending on which button is
pressed.
select-start() Deselects any previously selected text and begins selecting new
text.
select-extend() Continues selecting text from the previous starting position.
start-extend() Begins extending the selection from the farthest (left or right)
edge.
select-end(Name[,Name]...)

72 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 Ends the text selection. The Name parameter is the name of a
selection into which the text is to be copied. The aixterm
command asserts ownership of all the selections named.
Uppercase and lowercase is significant.
ignore() Quietly discards the key or button event.
bell([Volume]) Rings the bell at the specified volume increment above or below
the base volume.

The default bindings are:

static char defaultTranslations =
" <KeyPress>: insert() \n\
~Shift Ctrl ~Meta <Btn1Down>: mode-menu(options) \n\
~Shift Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Down>: mode-menu() \n\
~Shift Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Down>: mode-menu(modes) \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn1Down>: select-start() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn1Motion>: select-extend() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn1Up>: select-end(PRIMARY)\n\
~Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Down>: ignore() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Up>: insert-selection(PRIMARY)\n\
~Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Down>: start-extend() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Motion>: select-extend() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Up>: select-end(PRIMARY)\n\
Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn1Down>: reexecute() \n\
Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn1Motion>: select-extend() \n\
Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn1Up>: select-end(PRIMARY)\n\
Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Down>: select-start() \n\
Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Motion>: select-extend() \n\
Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Up>: select-end(PRIMARY)\n\
Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Down>: ignore() \n\
Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Up>: insert-selection(PRIMARY)\n\
Shift Ctrl ~Meta <BtnDown>: size(toggle) \n\
Shift Ctrl ~Meta <BtnUp>: ignore() \n\
<BtnDown>: bell(0) \n\
<BtnUp>: bell(0) \n\
";

aixterm Command Internationalization (I18N)

To run an aixterm with a different keyboard layout than the X server’s (such as a French keyboard layout
on a Swiss German X server), run the following commands:
1. Change the X server to a French keyboard:
xmodmap /usr/lpp/X11/defaults/xmodmap/Fr_FR/keyboard
2. Set the locale environment variable to Fr_FR using one of the following:
v For Korn shells: export LANG=Fr_FR
v For C shells: setenv LANG Fr_FR
v For Bourne shells: LANG=Fr_FR; export LANG
3. Start an aixterm terminal emulator:
aixterm &
4. Reset the X server’s keyboard file to its original language:
xmodmap /usr/lpp/X11/defaults/xmodmap/Gr_SW/keyboard

The aixterm command continues to use the keyboard layout that the X server was using when the aixterm
started. It ignores KeymapNotify by default.

The aixterm command uses the Input Method to convert the X server’s keysyms into either printable
characters or nonprintable escape strings such as function keys. The Input Method uses its own keymap
files, in /usr/lib/nls/loc, to convert X keysyms into code points for the printable characters, and escape
strings for nonprintable characters. There is a keymap file for each language and one keymap file for

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 73

escape sequences. The escape sequences are in C@[Link]; the source is
C@[Link]. The other keymap files begin with the locale name and look like:
[Link] and [Link]. For example:

US English in codeset IBM-850 En_US.[Link]

US English in codeset ISO8859-1 en_US.[Link]
Turkish in codeset ISO8859-9 tr_TR.[Link]
Japanese in codeset IBM-932 Ja_JP.[Link]
Japanese in codeset IBM-943 Ja_JP.[Link]
Japanese in codeset EUC(JP) ja_JP.[Link]

The following dependencies apply:

v You can change the locale by entering the following SMIT fast path: smit mle_sel_menu, or by using the
Web-based System Manager wsm system fast path and selecting the Cultural Environment icon. You
can also change the locale temporarily by modifying the LANG environment variable.
v You can change the system keyboard definition by selecting the following SMIT menu items: System
Environments, Manage Language Environment, and Change the Keyboard Map for the Next System
Restart, or by using the Web-based System Manager wsm system fast path and selecting the Cultural
Environment icon.
v Codeset depends on the locale (LC_ALL, LANG environment variables).
v Default fonts and font sets depend on the codeset and locale. Using a font that does not match the
codeset may produce incorrect output.
v Input Method depends on the locale. The Input Method for the locale should be installed. The Input
Method maps Keysyms to a codeset.
v Compose keys (dead keys) depend on the Input Method and X keyboard mapping. An incorrect input
method or X keyboard mapping may produce incorrect input.
v Error messages and menu contents depend on the locale and a correct font or fontset. The message
catalogs for the locale should be installed. The default messages are English. An incorrect font or
fontset can result in garbled menu text and messages.
v Text display depends on the locale and a correct font or fontset. An incorrect font or fontset can result in
garbled text. Changing the locale (LC_ALL, LANG environment variables) in an aixterm does not
change the codeset that the aixterm displays. If the codeset of the new locale differs from the codeset
of aixterm, incorrect output (garbled text) may be displayed.
v The X keyboard mapping depends on the system keyboard definition. Xinit sets the X keyboard
mapping to match the system keyboard definition. The mapping is changed with xmodmap. The X
keyboard mapping maps key presses to Keysyms.

Availability of Characters in aixterm

ASCII characters 32 (0x20) to 126 (0x7e) are available in most of the codesets and fonts. Characters
(bytes) 0 (0x00) to 31 (0x1f) are treated as control sequences and unprintable characters. Other
characters 127 (0x7f) to 255 (0xff) vary with codeset and fonts. Using a font that does not match the
codeset the aixterm is started in leads to unpredictable results. For example, box characters (line drawing)
are available in aixterm vt100 mode with the default vtsingle font. If you use a different font, other
characters may be displayed instead. Another example is using a ISO8859-1 font while running in the
IBM-850 codeset. Trying to display box characters (line drawing) generates accented characters. Trying to
display accented characters generates different accented characters or blanks.

Key Assignments for Bidirectional Languages

In addition to the above key and button bindings, the following key assignments for bidirectional languages
are supported by the aixterm command:

scr-rev() Reverses the screen orientation and sets the keyboard layer to the default language of the new
orientation.

74 Commands Reference, Volume 1

ltr-lang() Enables the English keyboard layer.
rtl-lang() Enables the Arabic/Hebrew keyboard layer.
col-mod() Enables the column heading adjustment which handles each word as a separate column.
auto-push() Toggles the Autopush function. This function handles mixed left-to-right and right-to-left text.
When you enable the Autopush function, reversed segments are automatically initiated and
terminated according to the entered character or the selected language layer. Thus, you are
relieved of manually invoking the Push function.
chg-push() Toggles the Push mode. This mode causes the cursor to remain in its position and pushes the
typed characters in the direction opposed to the field direction.
shp-in() Shapes Arabic characters in their initial forms.
shp-is() Shapes Arabic characters in their isolated forms.
shp-p() Shapes Arabic characters in their passthru forms.
shp-asd() Shapes Arabic characters in their automatic forms.
shp-m() Shapes Arabic characters in their middle forms.
shp-f() Shapes Arabic characters in their final forms.

The BIDI bindings (for Arabic/Hebrew) are:

~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>Return: scr-rev() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod2 <Key>Return: scr-rev() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>Shift_L: ltr-lang() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod2 <Key>Shift_L: ltr-lang() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>Shift_R: rtl-lang() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod2 <Key>Shift_R: rtl-lang() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>KP_Multiply: col-mod() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod2 <Key>KP_Multiply: col-mod() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>KP_Divide: auto-push() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod2 <Key>KP_Divide: auto-push() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Key>KP_Divide: chg-push() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>KP_1: shp-in() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod2 <Key>KP_2: shp-in() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>KP_1: shp-is() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>KP_2: shp-is() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>KP_3: shp-p() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod2 <Key>KP_3: shp-p() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>KP_4: shp-asd() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod2 <Key>KP_4: shp-asd() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>KP_7: shp-m() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod2 <Key>KP_7: shp-m() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod1 <Key>KP_8: shp-f() \n\
~Shift ~Ctrl Mod2 <Key>KP_8: shp-f() \n\

You can change these values in the .Xdefaults file. For example, if you want to use Ctrl+Shift to change
language layer, you can add the following line in the .Xdefaults file:
Translations: Ctrl<Key>Shift_R: rtl-lang() \n\
Ctrl<Key>Shift_L: ltr-lang()

Flags
A flag takes on the opposite value if the - (minus sign) is changed to a + (plus sign). The following options
override those set in the .Xdefaults file:

-ah Highlights the cursor at all times.

-ar Turns on the autoraise mode of aixterm, which automatically raises the
window (after a delay determined by the .Xdefaults keyword
autoRaiseDelay) when the mouse cursor enters the window. The default
is off.

This flag can be turned on and off from the Options menu.
- autopush Enables the Autopush function for the visual text type.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 75

-b NumberPixels Specifies the width in pixels of an inner border. The inner border is the
distance between the outer edge of the characters and the window
border. The default is 2.
-bd Color Specifies the color of the highlighted border on color displays. The default
is black.
-bg Color Specifies the color of the window background on color displays. The
default is white.
-bw NumberPixels Specifies the width of the window border in pixels. The default is 2 pixels.
Some window managers can override this option.
-C Intercepts console messages.
-ccCharRange:Value,... Changes the types of characters that are part of a word. For example, the
string -cc 48-52:3 would make the characters 01234 one word and 56789
a different word. The :3 defines a word group number 3. By default,
numbers are in class 48. The character classes are used by cut and
paste.
-cr Color Determines the color of the text cursor on color displays. The default is
the foreground color.
-csd CharShape Specifies the default shape of Arabic text. The CharShape variable can be
one of the following options:
automatic
Shapes the characters automatically.
passthru
Does not shape the characters. The characters are displayed in
the same way that they are entered.
isolated
Displays the characters in their isolated form (valid in visual
mode only).
initial Displays the characters in their initial form (valid in visual mode
only).
middle
Displays the characters in their middle form (valid in visual mode
only).
final Displays the characters in their final form (valid in visual mode
only).
-cu Causes certain curses applications to display leading tabs correctly. The
default is off.

This flag can be turned on and off from the Modes menu.
-display Name:Number Identifies the host name and X Server display number where the aixterm
command is to run. By default, aixterm gets the host name and display
number from the DISPLAY environment variable.
-dw Causes the mouse cursor to move (warp) automatically to the center of
the aixterm window when the aixterm icon window is deiconified. The
default is off.
-e Command Specifies a command to be executed in the window. This flag runs the
command; it does not start a shell. If this flag is used, the command and
its arguments (if any) must be displayed last on the aixterm command
line.

When the command exits, the aixterm command exits.

-f0 Font Specifies the name of the default font on the command line. Also specifies
the name of the font placed in position 0 in the font table. This flag is
similar to the -fn flag. For example, to specify a default font on the
command line, enter the following:
aixterm -f0 rom11

76 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-f1 Font Specifies the name of the font placed in position 1 in the font table. This
flag is similar to the -fb flag.
-f2 Font Specifies the name of the font placed in position 2 of the font table. This
flag is similar to the -fi flag.
-f3 Font Specifies the name of the font placed in position 3 of the font table.
-f4 Font Specifies the name of the font placed in position 4 of the font table.
-f5 Font Specifies the name of the font placed in position 5 of the font table.
-f6 Font Specifies the name of the font placed in position 6 of the font table.
-f7 Font Specifies the name of the font for position 7 in the font table.
—f0 FontSet Specifies the name of the font set for position 0 in the font table. This flag
is similar to the -fn flag.
—f1 FontSet Specifies the name of the font set for position 1 in the font table. This flag
is similar to the -fb flag.
—f2 FontSet Specifies the name of the font set for position 2 in the font table. This flag
is similar to the -fi flag.
—f3 FontSet Specifies the name of the font set for position 3 in the font table.
—f4 FontSet Specifies the name of the font set for position 4 in the font table.
—f5 FontSet Specifies the name of the font set for position 5 in the font table.
—f6 FontSet Specifies the name of the font set for position 6 in the font table.
—f7 FontSet Specifies the name of the font set for position 7 in the font table.
-fb Font Specifies the name of the bold font. This font must be the same height
and width as the normal font.
-fi FontSet Specifies the name of the italic font set.
-fg Color Determines the foreground color of the text on color displays. The default
is black.
-fn Font Specifies the name of a normal full-text font set. Any fixed-width font set
can be used. In HFT emulation, the default is Rom14.500 for a large
display or Rom10.500 for a small display. In VT102 emulation, the default
is vtsingle. To specify a font set in the resource file, use [Link]
FontSet.
-fs Font Specifies the name of the special graphics font.
-fullcursor Uses a full block cursor instead of the default underscore cursor.
-geometry Geometry Specifies the location and dimensions of a window. The default is
80x25+0+0. Some window managers (such as the mwm command) can
override these defaults.
#geometryGeometry Specifies the location of an icon window. If specified, width and height are
ignored. Width and height are taken from the size of the bitmap and the
length of the title. The window manager can override the location of the
icon.

Note: When you use one of these values as part of an sh (shell)

command, enclose the value in ″″ (double quotation marks).
Normally, #(the pound sign) indicates a comment in a shell script.
-help Lists the available option flags.
-i Displays the icon window rather than the normal window when the
window is opened. The default is false.

Note: This flag does not work unless the window manager has
started.
-ib File Specifies name of the bitmap file to read for use as the icon bitmap file
instead of the default bitmap file. You can access a /usr/include/X11/
bitmaps file from an operating system shell to see a sample bitmap file.
-im InputMethod Specifies a modifier string that identifies the input method to be used by
the aixterm command.
-j Causes the aixterm command to move multiple lines up at once (jump
scroll) if many lines are queued for display. The default is false.

This flag can be turned on and off from the Modes menu.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 77

-keywords Lists the .Xdefaults keywords.
-lang Language Specifies the language to be used under the aixterm command. The
language should follow the format for the locale, as used by the setlocale
function.
-l Causes the aixterm command to append output from the window to the
end of the logfile file. The default is false.

This flag can be turned on and off from the Options menu.

This does not override LogInhibit in the .Xdefaults file.

-leftscroll Places the scroll bar on the left when it is displayed. The default is on the
right side of the text window.
-lf File Specifies the file where the output is saved, instead of the default
[Link] file, where XXXXXX is the process ID of the
aixterm command. The file is created in the directory where the aixterm
command is started, or in the home directory for a login aixterm
command. If the file name begins with a | (pipe symbol), the rest of the
string is interpreted as a command to be executed by the shell, and a
pipe is opened to the process.

This flag must be used in conjunction with the -l flag to work effectively.
-ls Causes the shell run under the aixterm command to be a login shell. The
user’s .login or .profile file is read, and the initial directory is usually the
home directory. The default is false.
-mb Turns on the right margin bell. The default is false.

This flag can be turned on and off from the Modes menu.
-mc Number Determines the multiple-click time. This is used by the cut and paste
button functions.
-mn Ignores the XMappingNotify event. The -mn flag is the default.
-ms Color Determines the color of the mouse cursor on color displays. The default is
the foreground color.
-n IconName Specifies the icon name for use by the aixterm command.
-name Application Specifies the application name to use for the .Xdefaults file.
-nb Number Specifies the right margin distance at which the margin bell rings. The
default is 10 spaces from the right edge of the window.
-nobidi Disables the Arabic/Hebrew functions such as screen reverse, while
maintaining an Arabic/Hebrew locale.
- nonulls Enables a Nonulls mode in which nulls within a line are replaced by
spaces.
-nss NumShape Specifies the default shape of numerals. The NumShape variable can be
one of the following options:
bilingual
Displays numerals according to the surrounding text. For
example, Arabic numerals are displayed within Arabic text and
English numerals within English text.
hindi Displays numerals in Hindi.
arabic Displays numerals in Arabic.
passthru
Displays numerals the same way they are entered.
- orient Orientation Specifies the default screen orientation. The orientation can be one of the
following options:
LTR Left-to-right screen orientation
RTL Right-to-left screen orientation

78 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-outline Color Determines the color of the outline attribute (Keisen) on color displays.
The default is the foreground color.

The outline attribute for a character is similar to other character attributes

such as bold or reverse video. The outline attribute is displayed as a box
drawn to enclose a character or group of characters.
-po Number Specifies the number of lines from the previous screen that display on the
screen when the window scrolls one page. The default is 1 line.
-ps Turns on the page scroll mode.

After a page of lines is displayed, the aixterm command stops displaying

new lines and the text cursor is no longer displayed. Pressing the Enter
key displays one new line. Pressing the Spacebar key or a character key
displays a new page. The default is false.
-pt Preedit Specifies the pre-edit type for text composing. The possible pre-edit types
are:
over Places the pre-edit window over the spot of character
composition.
off Places the pre-edit window off the spot of character composition
in the status area.
root Composes character outside of the current window tree.
none Specifies that the input method has no pre-edit area.
-reduced Causes the aixterm command to begin in reduced mode.
-rfb Font Specifies the name of the reduced bold font. This font must be the same
width and height as the reduced normal font.
-rfi Font Specifies the name of the reduced italic font. This font must be the same
width and height as the reduced normal font.
-rfn Font Specifies the name of the reduced normal font.
-rfs Font Specifies the name of the reduced special graphics font.
-rf0 Font Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 0 in the font
table. This flag is similar to the -rfn flag.
-rf1 Font Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 1 in the font
table. This flag is similar to the -rfb flag.
-rf2 Font Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 2 in the font
table. This flag is similar to the -rfi flag.
-rf3 Font Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 3 in the font
table.
-rf4 Font Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 4 in the font
table.
-rf5 Font Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 5 in the font
table.
-rf6 Font Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 6 in the font
table.
-rf7 Font Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 7 in the font
table.
—rf0 FontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 0 in the font
table. This flag is similar to the -rfn flag.
—rf1 FontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 1 in the font
table. This flag is similar to the -rfb flag.
—rf2 FontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 2 in the font
table. This flag is similar to the -rfi flag.
—rf3 FontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 3 in the font
table.
—rf4 FontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 4 in the font
table.
—rf5 FontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 5 in the font
table.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 79

—rf6 FontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 6 in the font
table.
—rf7 FontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 7 in the font
table.
-rv Reverses the foreground and background colors. This becomes the
normal video mode.

This flag can be turned on and off from the Modes menu.
-rw Turns on the reverse-wraparound mode. The default is false.

This mode allows the cursor to wraparound from the leftmost column to
the rightmost column of the previous line. This can be useful in the shell
to allow erasing characters backwards across the previous line.

This flag can be turned on and off from the Modes menu.
-s Turns off synchronous scrolling on the display. The default is true.

When this flag is specified, the aixterm command no longer attempts to

keep the screen current while scrolling and can run faster when network
latencies are very high.
-sb Causes the scroll bar to display. This flag can be turned on and off from
the Modes menu. The default is off.
-sf Generates the Sun function keycodes for programmed-function (PF) keys
in VT102 mode.
-si Specifies that while using the scroll bar to review previous lines of text,
the window is normally repositioned automatically at the bottom of the
scroll region before output to the screen is processed. The default is true.

This flag disables window repositioning on output.

-sk Causes the window to be repositioned automatically in the normal position
at the bottom of the scroll region when a key is pressed. The default is
false.

This flag is intended for use with the scroll bar to review previous lines of
text.

Pressing a key also creates output, which is affected by the -si flag.

This flag can be turned on and off from the Scrollbar menu.
-sl NumberLines Specifies the maximum number of lines to save that scroll off of the top of
the window. The default is 64.
-sn Displays the status line to be displayed in normal video (the status line is
still enclosed in a box). By default, the status line is displayed in
reverse-video relative to the rest of the window. This flag can be turned
on and off from the Modes menu.
-st Displays the status line on startup. The default is false.
-suppress Specifies that the preediting function in the input method IMIoctl call is
suppressed.
- symmetric Enables the Symmetric Swapping mode for handling bidirectional
character pairs such as <> and ().
-T Title Sets the title bar name, but not the icon name. If the -n option is not
specified, or the icon name is not a specified keyword in the .Xdefaults
file, the title is used as the icon name.

80 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-text TextType Specifies the type of data stream. The TextType variable can be one of
the following options:
- implicit
Characters are stored in key stroke order.
- visual
Characters are stored the same way that they are displayed. You
can use the Autopush mode or Push mode with different shape
types.
-ti Displays the title to the right of the bitmap in the icon window. By default,
the title is displayed under the bitmap (if the window manager allows it).
-tm String Specifies a series of terminal setting keywords followed by the characters
that should be bound to those functions. Allowable keywords include: intr,
quit, erase, kill, eof, eol, start, stop, susp, dsusp, rprnt, flush, weras,
and lnext.
-tn TerminalName Specifies the terminal environment variable. Use the -tn flag to change
the terminal environment variable only. The terminal environment variable
should not be changed to match the terminal in which the X Server is
running. The aixterm command has no direct access to the terminal
where the X Server is running.
-ut Disables the addition of the login ID to /etc/utmp.
-v Enables VT102 emulation. By default, HFT is emulated.

Note: The keyboard map is needed for this mode.

-vb Enables the visual bell mode. The visual bell flashes the window on
receipt of the Ctrl-G key combination instead of ringing the bell. The
default is false.
-W Causes the mouse cursor to move (warp) to the middle of the aixterm
window when the window is created. The default is false.
-xrm String Sets the resource string. For example, [Link]: blue
-132 Causes the sm/rm escape sequences to be recognized and the aixterm
window to be resized as specified. Normally, the sm/rm escape
sequences that switch between the 80-column and 132-column modes
are ignored. The default is false.

This flag can be turned on and off from the Modes menu.

.Xdefaults Keywords
Use the following keywords to set the defaults for the aixterm command.

alwaysHighlight If true, always highlights the cursor, even when the mouse pointer is outside
the window.
autoRaise If true, raises the aixterm window automatically (after a delay of
autoRaiseDelay) when the mouse cursor enters the window. The default is
false. Window managers can override this option.
autoRaiseDelay If autoRaise is true, specifies the number of seconds to delay before
automatically raising a window. The default is 2 seconds. Window managers
can override this option.
background Specifies the color of the window background on color displays. The default is
a white background.
boldFontSet Specifies the name of a bold font. This font must have the same height and
width as the normal sized font.
borderColor Specifies the color of the window border. Window managers can override this
option.
borderWidth Specifies the width of the window border in pixels. The default is 2 pixels.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 81

c132 If true, specifies that the sm/rm escape sequences to resize the aixterm
window between 80 and 132 columns be recognized. The default is false.
charClass Specifies the character class.
charShape If set to automatic, the characters are shaped automatically. If set to passthru,
the characters do not exert any shaping. If set to isolated, the characters are
displayed in isolated shape. If set to initial, the characters are displayed in
initial shape. If set to final, the characters are displayed in final shape.
console If set to true, the aixterm command intercepts console messages. The default
is false.
curses If true, causes certain curses applications to display leading tabs correctly.
The default is false.
cursorColor Specifies the color of the text cursor on color displays. The default is the
foreground color.
deiconifyWarp If true, moves or warps the mouse to the center of the window when replacing
the aixterm icon window with the aixterm window. The default is false.
expandTail The ″seen″, ″sheen″, ″sad″, ″dad″ Arabic characters and their tails are
displayed as two characters.
fASD Enables the automatic shaping function.
fAutoPush Enables the Autopush function.
fEndPush Enables the End Push function.
fLTR Enables the LTR screen orientation.
font0 Specifies the name of the font placed in position 0 in the font table. This flag
is similar to the -fn flag.
font1 Specifies the name of the font placed in position 1 in the font table. This flag
is similar to the -fb flag.
font2 Specifies the name of the font placed in position 2 of the font table. This flag
is similar to the -fi flag.
font3 Specifies the name of the font placed in position 3 of the font table.
font4 Specifies the name of the font placed in position 4 of the font table.
font5 Specifies the name of the font placed in position 5 of the font table.
font6 Specifies the name of the font placed in position 6 of the font table.
font7 Specifies the name of the font for position 7 in the font table.
fontSet Specifies the name of the normal sized text font used in the body of the
aixterm window.
fontSet0 Specifies the name of the font set for position 0 in the font table. This flag is
similar to the -fn flag.
fontSet1 Specifies the name of the font set for position 1 in the font table. This flag is
similar to the -fb flag.
fontSet2 Specifies the name of the font set for position 2 in the font table. This flag is
similar to the -fi flag.
fontSet3 Specifies the name of the font set for position 3 in the font table.
fontSet4 Specifies the name of the font set for position 4 in the font table.
fontSet5 Specifies the name of the font set for position 5 in the font table.
fontSet6 Specifies the name of the font set for position 6 in the font table.
fontSet7 Specifies the name of the font set for position 7 in the font table.
foreground Specifies the color for the text displayed inside the body of the window on
color displays. The default is black.
fPush Enables the Push function.
fRTL Enables the RTL screen orientation.
fScrev Enables the Screen Reverse function.
fShapeF Enables the Final Shape function.
fShapeIN Enables the Initial Shape function.
fShapeIS Enables the Isolated Shape function.
fShapeM Enables the Middle Shape function.
fShapeP Enables the Passthru shape function.
fullCursor Displays the full cursor. The default is an underscore cursor.
geometry Specifies the location or dimensions of the window.

82 Commands Reference, Volume 1

iconBitmap Reads the bitmap file name and uses the resulting bitmap as the icon.
iconGeometry Specifies the location of the icon window.
iconName Specifies the icon name.
iconStartup If true, causes the aixterm command to start by displaying an icon window
rather than the normal window.
inputMethod Specifies the input method to be used by the aixterm command.
internalBorder Specifies the number of pixels between the text characters and the window
border. The default is 2 pixels.
italicFontSet Specifies the name of the italic font set.
jumpScroll If true, enables jump scroll. The default is false.
language Specifies the language to be used under the aixterm command. The
language should follow the format for the locale, as used by the setlocale
function.
logFile If logging is true, specifies the file in which the log is written. The default is
[Link], where XXXXXX is a unique ID of the aixterm
command.
logging If true, appends all input from the pseudo tty to the logfile. The default is
false.
logInhibit If true, prevents a user or an application program from enabling logging. This
overrides any values set for logging.
loginShell If true, indicates that the aixterm command should start as a login shell. The
default is false.
mappingNotify If set to false, ignores the XMappingNotify event. The default is false.
marginBell If true, enables the right margin bell. The default is false.
multiClickTime Specifies the number of milliseconds between button clicks when cutting and
pasting. The default is 250 milliseconds.
multiScroll If true, allows asynchronous scrolling.
nMarginBell Specifies the distance from the right edge of the window where the margin
bell rings. The default is 10 spaces from the right edge of the window.
noNulls Replaces nulls with spaces within a line.
numShape If set to bilingual, the numbers are shaped according to context. If set to hindi,
the numbers are represented in Arabic. If set to arabic, the numbers are
represented in English. If set to passthru, the numbers are represented as
they are.
orientation If set to LTR, left-to-right is set as the default screen orientation. If set to RTL,
right-to-left is set as the default screen orientation.
outline Determines the color of the outline attribute (Keisen) on color displays. The
default is the foreground color.

The outline attribute for a character is similar to other character attributes

such as bold or reverse video. The outline attribute is displayed as a box
drawn to enclose a character or group of characters.
pageOverlap Specifies the number of lines from the previous screen that remain on the
screen when the terminal scrolls one page. In page scroll mode, a page is the
number of lines in the scrolling region minus the page overlap. The default is
1 line.
pageScroll If true, enables the page scroll mode. The default is false.

After a page of lines displays, aixterm stops displaying new lines and the text
cursor disappears. Pressing the Enter key displays one new line. Pressing the
Spacebar key or a character key displays a new page.
preeditType Specifies the pre-edit type for text composing. The possible pre-edit types
are:
over Places the pre-edit window over the spot of character composition.
off Places the pre-edit window off the spot of character composition in the status
area.
root Composes character outside of the current window tree.
none Specifies that the input method has no pre-edit area.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 83

pointerColor Specifies the color of the mouse cursor on color displays. The default is the
foreground color.
pointerShape Specifies the shape of the mouse cursor to be used in an aixterm window.
The default is XC_xterm. The cursors are listed in the /usr/include/X11/
cursorfont.h file.
reducedBoldFontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 1 in the font
table.
reducedFont0 Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 0 in the font table.
reducedFont1 Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 1 in the font table.
reducedFont2 Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 2 in the font table.
reducedFont3 Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 3 in the font table.
reducedFont4 Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 4 in the font table.
reducedFont5 Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 5 in the font table.
reducedFont6 Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 6 in the font table.
reducedFont7 Specifies the name of the reduced font placed in position 7 in the font table.
reducedFontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 0 in the font
table.
reducedFontSet0 Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 0 in the font
table.
reducedFontSet1 Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 1 in the font
table.
reducedFontSet2 Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 2 in the font
table.
reducedFontSet3 Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 3 in the font
table.
reducedFontSet4 Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 4 in the font
table.
reducedFontSet5 Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 5 in the font
table.
reducedFontSet6 Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 6 in the font
table.
reducedFontSet7 Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 7 in the font
table.
reducedItalicFontSet Specifies the name of the reduced fontset placed in position 2 in the font
table.
reducedSpecialFont Specifies the name of the reduced special graphics font.
reducedStartup Causes the aixterm command to begin in reduced mode.
reverseVideo If true, reverses the foreground and background color. The default is false.
reverseWrap If true, sets reverse-wraparound mode, which allows the cursor to wrap from
the leftmost column to the rightmost column of the previous line. The default
is false.
rtArrow The Right Arrow key is handled as a movement key.
saveLines Specifies the maximum number of lines to save when lines scroll off the top
of a window. The default is 64 lines.
scrollBar If true, displays the scroll bar during startup.
scrollInput Specifies whether output to the terminal automatically causes the scroll bar to
go to the bottom of the scrolling region. The default is true.
scrollKey If true, repositions the window at the bottom of the scroll region (normal
position) when a key is pressed while using the scroll bar to review previous
lines of text. The default is false.

Pressing a key also creates input, which is affected by the scrollInput

keyword.
scrollPosition If left, positions the scroll bar to the left side of the screen. The default is
right.
signalInhibit If true, specifies that the signals should not be listed. The default is false.
specialFont Specifies the name of the special graphics font.
statusLine If true, displays the status line on startup. The default is false.

84 Commands Reference, Volume 1

statusNormal If true, displays the status line in normal video (the status line is still enclosed
in a box). By default, the status line is in reverse-video relative to the rest of
the window.
sunFunctionKeys If true, the PF keys generate Sun function keycodes when in the VT102
mode. The default is false.
suppress If true, specifies that the pre-editing function in the input method IMIoctl call is
suppressed.
symmetric Enables symmetric character swapping.
termName Specifies the terminal environment variable, $TERM. Use the termName
keyword to change the terminal environment variable only. The terminal
environment variable should not be changed to match the terminal in which
the X Server is running. The aixterm command has no direct access to the
terminal where the X Server is running.
textType If set to implicit, the data stream type is set to implicit. If set to visual, the data
stream type is set to visual.
textUnderIcon If False, displays the title of the icon window at the right of the bitmap in the
icon window. By default, the title is displayed under the bitmap.
title Specifies the title to show in the title bar. The default is aixterm.
ttyModes Specifies the tty settings.
translations Specifies the key and button translations to be supplied.
utmpInhibit If False, adds the login ID to the /etc/utmp file. The default is false.
visualBell If true, enables the visual bell mode which flashes the window on receipt of a
Ctrl-G key sequence. The default is false.
vt102 If true, enables VT102 mode. The default is emulation.
warp If true, automatically warps (moves) the mouse cursor to the center of a newly
created aixterm window. The default is false.

Example
The following example can be used to create an aixterm, specifying the size and location of the window,
using a font other than the default, and also specifying the foreground color that is used in text. The
aixterm command then runs a command in that window.
aixterm -geometry 20x10+0+175 -fn Bld14.500 -fg DarkTurquoise -e
/tmp/banner_cmd &

The aixterm command is NOT an X Toolkit based application. Because of this, the aixterm command gets
resource files as follows:
v System defaults from the first of these it finds:
$XFILESEARCHPATH %T=app-defaults %N=Xdefaults %L=$LANG
$XFILESEARCHPATH %T=app-defaults %N=Xdefaults %L=
/usr/lpp/X11/defaults/$LANG/Xdefaults
/usr/lpp/X11/defaults/Xdefaults
/usr/lib/X11/$LANG/app-defaults/Xdefaults
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/Xdefaults
/usr/lpp/X11/defaults/app-defaults/Xdefaults
v Application system defaults from the first of these it finds:
$XFILESEARCHPATH %T=app-defaults %N=Aixterm %L=$LANG
$XFILESEARCHPATH %T=app-defaults %N=Aixterm %L=
$XFILESEARCHPATH %T=app-defaults %N=aixterm %L=$LANG
$XFILESEARCHPATH %T=app-defaults %N=aixterm %L=
/usr/lpp/X11/defaults/$LANG/Aixterm
/usr/lpp/X11/defaults/Aixterm
/usr/lib/X11/$LANG/app-defaults/Aixterm
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/Aixterm
/usr/lib/X11/defaults/app-defaults/Aixterm
/usr/lpp/X11/defaults/$LANG/aixterm

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 85

 /usr/lpp/X11/defaults/aixterm
/usr/lib/X11/$LANG/app-defaults/aixterm
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/aixterm
/usr/lib/X11/defaults/app-defaults/aixterm
v User application defaults from the first of these it finds:
$XUSERFILESEARCHPATH %T=app-defaults %N=Aixterm %L=$LANG
$XUSERFILESEARCHPATH %T=app-defaults %N=Aixterm %L=
$XUSERFILESEARCHPATH %T=app-defaults %N=aixterm %L=$LANG
$XUSERFILESEARCHPATH %T=app-defaults %N=aixterm %L=
$XAPPLRESDIR/$LANG/Aixterm
$XAPPLRESDIR/Aixterm
$XAPPLRESDIR/$LANG/aixterm
$XAPPLRESDIR/aixterm
$HOME/$LANG/Aixterm
$HOME/Aixterm
$HOME/$LANG/aixterm
v User defaults from the first of these it finds:
dpy->xdefaults (A.K.A. "RESOURCE_MANAGER" property)
$HOME/$LANG/.Xdefaults
$HOME/.Xdefaults
v Host defaults from the first of these it finds:
$XENVIRONMENT
$HOME/$LANG/.Xdefaults-hostname
$HOME/.Xdefaults-hostname

Note: XFILESEARCHPATH and XUSERFILESEARCHPATH support is limited to the %T, %N and

%L substitution strings. Also, $LANG is actually whatever the result of the
setlocale(LC_CTYPE,NULL) call is.

Related Information
telnet, tn, or tn3270 command.

Bidirectionality and Character Shaping in AIX 5L Version 5.3 National Language Support Guide and
Reference.

ali Command

Purpose
Lists mail aliases and their addresses.

Syntax
ali [ -alias File ] [ -list | -nolist ] [ -normalize | -nonormalize ] [ -user User | -nouser ] [ Alias ... ]

Description
The ali command lists mail aliases and their addresses. By default, this command searches the
/etc/mh/MailAliases file and writes to standard output each alias and its address defined in the file. To
specify an alternate mail aliases file, use the -alias File flag.

If you specify the -user flag, the ali command searches the alias files for the user name and writes to
standard output the aliases that contain this user name.

Flags
-alias File Specifies the mail alias file to be searched. The default is the /etc/mh/MailAliases file.

86 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-help Lists the command syntax, available switches (toggles), and version information.

Note: For MH, the name of this flag must be fully spelled out.
-list Displays each address on a separate line.
-nolist Displays addresses on as few lines as possible. This flag is the default.
-nonormalize Prevents conversion of local host nicknames to official host names. This is the default.
-normalize Converts local host nicknames to their official host names.
-nouser Lists the address for an alias. This flag is the default.
-user User Lists the aliases that contain the specified user. When the -user and -nonormalize flags are
used together, the result may be a partial list of aliases that contain the specified user.

Examples
1. To display a list of all aliases and their addresses in the /etc/mh/MailAliases file, enter:
ali
2. To list the names and addresses of the mygroup alias, enter:
ali mygroup

A list similar to the following is displayed on your local system:

mike@mercury george@helium vicky@venus

Files
$HOME/.mh_profile Contains the MH user profile.
/etc/group Contains a list of groups.
/etc/passwd Contains a list of users.
/etc/mh/MailAliases Contains the default mail alias file.
/usr/bin/ali Contains the ali command.

Related Information
The comp command, dist command, forw command, repl command, send command, whom command.

Mail applications in Networks and communication management.

alias Command

Purpose
Defines or displays aliases.

Syntax
alias [ -t ] [ -x ] [ AliasName [ =String ] ] ...

Description
The alias command creates or redefines alias definitions or writes existing alias definitions to standard
output.

If no flags or parameters are supplied, all existing alias definitions are written to standard output. You can
display a specific alias definition by using the AliasName parameter.

Create a new alias by using the AliasName=String parameter pair. When the shell encounters an alias on
the command line or in a shell script, it substitutes the definition supplied by the string. The String variable

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 87

can contain any valid shell text. Enclose the value of the String variable in single quotes if the string
contains spaces. If the AliasName parameter is not a valid name, the alias command displays an error
message.

If you specify the -t flag, the shell displays aliases that are tracked. A tracked command uses the full path
name of the command. A tracked command can become undefined when the value of the PATH
environment variable is reset, but aliases created with the -t flag remain tracked.

If you specify the -x flag, the shell displays aliases that are exported. An exported alias is active in all
shells.

An alias definition affects the current shell environment and the execution environments of any subshells.
The alias definition affects neither the parent process of the current shell nor any utility environment
invoked by the shell.

Flags
-t Sets or displays all existing tracked aliases. If this flag is used with the AliasName parameter, the new alias is
tracked and the alias definition includes the full path name obtained by doing a path search. When the value of
the PATH environment variable is reset, the alias definition becomes undefined but remains tracked.
-x Displays all existing exported alias definitions. If this flag is used with the AliasName parameter, the new alias
is exported. Exported alias are not defined across separate invocations of the shell. You must put alias
definitions in your environment file to have aliases defined for separate shell invocations.

Exit Status
The following exit values are returned:

0 Successful completion.
>0 One of the specified alias name did not have an alias definition, or an error occurred.

Examples
1. To change the ls command so that it displays information in columns and annotates the output, enter:
alias ls=’ls -CF’
2. To create a command for repeating previous entries in the command history file, enter:
alias r=’fc -s’
3. To use 1KB units for the du command, enter:
alias du=du\ -k
4. To create a command to display all active processes for user Dee, enter:
alias psc=’ps -ef | grep Dee’
5. To see the full path name of the ls command, enter:
alias -t ls

The screen displays ls=/usr/bin/ls.

Files
/usr/bin/ksh Contains the Korn shell alias built-in command.
/usr/bin/alias Contains the alias command.

88 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Related Information
The ksh command.

alog Command

Purpose
Creates and maintains fixed-size log files created from standard input.

Syntax
To Show the Contents of a Log File
alog -f LogFile [ -o ]

To Log Data to a Specified Log File

alog -f LogFile | [ [ -q ] [ -s Size ] ]

To Display the Verbosity Value of a Specified Log Type

alog -t LogType -V

To Change the Attributes of a Specified Log Type

alog -C -t LogType [ -f LogFile ] [ -s Size ] [ -w Verbosity ]

To Display the Current Attributes of a Specified Log Type

alog -L [ -t LogType ]

Description
The alog command reads standard input, writes to standard output, and copies the output into a fixed-size
file. This file is treated as a circular log. If the file is full, new entries are written over the oldest existing
entries.

The alog command works with log files that are specified on the command line or with logs that are
defined in the alog configuration database. Logs that are defined in the alog configuration database are
identified by LogType. The File, Size, and Verbosity attributes for each defined LogType are stored in the
alog configuration database with the LogType. You can add a new LogType to the alog configuration
database using the odmadd command. You can change the attributes of LogType defined in the alog
configuration database using the alog command.

Flags
-C Changes the attributes for a specified LogType. Use the -C flag with the -f, -s, and -w flags to
change the File, Size, and Verbosity attributes for the specified LogType. The -t LogType
flag is required.

Note: Using the -C flag with -sSize only changes the size value in ODM and does not
change the size of the actual log file.

If the -C flag is used, the alog command does not copy standard input to standard output or
to a log file.

When the -C flag is used to modify the attributes for the console log type, the console log file
is also modified and the console device driver is updated to use the new values. This is a
deviation from the normal operation of alog -C and is done to accommodate special
formatting in the console log file.

Note: You must have root user authority to change alog attributes.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 89

-f LogFile Specifies the name of a log file. If the specified log file does not exist, one is created. If the
alog command is unable to write to a log file, it writes to /dev/null. Use the -f LogFile flag
with the -C and -t flags to change the File attribute for a LogType defined in the alog
configuration database.
-L Lists the log types currently defined in the alog configuration database. If you use the -L flag
with the -t LogType flag, the attributes for a specified LogType are listed. The current values
of the File, Size, and Verbosity attributes are listed as colon separated values:
<File>:<Size>:<Verbosity>

If the -L flag is used, the alog command does not copy standard input to standard output or
to File.
-o Lists the contents of the log file. Writes the contents of the log file to standard output in
sequential order.
-q Copies standard input to a log file but does not write to standard output.
-s Size Specifies the size limit of the log file in bytes. The space for the log file is reserved when it is
created. If you create a new log file and do not specify the Size attribute, the minimum size,
4096 bytes, is used. If the log file already exists, its size will be changed. The size you
specify is rounded upward to the next integral multiple of 4096 bytes. The maximum size for
a log file is 2 GB. If the specified size is greater than 2 GB, only 2 GB is considered. If you
decrease the size of the log file, the oldest entries in the log are deleted if they do not fit
within the new size limit. You must have write permission for the log file to change its size.

Use the -s Size flag with the -C and the -t flags to change the Size attribute for LogType
defined in the alog configuration database. Only the size value in ODM is changed. The size
of the actual log file remains the same. The new Size attribute value is used the next time a
log file is created.
-t LogType Identifies a log defined in the alog configuration database. The alog command gets the log’s
file name and size from the alog configuration database. If LogFile does not exist, one is
created.

If the alog command cannot get the information for the specified LogType from the alog
configuration database or if the alog command is unable to write to LogFile, it writes to
/dev/null.

If you specify LogType and LogFile using the -f flag, LogFile is used and LogType is ignored.
-V Writes the current value of the Verbosity attribute for LogType that is defined in the alog
configuration database to standard output. If you do not specify LogType, or the LogType you
specify is not defined, nothing is written to standard output.

The value output using the alog command with the -t LogType and the -V flags can be used
by a command that is piping its output to the alog command to control the verbosity of the
data it writes to the pipe.
-w Verbosity Changes the Verbosity attribute for LogType defined in the alog configuration database when
used with the -C and the -t flags.

The Verbosity attribute can have a value from 0 to 9. If the value is 0, no information is
copied to LogFile by the alog command. All of the information is still written to standard
output. If the value is not 0, all of the information piped to the alog command’s standard input
is copied to LogFile and to standard output.

Examples
1. To record the current date and time in a log file named [Link], enter:
date | alog -f /tmp/[Link]
2. To list the contents of /tmp/[Link] log file, enter:
alog -f /tmp/[Link] -o
3. To change the size of the log file named /tmp/[Link] to 8192 bytes, enter:
echo "resizing log file" | alog -f /tmp/[Link] -s 8192

90 Commands Reference, Volume 1

4. To add a new log type sample to the alog configuration database, create the [Link] file in the
following format:
SWservAt:
attribute="alog_type"
deflt="sample"
value="sample"
SWservAt:
attribute="sample_logname"
deflt="/tmp/[Link]"
value="/tmp/[Link]"
SWservAt:
attribute="sample_logsize"
deflt="4096"
value="4096"
SWservAt:
attribute="sample_logverb"
deflt="1"
value="1"
After creating the [Link] file, enter:
odmadd [Link]
This adds the [Link] file to the SWservAt database.
5. To change the name of the log file for the log type sample to /var/[Link] in the alog configuration
database, enter:
alog -C -t sample -f /var/[Link]
6. To change the size of the boot log to 8192 bytes and reflect the new size in ODM, enter:
alog -C -t boot -s 8192
echo "Changed log size" | alog -t boot -s 8192

Files
/etc/objrepos/SWservAt Software Service Aids Attributes Object Class

Related Information
The odmadd command.

How to Add Objects to an Object Class in AIX 5L Version 5.3 General Programming Concepts: Writing and
Debugging Programs.

alstat Command

Purpose
Shows alignment exception statistics.

Syntax
alstat [ -e | -v ] [ Interval ] [ Count ]

Description
The alstat command displays alignment exception statistics. Alignment exceptions may occur when the
processor cannot perform a memory access due to an unsupported memory alignment offset (such as a
floating point double load from an address that is not a multiple of 8). However, some types of unaligned
memory references may be corrected by some processors and does not generate an alignment exception.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 91

The alignment exception count since the last time the machine was rebooted and the count in the current
interval are displayed. You can optionally display emulation exception statistics or individual processor
alignment statistics.

The default output displays statistics every second. The sampling Interval and Count of iterations can be
also specified.

Parameters
Interval Interval between samples.
Count Number of iterations.

Flags
-e Displays emulation exception statistics. This flag cannot
be used with the -v flag.
-v Display individual processor statistics. This flag cannot be
used with the -e flag.

Examples
1. To display alignment exception statistics every second, type:
alstat
This produces the following output:
Alignment Alignment
SinceBoot Delta
8845591 0
8845591 0
8845591 0
8845591 0
8845591 0
8845591 0
...
2. To display emulation and alignment exception statistics every two seconds, a total of 5 times, type:
alstat -e 2 5
This produces the following output:
Emulation Emulation Alignment Alignment
SinceBoot Delta SinceBoot Delta
21260604 0 70091846 0
23423104 2162500 72193861 2102015
25609796 2186692 74292759 2098898
27772897 2163101 76392234 2099475
29958509 2185612 78490284 2098050
3. To display alignment exception statistics, every 5 seconds, for each processor, type:
alstat -v 5
This produces the following output:
Alignment Alignment Alignment Alignment
SinceBoot Delta Delta00 Delta01
88406295 0 0 0
93697825 5291530 0 5291530
98930330 5232505 5232505 0
102595591 3665261 232697 3432564
102595591 0 0 0

92 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Related Information
The emstat command.

alt_disk_copy Command

Purpose
Clones (makes a copy of) the currently running system to an alternate disk.

Syntax
To copy rootvg to Alternate Disk:

alt_disk_copy -d target_disks... [-i [Link]] [-s script [-b bundle_name] [-I installp_flags] [-l
images_location] [-f fix_bundle] [-F fixes] [-e exclude_list] [-w filesets] [-n] [-P phase_option] [-c console] [
-x first boot script ] [-R resolve_conf] [-DBOVgr]

Description
The alt_disk_copy command allows users to copy the current rootvg to an alternate disk and to update
the operating system to the next maintenance or technology level, without taking the machine down for an
extended period of time and mitigating outage risk. This can be done by creating a copy of the current
rootvg on an alternate disk and simultaneously applying software updates. If needed, the bootlist
command can be run after the new disk has been booted, and the bootlist can be changed to boot back to
the older maintenance or technology level of the operating system.

Cloning the running rootvg, allows the user to create a backup copy of the root volume group. This copy
can be used as a back up in case the rootvg failed, or it can be modified by installing additional updates.
One scenario might be to clone a 5300-00 system, and then install updates to bring the cloned rootvg to
5300-01. This would update the system while it was still running. Rebooting from the new rootvg would
bring the level of the running system to 5300-01. If there was a problem with this level, changing the
bootlist back to the 5300-00 disk and rebooting would bring the system back to 5300-00. Other scenarios
would include cloning the rootvg and applying individual fixes, rebooting the system and testing those
fixes, and rebooting back to the original rootvg if there was a problem.

At the end of the install, a volume group, altinst_rootvg, is left on the target disks in the varied off state
as a place holder. If varied on, it indicates that it owns no logical volumes; however, the volume group
does contain logical volumes, but they have been removed from the ODM because their names now
conflict with the names of the logical volumes on the running system. Do not vary on the altinst_rootvg
volume group; instead, leave the definition there as a placeholder.

After rebooting from the new alternate disk, the former rootvg volume group shows up in a lspv listing as
old_rootvg, and it includes all disks in the original rootvg. This former rootvg volume group is set to not
vary-on at reboot, and it should only be removed with the alt_rootvg_op -X old_rootvg or
alt_disk_install -X old_rootvg commands.

If a return to the original rootvg is necessary, the bootlist command is used to change the bootlist to
reboot from the original rootvg.
Notes:
1. Alternate disk operations create volume groups, logical volumes, special device files, and file systems
using the alt prefix. If alt_disk_copy is utilized on a system, the administrator should avoid having or
creating volume groups, logical volumes, special device files, or file systems with the alt,
prefix—alternate disk operations might inadvertently remove, alter, or damage these items.
2. NIM alternate disk migration (upgrading version or release levels) is supported with the nimadm
command in AIX 5.1 and later. Please see the nimadm documentation for more details.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 93

3. The current LVM limit for logical volume names is 15 characters. Because the alternate disk installation
commands prepend the 4-character alt_ prefix, the limit for the original logical volume names in the
rootvg to be copied or installed is 11 characters. If an original logical volume name exceeds 11
characters, it can be shortened by using a customized [Link] (see the -i flag).
4. When cloning the rootvg volume group, a new boot image is created with the bosboot command.
5. Do not use direct LVM commands (such as exportvg, importvg, varyoffvg, or chlv) on alternate
rootvg volume groups.
6. This function is also available with the Network Installation Management (NIM). See the NIM Guide for
more information.
7. The alt_disk_copy command only backs up mounted file systems. Mount all file systems that you
want to back up. The mksysb command backs up mounted journaled file systems (JFS) and
enhanced journaled file systems (JFS2) in the rootvg. For more information about backing up file
systems, see the mount command.

Flags
-b bundle_name Path name of optional file with a list of packages or filesets that are installed after a
rootvg clone. The -l flag must be used with this option.
-c Console The device name to be used as the alternate rootvg’s system console. This option is
only valid with the -O flag.
-e exclude_list Optional [Link] to use when cloning rootvg. The rules for exclusion follow the
pattern-matching rules of the grep command. The exclude_list must be a full path
name.
Note: If you want to exclude certain files from the backup, create the
/etc/[Link] file with an ASCII editor and enter the patterns of file names that
you do not want included in your system backup image. The patterns in this file are
input to the pattern-matching conventions of the grep command to determine which
files will be excluded from the backup. If you want to exclude files listed in the
/etc/[Link] file, select the Exclude Files field and press the Tab key once
to change the default value to yes. For example, to exclude all the contents of the
scratch directory, edit the exclude file to read as follows:
/scratch/

For example, to exclude the contents of the /tmp directory, and avoid excluding any
other directories that have /tmp in the path name, edit the exclude file to read as
follows:
^./tmp/

All files are backed up relative to . (current working directory). To exclude any file or
directory for which it is important to have the search match the string at the beginning
of the line, use the caret character (^) as the first character in the search string,
followed by the dot character (.), followed by the filename or directory to be excluded.
If the filename or directory being excluded is a substring of another filename or
directory, use the caret character followed by the dot character (^.) to indicate that the
search should start at the beginning of the line, and use the dollar sign character ($)
to indicate that the search should end at the end of the line.
-f fix_bundle Optional file with a list of APARs to install after a clone of rootvg. The -l flag must be
used with this option.
-F fixes Optional list of APARs (for example, IX123456) to install after a clone of rootvg. The
-l flag must be used with this option.
-I installp_flags The flags to use when updating or installing new filesets into the cloned
alt_inst_rootvg. The default flag is -acgX. The -l flag must be used with this option.
-l images_location Location of installp images or updates to apply after a clone of rootvg. This can be
a directory full path name or device name (such as /dev/rmt0).
-w filesets List of filesets to install after cloning a rootvg. The -l flag must be used with this
option.

94 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-B Would specify not running bootlist after the mksysb or clone. If set, then the -r flag
cannot be used.
-g Skips disk bootability checks.
-d target_disks Specifies a space-delimited list of the name or names of the target disks where the
alternate rootvg will be created. These disks must not currently contain any volume
group definition. The lspv command should show these disks as belonging to volume
group None.
-D Turns on debug (sets -x output).
-i [Link] Optional [Link] file to use instead of the default [Link] file created from
rootvg. The [Link] file name must be a full path name (such as
/tmp/my_image.data).
-P Phases The phase or phases to execute during this invocation of alt_disk_copy. Valid values
are: 1, 2, 3, 12, 23, or all (default).
12 Performs phases 1 and 2.
23 Performs phases 2 and 3.
all Performs all three phases.
-n Remain NIM client. The /.rhosts and /etc/niminfo files are copied to the file system
of the alternate rootvg.
-r Specifies to reboot from the alternate disk when the alt_disk_copy command
finishes.
-s script Optional customization script to run at the end of the mksysb install or the rootvg
clone. This file must be executable. This script is called on the running system before
the /alt_inst file systems are unmounted, so files can be copied from the running
system to the /alt_inst file systems before the reboot.
-x script Optional customization script to run during the initial boot of the alternate rootvg,
after all file systems are mounted.
-V Turn on verbose output. This shows the files that are being backed up for rootvg
clones.
-R resolv_conf The [Link] file to replace the existing one after the rootvg has been cloned.
You must specify a full path name.
-O Performs a device reset on the target altinst_rootvg. This causes the alternate disk
install to not retain any user-defined device configurations. This flag is useful if the
target disk or disks become the rootvg of a different system (such as in the case of
logical partitioning or system disk swap).

Exit Status
0 All alt_disk_copy related operations completed successfully.
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
1. To clone the running 5300-00 rootvg to hdisk3, then apply updates from /updates to bring the cloned
rootvg to a 5300-01 level:
alt_disk_copy -d hdisk3 -F 5300-01_AIX_ML -l /updates

The bootlist would then be set to boot from hdisk3 at the next reboot.
2. To clone the running rootvg to hdisk3 and hdisk4, and execute update_all on all updates from
/updates:
alt_disk_copy -d "hdisk3 hdisk4" -b update_all -l /updates

The bootlist would then be set to boot from hdisk3 at the next reboot.
3. To clone the running rootvg to hdisk1 and stop after phase 1:
alt_disk_copy -d hdisk1 -P1

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 95

4. To execute phases 2 and 3 on an existing alternate rootvg and reboot the system on successful
completion:
alt_disk_copy -d hdisk1 -P23 -r

Location
/usr/sbin/alt_disk_copy

Files
/usr/sbin/alt_disk_copy Contains the alt_disk_copy command.

Related Information
“alt_disk_mksysb Command” on page 104, “alt_rootvg_op Command” on page 107, “bootlist Command”
on page 231, “bosboot Command” on page 239,

The lspv in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 3.

The nim, nimadm command in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 4.

alt_disk_install Command

Purpose
Installs an alternate disk with a mksysb install image or clones the currently running system to an
alternate disk. This command is obsolete in AIX 5.3.

Note: In AIX 5.3, the alt_disk_install command is replaced by the alt_disk_copy, alt_disk_mksysb, and
alt_rootvg_op commands. The alt_disk_install module continues to be shipped as a wrapper to
the new commands, but the alt_disk_install command does not support any new functions, flags,
or features.

Syntax
″ Create Alternate Disk: ″
alt_disk_install { -d device | -C} [ -i [Link]] [ -s script ] [ -R resolv_conf] [ -D] [ -B] [ -V]
[ -r] [ -O ]
[ -p platform ] [ -L mksysb_level ]
[ -b bundle_name ] [ -I installp_flags ]
[ -l images_location ] [ -f fix_bundle ]
[ -F fixes ] [ -e exclude_list ] [ -w filesets ]
[ -n] [ -P phase_option ] target_disks...
″Clean Up Alternate Disk Volume Group:″
alt_disk_install -X

For alt_disk_install AIX 4.3.2 or later:

″ Determine Volume Group Boot Disk:″
alt_disk_install -q disk
″Put-to-sleep Volume Group:″
alt_disk_install -S

96 Commands Reference, Volume 1

″Rename Alternate Disk Volume Group:″
alt_disk_install -v new_volume_group_name disk
″Wake-up Volume Group:″
alt_disk_install -W disk
″Clean Up Alternate Disk Volume Group:″
alt_disk_install -X [ volume_group]

Description
Note: In AIX 5.3 the alt_disk_install command has been broken up into three commands:
alt_disk_copy, alt_disk_mksysb, and alt_rootvg_op. No new functionality will be added to this
command.

The alt_disk_install command allows users a way to update the operating system to the next release,
maintenance level, or technology level, without taking the machine down for an extended period of time.
This can be done in two ways, by installing a mksysb image on a separate disk, or by cloning the current
system and then applying updates to get to the next maintenance or technology level.

Attention: alt_disk_install creates volume groups, logical volumes, special device files, and file systems
using the ″alt″ prefix. If alt_disk_install is utilized on a system, the administrator should avoid having or
creating volume groups, logical volumes, special device files, or file systems with the ″alt″ prefix -
alt_disk_install operations may inadvertently remove, alter, or damage these items.

The first function, installing a mksysb, requires an AIX 4.3 or later mksysb image, an AIX 4.3 or later
mksysb tape, or an AIX 4.3.3 or later mksysb CD. The alt_disk_install command is called with a disk or
disks that are not currently in use, and the mksysb is restored to those disks such that, if the user
chooses, the next reboot boots the system on an AIX 4.3 or later system.
Notes:
1. You cannot use alt_disk_install to install an earlier version of AIX than the one currently installed on
the system. For example, you cannot install an AIX 4.3 mksysb on an AIX 5.1 system.
2. If needed, the bootlist command can be run after the new disk has been booted, and the bootlist can
be changed to boot back to the older version of the operating system.

The second function, cloning the running rootvg, allows the user to create a backup copy of the root
volume group. This copy could be used as a back up in case the rootvg failed, or it could be modified by
installing additional updates. One scenario might be to clone a 4.2.0 system, then install updates to bring
the cloned rootvg to [Link]. This would update the system while it was still running, then rebooting from
the new rootvg would bring the level of the running system to 4.2.1. If there was a problem with this level,
changing the bootlist back to the 4.2.0 disk and rebooting would bring the system back to 4.2.0. Other
scenarios would include cloning the rootvg and applying individual fixes, rebooting the system and testing
those fixes, and rebooting back to the original rootvg if there was a problem.

Note: NIM alternate disk migration (upgrading version or release levels) is supported with the nimadm
command in AIX 5.1 and later. Please see the nimadm documentation for more details.

Currently, you can run the alt_disk_install command on [Link] and higher systems for both of these
functions. The bos.alt_disk_install.rte fileset must be installed on the system to execute the
alt_disk_install command, and the bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images fileset must also be installed to
perform a mksysb install to an alternate disk.

The mksysb image that is used must be created ahead of time and have all the necessary device and
kernel support required for the system that it’s going to be installed on. No new device or kernel support
can be installed before the system is rebooted from the newly installed disk.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 97

Note: The version release maintenance or technology level of mksysb that you are installing must match
the level of the bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images fileset.

When cloning the rootvg volume group, a new boot image is created with the bosboot command. When
installing a mksysb image, a boot image for the level of mksysb and platform type is copied to the boot
logical volume for the new alternate rootvg. When the system is rebooted, the bosboot command is run in
the early stage of boot, and the system is rebooted once again. This is to synchronize the boot image with
the mksysb that was just restored. The system then boots in normal mode.

At the end of the install, a volume group, altinst_rootvg, is left on the target disks in the varied off state as
a place holder. If varied on, it shows as owning no logical volumes, but it does indeed contain logical
volumes, but they have been removed from the ODM because their names now conflict with the names of
the logical volumes on the running system. It is recommended that you not vary on the altinst_rootvg
volume group, but just leave the definition there as a place holder.

After the system reboots from the new alternate disk, the former rootvg volume group does not show up in
a lspv listing, unless the alt_disk_install version is 4.3.2 or higher.

For alt_disk_install 4.3.2 or greater:

After rebooting from the new alternate disk, the former rootvg volume group shows up in a lspv
listing as ″old_rootvg″, and includes all disk(s) in the original rootvg. This former rootvg volume group
is set to NOT varyon at reboot, and should ONLY be removed with the -X flag (i.e. alt_disk_install
-X old_rootvg).

If a return to the original rootvg is necessary, the bootlist command is used to change the bootlist to reboot
from the original rootvg.

For alt_disk_install 4.3.2 or greater:

If it is unclear which disk is the boot disk for a specific volume group, the -q flag can be used to
determine the boot disk. This can be useful when a volume group is comprised of multiple disks and
a change in the bootlist is necessary.

The alternate root file system is mounted as /alt_inst, so other file systems would have that prefix
(/alt_inst/usr, /alt_inst/var). This is how they should be accessed if using a customization script.

Attention: If you have created an alternate rootvg with alt_disk_install, but no longer wish to use it,
or want to run alt_disk_install commands, do not run exportvg on altinst_rootvg.

Simply run the alt_disk_install -X command to remove the altinst_rootvg definition from the ODM
database. The reason you cannot run the exportvg command (or the reducevg command) is that
the logical volume names and file systems now have the real names, and exportvg removes the
stanza’s for the real file system from /etc/filesystems for the real rootvg.

If exportvg is run by accident, be sure to recreate the /etc/filesystems file before rebooting the
system. The system will not reboot without a correct /etc/filesystems file.

This function is also available with the Network Installation Management (NIM). See the NIM Guide for
more information.

The AIX 4.3.1 and greater version of alt_disk_install can be executed in phases. The install is divided
into three phases, and the default is to perform all three phases.

Phase 1 Creates the altinst_rootvg volume group, the alt_ ″logical volumes″, the /alt_inst file systems, and
restores the mksysb or rootvg data.

98 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Phase 2 Runs any specified customization script, installs updates, new filesets, fixes or bundles (cloning only),
copies a [Link] file if specified, and copies files over to remain a NIM client if specified.
Phase 3 Unmounts the /alt_inst file systems, renames the file systems and logical volumes, removes the alt_
logical volumes, names ODM and varies off the altinst_rootvg. It sets the bootlist and reboots if
specified.

You can run each phase separately, run Phases 1 and 2 together, or run Phases 2 and 3 together. Phase
2 can be run multiple times before Phase 3 is run.

You must run Phase 3 to get a volume group that is a usable rootvg. Running Phase 1 and 2 leave the
/alt_inst file systems mounted.

If you have run Phase 1 and or Phase 2, and want to start over (remove the altinst_rootvg), run the
alt_disk_install-x command to clean up.

For alt_disk_install 4.3.2 or greater:

If data access is necessary between the original rootvg and the new alternate disk, a volume group
″wake-up″ can be accomplished, using the -W flag, on the non-booted volume group. The ″wake-up″
puts the volume group in a post alt_disk_install phase 1 state (i.e. the /alt_inst file systems will be
mounted).

Note: The volume group that experiences the ″wake-up″ will be renamed ″altinst_rootvg″.

Limitation

The running system’s version of operating system must be greater than or equal to the operating
system version of the volume group that undergoes the ″wake-up″. This may mean that it’s
necessary to boot from the ″altinst_rootvg″ and ″wake-up″ the ″old_rootvg″.

For example: An alternate disk is created from an alt_disk_install 4.3.3 mksysb, on a 4.1.5
running system. To access data between the two volume groups, it is necessary to boot from
the 4.3.3 alternate disk and ″wake-up″ the 4.1.5 ″old_rootvg″ volume group.

This limitation is caused by a jfs log entry incompatibility. It is possible to ″wake-up″ a volume group
that contains a greater operating system version, but the volume group could not have ever been the
system rootvg. If so, the volume group would have made jfs log entries that could not be interpreted
by an older operating system version rootvg, when the volume group was experiencing a ″wake-up″.
JFS log entries are usually present for file systems that were not unmounted before a reboot, for
example, /,/usr.

The alt_disk_install command will not allow a ″wake-up″ to occur on a volume group with a greater
operating system version, unless the FORCE environment variable is set to ″yes″.

Attention: If a FORCE ″wake-up″ is attempted on a volume group that contains a greater operating
system version then the running operating system, AND the ″waking″ volume group has been a
system rootvg, errors will occur.

When data access is no longer needed, the volume group can be put to sleep, using the -S flag.

Note: The volume group that has experienced a ″wake-up″ MUST be ″put-to-sleep″ before it can be
booted and used as the rootvg.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 99

Flags
-B Would specify not running bootlist after the mksysb or clone. If set, the -r flag cannot be
used.
Note: The -B and -X flags are mutually exclusive.
-C Clone rootvg.

Note: -d and -C are mutually exclusive.

-d device The value for device can be:
tape device - for example, /dev/rmt0

OR
path name of mksysb image in a file system.

Note: -d and -C are mutually exclusive.

-D Turns on debug (set -x output).
-i [Link] Optional [Link] file to use instead of default [Link] from mksysb image or
[Link] created from rootvg. The [Link] file name must be a full pathname, for
example, /tmp/my_image.data.

For alt_disk_install 4.3.2 or greater:

If certain logical volumes need to be placed on a specific target disk, this should
be annotated in the logical volume LV_SOURCE_DISK_LIST field of the user
specified [Link] file.
-p platform This is a platform to use to create the name of the disk boot image, which may be
supplied by a vendor that wanted to support this function. This flag is only valid for
mksysb installs (-d flag).
-Pphase The phase to execute during this invocation of alt_disk_install. Valid values are: 1, 2,
3, 12, 23, or all.
v 12 - performs phases 1 and 2.
v 23 - performs phases 2 and 3.
v all - performs all three phases
-r Would specify to reboot from the new disk when the alt_disk_install command is
complete.
-R resolv_conf The [Link] file to replace the existing one after the mksysb has been restored or
the rootvg has been cloned. You must use a full pathname for resolv_conf.
-s script Optional customization script to run at the end of the mksysb install or the rootvg clone.
This file must be executable. This script is called on the running system before the
/alt_inst file systems are unmounted, so files can be copied from the running system to
the /alt_inst file systems before the reboot. This is the only opportunity to copy or
modify files in the alternate file system because the logical volume names will be
changed to match rootvg’s, and they will not be accessible until the system is rebooted
with the new alternate rootvg, or a ″wake-up″ is performed on the altinst_rootvg. You
must use a full pathname for script.
-V Turn on verbose output. This shows the files that are being backed up for rootvg
clones. This flag shows files that are restored for mksysb alt_disk_installs.
-L mksysb_level This level will be combined with the platform type to create the boot image name to use
(for example, rspc_4.3.0_boot in AIX 5.1 and earlier). This must be in the form V.R.M.
The default will be AIX 4.3. The mksysb image will be checked against this level to
verify that they are the same.
-n Remain NIM client. The /.rhosts and /etc/niminfo files are copied to the alternate
rootvg’s file system.

100 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-X Removes the altinst_rootvg volume group definition from the ODM database. This
returns the lspv listing for the volume group to ″None″. This will not remove actual data
from the volume group. Therefore, you can still reboot from that volume group, if you
reset your bootlist.

For alt_disk_install 4.3.2 or greater, the flag allows for specified volume group
name ODM database definition removal, for example, -X old_rootvg.
Notes:
1. The -B and -X flags are mutually exclusive.
2. If you specify the -X flag, all other flags are ignored.
-O Performs a device reset on the target altinst_rootvg. This will cause alt_disk_install to
NOT retain any user defined device configurations. This flag is useful if the target disk
or disks will become the rootvg of a different system (such as in the case of logical
partitioning or system disk swap).

The following flags are only valid for use when cloning the rootvg (-C).

-b bundle_name Pathname of optional file with a list of packages or filesets that will be installed
after a rootvg clone. The -l flag must be used with this option.
-e exclude_list Optional [Link] to use when cloning rootvg. The rules for exclusion follow
the pattern matching rules of the grep command. The exclude_list must be a full
pathname.

Note: If you want to exclude certain files from the backup, create the
/etc/[Link] file, with an ASCII editor, and enter the patterns of file
names that you do not want included in your system backup image. The
patterns in this file are input to the pattern matching conventions of the
grep command to determine which files will be excluded from the backup. If
you want to exclude files listed in the /etc/[Link] file, select the
Exclude Files field and press the Tab key once to change the default value
to yes.

For example, to exclude all the contents of the directory called scratch, edit
the exclude file to read as follows:
/scratch/

For example, to exclude the contents of the directory called /tmp, and avoid
excluding any other directories that have /tmp in the pathname, edit the
exclude file to read as follows:
^./tmp/

All files are backed up relative to . (current working directory). To exclude

any file or directory for which the it is important to have the search match
the string at the beginning of the line, use ^ (caret character) as the first
character in the search string, followed by . (dot character), followed by the
filename or directory to be excluded.

If the filename or directory being excluded is a substring of another

filename or directory, use ^. (caret character followed by dot character) to
indicate that the search should begin at the beginning of the line and/or use
$ (dollar sign character) to indicate that the search should end at the end of
the line.
-f fix_bundle Optional file with a list of APARs to install after a clone of rootvg. The -l flag must
be used with this option.
-F fixes Optional list of APARs (for example, ″IX123456″) to install after a clone of rootvg.
The -l flag must be used with this option.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 101

-I installp_flags The flags to use when updating or installing new filesets into the cloned
alt_inst_rootvg. Default flags: ″-acgX″ The -l flag must be used with this option.
-l images_location Location of installp images or updates to apply after a clone of rootvg. This can
be a directory full pathname or device name (like /dev/rmt0).
-w filesets List of filesets to install after cloning a rootvg. The -l flag must be used with this
option.

The following flags are available for alt_disk_install version 4.3.2 or greater:

-q disk Used to return the volume group boot disk name. This is
especially useful when trying to determine the boot disk
from several disks in the ″old_rootvg″ volume group, after
rebooting from the alternate disk.
-S Will ″put-to-sleep″ the volume group. This is used after a
volume group ″wake-up″. (-W).
-v new_volume_group_name disk Used to rename the alternate disk volume group. This is
especially useful when creating multiple alternate disks, on
multiple volume groups, and name identification is
necessary.
-W disk Used to ″wake-up″ a volume group for data access between
the rootvg and the alternate disk rootvg.

Note: The volume group that experiences the

″wake-up″ will be renamed ″altinst_rootvg″.

Limitation

The running system’s version of the operating system must be greater than or equal to the operating
system version of the volume group that undergoes the ″wake-up″. This may mean that it’s
necessary to boot from the ″altinst_rootvg″ and ″wake-up″ the ″old_rootvg″.

Parameters
target_disks Specifies the name or names of the target disks where the alternate rootvg will be created.
This disk or these disks must not currently contain any volume group definition. The lspv
command should show these disks as belonging to volume group None.

Examples
1. To clone the running 4.2.0 rootvg to hdisk3, then apply updates from /updates to bring the cloned
rootvg to a 4.2.1 level:
alt_disk_install -C -F 4.2.1.0_AIX_ML -l /updates hdisk3
The bootlist would then be set to boot from hdisk3 at the next reboot.
2. To install a 4.3 mksysb image on hdisk3, then run a customized script (/home/myscript) to copy some
user files over to the alternate rootvg file systems before reboot:
alt_disk_install -d /mksysb_images/4.3_mksysb -s /home/myscript hdisk3
3. To remove the original rootvg ODM database entry, after booting from the new alternate disk:
alt_disk_install -X old_rootvg
The lspv listing for the original rootvg will be changed to ″None″. Therefore, a new volume group could
be created on those disks.
4. To determine the boot disk for a volume group with multiple physical volume:
alt_disk_install -q hdisk0
Illustrated Example

102 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 # lspv
hdisk0 00006091aef8b687 old_rootvg
hdisk1 00076443210a72ea rootvg
hdisk2 0000875f48998649 old_rootvg
# alt_disk_install -q hdisk0
hdisk2
In this case, the boot disk for ″old_rootvg″ is actually hdisk2. Therefore, you could reset your bootlist to
hdisk2 and reboot to the original rootvg volume group.
5. To modify an alt_disk_install volume group name:
alt_disk_install -v alt_disk_432 hdisk2
Illustrated Example
# lspv
hdisk0 00006091aef8b687 rootvg
hdisk1 00000103000d1a78 rootvg
hdisk2 000040445043d9f3 altinst_rootvg
hdisk3 00076443210a72ea altinst_rootvg
hdisk4 0000875f48998649 None
hdisk5 000005317c58000e None
# alt_disk_install -v alt_disk_432 hdisk2
#lspv
hdisk0 00006091aef8b687 rootvg
hdisk1 00000103000d1a78 rootvg
hdisk2 000040445043d9f3 alt_disk_432
hdisk3 00076443210a72ea alt_disk_432
hdisk4 0000875f48998649 None
hdisk5 000005317c58000e None
6. To ″wake_up″ an original rootvg, after booting from the new alternate disk:
alt_disk_install -W hdisk0
Illustrated Example
# lspv
hdisk0 000040445043d9f3 old_rootvg
hdisk1 00076443210a72ea rootvg
# alt_disk_install -W hdisk0
# lspv
hdisk0 000040445043d9f3 altinst_rootvg
hdisk1 00076443210a72ea rootvg
At this point, the ″altinst_rootvg″ volume group is varied-on and the /alt_inst file systems will be
mounted.
7. To ″put-to-sleep″ a volume group that had experienced a ″wake-up″:
alt_disk_install -S
Illustrated Example
# lspv
hdisk0 000040445043d9f3 altinst_rootvg
hdisk1 00076443210a72ea rootvg
# alt_disk_install -S
# lspv
hdisk0 000040445043d9f3 altinst_rootvg
hdisk1 00076443210a72ea rootvg
The ″altinst_rootvg″ is no longer varied-on and the /alt_inst file systems are no longer mounted. If it’s
necessary for the ″altinst_rootvg″ volume group name to be changed back to ″old_rootvg″, this can be
done with the ″-v″ flag.

Files
/usr/sbin/alt_disk_install Contains the alt_disk_install command

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 103

Related Information
The bootlist command, bosboot command, lspv command, nim command, nimadm command.

alt_disk_mksysb Command

Purpose
Installs an alternate disk with a mksysb install base install image.

Syntax
alt_disk_mksysb -m device -d target_disks... [ -i [Link] ] [ -s script ] [-R resolv_conf ] [ -p platform ] [
-L mksysb_level ] [ -n ] [ -P phase_option ] [ -c console ] [ -K ] [ -DBOVgkrxyz ]

Description
The alt_disk_mksysb command allows the users to install a mksysb system backup to a separate disk
without taking the machine down for an extended period of time and mitigating outage risk.

Installing a mksysb requires an AIX 4.3 or later mksysb image, mksysb tape, or mksysb CD. The
alt_disk_mksysb command is called with a disk or set of disks that is not currently in use, and the
mksysb is restored to those disks such that, if the user chooses, the next reboot boots the system on an
AIX 4.3 or later system.

The bos.alt_disk_install.rte and bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images filesets must be installed on the

system in order to run the alt_disk_mksysb command.

The mksysb image that is used must be created ahead of time and have all the necessary device and
kernel support required for the system it will be installed on. No new device or kernel support can be
installed before the system is rebooted from the newly installed disk.

The alternate root file system is mounted as /alt_inst, so other file systems would have that prefix (for
example, /alt_inst/usr, /alt_inst/var). This is how they should be accessed using a customization script.

At the end of the install, a volume group, altinst_rootvg, is left on the target disks in the varied off state
as a place holder. If varied on, it indicates that it owns no logical volumes; however, it does contain logical
volumes, but they have been removed from the ODM because their names now conflict with the names of
the logical volumes on the running system. Do not vary on the altinst_rootvg volume group; instead,
leave the altinst_rootvg volume group as a placeholder.

After the system reboots from the new alternate disk, the former rootvg volume group will show up in the
lspv listing as old_rootvg. Do not vary on the old_rootvg volume group; instead, leave the old_rootvg
volume group as a placeholder.

If a return to the original rootvg is necessary, the bootlist command is used to change the bootlist to
reboot from the original rootvg.
Notes:
1. Alternate disk operations create volume groups, logical volumes, special device files, and file systems
using the alt prefix. If alt_disk_copy is utilized on a system, the administrator should avoid having or
creating volume groups, logical volumes, special device files, or file systems with the alt,
prefix—alternate disk operations might inadvertently remove, alter, or damage these items.
2. alt_disk_mksysb needs to use preexisting boot images during mksysb installation. alt_disk_mksysb
first looks for the boot images in the alternate rootvg (that is, the contents of the mksysb); if boot
images are not found, alt_disk_mksysb searches for them in the current rootvg.

104 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 v The alternate disk install boot image location for altinst_rootvg is: /alt_inst/usr/lpp/
bos.alt_disk_install/boot_images
v The alternate disk install boot image location for the current rootvg is: /usr/lpp/
bos.alt_disk_install/boot_images
v The generic versions of the alternate install boot images are provided by the
bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images fileset.
3. The version release maintenance or technology level of mksysb that you are installing must match the
level of the bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images fileset. For example, if the oslevel on the source
system (the system where the mksysb was created) returns [Link], the
bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images fileset should be at 5.3.0.X, where X is the highest available fix
level.
4. If alt_disk_mksysb needs to use the generic boot images shipped with the
bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images fileset, the system performs an additional reboot when booting from
the alternate rootvg for the first time.
5. You cannot use the alt_disk_mksysb command to install an earlier version of AIX than the one
currently installed on the system. For example, you cannot install an AIX 4.3 mksysb on an AIX 5.1
system.
6. The current LVM limit for logical volume names is 15 characters. Because the alternate disk installation
commands prepend the 4-character alt_ prefix, the limit for the original logical volume names in the
rootvg to be copied or installed is 11 characters. If an original logical volume name exceeds 11
characters, it can be shortened by using a customized [Link] (see the -i flag).
7. Do not use direct LVM commands (such as exportvg, importvg, varyoffvg, and chlv) on alternate
rootvg volume groups.
8. This function is also available with the Network Installation Management (NIM). See the NIM Guide for
more information.
9. NIM alternate disk migration (upgrading version or release levels) is supported with the nimadm
command in AIX 5.1 and later. See the nimadm command for more details.

Flags
-B Specifies not running bootlist after the operation. If set, then the -r flag cannot be used.
-c console Specifies the device name to be used as the alternate rootvg's system console. This option is
only valid with the -O flag.
-D Turns on debug (sets -x output).
-d target_disks Specifies a space-delimited list of the name or names of the target disks where the alternate
rootvg is created. This disk or these disks must not currently contain any volume group
definition. The lspv command should indicate that these disks belong to volume group None.
-g Specifies that bootable checks for the target_disks are overlooked.
-K Specifies that the 64-bit kernel should be used, if possible.
-k Specifies that mksysb devices be kept (formally the ALT_KEEP_MDEV variable).
-i image_data Optional [Link] file to use instead of the default [Link] file from mksysb image.
The [Link] file name must be a full path name (for example, /tmp/my_image.data).
-L mksysb_level This level is combined with the platform type to create the boot image name to use (for
example, rspc_5.1.0_boot in AIX 5.1 and earlier). This must be in the form V.R.M. The
mksysb image is checked against this level to verify that they are the same.
-m device The value for device can be:
v Tape device (for example, /dev/rmt0)
v Path name of mksysb image in a file system
-n Remain NIM client. The /.rhosts and /etc/niminfo files are copied to the alternate rootvg’s
file system.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 105

-P Phases The phase or phases to execute during this invocation of the alt_disk_mksysb command.
Valid values are: 1, 2, 3, 12, 23, or all.
12 Performs phases 1 and 2.
23 Performs phases 2 and 3.
all Performs all three phases.
-p platform This is a platform to use to create the name of the disk boot image, which might be supplied
by a vendor that wanted to support this function.
-O Performs a device reset on the target altinst_rootvg. This causes alt_disk_install to not
retain any user-defined device configurations. This flag is useful if the target disk or disks
become the rootvg of a different system (such as in the case of logical partitioning or system
disk swap).
-R resolv_conf The [Link] file that replaces the existing one after the mksysb has been restored. You
must use a full path name for resolv_conf.
-r Specifies to reboot from the new disk when the alt_disk_mksysb command is complete.
-s script Optional customization script to run at the end of the mksysb install. This file must be
executable. This script is called on the running system before the /alt_inst file systems are
unmounted, so files can be copied from the running system to the /alt_inst file systems
before the reboot. This is the only opportunity to copy or modify files in the alternate file
system because the logical volume names will be changed to match rootvg’s, and they will
not be accessible until the system is rebooted with the new alternate rootvg, or a ″wake-up″
is performed on the altinst_rootvg using the alt_rootvg_op command. You must use a full
path name for the script.
-V Turn on verbose output. This shows the files that are restored during the alt_disk_mksysb
operation.
-y Looks for and imports (if found) mksysb volume groups. This flag causes alt_disk_install to
import the data VGs known to the mksysb and to not import the local data VGs known at
install time (the default). The imports are performed with the following script:
/usr/lpp/bos.alt_disk_install/bin/alt_import_oldvgs.
-z Does not import any type of non-rootvg volume groups. This flag overrides the -y flag.

Exit Status
0 All alt_disk_mksysb related operations completed successfully.
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
1. To install a mksysb image on hdisk3 and hdisk4 , then run a customized script (/tmp/script) to copy
some user files over to the alternate rootvg file systems before reboot:
alt_disk_mksysb -m /mksysb_images/my_mksysb -d "hdisk3 hdisk4" -s /tmp/script
2. To install a mksysb image on hdisk2 and stop after phase 1:
alt_disk_mksysb -m /mksysb_images/my_mksysb -d hdisk2 -P1
3. To execute phases 2 and 3 on an existing alternate rootvg on hdisk4 and reboot the system upon
successful completion:
alt_disk_mksysb -d hdisk4 -m /mksysb_images/my_mksysb -P23 -r

Location
/usr/sbin/alt_disk_mksysb

Files
/usr/sbin/alt_disk_mksysb Contains the alt_disk_mksysb command.

106 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Related Information
“alt_disk_copy Command” on page 93, “alt_rootvg_op Command,” “bootlist Command” on page 231.

The lspv in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 3.

The nim, nimadm command in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 4.

alt_rootvg_op Command

Purpose
Performs operations on existing alternate rootvg volume groups.

Syntax
To determine Volume Group Boot Disk (-q):

alt_rootvg_op -q -d disk [-D]

To rename Alternate Disk Volume Group (-v):

alt_rootvg_op -v new volume group name -d disk [-D]

To wake up Volume Group (-W):

alt_rootvg_op -W -d disk [-D]

To put to sleep Volume Group (-S):

alt_rootvg_op -S [-tD]

To clean up Alternate Disk Volume Group (-X):

alt_rootvg_op -X [volume group] [-D]

To customize Alternate Disk Volume Group (-C):

alt_rootvg_op -C [-R resolv_conf] [-s script] [-b bundle_name] [-I installp_flags] [-l images_location] [-f
fix_bundle] [-F fixes] [-w filesets] [-DV]

Description
The alt_rootvg_op command can be used to determine which disk is the boot disk for a specific volume
group. Use the -q flag to determine the boot disk. This can be useful when a volume group is comprised
of multiple disks and a change in the bootlist is necessary.

This command can also be used to rename the alternate disk volume groups. This is especially useful
when creating multiple alternate disks, on multiple volume groups, and name identification is necessary.

If data access is necessary between the current rootvg and an alternate disk, use the alt_rootvg_op
command to perform a volume group ″wake-up″ (using the -W flag) on the nonbooted volume group. The
″wake-up″ puts the volume group in a post phase 1 state (that is, the /alt_inst file systems will be
mounted). The customize operation (-C flag) can be executed at this time.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 107

The running system’s operating system must be a version greater than or equal to the operating system
version of the volume group that undergoes the ″wake-up.″ This might mean that it is necessary to boot
from the altinst_rootvg and ″wake up″ the old_rootvg.

The alt_rootvg_op command does not allow a ″wake-up″ to occur on a volume group with a greater
operating system version, unless the FORCE environment variable is set to Yes.
Notes:
1. The volume group that experiences the ″wake-up″ is renamed altinst_rootvg.
2. Do not execute phase 3 on the volume group that experiences the ″wake-up.″
3. Do not reboot the system if there is a volume group in the ″wake″ state. This can cause damage or
data loss to the volume group that is in the ″wake″ state. Volume groups in the ″wake″ state can be
put to ″sleep″ with the -S flag.

When data access is no longer needed, the alt_rootvg_op command can be used to put to sleep the
volume group in the ″wake″ state, using the -S flag. The boot image on the target alternate rootvg can be
rebuilt if necessary with the -t flag. The sleep operations revert the alternate volume group to an inactive
state.

When cleaning up the alternate disk volume group, the alt_rootvg_op command uses the -X flag to
remove the altinst_rootvg volume group definition from the ODM database. If the target volume group is
varied off at the time this operation is executed, only the ODM definitions associated with the target
volume group are removed. The actual volume group data is not removed. If the volume group is bootable,
you can still reboot from that volume group, by setting the bootlist to a boot disk in this volume group. The
-X flag accepts a volume group name as an argument and acts on the altinst_rootvg volume group by
default.

The customize operation of the alt_rootvg_op command (using the -C flag) can be used to perform the
following functions on an active alternate root volume group:
v Install software and software updates. Apply this operation only to alternate volume groups created with
the rootvg copy operation.
v Execute customization script.
v Copy [Link] files.

Flags
-b bundle_name Path name of optional file with a list of packages or filesets that will be installed after a
rootvg clone. The -l flag must be used with this option.
-C Performs the customization operation on the active rootvg volume group.
-d target_disk Specifies a space-delimited list of the name or names of the target disks that will be targets
of the given operation.
-D Turns on debug (sets -x output).
-f fix_bundle Optional file with a list of APARs to install after a clone of rootvg. The -l flag must be used
with this option.
-F fixes Optional list of APARs (for example, IY123456) to install after a clone of rootvg. The -l flag
must be used with this option.
-I installp_flags The flags to use when updating or installing new filesets into the cloned alt_inst_rootvg. The
default flag is -acgX. The -l flag must be used with this option.
-l images_location Location of installp images or updates to apply after a clone of rootvg. This can be a
directory full path name or device name (like /dev/rmt0).
-q Determines the volume group boot disk.
-R resolv_conf The [Link] file to replace the existing one in the rootvg. You must specify a full path
name.

108 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-s script Optional customization script to be executed during the customization phase. This file must
be executable. This script is called on the running system before the /alt_inst file systems
are unmounted, so files can be copied from the running system to the /alt_inst file systems
before the reboot.
-S Puts to sleep the alternate root volume group that experienced the previous ″wake″
operation.
-t Rebuilds the alternate boot image before putting the volume group to ″sleep.″ This flag is
only valid for alternate root volume groups created with the clone or copy install operation.
The -t flag requires the -S flag.
-v Name Renames an alternate disk volume group to the name specified with the Name parameter.
-V Turn on verbose output.
-w filesets List of filesets to install after cloning a rootvg. The -l flag must be used with this option.
-W Performs a wake-up on the root volume group located on the target_disk.
-X Removes the altinst_rootvg volume group definition from the ODM database.

Exit Status
0 All alt_rootvg_op related operations completed successfully.
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
1. To remove the original rootvg ODM database entry, after booting from the new alternate disk, enter
the following command:
alt_rootvg_op -X old_rootvg
2. To cleanup the current alternate disk install operation, enter the following command:
alt_rootvg_op -X
3. To determine the boot disk for a volume group with multiple physical volume, enter the following
command:
alt_rootvg_op -q -d hdisk0

Illustrated Example
# lspv

hdisk0 00006091aef8b687 old_rootvg

hdisk1 00076443210a72ea rootvg
hdisk2 0000875f48998649 old_rootvg

# alt_rootvg_op -q -d hdisk0

hdisk2
4. To modify an alt_disk_install volume group name, enter the following command:
alt_rootvg_op -v alt_disk_530 -d hdisk2

Illustrated Example
# lspv

hdisk0 00006091aef8b687 rootvg

hdisk1 00000103000d1a78 rootvg
hdisk2 000040445043d9f3 altinst_rootvg
hdisk3 00076443210a72ea altinst_rootvg
hdisk4 0000875f48998649 None
hdisk5 000005317c58000e None

# alt_rootvg_op -v alt_disk_432 -d hdisk2

#lspv

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 109

 hdisk0 00006091aef8b687 rootvg
hdisk1 00000103000d1a78 rootvg
hdisk2 000040445043d9f3 alt_disk_432
hdisk3 00076443210a72ea alt_disk_432
hdisk4 0000875f48998649 None
hdisk5 000005317c58000e None
5. To ″wake up″ an original rootvg after booting from the new alternate disk, enter the following
command:
alt_rootvg_op -W -d hdisk0
6. To ″put to sleep″ a volume group that had experienced a ″wake-up″ and rebuild the boot image, enter
the following command:
alt_rootvg_op -S -t
7. To update the active alternate rootvg to the latest fileset levels available in /updates and install them
into the alternate root volume group, enter the following command:
alt_rootvg_op -C -b update_all -l /updates

Location
/usr/sbin/alt_rootvg_op

Files
/usr/sbin/alt_rootvg_op Contains the alt_rootvg_op command.

Related Information
“alt_disk_copy Command” on page 93, “alt_disk_mksysb Command” on page 104, “bootlist Command” on
page 231, “bosboot Command” on page 239.

The lspv in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 3.

The nim, nimadm command in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Commands Reference, Volume 4.

anno Command

Purpose
Annotates messages.

Syntax
anno [ +Folder ] [ Messages ] [ -component Field ] [ -inplace | -noinplace ] [ -text ″String″ ]

Description
The anno command annotates messages with text and dates. If you enter the anno command without any
flags, the system responds with the following prompt:
Enter component name:

Typing a component name and pressing the Enter key annotates the component name and system date to
the top of the message being processed. You cannot annotate an existing field. You can only add lines to
the top of a message file. The annotation fields can contain only alphanumeric characters and dashes.

Note: To simply add distribution information to a message, use the dist, forw, or repl commands.

110 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Flags
-component Field Specifies the field name for the annotation text. The Field variable must consist of
alphanumeric characters and dashes. If you do not specify this flag, the anno
command prompts you for the name of the field.
+Folder Identifies the message folder that contains the message to annotate. The default is
the current folder.
-help Lists the command syntax, available switches (toggles), and version information.

Note: For MH (Message Handler), the name of this flag must be fully spelled
out.
-inplace Forces annotation to be done in place in order to preserve links to the annotated
messages.
Messages Specifies what messages to annotate. This parameter can specify several messages,
a range of messages, or a single message. If several messages are specified, the
first message annotated becomes the current message. Use the following references
to specify messages:
Number
Number of the message. When specifying several messages, separate each
number with a comma. When specifying a range, separate the first and last
number in the range with a hyphen.
Sequence
A group of messages specified by the user. Recognized values include:
all All messages in the folder.
cur or . (period)
Current message. This is the default.
first First message in a folder.
last Last message in a folder.
next
Message following the current message.
prev Message preceding the current message.

-noinplace Prevents annotation in place. This flag is the default.

-text ″String″ Specifies the text to be annotated to the messages. The text must be enclosed with
quotation marks.

Profile Entries
The following entries can be made to the UserMhDirectory/.mh_profile file:

Current-Folder: Sets the default current folder.

Path: Specifies the location of a user’s MH (Message Handler) directory.

Examples
1. To annotate the message being processed with the date and time, enter:
anno

The following prompt is displayed on your screen:

Enter component name: _

After responding to this prompt, type:

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 111

 Date

Press Enter. The component name you entered becomes the prefix to the date and time on the
message. The caption appended to the message is similar to the following:
Date: Tues, 28 Mar 89 [Link] -0600
2. To annotate the message being processed with the date, time, and a message, enter:

anno -component NOTE -text ″Meeting canceled.″

A two-line caption similar to the following is appended to the message:

NOTE: Mon, 15 Mar 89 [Link] -0600
NOTE: Meeting canceled.
3. To annotate message 25 in the meetings folder, enter:

anno +meetings 25 -component NOTE -text ″Meeting delayed

until Friday.″

The top of message 25 is annotated with a caption similar to the following:

NOTE: Wed, 19 Jun 87 [Link] -0600
NOTE: Meeting delayed until Friday.

Note: Do not press the Enter key until the entire message has been entered, even though the
message may be wider than the screen.

Files
$HOME/.mh_profile Contains the MH user profile.
/usr/bin/anno Contains anno command.

Related Information
The dist command, forw command, repl command.

The mh_alias file format, mh_profile file format.

Mail applications in Networks and communication management.

ap Command

Purpose
Parses and reformats addresses.

Syntax
ap [ -form File | -format String ] [ -normalize | -nonormalize ] [ -width Number ] Address

Description
The ap command parses and reformats addresses. The ap command is not started by the user. The ap
command is called by other programs. The command is typically called by its full path name,
/usr/lib/mh/ap.

The ap command parses each string specified by the address parameter and attempts to reformat it. The
default output format for the ap command is the ARPA RFC 822 standard. When the default format is
used, the ap command displays an error message for each string it is unable to parse.

112 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Alternate file and string formats are specified by using the -form and -format flags.

Flags
-form File Reformats the address string specified by the Address parameter into the alternate format
described in the File variable.
-format String Reformats the address string specified by the Address parameter into the alternate format
specified by the String variable. The default format string follows:
%<{error}%{error}:%{Address}%:%(putstr(proper{
Address}))%>
-help Lists the command syntax, available switches (toggles), and version information.

Note: For MH, the name of this flag must be fully spelled out.
-nonormalize Does not attempt to convert local nicknames of hosts to their official host names.
-normalize Attempts to convert local nicknames of hosts to their official host names. This flag is the
default.
-width Number Sets the maximum number of columns the ap command uses to display dates and error
messages. The default is the width of the display.

Files
/etc/mh/mtstailor Contains the MH tailor file.
$HOME/.mh_profile Contains the MH user profile.

Related Information
The ali command, dp command, scan command.

The .mh_alias file format.

Mail applications in Networks and communication management.

apply Command

Purpose
Applies a command to a set of parameters.

Syntax
apply [ -aCharacter ] [ -Number ] CommandString Parameter ...

Description
The apply command runs a command string specified by the CommandString parameter on each
specified value of the Parameter parameter in turn. Normally, Parameter values are chosen individually;
the optional -Number flag specifies the number of Parameter values to be passed to the specified
command string. If the value of the Number variable is 0, the command string is run without parameters
once for each Parameter value.

If you include character sequences of the form %n (where n is a digit from 1 to 9) in CommandString, they
are replaced by the nth unused Parameter value following the CommandString parameter when the
command string is executed. If any such sequences occur, the apply command ignores the -Number flag,
and the number of parameters passed to CommandString is the maximum value of n in the
CommandString parameter.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 113

You can specify a character other than % (percent sign) to designate parameter substitution character
strings with the -a flag; for example, -a@ would indicate that the sequences @1 and @2 would be replaced
by the first and second unused parameters following the CommandString parameter.

Notes:
1. Because pattern-matching characters in CommandString may have undesirable effects, it is
recommended that complicated commands be enclosed in ’ ’ (single quotation marks).
2. You cannot pass a literal % (percent sign) followed immediately by any number without using the
-a flag.

Flags
-aCharacter Specifies a character (other than %) to designate parameter substitution strings.
-Number Specifies the number of parameters to be passed to CommandString each time it is run.

Examples
1. To obtain results similar to those of the ls command, enter:
apply echo *
2. To compare the file named a1 to the file named b1, and the file named a2 to the file named b2, enter:
apply -2 cmp a1 b1 a2 b2
3. To run the who command five times, enter:
apply -0 who 1 2 3 4 5
4. To link all files in the current directory to the directory /usr/joe, enter:
apply ’ln %1 /usr/joe’ *

Related Information
The xargs command.

Input and output redirection overview in Operating system and device management.

Shells in Operating system and device management.

apropos Command

Purpose
Locates commands by keyword lookup.

Syntax
apropos [ -M PathName ] Keyword ...

Description
The apropos command shows the manual sections that contain any of the keywords specified by the
Keyword parameter in their title. The apropos command considers each word separately and does not
take into account if a letter is in uppercase or lowercase. Words that are part of other words are also
displayed. For example, when looking for the word compile, the apropos command also finds all instances
of the word compiler. The database containing the keywords is /usr/share/man/whatis, which must first
be generated with the catman -w command.

114 Commands Reference, Volume 1

If the output of the apropos command begins with a name and section number, you can enter man
Section Title. For example, if the output of the apropos command is printf(3), you can enter
man 3 printf to obtain the manual page on the printf subroutine.

The apropos command is equivalent to using the man command with the -k option.

Note: When the /usr/share/man/whatis database is built from the HTML library using the catman -w
command, section 3 is equivalent to section 2 or 3. See the man command for further explanation of
sections.

Flag
-M PathName Specifies an alternative search path. The search path is specified by the PathName parameter,
and is a colon-separated list of directories.

Examples
1. To find the manual sections that contain the word password in their titles, enter:
apropos password
2. To find the manual sections that contain the word editor in their titles, enter:
apropos editor

File
/usr/share/man/whatis Contains the whatis database.

Related Information
The catman command, man command, whatis command.

ar Command

Purpose
Maintains the indexed libraries used by the linkage editor.

Syntax
ar [ -c ] [ -l ] [ -g | -o ] [ -s ] [ -v ] [ -C ] [ -T ] [ -z ] { -h | -p | -t | -x } [ -X
{32|64|32_64|d64| any}] ArchiveFile [ File ... ]

ar [ -c ] [ -l ] [ -g | -o ] [ -s ] [ -v ] [ -C ] [ -T ] [ -z ] { -m | -r [ -u ] } [ { -a | -b | -i }
PositionName ] [ -X {32|64|32_64|d64|any}] ArchiveFile File ...

ar [ -c ] [ -l ] [ -g | -o ] [ -s ] [ -v ] [ -C ] [ -T ] [ -z ] { -d | -q } [ -X
{32|64|32_64|d64|any}] ArchiveFile File ...

ar [ -c ] [ -l ] [ -v ] [ -C ] [ -T ] [ -z ] { -g | -o | -s | -w } [ -X {32|64|32_64|d64|any}]
ArchiveFile

Description
The ar command maintains the indexed libraries used by the linkage editor. The ar command combines
one or more named files into a single archive file written in ar archive format. When the ar command

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 115

creates a library, it creates headers in a transportable format; when it creates or updates a library, it
rebuilds the symbol table. See the ar file format entry for information on the format and structure of
indexed archives and symbol tables.

There are two file formats that the ar command recognizes. The Big Archive Format, ar_big, is the default
file format and supports both 32-bit and 64-bit object files. The Small Archive Format can be used to
create archives that are recognized on versions older than AIX 4.3, see the -g flag. If a 64-bit object is
added to a small format archive, ar first converts it to the big format, unless -g is specified. By default, ar
only handles 32-bit object files; any 64-bit object files in an archive are silently ignored. To change this
behavior, use the -X flag or set the OBJECT_MODE environment variable.

Flags
In an ar command, you can specify any number of optional flags from the set cClosTv. You must specify
one flag from the set of flags dhmopqrstwx. If you select the -m or -r flag, you may also specify a
positioning flag (-a, -b, or -i); for the -a, -b, or -i flags, you must also specify the name of a file within
ArchiveFile (PositionName), immediately following the flag list and separated from it by a blank.

-a PositionName Positions the named files after the existing file identified by the PositionName
parameter.
-b PositionName Positions the named files before the existing file identified by the PositionName
parameter.
-c Suppresses the normal message that is produced when library is created.
-C Prevents extracted files from replacing like-named files in the file system.
-d Deletes the named files from the library.
-g Orders the members of the archive to ensure maximum loader efficiency with a
minimum amount of unused space. In almost all cases, the -g flag physically positions
the archive members in the order in which they are logically linked. The resulting
archive is always written in the small format, so this flag can be used to convert a
big-format archive to a small-format archive. Archives that contain 64-bit XCOFF objects
cannot be created in or converted to the small format.
-h Sets the modification times in the member headers of the named files to the current
date and time. If you do not specify any file names, the ar command sets the time
stamps of all member headers. This flag cannot be used with the -z flag.
-i PositionName Positions the named files before the existing file identified by the PositionName
parameter (same as the -b).
-l Places temporary files in the current (local) directory instead of the TMPDIR directory
(by default /tmp).
-m Moves the named files to some other position in the library. By default, it moves the
named files to the end of the library. Use a positioning flag (abi) to specify some other
position.
-o Orders the members of the archive to ensure maximum loader efficiency with a
minimum amount of unused space. In almost all cases, the -o flag physically positions
the archive members in the order in which they are logically linked. The resulting
archive is always written in the big archive format, so this flag can be used to convert a
small-format archive to a big-format archive.
-p Writes to standard output the contents of the named in the Files parameter, or all files
specified in the ArchiveFile parameter if you do not specify any files.
-q Adds the named files to the end of the library. In addition, if you name the same file
twice, it may be put in the library twice.
-r Replaces a named file if it already appears in the library. Because the named files
occupy the same position in the library as the files they replace, a positioning flag does
not have any additional effect. When used with the -u flag (update), the -r flag replaces
only files modified since they were last added to the library file.

If a named file does not already appear in the library, the ar command adds it. In this
case, positioning flags do affect placement. If you do not specify a position, new files
are placed at the end of the library. If you name the same file twice, it may be put in the
library twice.

116 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-s Forces the regeneration of the library symbol table whether or not the ar command
modifies the library contents. Use this flag to restore the library symbol table after using
the strip command on the library.
-t Writes to the standard output a table of contents for the library. If you specify file
names, only those files appear. If you do not specify any files, the -t flag lists all files in
the library.
-T Allows file name truncation if the archive member name is longer than the file system
supports. This option has no effect because the file system supports names equal in
length to the maximum archive member name of 255 characters.
-u Copies only files that have been changed since they were last copied (see the -r flag
discussed previously).
-v Writes to standard output a verbose file-by-file description of the making of the new
library. When used with the -t flag, it gives a long listing similar to that of the ls -l
command. When used with the -x flag, it precedes each file with a name. When used
with the -h flag, it lists the member name and the updated modification times.
-w Displays the archive symbol table. Each symbol is listed with the name of the file in
which the symbol is defined.
-x Extracts the named files by copying them into the current directory. These copies have
the same name as the original files, which remain in the library. If you do not specify
any files, the -x flag copies all files out of the library. This process does not alter the
library.
-X mode Specifies the type of object file ar should examine. The mode must be one of the
following:
32 Processes only 32-bit object files
64 Processes only 64-bit object files
32_64 Processes both 32-bit and 64-bit object files
d64 Examines discontinued 64-bit XCOFF files (magic number ==
U803XTOCMAGIC).
any Processes all of the supported object files.

The default is to process 32-bit object files (ignore 64-bit objects). The mode can also
be set with the OBJECT_MODE environment variable. For example,
OBJECT_MODE=64 causes ar to process any 64-bit objects and ignore 32-bit objects.
The -X flag overrides the OBJECT_MODE variable.
-z Creates a temporary copy of the archive and performs all requested modifications to
the copy. When all operations have completed successfully, the working copy of the
archive is copied over the original copy. This flag cannot be used with the -h flag.
ArchiveFile Specifies an archive file name; required.
MemberName ... Names of individual archive members.

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
1. To create a library, enter:
ar -v -q lib.a strlen.o strcpy.o

If the lib.a library does not exist, this command creates it and enters into it copies of the files
strlen.o and strcpy.o. If the lib.a library does exist, then this command adds the new members to

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 117

 the end without checking for duplicate members. The v flag sets verbose mode, in which the ar
command displays progress reports as it proceeds.
2. To list the table of contents of a library, enter:
ar -v -t lib.a

This command lists the table of contents of the lib.a library, displaying a long listing similar to the
output of the ls -l command. To list only the member file names, omit the -v flag.
3. To replace or add new members to a library, enter:
ar -v -r lib.a strlen.o strcat.o

This command replaces the members strlen.o and strcat.o. If lib.a was created as shown in
example 1, then the strlen.o member is replaced. A member named strcat.o does not already
exist, so it is added to the end of the library.
4. To specify where to insert a new member, enter:
ar -v -r -b strlen.o lib.a strcmp.o

This command adds the strcmp.o file, placing the new member before the strlen.o member.
5. To update a member if it has been changed, enter:
ar -v -r -u lib.a strcpy.o

This command replaces the existing strcpy.o member, but only if the file strcpy.o has been modified
since it was last added to the library.
6. To change the order of the library members, enter:
ar -v -m -a strcmp.o lib.a strcat.o strcpy.o

This command moves the members strcat.o and strcpy.o to positions immediately after the
strcmp.o member. The relative order of the strcat.o and strcpy.o members is preserved. In other
words, if the strcpy.o member preceded the strcat.o member before the move, it still does.
7. To extract library members, enter:
ar -v -x lib.a strcat.o strcpy.o

This command copies the members strcat.o and strcpy.o into individual files named strcat.o and
strcpy.o, respectively.
8. To extract and rename a member, enter:
ar -p lib.a strcpy.o >stringcopy.o

This command copies the member strcpy.o to a file named stringcopy.o.

9. To delete a member, enter:
ar -v -d lib.a strlen.o

This command deletes the member strlen.o from the lib.a library.
10. To create an archive library from multiple shared modules created with the ld command, enter:
ar -r -v libshr.a shrsub.o shrsub2.o shrsub3.o ...

This command creates an archive library named libshr.a from the shared modules named shrsub.o,
shrsub2.o, shrsub3.o, and so on. To compile and link the main program using the libshr.a archive
library, use the following command:
cc -o main main.c -L/u/sharedlib -lshr

The main program is now executable. Any symbols referenced by the main program that are
contained by the libshr.a archive library have been marked for deferred resolution. The -l flag
specifies that the libshr.a library be searched for the symbols.

118 Commands Reference, Volume 1

11. To list the contents of lib.a, ignoring any 32-bit object file, enter:
ar -X64 -t -v lib.a
12. To extract all 32-bit object files from lib.a, enter:
ar -X32 -x lib.a
13. To list all files in lib.a, whether 32-bit, 64-bit, or non-objects, enter:
ar -X32_64 -t -v lib.a

File
/tmp/ar* Contains temporary files.

Related Information
The ld command, lorder command, make command, nm command, strip command.

arithmetic Command

Purpose
Tests arithmetic skills.

Syntax
arithmetic [ + ] [ - ] [ x ] [ / ] [ Range ]

Description
The arithmetic command displays simple arithmetic problems and waits for you to enter an answer. If
your answer is correct, the program displays Right! and presents a new problem. If your answer is wrong,
it displays What? and waits for another answer. After a set of 20 problems, the arithmetic command
displays the number of correct and incorrect responses and the time required to answer.

The arithmetic command does not give the correct answers to the problems it displays. It provides
practice rather than instruction in performing arithmetic calculations.

To quit the game, press the Interrupt (Ctrl-C) key sequence; the arithmetic command displays the final
game statistics and exits.

Flags
The optional flags modify the action of the arithmetic command. These flags are:

+ Specifies addition problems.

- Specifies subtraction problems.
x Specifies multiplication problems.
/ Specifies division problems.
Range A decimal number that specifies the permissible range of numbers. This range goes up to and includes 99.
For addition and multiplication problems, the range applies to all numbers (except answers). For
subtraction and division problems, the range applies only to the answers. At the start of the game, all
numbers within this range are equally likely to appear. If you make a mistake, the numbers in the problem
you missed become more likely to reappear.

If you do not select any flags, the arithmetic command selects addition and subtraction problems and a
default range of 10. If you give more than one problem specifier (+, - ,x, /), the program mixes the
specified types of problems in random order.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 119

Examples
1. To drill on addition and subtraction of integers from 0 to 10:
arithmetic
2. To drill on addition, multiplication, and division of integers from 0 to 50:
arithmetic +x/ 50

File
/usr/games Location of the system’s games.

Related Information
The back command, bj command, craps command, fish command, fortune command, hangman
command, moo command, number command, quiz command, ttt command, turnoff command, turnon
command, wump command.

arp Command

Purpose
Displays and modifies address resolution, including ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) interfaces.

Syntax
To Display ARP Entries
arp { [ -t ifType ] HostName | -a [ n ] [ /dev/kmem ] }

To Display ARP ATM Entries

arp { -t atm HostName | -a [ n ] [ /dev/kmem ] [ pvc | svc ] }

To Delete an ARP Entry

arp [ -t ifType ] -d HostName

To Delete a PVC ARP ATM Entry

arp -t atm -d pvc vpi:vci if ifName

To Create an ARP Entry

arp [ -t ifType ] -s Type HostName AdapterAddress [ Route ] [ temp ] [ pub ]

To Create an SVC ARP ATM Entry

arp -t atm -s Type HostName AdapterAddress [ temp ]

To Create a PVC ARP ATM Entry

arp -t atm -s Type pvc vpi:vci { HostName | if ifName } [ no-llc ] [ no-arp ] [ temp ]

To Import ARP Entries from Another File

arp [ -t ifType ] -f FileName [ Type ]

Description
The arp command displays and modifies the Internet-to-adapter address translation tables used by the
Address in Networks and communication management. The arp command displays the current ARP entry
for the host specified by the HostName variable. The host can be specified by name or number, using
Internet dotted decimal notation.

120 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Flags
-a Used as { [ -t ifType ] HostName | -a [ n ] [ /dev/kmem ] }

Displays all of the current ARP entries. Specify the -a /dev/kmem flag to display
ARP information for kernel memory. The ’n’ modifier causes hostname lookups to
be suppressed.

Used as { -t atm HostName | -a [ n ] [ /dev/kmem ] [ pvc | svc ] }

The pvc specification will display only ATM PVC (Permanent Virtual Circuits)
types of virtual circuits, svc specification will display only ATM SVC (Switched
Virtual Circuits) types of virtual circuits. If the pvc | svc parameter is omitted, all
ATM virtual circuits will be displayed.
-d Used as [ -t ifType ] -d HostName

Deletes an entry for the host specified by the HostName variable if the user has
root user authority.

Used as -t atm -d pvc vpi:vci if ifName

Deletes a PVC ARP entry by specifying vpi:vci rather than hostname. The vpi:vci
variables specify the virtual circuit that is to be deleted. The ifname variable
specifies the name of the ATM interface on which the virtual circuit is to be
deleted.
-f FileName [Type] Causes the file specified by the FileName variable to be read and multiple entries
to be set in the ARP tables. Entries in the file should be in the form:
[Type] HostName AdapterAddress [Route] [temp] [pub]

where
Type Specifies the type of hardware address. If the address type is specified
when invoking arp from the command line, it should not be specified in
the file entries. Otherwise, it should be specified in each file entry. Valid
hardware address types are:
v ether for an Ethernet interface
v 802.3 for an 802.3 interface
v fddi for a Fiber Distributed Data interface
v 802.5 for a Token-Ring interface
HostName
Specifies the remote host.
AdapterAddress
Specifies the hardware address of the adapter for this host as 6
hexadecimal bytes separated by colons. Use the netstat -v command to
display the local hardware address.
Route Specifies the route for a Token-Ring interface or Fiber Distributed Data
Interface (FDDI) as defined in the Token-Ring or FDDI header.
temp Specifies that this ARP table entry is temporary. The table entry is
permanent if this argument is omitted.
pub Specifies that this table entry is to be published, and that this system will
act as an ARP server responding to requests for HostName, even though
the host address is not its own.

Note: The -f flag is not supported for ATM.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 121

-s Used as [ -t ifType ] -s Type HostName AdapterAddress [ Route ] [ temp ] [ pub ]

Creates an ARP entry of the type specified by the Type variable for the host
specified by the HostName variable with the adapter address specified by the
AdapterAddress variable. Only users with root authority can use the -s flag. The
adapter address is given as 6 hexadecimal bytes separated by colons. The line
must be in the following format:
Type HostName AdapterAddress [Route] [temp] [pub]

where the Type, HostName, AdapterAddress, Route, temp, and pub parameters
have the same purpose and definitions as the parameters for the -f flag.

Used as -t atm -s Type HostName AdapterAddress [ temp ]

Creates a SVC type of ARP entry for the remote host, specified by the HostName
variable, with the ATM address specified by the ATMAddress variable. The ATM
address is given as 20 hexadecimal bytes separated by colons. Creation of this
entry causes this IP station to not use ARP server mechanism to resolve IP
addresses.

Used as -t atm -s Type pvc vpi:vci { HostName | if ifName } [ no-llc ] [ no-arp ] [

temp ]

Creates a PVC type of ARP entry for the remote host, specified by the HostName
variable, with the PVC specified by the vpi:vci. Either destination Hostname or the
local ifname needs to be specified. The no-llc flag is used to indicate that
LLC/SNAP encapsulation will not be used on this virtual circuit, in this case, the
destination Hostname needs to be specified. The no-arp flag is used to indicate
that ARP protocol will not be used on this virtual circuit, in this case, the
destination Hostname needs to be specified.

The temp parameter specifies that this ARP table entry is temporary, the table
entry is permanent if this argument is omitted.
-t ifType The -t iftype flag is used to indicate the type of Network interface. It is optional for
the following types of interfaces:
v et for IEEE 802.3 Ethernet (inet)
v tr for Token-Ring (inet)
v xt for X.25 (inet)
v sl for serial line IP (inet)
v lo for loopback (inet)
v op for serial (inet)

The -t atm flag is required for the following interfaces:

v at for ATM

Examples
1. To add a single entry to the arp mapping tables until the next time the system is restarted, type:
arp -s 802.3 host2 [Link] temp
2. To delete a map table entry for the specified host with the arp command, type:
arp -d host1 flag
3. To display arp entries for atm host host1 , type:
arp -t atm -a host1
4. To add a PVC arp entry for atm host host2, type:
arp -t atm -s atm pvc 0:20 host2
5. To add a PVC arp entry for an interface at0, type:

122 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 arp -t atm -s atm pvc 0:20 if at0

Related Information
The ifconfig command, netstat command.

The inetd daemon.

TCP/IP protocols in Networks and communication management.

as Command

Purpose
Reads and assembles a source file.

Syntax
as [ -a Mode ] [ -o ObjectFile ] [ -n Name ] [ -u ] [ -l [ ListFile ] ] [ -W | -w ] [ -x [ XCrossFile ] ] [ -s [
ListFile ] ] [ -m ModeName ] [-Eoff|on ] [ -poff|on ] [ -i ] [ -v ] [ File ]

Description
The as command reads and assembles the named File (by convention, this file ends with a .s suffix). If
you do not specify a File, the as command reads and assembles standard input. It stores its output, by
default, in a file named [Link]. The output is stored in the XCOFF file format.

All flags for the as command are optional.

Flags
-a Mode Specifies the mode in which the as command operates. By default, the as command
operates in 32-bit mode, but the mode can be explicitly set by using the flag -a32 for
32-bit mode operation or -a64 for 64-bit mode operation.
-l[ListFile] Produces an assembler listing. If you do not specify a file name, a default name is
produced by replacing the suffix extension of the source file name with a .lst extension.
By convention, the source file suffix is a .s. For example:
[Link]

produces a default name of:

[Link]

If the source code is from standard input and the -l flag is used without specifying an
assembler-listing file name, the listing file name is [Link].

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 123

-m ModeName Indicates the assembly mode. This flag has lower priority than the .machine pseudo-op.

If this flag is not used and no .machine pseudo-op is present in the source program, the
default assembly mode is used. The default assembly mode has the POWER
family/PowerPC intersection as the target environment, but treats all POWER
family/PowerPC incompatibility errors (including instructions outside the POWER
family/PowerPC intersection and invalid form errors) as instructional warnings.

If an assembly mode that is not valid is specified and no .machine pseudo-op is present
in the source program, an error is reported and the default assembly mode is used for
instruction validation in pass 1 of the assembler.

If the -m flag is used, the ModeName variable can specify one of the following values:
″″ Explicitly specifies the default assembly mode that has the POWER
family/PowerPC intersection as the target environment, but treats instructions
outside the POWER family/PowerPC intersection and invalid form errors as
instructional warnings. A space is required between -m and the null string
argument (two double quotation marks).
com Specifies the POWER family/PowerPC intersection mode. A source program can
contain only instructions that are common to both POWER family and PowerPC;
any other instruction causes an error. Any instruction with an invalid form causes
errors, terminates the assembly process, and results in no object code being
generated.
Note: Certain POWER family instructions are supported by the PowerPC 601
RISC Microprocessor in AIX 5.1 and earlier, but do not conform to the PowerPC
architecture. These instructions cause errors when using the com assembly
mode.
any Specifies the indiscriminate mode. The assembler generates object code for any
recognized instruction, regardless of architecture. This mode is used primarily for
operating system development and for testing and debugging purposes.
Note: All POWER family and PowerPC incompatibility errors are ignored when
using the any assembly mode, and no warnings are generated.
ppc Specifies the PowerPC mode. A source program can contain only PowerPC
instructions. Any other instruction causes an error.
Notes:
1. The PowerPC optional instructions are implemented in each PowerPC
processor and do not belong to the ppc mode. These instructions generate
an error if they appear in a source program that is assembled using the ppc
assembly mode.
2. Certain instructions conform to the PowerPC architecture, but are not
supported by the PowerPC 601 RISC Microprocessor in AIX 5.1 and earlier.
ppc64 Specifies the POWER-based 64-bit mode. A source program can contain 64-bit
POWER-based instructions.
pwr Specifies the POWER™ mode. A source program can contain only instructions
for the POWER implementation of the POWER architecture.

124 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 pwr2(pwrx)
Specifies the POWER2 mode through AIX 5.1 only. A source program can
contain only instructions for the POWER2 implementation of the POWER
architecture in AIX 5.1 and earlier. pwr2 is the preferred value. The alternate
assembly mode value pwrx means the same thing as pwr2.
Note: The POWER implementation instruction set is a subset of the POWER2
implementation instruction set for AIX 5.1 and earlier.
pwr5 Specifies the POWER5 mode. A source program can contain only instructions
for the POWER5 implementation of the POWER architecture.
601 Specifies the PowerPC 601 RISC Microprocessor mode through AIX 5.1 only. A
source program in AIX 5.1 and earlier can contain only instructions for the
PowerPC 601 RISC Microprocessor.
The PowerPC 601 RISC Microprocessor design was completed before the
POWER-based platform for AIX 5.1 and earlier. Therefore, some PowerPC
instructions may not be supported by the PowerPC 601 RISC Microprocessor in
AIX 5.1 and earlier.

Attention: It is recommended that the 601 assembly mode not be used for
applications that are intended to be portable to future PowerPC systems. The
com or ppc assembly mode should be used for such applications.
The PowerPC 601 RISC Microprocessor in AIX 5.1 and earlier implements the
POWER-based platform plus some POWER family instructions are not included
in the POWER-based platform. This allows existing POWER applications to run
with acceptable performance on POWER-based systems.
603 Specifies the PowerPC 603 RISC Microprocessor mode through AIX 5.1 only. A
source program can contain only instructions for the PowerPC 603 RISC
Microprocessor in AIX 5.1 and earlier.
604 Specifies the PowerPC 604 RISC Microprocessormode. A source program can
contain only instructions for the PowerPC 604 RISC Microprocessor.
970 Specifies the PowerPC 970 mode. A source program can contain instructions
valid for PowerPC 970 compatible processors.
A35 Specifies the A35 mode. A source program can contain only instructions for the
A35.
pwr5x Specifies the POWER5+ mode. A source program can contain instructions valid
for POWER5+ compatible processors.
pwr6 Specifies the POWER6 mode. A source program can contain instructions valid
for POWER6 compatible processors.
-n Name Specifies the name that appears in the header of the assembler listing. By default, the
header contains the name of the assembler source file.
-o ObjectFile Writes the output of the assembly process to the specified file instead of to the [Link] file.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 125

-s[ListFile] Indicates whether or not a mnemonics cross-reference for POWER family and PowerPC
is included in the assembler listing. If this flag is omitted, no mnemonics cross-reference
is produced. If this flag is used, the assembler listing will have POWER family mnemonics
if the source contains PowerPC mnemonics, and will have PowerPC mnemonics if the
source contains POWER family mnemonics.

The mnemonics cross-reference is restricted to instructions that have different mnemonics

in the POWER family and PowerPC, but that have the same op code, function, and input
operand format.

Because the -s flag is used to change the assembler-listing format, it implies the -l flag. If
both option flags are used and different assembler-listing file names (specified by the
ListFile variable) are given, the listing file name specified by the ListFile variable used
with the -l flag is used. If an assembler-listing file name is not specified with either the -l
or -s flag, a default assembler listing file name is produced by replacing the suffix
extension of the source file name with a .lst extension.
-u Accepts an undefined symbol as an extern so that an error message is not displayed.
Otherwise, undefined symbols are flagged with error messages.
-W Turns off all warning message reporting, including the instructional warning messages
(the POWER family and PowerPC incompatibility warnings).
-w Turns on warning message reporting, including reporting of instructional warning
messages (the POWER family and PowerPC incompatibility warnings).
Note: When neither -W nor -w is specified, the instructional warnings are reported, but
other warnings are suppressed.
-x[XCrossFile] Produces cross reference output. If you do not specify a file name, a default name is
produced by replacing the suffix extension of the source file name with an .xref
extension. Conventionally, the suffix is a .s. For example:
[Link]

produces a default name of:

[Link]

Note: The assembler does not generate an object file when the -x flag is used.
-E Specifies whether to report errors due to the new v2.00 syntax (-Eon), or to ignore them
(-Eoff). By default, v2.00 errors are ignored.
-p Specifies whether to use new v2.00 branch prediction (-pon), or pre-v2.00 branch
prediction (-poff). By default, pre-v2.00 branch prediction is used.
-i Specifies that branch prediction suffixes are to be encoded. By default, this option is not
set. This option will be ignored if the -p option is specified.
-v Displays the version number of this command.
File Specifies the source file. If no file is specified, the source code is taken from standard
input.

Environment Variables
OBJECT_MODE
The assembler respects the setting of the OBJECT_MODE environment variable. If neither -a32 or
-a64 is used, the environment is examined for this variable. If the value of the variable is anything
other than the values listed in the following table, an error message is generated and the
assembler exits with a non-zero return code. The implied behavior corresponding to the valid
settings are as follows:

OBJECT_MODE = 32 Produce 32-bit object code. The default machine setting is com.
OBJECT_MODE = 64 Produce 64-bit object code (XCOFF64 files). The default
machine setting is ppc64.
OBJECT_MODE = 32_64 Invalid.
OBJECT_MODE = anything else Invalid.

126 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Examples
1. To produce a listing file named [Link] and an object file named file.o, enter:
as -l -o file.o file.s
2. To produce an object file named file.o that will run on the 601 processor for AIX 5.1 and earlier and
generate a cross reference for POWER family and PowerPC mnemonics in an assembler listing file
named [Link], enter:
as -s -m 601 -o file.o file.s
3. To produce an object file named file.o using the default assembly mode and an assembler listing file
named [Link] with no mnemonics cross reference, enter:
as -[Link] -o file.o file.s

Files
/usr/ccs/bin/as Contains the as command
[Link] The default output file.

Related Information
The ld command, m4 command.

The Assembler Language Reference manual.

asa or fpr Command

Purpose
Prints FORTRAN files to in line-printer conventions.

Syntax
{ asa | fpr } [ File ... ]

Description
The asa and fpr commands print FORTRAN files to conform to this operating systems line-printer
conventions. Both commands work like a filter to transform files formatted according to FORTRAN carriage
control conventions into files formatted according to line-printer conventions.

The File variable specifies the name of the input file that the asa and fpr commands read instead of the
standard input. The asa and fpr commands read the file, replace the carriage control characters with
recognizable operating system characters, and print the file to standard output.

Both commands read the first character of each line from the input file, interpret the character, and space
the line according to the definition of the first character. If the first character is either a Blank, a 0, a dash
(-) , a 1, or a plus sign (+), either command does the following:

Blank Advances the carriage one line and prints the input line.
0 Advances the carriage two lines and prints the input line.
- Advances the carriage three lines and prints the input line.
1 Advances the carriage to the top of the next page.
+ Does not advance the carriage and starts printing the input line in the first space of the output file.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 127

The commands interpret a blank line as if its first character is a blank and delete a blank that appears as a
carriage control character. It treats lines that begin with characters other than the defined control
characters as if they begin with a blank character. The first character of a line is not printed. If any such
lines appear, an appropriate diagnostic appears in the standard error.

Note: Results are undefined for input lines longer than 170 characters.

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
1. Use the fpr command in the following manner to change the carriage control characters in an [Link]
file produced by a FORTRAN compiler into carriage control characters and print the resulting file:
[Link] | fpr | qprt
2. Use the asa command in the following manner to run the [Link] file through the asa command to
change carriage control characters from FORTRAN to the operating system and print the resulting file.
asa [Link] | qprt

Files
/usr/ucb/fpr Contains the fpr command.
/usr/bin/asa Contains the asa command.

Related Information
The fsplit command, qprt command, struct command.

at Command

Purpose
Runs commands at a later time.

Syntax
To Schedule Jobs to Run at a Later Time
at [ -c | -k | -s | -q Queue ] [ -m ] [ -f File ] { -t Date |Time [ Day ] [ Increment ] }

To Report Scheduled Jobs

at -l [ -v ] [ -o ] [ Job ... | -q Queue ]

at -n [ User ]

To Remove Scheduled Jobs

at -r [ -F ] [ -i ] Job ...

at -r [ -F ] [ -i ] -u User

128 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Description
The at command reads from standard input the names of commands to be run at a later time and allows
you to specify when the commands should be run.

The at command mails you all output from standard output and standard error for the scheduled
commands, unless you redirect that output. It also writes the job number and the scheduled time to
standard error.

When the at command is executed, it retains the current process environment. It does not retain open file
descriptors, traps, and priority.

The /var/adm/cron/[Link] and /var/adm/cron/[Link] files control what users can use the at command.
A person with root user authority can create, edit, or delete these files. Entries in these files are user login
names with one name to a line. The following is an example of an [Link] file:
root
nick
dee
sarah

If the [Link] file exists, only users whose login names appear in it can use the at command. A system
administrator can explicitly stop a user from using the at command by listing the user’s login name in the
[Link] file. If only the [Link] file exists, any user whose name does not appear in the file can use the at
command.

A user cannot use the at command if one of the following is true:

v The [Link] file and the [Link] file do not exist (allows root user only).
v The [Link] file exists but the user’s login name is not listed in it.
v The [Link] file exists and the user’s login name is listed in it.

If the [Link] file does not exist and the [Link] file does not exist or is empty, only someone with root
user authority can submit a job with the at command.

To schedule a job to run at a later time, you must specify a time to start the job. You may specify the time
by using either the -t Date flag or the Time, Day, and Increment parameters. At most, 60 jobs can be
scheduled in any given run queue at the granularity of one per second. If more jobs than can be handled
are submitted, for every job beyond 60, a file _at<pid> is created in /var/spool/cron/atjobs/ which can be
safely deleted by the end user.

The Date variable to the -t flag is specified using the following format:

[[CC]YY]MMDDhhmm[.SS]

The digits in the Date variable are defined as follows:

CC Specifies the first two digits of the year (the century).

YY Specifies the second two digits of the year.
MM Specifies the month of the year (01 through 12).
DD Specifies the day of the month (01 through 31).
hh Specifies the hour of the day (00 through 23).
mm Specifies the minute of the hour (00 through 59).
SS Specifies the second of the minute (00 through 59).

Both the CC and YY digits are optional. If neither is given, the current year is assumed. If the YY digits are
specified but the CC digits are not, the CC digits are defined as follows:

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 129

v If the value of the YY digits is between 70 and 99, the value of the CC digits is assumed to be 19.
v If the value of the YY digits is between 00 and 37, the value of the CC digits is assumed to be 20.
v The default value of SS is 00.

The resulting time is affected by the value of the TZ environment variable.

The Time parameter may be specified as a number followed by an optional suffix. The at command
interprets one- and two-digit numbers as hours. It interprets four digits as hours and minutes. The T_FMT
item in the LC_TIME locale category specifies the order of hours and minutes. The default order is the
hour followed by the minute. You can also separate hours and minutes with a : (colon). The default order
is Hour:Minute.

In addition, you may specify one of the following suffixes:

v am
v pm
v zulu

If you do not specify am or pm, the at command uses a 24-hour clock. These suffixes can follow the time
as a separate argument or separated with spaces. The am and pm suffixes are defined values from the
AM_STR and PM_STR items in the LC_TIME locale category. The suffix zulu indicates that the time is
GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

The at command also recognizes the following keywords as special values for the Time parameter:
v noon
v midnight
v now
v A for AM
v P for PM
v N for noon
v M for midnight

You may specify the optional Day parameter as either a month name and a day number (and possibly a
year number preceded by a comma), or a day of the week. The D_FMT item in the LC_TIME locale
category specifies the order of the month and day (by default, month followed by day). The DAY_1 through
DAY_7 items in the LC_TIME locale category specify long day names. The ABDAY_1 through ABDAY_7
items in the LC_TIME locale category specify short day names. The MON_1 through MON_12 items in the
LC_TIME locale category specify long month names. The ABMON_1 through ABMON_12 items in the
LC_TIME locale category specify short month names. By default, the long name is fully spelled out; the
short name is abbreviated to two or more characters for weekdays, and three characters for months.

The at command recognizes today and tomorrow as special default values for the Day parameter. The
today value is the default Day if the specified time is later than the current hour; the tomorrow value is
the default if the time is earlier than the current hour. If the specified month is less than the current month
(and a year is not given), next year is the default year.

Flags
-c Requests that the csh command be used for executing this job.
-f File Uses the specified file as input rather than using standard input.
-F Suppresses delete verification. Use this flag with the -r flag.
-i Specifies interactive delete. Use this flag with the -r flag.
-k Requests that the ksh command be used for executing this job.

130 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-l Reports your scheduled jobs. If you have root user authority, you can get jobs issued by other
users.
-m Mails a message to the user about the successful execution of the command.
-n [ User ] Reports the number of files in your queue. If you have root user authority, you can get
information about another user’s queue.
-o Lists jobs in schedule order. This flag is useful only with the -l flag.
-q Queue Specifies the queue in which to schedule a job for submission. When used with the -l flag, the
report is limited to the queue specified by the Queue variable. By default, at jobs are scheduled
in the a queue. The b, c and d queues are reserved for batch jobs, cron jobs, and sync jobs
respectively.
-q a Queues at jobs.
-q b Queues batch jobs. The batch command calls the at command with this flag.
Note: When using the b queue, commands are read from standard input. Also, the
now keyword is used for the Time parameter, regardless of what you specify on the
command line.
-q e Queues ksh jobs. Equivalent to the -k flag.
-q f Queues csh jobs. Equivalent to the -c flag.
-q g-z Queues user defined queue jobs.
-r Job... Removes Jobs previously scheduled by the at or batch commands, where Job is the number
assigned by the at or batch commands. If you do not have root user authority (see the su
command), you can remove only your own jobs. The atrm command is available to the root
user to remove jobs issued by other users or all jobs issued by a specific user.
-s Requests that the bsh command (Bourne shell) be used for executing this job.
-t Date Submits the job to be run at the time specified by the Date variable.
-u User Deletes all jobs for the specified user. If used with the -r flag, do not specify a Job variable (the
correct syntax is at -r -u User).
-v Used with -l flag to show content of listed jobs.

Parameters
Day Specifies the optional Day parameter as either a month name and a day number (and possibly a
year number preceded by a comma), or a day of the week.
Increment The optional Increment parameter can be one of the following:

v A + (plus sign) followed by a number and one of the following words:

– minute[s]
– hour[s]
– day[s]
– week[s]
– month[s]
– year[s]
v The special word next followed by a one of the following words:
– minute[s]
– hour[s]
– day[s]
– week[s]
– month[s]
– year[s]

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 131

Security
Auditing Events: If the auditing subsystem has been properly configured and is enabled, the at command
will generate the following audit record (event) every time the command is executed:

Event Information
AT_JobAdd Lists at jobs that were run, the time the task was completed, and the user who issued the
command.

See ″Setting Up Auditing″ in Security for more details about how to properly select and group audit events,
and how to configure audit event data collection.

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 The at command successfully submitted, removed, or listed a job or jobs.

>0 An error occurred.

Examples
1. To schedule the command from the terminal, enter a command similar to one of the following:
If uuclean is in your current directory, enter:
at 5 pm Friday
uuclean
<Ctrl-D>

at now next week

uuclean
<Ctrl-D>
If uuclean is in $HOME/bin/uuclean, enter:
at now + 2 days
$HOME/bin/uuclean
<Ctrl-D>

Note: When entering a command name as the last item on the command line, a full path name must
be given if the command is not in the current directory, and the at command will not accept any
arguments.
2. To run the uuclean command at 3:00 in the afternoon on the 24th of January, enter any one of the
following commands:
echo uuclean | at 3:00 pm January 24

echo uuclean | at 3 pm Jan 24

echo uuclean | at 1500 jan 24

3. To have a job reschedule itself, invoke the at command from within the shell procedure by including
code similar to the following within the shell file:
echo "ksh shellfile" | at now tomorrow
4. To list the jobs you have sent to be run later, enter:

at -l
5. To cancel a job, enter:

at -r ctw.635677200.a

132 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 This cancels job ctw.635677200.a. Use the at -l command to list the job numbers assigned to your
jobs.

Files
/var/adm/cron/FIFO A named pipe that sends messages to the cron daemon when new jobs
are submitted with the crontab or at commands.
/usr/bin/at Contains the at command.
/var/adm/cron Contains the main cron directory.
/var/adm/cron/[Link] Specifies the list of allowed users.
/var/adm/cron/[Link] Specifies the list of denied users.

/var/spool/cron/atjobs Contains the spool area directory for at.

Related Information
The atq command, atrm command, auditpr command, batch command, bsh command, kill command,
ksh command, mail command, nice command, ps command, sh command, su command.

The cron daemon.

The environment file.

Auditing Overview in Security provides more information about audits and audit events.

Input and output redirection overview in Operating system and device management describes how the
operating system processes input and output.

National Language Support Overview for Programming in Operating system and device management
explains collating sequences, equivalence classes, and locale.

Shells in Operating system and device management describes what shells are, the different types of
shells, and how shells affect the way commands are interpreted.

ate Command

Purpose
Starts the Asynchronous Terminal Emulation (ATE) program.

Syntax
ate

Description
The ate command starts the Asynchronous Terminal Emulation (ATE) program. The ATE program
establishes a connection between a workstation and a remote computer. A workstation acts as a terminal
connected to the remote computer. Using ATE the user can connect to, and exchange data with, remote
databases and other systems.

Note: Users must be a member of the UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Program (uucp) group in order to use
ATE. A user with root authority uses System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) to install individual
users in groups.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 133

ATE establishes the connection and allows users to record and control the session. After logging in to the
remote system, users execute programs, issue commands, and use files on the remote system as a local
user. ATE also enables a workstation to emulate a VT100 terminal.

The ATE program uses menus and subcommands. From the menus, users issue subcommands to
connect to a remote system, receive and transfer files, and execute commands. The Unconnected Main
Menu displays any time users issue the ate command. The Connected Main Menu displays when users
press the MAINMENU_KEY (usually the Ctrl-V key sequence) while connected to another system. The
connect subcommand makes the connection.

The ATE program supports three control key sequences: the CAPTURE_KEY (usually Ctrl-B),
PREVIOUS_KEY (usually CTRL-R), and MAINMENU_KEY (usually CTRL-V). These control keys do not
function until the ATE program is started. The control keys and other ATE defaults can be changed by
editing the [Link] file format.

Examples
To start the ATE program, enter:
ate

The ATE Unconnected Main Menu displays.

Subcommands
alter Temporarily changes data transmission characteristics in the ATE program.
break Interrupts current activity on a remote system.
connect Connects to a remote computer.
directory Displays the ATE dialing directory.
help Provides help information for the ATE subcommands.
modify Temporarily modifies local settings used for terminal emulation.
perform Allows the user to issue workstation operating system commands while using ATE.
quit Exits the Asynchronous Terminal Emulation (ATE) program.
receive Receives a file from a remote system.
send Sends a file to a remote system.
terminate Terminates an ATE connection to a remote system.

alter Subcommand
a [ l CharacterLength ] [ s StopBit ] [ p Parity ] [ r BaudRate ] [ d Device ] [ i DialPrefix ] [ f DialSuffix ] [ w
Seconds ] [ a RedialAttempts ] [ t TransferProtocol ] [ c PacingType ]

Note: The default values of the alter subcommand flags can be permanently changed by editing the
[Link] file format.

The alter subcommand is accessed from the Asynchronous Terminal Emulation (ATE) Connected or
Unconnected Main Menu. Issuing the ate command from the command line displays the Unconnected
Main Menu. The alter subcommand temporarily changes these data transmission characteristics:
v Data character length
v Baud rate
v Stop and parity bits
v Port name
v Modem dialing prefixes and suffixes
v Waiting time and retry limits
v File transfer protocol

134 Commands Reference, Volume 1

v Pacing character or delay time

The settings return to the defaults as defined in the [Link] file format when the user exits ATE.

When issued without flags from either of the ATE main menus, the alter subcommand displays the Alter
Menu. To bypass the Alter Menu, enter the alter subcommand, followed by the appropriate flags, at the
command prompt on either ATE main menu.

The alter subcommand can change more than one feature at a time. To change the value of more than
one variable, type the first flag followed by the new value, followed by a space, then the second flag and
second value, and so on.

To permanently change the settings affected by the alter subcommand, customize the [Link] file format.

The Alter Menu: The Alter Menu displays the current settings of the changeable characteristics with the
alter subcommand. Enter the letter a after the command prompt on either the ATE Connected or
Unconnected Main Menu to view the Alter Menu.

The Alter Menu contains the following columns:

Column Names Contents

COMMAND Flag that changes the value of a variable
DESCRIPTION Description of the variable that the flag affects
CURRENT Current value of the variable
POSSIBLE CHOICES Possible values of the variable

To change the value of a variable, enter the flag (from the COMMAND column) and new value (from the
POSSIBLE CHOICES column) at the command prompt on the Alter Menu.

To return to one of the ATE main menus from the Alter Menu, press the Enter key.

Flags:

a RedialAttempts Specifies the maximum number of times the ATE program redials for a
connection. If the RedialAttempts variable is 0, no redial attempt occurs.

Options: 0 (none) or a positive integer

Default: 0

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 135

c PacingType Specifies the type of pacing protocol used.

Default: 0 (no pacing)

Note: The PacingType variable has no effect when the xmodem protocol is
used.

The PacingType can be either of the following:

Character
Signal to transmit a line. The signal can be any ASCII character.
When the send subcommand encounters a line-feed character while
transmitting data, it waits to receive the pacing character before sending
the next line.
When the receive subcommand is ready to receive data, it sends the
pacing character and then waits 30 seconds to receive data. The
receive subcommand sends a pacing character again whenever it finds
a carriage-return character in the data. The receive subcommand ends
when it receives no data for 30 seconds.
Interval Number of seconds the system waits between each line it transmits. The
value of the Interval variable must be an integer. The default value is 0
indicating a pacing delay of 0 seconds.
d Device Specifies the name of the asynchronous port used to connect to a remote
system.

Options: Locally created port names. The first 8 characters of the port name
display in the Alter Menu.

Default: tty0
f DialSuffix Specifies the dial suffix that must follow the telephone number when autodialed
with a modem. Consult the modem documentation for the proper dial command.

Options: 0 (none) or a valid modem suffix. The first 8 characters display in the
Alter Menu.

Default: no default
i DialPrefix Specifies the dial prefix that must precede the telephone number when autodialed
with a modem. Consult the modem documentation for the proper dial commands.

Options: ATDT, ATDP, or other values depending on the type of modem used. The
first 8 characters display in the Alter Menu.

Default: ATDT
l CharacterLength Specifies the number of bits in a data character. This length must match the
length expected by the remote system.

Options: 7 or 8

Default: 8
p Parity Checks whether a character was successfully transmitted to or from a remote
system. Must match the parity of the remote system.

For example, if the user selects even parity, when the number of 1 bits in the
character is odd, the parity bit is turned on to make an even number of 1 bits.

Options: 0 (none), 1 (odd), or 2 (even)

Default: 0

136 Commands Reference, Volume 1

r BaudRate Specifies the baud rate, or bits transmitted per second (bps). The speed must
match the speed of the modem and that of the remote system.

Options: 50, 75, 110, 134, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 1800, 2400, 4800, 9600, or
19200

Default: 1200
s StopBit Specifies the number of stop bits appended to a character to signal the end of
that character during data transmission. This number must match the number of
stop bits used by the remote system.

Options: 1 or 2

Default: 1
t TransferProtocol Defines the type of asynchronous protocol that transfers files during a connection.
p File transfer protocol controls the data transmission rate by waiting for
either a specified character or a certain number of seconds between line
transmissions. This helps prevent loss of data when the transmission
blocks are either too large or sent too quickly for the system to process.
x An 8-bit file transfer protocol to detect data transmission errors and
retransmit the data.

Options: p (pacing), or x (xmodem)

Default: p
w Seconds wait

Specifies the number of seconds between redial attempts. The wait period does
not begin until the connection attempt times out or until it is interrupted. If the
attempts flag is set to 0, no redial attempt occurs.

Options: 0 (none) or a positive integer

Default: 0

Examples:
1. To display the Alter Menu, enter the alter subcommand at the command prompt on either ATE main
menu:
a

The Alter Menu is displayed.

2. To alter transmission settings from the Alter Menu, enter the appropriate flags at the command prompt
on the Alter Menu:
v To change the value for the rate flag, enter:
r 9600

For the current session of ATE, the baud rate is changed to 9600 bps.
v To change the value of the wait flag, enter:
w 7

For the current session of ATE, the wait time for redial changes to 7 seconds.
v To bypass the Alter Menu when using the alter command, type the command abbreviation a, followed
by the appropriate flags, at the prompt on one of the ATE main menus. For example, to change the
rate, wait, and attempt values, enter the following at the prompt on either ATE main menu:
a r 9600 w 5 a 1

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 137

For the current session of ATE, the baud rate changes to 9600 bps, the wait time for redial changes to 5
seconds, and the maximum number of redial attempts changes to 1 attempt.

break Subcommand
b

The break subcommand sends a break signal to the remote system connected to the terminal by the
Asynchronous Terminal Emulation (ATE) program. The break subcommand interrupts current activity on
the remote system. Issue the break subcommand from the ATE Connected Main Menu.

Attention: The break subcommand may disconnect the current session. The system may lose data.

Example: To interrupt the current session, at the remote system login screen, press the
MAINMENU_KEY (usually the Ctrl-V key sequence). When the ATE Connected Main Menu displays, enter:
b

A break signal is sent to the remote system, and the ATE Unconnected Main Menu displays. Now exit the
ATE program or issue other ATE subcommands.

connect Subcommand
c [ TelephoneNumber | PortName ]

The ATE connect subcommand enables users to connect to a remote computer using Asynchronous
Terminal Emulation (ATE). Issue the connect subcommand from the ATE Unconnected Main Menu. The
connection can be made between two machines connected by cable or by telephone line. Users establish
connection in one of three ways:

direct Uses an established cabled link to another system.

manually dialed Uses a telephone number dialed by the user.
automatically dialed Uses a modem to dial a specified telephone number (a modem-dialed
connection).

If the system login is not disabled, attempts to connect to another computer return an error. To disable the
workstation port that handles system login by remote users, a user with root authority must use the
pdisable command. Once the workstation port is secure from remote logins, the user must then ensure
the remote system is ready to receive calls.

No connection is established if the line is busy, if the party does not answer, or if the user specified an
unrecognized number. If any of these conditions exist, a message is displayed.

If a busy signal is received while trying to connect to a remote workstation, press the PREVIOUS_KEY
(usually the Ctrl-R key sequence), and enter the TelephoneNumber parameter again.

Once the connection is established, ATE displays a message indicating the name of the port used for the
connection.

Parameters:

PortName Specifies the name of the port used for a direct connection.
TelephoneNumber Specifies the telephone number used to establish a modem connection.

Examples:
1. To establish a direct connection, at the command line of the ATE Unconnected Main Menu, enter:
c tty0

138 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 This command establishes a direct connection using port tty0. After connection is established, a
message displays, followed by a login screen. Enter the requested login information and press the
MAINMENU_KEY (usually the Ctrl-V key sequence) to display the ATE Connected Main Menu.
2. To establish a manually dialed connection, at the command line of the ATE Unconnected Main Menu,
enter:
c

The ATE program prompts the user for information necessary to establish a manually dialed
connection, such as a telephone number or modem to use. After connection is established, ATE
displays a message giving the port name used for the connection, followed by a login screen. Enter
the requested login information and press the MAINMENU_KEY (usually the Ctrl-V key sequence) to
display the ATE Connected Main Menu.
3. To establish an automatically dialed connection, at the command line of the ATE Unconnected Main
Menu, enter:
c 2229999

This example dials the telephone number 222-9999. After connection is established, a message
displays indicating the port used for the connection, followed by a login screen. Enter the requested
login information and press the MAINMENU_KEY (usually the Ctrl-V key sequence) to display the ATE
Connected Main Menu.

directory Subcommand
d

The ATE directory subcommand displays a dialing directory. Users establish a connection to a remote
computer by selecting one of the directory entries from the displayed directory. The directory
subcommand is issued from the ATE Unconnected Main Menu. The directory subcommand uses the
information contained in the dialing directory to establish an automatically dialed (modem-dialed)
connection.

When ATE starts, it checks the current directory for an [Link] file format. If an [Link] file format does not
exist in the current directory, it creates one. The initial location of the dialing directory is /usr/lib/dir, but
this value can be changed by Editing the ATE default file the [Link] file format. If users specify a different
dialing directory in the [Link] file format, that directory is used.

The dialing directory contains entries for remote systems called with the ATE program in the format:

Name Phone Rate Length StopBit Parity Echo Linefeed

These fields give the name of the entry (usually the person or company whose computer the phone
number reaches), the telephone number, and other information the ATE program uses to establish the
connection.

See ″Dialing Directory File Format for ATE″ in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Files Reference for more information
about dialing directory entries.

When an entry displays on the screen using the directory subcommand, the entry is preceded by an entry
number. Select the entry to establish a connection to by entering its entry number in response to a prompt.

Example: To display a dialing directory, at the command line of the Unconnected Main Menu, enter:
d

The dialing directory specified in the [Link] file format displays and prompts the user for an entry number.
Enter the number of the dialing directory entry to establish a connection with. ATE establishes the
connection and displays a message indicating the port name used.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 139

See Setting up an ATE dialing directory in Networks and communication management.

help Subcommand
h[a][b][c][d][m][p][q][r][s][t]

The ATE help subcommand provides help information for the ATE subcommands. Issue the help
subcommand from either the Unconnected or Connected Main Menu of ATE. Help information is available
for all the ATE subcommands, and can be requested for several subcommands at the same time.

When issuing the help subcommand, ATE displays a description of each subcommand requested and
instructions for using the subcommand. Help information for each subcommand displays individually, in the
order requested. After reading each help message, press Enter to view the next page of help text. At the
end of the help text, press Enter to return to the main menu.

Issue the help subcommand with the first letter of an ATE subcommand for help information. These are
the names for the ATE subcommands:

Name ATE Subcommand

a alter subcommand
b break subcommand
c connect subcommand
d directory subcommand
m modify subcommand
p perform subcommand
q quit subcommand
r receive subcommand
s send subcommand
t terminate subcommand

Examples:
1. To receive help information for a single subcommand, enter the following at one of the ATE main
menus:
h c

Help information displays for the connect (c) subcommand. After viewing the help information, press
the Enter key, and ATE displays the menu from which the help subcommand was issued.
2. To receive help information for multiple subcommands, enter the following at one of the ATE main
menus:
h r s

The help information for the receive subcommand (r) displays first. After viewing the help information,
press the Enter key. Help information for the send subcommand (s) displays. After viewing the help
information, press the Enter key, and ATE displays the menu from which the help subcommand was
issued.

modify Subcommand
m [ n CaptureFileName ] [ e ] [ l ] [ v ] [ w ] [ x ]

Note: The default CaptureFileName and the initial settings of the other modify subcommand flags
can be permanently changed in the [Link] file format.

The modify subcommand is accessed from the Asynchronous Terminal Emulation (ATE) Connected or
Unconnected Main Menu. The modify subcommand temporarily changes how ATE functions on the local
system in the following ways:
v Changes the name of the capture file that receives incoming data.
140 Commands Reference, Volume 1
v Switches (toggles) the following features on or off:
– Add a line-feed character at the end of each line of incoming data.
– Use echo mode.
– Emulate a DEC VT100 terminal at the console.
– Write incoming data to a capture file as well as to the display.
– Use an Xon/Xoff (transmitter on/off) signal.

The settings return to the default values as defined in the [Link] file format when the user exits ATE.

When issued without flags from either of the ATE main menus, the modify subcommand displays the
Modify Menu. The Modify Menu can be bypassed by entering m (the modify subcommand abbreviation),
followed by the appropriate flags, at the command prompt on either ATE main menu.

The modify subcommand can change more than one feature at a time. To change the name variable,
enter the n flag followed by the new file name. All other variables are switches that can be turned on or off
by typing the flag. Typing the flag switches, or toggles, the value.

To permanently change the settings affected by the modify subcommand, customize the [Link] file
format in the directory running ATE.

Modify Menu: The Modify Menu displays the current settings of the features changeable with the modify
subcommand. To display the Modify Menu, enter the letter m after the command prompt on either the ATE
Connected Main Menu or the ATE Unconnected Main Menu.

The Modify Menu contains the following columns:

Column Names Contents

COMMAND Flag to enter to change a value
DESCRIPTION Description of the variable the flag affects
CURRENT Current value of the variable
POSSIBLE CHOICES Possible values of the variable

To change the value of a flag other than the name flag, enter the flag (from the COMMAND column) at the
command prompt on the Modify Menu. The flag value toggles to the alternate setting. To change the name
of the capture file, enter the letter n (the name flag), followed by the new file name, at the prompt on the
Modify Menu.

To return to the ATE Connected or Unconnected Main Menu from the Modify Menu, press the Enter key.

Flags:

e echo

Displays the input typed by the user.

With a remote computer that supports echoing, each character sent returns and
displays on the screen. When the echo flag is on, each character is displayed
twice: first when it is entered and again when it returns over a connection. When
the echo flag is off, each character displays only when it returns over the
connection.

Options: On or off

Default: Off

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 141

l linefeed

Adds a line-feed character after every carriage-return character in the incoming

data stream.

Options: On or off

Default: Off
n CaptureFileName name

Specifies the file name for incoming data when the write flag is on, or when the
CAPTURE_KEY (usually the Ctrl-B key sequence) is pressed during a connection.

Options: Any valid file name. The first 18 characters display in the Modify Menu.

Default: capture
v VT100

The local console emulates a DEC VT100 terminal so DEC VT100 codes can be
used with the remote system. With the VT100 flag off, the local console functions
like a workstation.

Options: On or off

Default: Off

Note: No keys on the console keyboard are remapped. In addition, some

DEC VT100 codes, such as 132 columns, double-height and double-width
lines, origin mode, and graphics characters generated from a 10-key keypad,
are not supported.
w write

Routes incoming data to the capture file (specified by the name flag) as well as to
the display. The write command functions like the CAPTURE_KEY key sequence
during a connection. Carriage return and line-feed combinations are converted to
line-feed characters before being written to the capture file. In an existing file, data
is appended to the end of the file.

Options: On or off

Default: Off
x Xon/Xoff

Controls data transmission at a port using the Xon/Xoff protocol, as follows:

v When an Xoff signal is received, transmission stops.
v When an Xon signal is received, transmission resumes.
v An Xoff signal is sent when the receive buffer is nearly full.
v An Xon signal is sent when the buffer is no longer full.

Options: On or off

Default: On

Note: If you use a variable value with any flag other than the name flag, the
following error message displays:
828-003 not ’command-name’ command is not valid.
Enter the first letter of a command
from the list on the menu.

This error message indicates either an incorrect letter was entered or a value
that is not valid was included.

142 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Examples:
1. To display the Modify Menu, enter the modify subcommand at the command prompt on either ATE
main menu:
m

The Modify Menu displays.

2. To modify settings from the Modify Menu, enter the appropriate flag at the command prompt at the
bottom of the Modify Menu:
v To toggle the values of the linefeed flag, at the prompt on the Modify Menu enter:
l

The value of the linefeed flag is switched to the alternate setting.

v To change the name variable to schedule, at the prompt on the Modify Menu enter:
n schedule

Any data saved is now put into the schedule file.

3. To bypass the Modify menu when using the modify subcommand, type the m subcommand (the
modify subcommand abbreviation), followed by the appropriate flags, at the command prompt on
either ATE main menu:
v To toggle the values of the linefeed and echo flags, at the prompt on either ATE main menu enter:
m l e

The values of the linefeed and echo flags are switched to the alternate settings. Display the Modify
Menu to view the current settings of the flags.
v To change the name variable to schedule and toggle the values of the write and Xon/Xoff flags, at
the prompt on either ATE main menu enter:
m n schedule w X

Any data saved is now put into the schedule file, and the values of the write and Xon/Xoff flags are
switched to the alternate settings. Display the Modify Menu to view the settings of the flags.

perform Subcommand
p [ Command ]

The ATE perform subcommand allows the user to issue workstation operating system commands while
using Asynchronous Terminal Emulation (ATE). Issue the perform subcommand from the ATE
Unconnected or Connected Main Menu. Command specifies a valid workstation operating system
command.

Examples:
1. To issue a workstation operating system command, at the command line of the ATE Unconnected or
Connected Main Menu, enter:
p

ATE prompts the user to enter a command. ATE executes the specified command. After the command
finishes, ATE displays the menu from which the perform subcommand was issued.
2. To specify the command to be executed, at the command line of the ATE Unconnected or Connected
Main Menu, enter:
p cat mystuff

ATE executes the cat command, which displays the mystuff file. After the cat command finishes, ATE
displays the menu from which the perform subcommand was issued.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 143

quit Subcommand
q

The ATE quit subcommand exits the Asynchronous Terminal Emulation (ATE) program. Issue the quit
subcommand from the ATE Unconnected or Connected Main Menu. Issuing the quit subcommand ends
the ATE program and displays the command prompt.

Example: To exit the ATE program, from the command line of either ATE main menu, enter:
q

The ATE program ends and the command prompt displays.

receive Subcommand
r FileName

The ATE receive subcommand enables your system to receive a file from a remote system. The ATE
receive subcommand is issued from the ATE Connected Main Menu.

The ATE receive subcommand uses the xmodem file transfer protocol, which enables your system to
receive data from a remote system, a block at a time, with error checking. The remote system must be set
to send the file before your system can receive. Use the xmodem command with the -s flag on the remote
system to enable the remote system to send the file. Then issue the receive subcommand. FileName
names the file where the received data is stored.

Example: To receive a file sent from the remote system, at the command line of the ATE Connected
Main Menu, enter:
r myfile

The data is received from the remote system and is stored in the myfile file.

send Subcommand
s [ FileName ]

The ATE send subcommand sends a file to a remote system. Issue the ATE send subcommand from the
ATE Connected Main Menu once a connection is established. The ATE connect subcommand establishes
the connection and prepares the remote system to receive files.

The send subcommand uses the xmodem file transfer protocol, sending data to a remote system, a block
at a time, with error checking. Issue the xmodem command with the -r flag on the remote system to
enable the remote system to receive the file. Then issue the send subcommand. FileName names the file
to send to the remote system.

Examples:
1. To send a file to a remote system, at the command line of the ATE Connected Main Menu, enter:
s

ATE prompts the user for the name of the file to send to the remote system.
2. To specify a file to send to the remote system, at the command line of the ATE Connected Main Menu,
enter:
s mystuff

The mystuff file is sent to the remote system.

terminate Subcommand
t

144 Commands Reference, Volume 1

The ATE terminate subcommand ends an Asynchronous Terminal Emulation (ATE) connection to a remote
system and returns to the ATE Unconnected Main Menu. Issue the terminate subcommand from the ATE
Connected Main Menu.

Example: To terminate the current session, from the remote system login screen, press the
MAINMENU_KEY (usually the Ctrl-V key sequence). When the ATE Connected Main Menu displays, enter:
t

A terminate signal is sent to the remote system, the session ends, and ATE displays the Unconnected
Main Menu. Now issue other ATE subcommands or exit ATE.

File
/usr/lib/dir Contains the default dialing directory.

Related Information
The [Link] file format contains ATE default values.

ATE main menus in Networks and communication management describes the ATE program, its menus,
and its control keys.

Editing the ATE default file in Networks and communication management explains how to permanently
change ATE defaults.

atmstat Command

Purpose
Shows Asynchronous Transfer Mode adapters statistics.

Syntax
atmstat [ -d -r ] Device_Name

Description
The atmstat command displays Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) adapter statistics. The user can
optionally specify that the device-specific statistics be displayed in addition to the device generic statistics.
If no flags are specified, only the device generic statistics are displayed. For information on statistic from
the atmstat command, see ATM adapter statistics in the Networks and communication management.

If an invalid Device_Name is specified, the atmstat command produces an error message stating that it
could not connect to the device.

Flags
-d Displays detailed statistics.
-r Resets all the statistics back to their initial values. This flag can only be issued by privileged users.

Parameters
Device_Name The name of the ATM device, for example, atm0.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 145

Examples
To display the adapter generic statistics for atm0, enter:
atmstat atm0

This produces the following output on a Micro Channel machine in AIX 5.1 and earlier:
ATM STATISTICS (atm0) :
Device Type: Turboways 155 MCA ATM Adapter
Hardware Address: [Link]
Elapsed Time: 2 days 23 hours 38 minutes 18 seconds

Transmit Statistics: Receive Statistics:

-------------------- -------------------
Packets: 50573 Packets: 0
Bytes: 2225182 Bytes: 0
Interrupts: 0 Interrupts: 12904
Transmit Errors: 0 Receive Errors: 0
Packets Dropped: 0 Packets Dropped: 0
Bad Packets: 0
Max Packets on S/W Transmit Queue: 0
S/W Transmit Queue Overflow: 0
Current S/W+H/W Transmit Queue Length: 0

Cells Transmitted: 50573 Cells Received: 0

Out of Xmit Buffers: 0 Out of Rcv Buffers: 0
Current HW Transmit Queue Length: 0 CRC Errors: 0
Current SW Transmit Queue Length: 0 Packets Too Long: 0
Incomplete Packets: 0
Cells Dropped: 0

General Statistics:
-------------------
No mbuf Errors: 0
Adapter Loss of Signals: 0
Adapter Reset Count: 0
Driver Flags: Up Running Simplex
64BitSupport
Virtual Connections in use: 2
Max Virtual Connections in use: 2
Virtual Connections Overflow: 0
SVC UNI Version: auto_detect

Turboways ATM Adapter Specific Statistics:

---------------------------------------------------
Packets Dropped - No small DMA buffer: 0
Packets Dropped - No medium DMA buffer: 0
Packets Dropped - No large DMA buffer: 0
Receive Aborted - No Adapter Receive Buffer: 0
Transmit Attempted - No small DMA buffer: 0
Transmit Attempted - No medium DMA buffer: 0
Transmit Attempted - No large DMA buffer: 0
Transmit Attempted - No MTB DMA buffer: 0
Transmit Attempted - No Adapter Transmit Buffer: 0
Max Hardware transmit queue length: 12
Small Mbuf in Use: 0
Medium Mbuf in Use: 0
Large Mbuf in Use: 64
Huge Mbuf in Use: 0
MTB Mbuf in Use: 0
Max Small Mbuf in Use: 0
Max Medium Mbuf in Use: 0
Max Large Mbuf in Use: 64
Max Huge Mbuf in Use: 0
MTB Mbuf in Use: 0
Small Mbuf overflow: 0

146 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Medium Mbuf overflow: 0
Large Mbuf overflow: 0
Huge Mbuf overflow: 0
MTB Mbuf overflow: 0

This produces the following output on a PCI machine:

-------------------- -------------------
Packets: 299 Packets: 294
Bytes: 9727 Bytes: 10123
Interrupts: 0 Interrupts: 297
Transmit Errors: 0 Receive Errors: 0
Packets Dropped: 0 Packets Dropped: 0
Bad Packets: 0
Max Packets on S/W Transmit Queue: 0
S/W Transmit Queue Overflow: 0
Current S/W+H/W Transmit Queue Length: 2

Cells Transmitted: 450 Cells Received: 457

Out of Xmit Buffers: 0 Out of Rcv Buffers: 0
Current HW Transmit Queue Length: 2 CRC Errors: 0
Current SW Transmit Queue Length: 0 Packets Too Long: 0
Incomplete Packets: 0
Cells Dropped: 5

General Statistics:
-------------------
No mbuf Errors: 0
Adapter Loss of Signals: 0
Adapter Reset Count: 0
Driver Flags: Up Running Simplex
64BitSupport
Virtual Connections in use: 4
Max Virtual Connections in use: 5
Virtual Connections Overflow: 0
SVC UNI Version: uni3.1

IBM PCI 155 Mbps ATM Adapter Specific Statistics:

---------------------------------------------------
Total 4K byte Receive Buffers: 96 Using: 64

Related Information
The entstat command, fddistat command, netstat command, tokstat command.

ATM adapter statistics in the Networks and communication management.

atq Command

Purpose
Displays the queue of jobs waiting to be run.

Syntax
atq [ c | -n ] [ User ... ]

Description
The atq command displays the current user’s queue of jobs that are waiting to be run at a later date,
sorted in the order the jobs will be run. These jobs were created with the at command. If the user is root
and User name is specified, the atq command displays only jobs belonging to that user.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 147

Flags
-c Sorts the queue by the time that the at command was issued.
-n Displays only the number of jobs currently in the queue.

Examples
In order to look at the queue created by the at command, enter:
atq

If there are jobs in the queue, a message similar to the following appears:
root.635623200.a Wed Feb 21 [Link] 1990
root.635670000.a Thu Feb 22 [Link] 1990

Files
/usr/bin/atq Contains the atq program.
/var/spool/cron/atjobs Specifies the spool area.

Related Information
The at command, atrm command.

The cron daemon.

Input and output redirection overview in Operating system and device management describes how the
operating system processes input and output.

Shells in Operating system and device management describes what shells are, the different types of
shells, and how shells affect the way commands are interpreted.

atrm Command

Purpose
Remove jobs spooled by the at command.

Syntax
atrm [ -f ] [ -i] [ -a | - ] [ Job ... | User ... ]

Description
The atrm command removes jobs that were created with the at command, but have not executed. If one
or more job numbers is specified, the atrm command attempts to remove only those jobs.

If one or more user names is specified, all jobs belonging to those users are removed. This form of
invoking the atrm command is useful only if you have root user authority.

Flags
- Removes all jobs belonging to the user invoking the atrm command.
-a Removes all jobs belonging to the user invoking the atrm command. This flag is provided for System V
compatibility.
-f Suppresses all information about the jobs being removed.

148 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-i Prompts before a job is removed. Enter y to remove the job.

Examples
To remove job number root.62169200.a from the at command queue, enter:
atrm root.621619200.a

Files
/usr/bin/atrm Contains the atrm program file.
/var/spool/cron/atjobs Specifies the spool area.

Related Information
The at command, atq command.

The cron daemon.

Input and output redirection overview in Operating system and device management describes how the
operating system processes input and output.

Shells in Operating system and device managementdescribes what shells are, the different types of shells,
and how shells affect the way commands are interpreted.

attachrset Command

Purpose
Attaches an rset to a process.

Syntax
attachrset [ -P ] [ -F ] [ -S ] rsetname pid

or
attachrset [ -P ] [ -F ] [ -c CPUlist ] [ -m MEMlist ] pid

Description
The attachrset command attaches an rset to a process. The command limits the specified process to run
only on the processors and/or memory regions contained in the rset. An rset name in the system registry
can be attached to the process. Or, an rset containing the specified processors and memory regions can
be attached to the process.

Flags
-P Attaches an rset as a partition rset.
-F Forces the rset attachment to occur. This option will remove a bindprocessor bind and all threads’
rset in the process before attaching the new rset. If the -P option is also specified, it will also detach
the effective all threads’ rset from the process before attaching the new rset.
-c CPUlist List of CPUs to be in the rset. This can be one or more CPUs or CPU ranges.
-m MEMlist List of memory regions to be in the rset. This can be one or more memory regions or ranges.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 149

-S A hint that indicates that the process must be scheduled to run in single-threaded mode. Only one of
the hardware threads of each physical processor that is included in the specified rset will be used to
schedule the job. If all the hardware threads of a physical processor are not included in the specified
rset, that processor will be ignored. The specified rset must be an exclusive rset or the command
fails. Specifying this flag allows jobs to run with single-thread behavior.

Parameters
rsetname The name of the rset to be attached to the process. The name consists of a namespace and
an rsname separated by a ″/″ (slash). Both the namespace and rsname may contain up to
255 characters. See the rs_registername() service for additional information about character
set limits of rset names.
pid Process ID to connect rset.

Security
The user must have root authority or have CAP_NUMA_ATTACH capability and read access to the
specified rset registry name (if -r option used) and target process must have the same effective userid as
the command issuer. The user must have root authority to set the partition rset on a process (the -P
option).

Examples
1. To attach an rset containing CPUs 0-7 to process 18838, type:
attachrset -c 0-7 18838
2. To attach rset named test/cpus0to7 to process 20124, type:
attachrset test/cpus0to7 20124

Files
/usr/bin/attachrset Contains the attachrset command.

Related Information
The detachrset, execrset, lsrset, mkrset, and rmrset commands.

audit Command

Purpose
Controls system auditing.

Syntax
audit { start | shutdown }

audit { off | on [ panic ] }

audit query

Description
The audit command controls system auditing through its several keywords. One keyword must be
included each time the command is given. The start keyword and the shutdown keyword start and stop

150 Commands Reference, Volume 1

the auditing system and reset the system configuration. The off keyword and the on keyword suspend and
restart the audit system without affecting the system configuration. The query keyword lets you query the
current status.

The auditing system follows the instructions established in the following configuration files:
v /etc/security/audit/config
v /etc/security/audit/events
v /etc/security/audit/objects
v /etc/security/audit/bincmds
v /etc/security/audit/streamcmds

Each of these files is described in ″Files″ section . For information on configuring the audit system, see
″Setting up Auditing″ in Operating system and device management.

Keywords
start Starts the audit subsystem. The command reads the instructions in the configuration files and
does the following:
object auditing
Writes the audit event definitions in the /etc/security/audit/objects file into the kernel
to define the object auditing events.
event auditing
Writes the audit class definitions in the /etc/security/audit/config file into the kernel
to define the audit classes.
bin auditing
Starts the auditbin daemon according to the configuration information in the bin
stanza in the /etc/security/audit/config file, if the start stanza contains binmode=on.
stream auditing
Invokes the audit stream commands as defined in the stream stanza in the
/etc/security/audit/config file, if the start stanza contains streammode=on.
Attention: Invocation of stream auditing from /etc/inittab should be avoided.
user auditing
Audits all users currently logged in to the system, if they are configured in the users
stanza of the /etc/security/audit/config file.
audit logging
Enables the audit logging component as defined in the start stanza in the
/etc/security/audit/config file.
shutdown Terminates the collection of audit records and resets the configuration information by removing
the definition of classes from the kernel tables. All the audit records are flushed from the kernel
buffers into the bin files or audit streams, according to the specifications for the backend
commands, which are contained in the /etc/security/audit/bincmds file for binmode auditing,
and in the /etc/security/audit/streamcmds file for streammode auditing. The collection of audit
data stops until the next audit start command is given.
off Suspends the auditing system, but leaves the configuration valid. Data collection pauses until the
audit on command is given.
on [panic] Restarts the auditing system after a suspension, if the system is properly configured (for
example, if the audit start command was used initially and the configuration is still valid). If
auditing is already started when the command is given, only bin data collection can be changed.

If you specify the panic option, the system will halt abruptly if bin data collection is enabled but
cannot be written to a bin file.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 151

query Displays the current status of the audit subsystem, in the following format:
auditing on {panic} | auditing off

bin manager off | is process number pid

audit events:
audit class: audit event, audit event...
audit objects:
object name: object mode: audit event

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access to the root user and members of the audit
group. The command should be setuid to the root user and have the trusted computing base attribute.

Files Accessed:

Mode File
r /etc/security/audit/config
r /etc/security/audit/objects
x /usr/sbin/auditbin
x /usr/sbin/auditstream

Examples
1. To start the audit process, configure the audit system as described in ″Setting up Auditing″ in Security,
and add the following line to the system initialization file (the /etc/rc file):
/usr/sbin/audit start 1>&- 2>&-

The audit process starts, as configured, each time the system is initialized.
2. To terminate the operation of the auditing process, enter:
/usr/sbin/audit shutdown

Data collection stops until the audit start command is given again. The configuration of classes in the
operating system kernel is lost.

Note: The audit shutdown command should be in the /etc/shutdown file as well.
3. To suspend the audit subsystem, enter:
/usr/sbin/audit off
4. To restart an audit process that was suspended by the audit off command, enter:
/usr/sbin/audit on

The suspended state ends and audit records are generated again, as long as the system is configured
correctly.
5. To display the current status of the auditing system, enter:
/usr/sbin/audit query

An example of an audit query status message follows:

auditing on

bin manager is process number 123

audit events:
authentication- USER_Login, USER_Logout
administration- USER_Create, GROUP_Create

152 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 audit objects:
/etc/security/passwd :
r = AUTH_Read
/etc/security/passwd :
w = AUTH_Write

The query tells you that audit records will be written when the specified users log in or log out, when
the specified administrators create a user or a group, and when the system receives an authorized
read or write instruction for the /etc/security/passwd file.

Files
/usr/sbin/audit Contains the path of the audit command.
/etc/rc Contains the system initialization commands.
/etc/security/audit/config
Contains audit configuration information.
/etc/security/audit/events
Lists the audit events and their tail format specifications.
/etc/security/audit/objects
Lists the audit events for each file (object).
/etc/security/audit/bincmds
Contains shell commands for processing audit bin data.
/etc/security/audit/streamcmds
Contains auditstream commands.

Related Information
The auditbin daemon, auditcat command, auditconv command, auditpr command, auditselect
command, auditstream command, login command, logout command, su command.

The audit subroutine, auditbin subroutine, auditevents subroutine, auditlog subroutine, auditproc
subroutine.

For general information on auditing, refer to Auditing Overview in Security.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

To see the steps you must take to establish an Auditing System, refer to Setting up Auditing in Security.

auditbin Daemon

Purpose
Manages bins of audit information.

Syntax
auditbin

Description
The auditbin daemon in the audit subsystem manages bin1 and bin2, temporary bin files that alternately
collect audit event data. The command also delivers bins of data records to backend commands for
processing.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 153

As audit events occur, the operating system kernel writes a record to a bin file. When a bin file is full, the
auditbin daemon reads the /etc/security/audit/bincmds file and delivers the bin records to the backend
commands defined in the file. Each line of the /etc/security/audit/bincmds file contains one or more
commands with input and output that can be piped together or redirected. The auditbin daemon searches
each command for the $bin string and the $trail string and substitutes the path names of the current bin
file and the system trail file for these strings.

The auditbin daemon ensures that each command encounters each bin at least once, but does not
synchronize access to the bins. When all the commands have run, the bin file is ready to collect more
audit records.

If a command is unsuccessful, the auditbin daemon stops delivering data records and sends a message
to the /dev/tty device every 60 seconds until the root user or a member of the audit group stops the
command.

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access to the root user and members of the audit
group. The command should be setuid to the root user and have the trusted computing base attribute.

Files Accessed:

Mode File
r /etc/security/audit/config
r /etc/security/audit/bincmds
rw Defined audit bins and trail file
x All audit bin processing commands

Examples
1. To configure the auditbin daemon, edit the start and bin stanzas of the /etc/security/audit/config file
to include the following attribute definitions:
start:
binmode = on

bin:
trail = /audit/trail
bin1 = /audit/bin1
bin2 = /audit/bin2
binsize = 25000
cmds = /etc/security/audit/bincmds
2. To define the commands that process the audit trail, edit the /etc/security/audit/bincmds file to
include one or more command lines, such as the following:
/usr/sbin/auditcat -p -o $trail $bin

/usr/sbin/auditselect -e "event == USER_Login" \

$bin | /usr/sbin/auditpr >> /etc/log

The first command line appends compressed audit bins to the audit trail file. The second line selects
USER_Login records from each bin file, passes them to the auditpr command for formatting, and
appends the records to the /etc/log file.

Files
/usr/sbin/auditbin Specifies the path to the auditbin daemon.
/audit/binx Specifies the path to the default bin collection files, with x
indicating the bin number.

154 Commands Reference, Volume 1

/etc/security/audit/config
Contains audit system configuration information.
/etc/security/audit/events
Contains the audit events of the system.
/etc/security/audit/objects
Contains audit events for audited objects (files).
/etc/security/audit/bincmds
Contains the auditbin backend commands.
/etc/security/audit/streamcmds
Contains the auditstream commands.

Related Information
The audit command, auditcat command, auditconv command,auditpr command, auditselect command,
auditstream command.

The audit subroutine, auditbin subroutine.

Auditing Overview in Security.

To see the steps you must take to establish an Auditing System, refer to Setting up Auditing in Security.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

auditcat Command

Purpose
Writes bins of audit records.

Syntax
auditcat [ -p | -u ] [ -o OutFile ] [ -r ] [ InFile ]

Description
The auditcat command is part of the audit subsystem, and is one of several backend commands that
process the audit data records.

The auditcat command reads bin files of audit records from standard input or from the file specified by the
InFile parameter. The command then processes the records and writes its output to standard output or to
the file specified by the 0utFile parameter. The output can be compressed or not, depending on the flag
selected.

One major use of the command is appending compressed bin files to the end of the system audit trail file.

If the /etc/security/audit/bincmds file includes $bin as the input file, input comes from the current bin file,
bin1 or bin2. If the /etc/security/audit/bincmds file includes $trail as the output file, the records are
written to the end of the system audit trail file.

If a bin file is not properly formed with a valid header and tail, an error is returned. See the auditpr
command for information about audit headers and tails and the auditbin command for information on error
recovery.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 155

Flags
-o OutFile Specifies the audit trail file to which the auditcat command writes records. If you specify $trail as
the file for the OutFile parameter, the auditbin daemon substitutes the name of the system audit
trail file.
-p Specifies that the bin files be compressed (packed) upon output. The default value specifies that
the bins not be compressed.
-r Requests recovery procedures. File names for both the InFile and OutFile parameters must be
specified for recovery to occur, so the command syntax must be auditcat -o OutFile -r InFile.
The command checks to see if the bin file specified for the InFile parameter is appended and if
not, appends the bin file to the file specified by the OutFile parameter. If the bin file is incomplete,
the auditcat command adds a valid tail and then appends the bin file to the file specified by the
OutFile parameter.
-u Specifies that compressed trail files be uncompressed upon output.

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access to the root user and members of the audit
group. The command should be setuid to the root user and have the trusted computing base attribute.

Examples
To configure the system to append audit bin data to the system audit trail file, add the following line to the
/etc/security/audit/bincmds file:

/usr/sbin/auditcat -o $trail $bin

When the auditbin daemon calls the auditcat command, the daemon replaces the $bin string with the
path name of the current bin file, and replaces the $trail string with the name of the default audit trail file.

Files
/usr/sbin/auditcat Specifies the path to the auditcat command.
/etc/security/audit/config Contains audit system configuration information.
/etc/security/audit/events Contains the audit events of the system.
/etc/security/audit/objects Contains audit events for audited objects (files).
/etc/security/audit/bincmds Contains auditbin backend commands.

Related Information
The audit command, auditconv command, auditpr command, auditselect command.

auditbin daemon.

For general information on auditing, refer to Auditing Overview in Security.

To see the steps you must take to establish an Auditing System, refer to Setting up Auditing inSecurity.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

auditconv Command

Purpose
Converts pre-AIX Version 4 format audit bins to AIX Version 4 format.

156 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Syntax
auditconv OldFile NewFile

Description
The auditconv command converts audit records which were generated by previous versions of the
operating system into the format used by AIX Version 4 and higher of the operating system.

Audit records are read from the file OldFile, and written to the file NewFile. Each audit record is updated
with thread information, with a default thread identifier of zero.

Notes:
1. The OldFile and NewFile parameters must be different, and must not be currently in use by the audit
system.
2. AIX Version 4 and higher of the operating system cannot work with pre-AIX Version 4 audit bins.
Therefore, old bins must be converted using the auditconv command.

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access to the root user and members of the audit
group. The command should be setuid to the root user and have the trusted computing base attribute.

Files Accessed:

Mode File
r /etc/security/audit/events
r /etc/passwd
r /etc/group

Example
To convert the old audit file pre_v4_auditbin, storing the results in converted_auditbin, enter the
following command:

/usr/sbin/auditconv pre_v4_auditbin converted_auditbin

Files
/usr/sbin/auditconv Specifies the path of the auditconv command.
/etc/security/audit/config Contains audit system configuration information.
/etc/security/audit/events Contains the audit events of the system.
/etc/security/audit/objects Contains information about audited objects (files).
/etc/security/audit/bincmds Contains auditbin backend commands.
/etc/security/audit/streamcmds Contains auditstream commands.

Related Information
The audit command, auditbin daemon, auditcat command, auditpr command, auditselect command,
auditstream command.

The audit subroutine.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 157

To see the steps you must take to establish an Auditing System, refer to Setting up Auditing in Security.

auditmerge Command

Purpose
Combines multiple audit trails into a single trail.

Syntax
/usr/sbin/auditmerge [ -q ] file [ file ... ]

Description
The auditmerge command combines multiple audit trail files from potentially multiple machines into a
single audit trail file. For each file with records remaining, the record that has the oldest time stamp is
added to the output. If a record is found that has a negative time change, an optional warning message
may be emitted. Processing continues and any such records are output with their time values unmodified.

The auditmerge command also is capable of adding CPU ID values from the bin header to each output
record. The CPU ID value is encoded in the bin header and trailer for bins with a version number more
recent than AIX 4.3.1.

The -q flag is used to control outputting warning messages. When a record with a negative time change is
first seen, a single warning message is output. That message contains the name of the file containing the
record and the time difference. These messages are suppressed when the -q flag is given on the
command line.

Flags
-q Used to control outputting warning messages.

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access to the root user and members of the audit
group. The command should be setuid to the root user and have the trusted computing base attribute.

Examples
1. To merge two existing audit trails files from different hosts, enter:
/usr/bin/auditmerge /audit/[Link] /audit/[Link] > /audit/[Link]
2. To merge two existing data files which were preselected for different user names, enter:
/usr/bin/auditmerge /audit/[Link] /audit/[Link] > /audit/[Link]
3. To merge two data files without producing warnings about incorrect times, enter:
/usr/bin/auditmerge -q /audit/jumbled.1 /audit/jumbled.2 > /audit/[Link]

Files
/etc/security/audit/hosts Contains the CPU ID to hostname mappings.

Related Information
The auditpr command, auditstream command, auditselect command.

The auditread subroutine, getaudithostattr subroutine.

158 Commands Reference, Volume 1

auditpr Command

Purpose
Formats bin or stream audit records to a display device or printer.

Syntax
auditpr [ -t 0 | 1 | 2] [ -m Message ] [ -r ] [ -v ] [ -h field[,field]*]

Description
The auditpr command is part of the audit subsystem. This command reads audit records, in bin or stream
format, from standard input and sends formatted records to standard output.

The output format is determined by the flags that are selected. If you specify the -m flag, a message is
displayed before each heading. Use the -t and -h flags to change the default header titles and fields and
the -v flag to append an audit trail. The auditpr command searches the local /etc/passwd file to convert
user and group IDs to names.

An example of output using default header information follows:

event login status time command
login dick OK Fri Feb;8 [Link] 1990 login
. . . . . trail portion . . . . .

For examples of audit trails, see the /etc/security/audit/events file where audit trail formats are defined.

Invalid records are skipped when possible, and an error message is issued. If the command cannot
recover from an error, processing stops.

Flags
-h field[,field]* Selects the fields to display and the order in which to display them, by default e, l, R, t,
and c. You can specify the following values:
e The audit event
l The login name of the user
R The audit status
t The time the record was written
c The command name
r The real user name
p The process ID
P The ID of the parent process.
T The kernel thread ID. This is local to the process; different processes may
contain threads with the same thread ID.
h The name of the host that generated the audit record. If there is no CPU ID in
the audit record, the value none is used. If there is no matching entry for the
CPU ID in the audit record, the 16 character value for the CPU ID is used
instead.
-m ″Message″ Specifies a Message to be displayed with each heading. You must enclose the Message
string in double quotation marks.
-r Suppresses ID translation to the symbolic name.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 159

-t {0 | 1 | 2} Specifies when header titles are displayed. The default title consists of an optional
message (see the -m flag) followed by the name of each column of output.
0 Ignores any title.
1 Displays a title once at the beginning of a series of records.
2 Displays a title before each record.
-v Displays the trail of each audit record, using the format specifications in the
/etc/security/audit/events file.

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access to the root user and members of the audit
group. The command should be setuid to the root user and have the trusted computing base attribute.

Files Accessed:

Mode File
r /etc/security/audit/events
r /etc/passwd
r /etc/group

Examples
1. To read the system audit trail file with default header titles and fields and an audit trail, enter:

/usr/sbin/auditpr -v < /audit/trail

The /audit/trail file must contain valid audit bins or records.

2. To format from an audit trail file all the audit events caused by user witte, enter:

/usr/sbin/auditselect -e″login == witte″\

/audit/trail | auditpr -v

The resulting record is formatted with the default values ( e, c, l, R, and t) and includes a trail.
3. To read records interactively from the audit device, enter:
/usr/sbin/auditstream | /usr/sbin/auditpr -t0 -heRl

Files
/usr/sbin/auditpr Specifies the path of the auditpr command.
/etc/security/audit/config Contains audit system configuration information.
/etc/security/audit/events Contains the audit events of the system.
/etc/security/audit/objects Contains audit events for audited objects (files).
/etc/security/audit/bincmds Contains auditbin backend commands.
/etc/security/audit/streamcmds Contains auditstream commands.
/etc/security/audit/hosts Contains the CPU ID to host name mappings.

Related Information
The audit command, auditcat command, auditconv command, auditselect command, auditstream
command.

The auditbin daemon.

160 Commands Reference, Volume 1

The audit subroutine.

The events file.

For general information on auditing, refer to Auditing Overview in Security.

To see the steps you must take to establish an Auditing System, refer to Setting up Auditing in Security.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

auditselect Command

Purpose
Selects audit records for analysis according to defined criteria.

Syntax
auditselect { -e ″Expression″ | -f File} [ -m ] [ Trail ]

Description
The auditselect command is part of the audit subsystem. The command is called by the auditbin daemon
if it is configured in the /etc/security/audit/bincmds file as a backend command for processing bin files.

The auditselect command selects audit records that match identified criteria and writes the records to
standard output. With the auditselect command, you can filter the audit trail to obtain specific records for
analysis or select specific records for long-term storage. The command takes stream or bin input from the
file specified by the Trail parameter or from standard input. If you specify the $bin string as the value of
the Trail parameter, the auditbin daemon substitutes the path name of the current bin file when it calls the
auditselect command. The selection criteria can be entered as an expression or from the file specified by
the -f flag. If the bin files are compressed, the auditselect command unpacks them prior to processing.

For stream data, configure both the auditstream command and the auditselect command in the
/etc/security/audit/streamcmds file, or enter both commands from the command line.

Flags
-e ″Expression″ Defines the selection criteria. The Expression parameter consists of one or more terms
joined by logical operators.
-f File Specifies the File that contains the selection criteria.
-m Specifies the output audit record with record extensions.

Creating Expressions
A valid expression consists of one or more terms joined by logical operators.

Logical Operators
Logical operators allow more than one term to be used in an expression. Normal precedence rules apply
in evaluating expressions with more than one logical operator, and parentheses may be used to force the
order of evaluation. The valid logical operators include the following:

&& (And) The expression term1 && term2 is true (selected) if both term1 and term2 are true.
|| (Or) The expression term1 || term2 is true (selected) if either term1 or term2 is true.
! (Not) The expression !term1 is true (selected) if term1 is not true.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 161

Terms
Each term of the expression has the following form:
Field Relational_Operator Value

Fields
Fields correspond to the information in the audit header of each record. Valid values for fields include the
following:

event Name of the audit event, for example, FILE_Open.

command Name of the command that generated the audit event.
result Status of the audit event. The value of the result field must be one of the following:
v OK
v FAIL
v FAIL_PRIV
v FAIL_AUTH
v FAIL_ACCESS
v FAIL_DAC Indicates the event failed because of a discretionary access control (DAC) denial. Access
Control Lists are a form of information repository that contain data relative to the rights of access
(permission) to shared resources/objects. ACLs are categorized on DAC mechanism.

FAIL matches all other error codes.

login ID of the login user of the process that generated the audit event.
real ID of the real user of the process that generated the audit event.
pid ID of the process that generated the audit event.
ppid ID of the parent of the process that generated the audit event.
tid ID of the kernel thread that generated the event.
time Time of day the audit event was generated.
date Date the audit event was generated.
host Hostname of the machine that generated the record. The reserved name UNKNOWN can be used to
match any machines that are not listed in the /etc/security/audit/hosts file.

Relational Operators
Relational operators are used to compare the field in the audit record to the specified value. Valid
relational operators include:

== Equal to
!= Not equal to
< Less than
> Greater than
>= Greater than or equal to
<= Less than or equal to

Valid Terms
A valid term consists of a field, a relational operator, and a value. In addition, not all relational operators
and values are valid for each field. The following are the valid combinations:

Field Valid Operators Valid Values

event = =, ! = Text string audit event name
result = =, ! = Text string audit status codes
command = =, ! = Text string command name
pid all Decimal integer process ID
ppid all Decimal integer process ID

162 Commands Reference, Volume 1

login all Decimal integer user ID
login = =, ! = Text string user name
real all Decimal integer user ID
real = =, ! = Text string user name
tid all Decimal integer thread ID
time all String in the format specified by the current locale
date all String in the format specified by the current locale
host = =, ! = Text string host name or 16 character cpu ID

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access to the root user and members of the audit
group. The command should be setuid to the root user and have the trusted computing base attribute.

Examples
Configuration
1. To select bin-collected data records that match the USER_SU or USER_Login audit events, add the
auditselect command to the /etc/security/audit/bincmds file by entering:
/usr/sbin/auditselect -e "event== USER_SU || event== \
USER_Login" $bin >> /audit/[Link]

While auditing is enabled, the records for each initiation of a user session are read from the current bin
file and written to the /audit/[Link] file.
2. To select stream-collected data records that match a user login that was unsuccessful, add the
auditselect command to the auditstream stanza in the /etc/security/audit/streamcmds file by
entering:
/usr/sbin/auditstream -c authentication | \
/usr/sbin/auditselect -e "event == \
USER_Login && result == FAIL" | \
/usr/sbin/auditpr -t 2 -v >> /dev/lpr2

To produce a hardcopy audit trail, records of unsuccessful authentication events are written to the
/dev/lpr2 line printer.

Select Authentication or Login Events

1. To search an audit trail file for all events that involve authentication errors:
/usr/sbin/auditselect -e "result == FAIL_AUTH"
/audit/oldtrail | /usr/sbin/auditpr -t -helt -v

The records of events that were unsuccessful because authentication was denied are printed. The
header titles will be printed once, followed by the event, login ID, and time fields, and then the audit
trail.
2. To select audit records that are generated when smith logs in during prime working hours during the
first week in May of 1987, enter:

/usr/sbin/auditselect -f /aaa/bbb \
/audit/trail1987 | /usr/sbin/auditpr

The /aaa/bbb file must contain the following line:

command == login && login == smith &&
time >= [Link] && time <= [Link] &&
date >= 05/01/87 && date <= 05/05/87

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 163

String Comparison
1. To compare the name of the audit event to the USER_Login string, enter one of the following:
"event == USER_Login"

"event != USER_Login"
2. To find out if the passwd command generated the audit event, use:
"command == passwd"

To find out if the audit event was not generated by the passwd command, use:
"command != passwd"
3. To compare the audit status to the OK result string, enter:
"result == OK"
4. To compare the login or real user ID of the process that generated the audit event to a specific user ID
(user ID 014 or the user name carol), enter one of the following:
"login == 014"
"login != carol"
"login == 014 || login != carol"
"real == carol"
5. To compare the ID of the process or the parent of the process that generated the audit event to the
process ID 2006, enter one of the following:
"pid == 2006"
"pid != 2006"
"ppid == 2006"

Note: Although login and real user IDs and process IDs can be compared with the inequality
operators ( < =, > =, <, > ), it is normally unnecessary to do this.
6. To compare the time the audit event was generated to the [Link] time string, enter one of the
following:
"time == [Link]"
"time != [Link]"
"time < [Link]"
"time <= [Link]"
"time > [Link]"
"time >= [Link]"

Audit records are selected that fit the indicated comparison to the [Link] time string. The time string
must agree with the format specified by the current locale.
7. To compare the date that the audit event was generated to the 05/05/89 date string, enter one of the
following:
"date == 05/03/89"
"date != 05/03/89"
"date < 05/03/89"
"date <= 05/03/89"
"date > 05/03/89"
"date >= 05/03/89"

Audit records are selected that fit the indicated comparison to the 05/05/89 date string. The date string
must agree with the format specified by the current locale.

Files
/usr/sbin/auditselect Specifies the path of the auditselect command.
/etc/rc Contains the system initialization commands.
/etc/security/audit/config Contains audit system configuration information.
/etc/security/audit/events Contains the audit events of the system.

164 Commands Reference, Volume 1

/etc/security/audit/objects Contains audit events for audited objects (files).
/etc/security/audit/bincmds Contains auditbin backend commands.
/etc/security/audit/streamcmds Contains auditstream commands.
/etc/security/audit/hosts Contains the CPU ID to hostname mappings.

Related Information
The audit command, auditcat command, auditconv command, auditpr command, auditstream
command, env command.

auditbin daemon.

For general information on auditing, refer to Auditing Overview in Security.

To see the steps you must take to establish an Auditing System, refer to Setting up Auditing in Security.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

auditstream Command

Purpose
Creates a channel for reading audit records.

Syntax
auditstream [ -m ] [ -c Class ...]

Description
The auditstream command is part of the audit subsystem. This command reads audit records from the
/dev/audit file (the audit device) and copies the records to standard output in binary format. You can select
a subset of the audit records by specifying audit classes (defined in the /etc/security/audit/config file)
with the -c flag; otherwise, all currently enabled audit classes are copied.

Audit stream data can be displayed and processed as it is generated. For example, the command output
can be piped to an audit backend command for further processing or redirected to a file. Both the
auditselect command, which selects data records according to defined criteria, and the auditpr command,
which formats the records for viewing or for printing, are examples of backend commands.

The auditstream command can be called from the command line or be configured to run multiple times as
part of the audit system configuration. For information on configuring the auditstream command, refer to
″Setting up Auditing″ in Security and to the /etc/security/audit/config file.

Note: The auditstream command should be run in the background.

Flags
-c Class Specifies the audit classes to be copied. Each class must be configured in the etc/security/audit/
config file as a list of comma-separated audit events. The default value is all the currently enabled
audit events.
-m Includes the CPU ID in each audit record.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 165

Security
Access Control: This command should grant execute (x) access to the root user and members of the audit
group. The command should be setuid to the root user and have the trusted computing base attribute.

Files Accessed:

Mode File
r /dev/audit

Examples
1. To configure the stream collection of audit data when the audit system is initialized, add the following
to the stream stanza of the /etc/security/audit/config file:
cmds = /etc/security/audit/streamcmds

Then add the following to the start stanza:

streammode=on

Next, add to the /etc/security/audit/streamcmds file all the stream commands that should be
executed when the auditing system is initialized. For example:
/usr/sbin/auditstream -c authentication | \
/usr/sbin/auditpr -v > /dev/console

/usr/sbin/auditstream | /usr/sbin/auditselect -e \
"result == FAIL_ACCESS" | \
/usr/sbin/auditpr -t 2 -v > /dev/lpr2

The first command formats all records for events in the authentication class and writes them to the
system console. The second command formats all records that resulted in an access denial and prints
them on the printer /dev/lp2.
2. To record audit stream events on a line printer, enter:
/usr/sbin/auditstream | /usr/sbin/auditselect -e "event == \
USER_Login || event == USER_SU" | \
/usr/sbin/auditpr -v > /dev/lp0 &

This command formats and writes all user login and su events to the line printer.

Files
/usr/sbin/auditstream Specifies the path of the auditstream command.
/etc/rc Contains the system startup routines.
/dev/audit Specifies the audit device.
/etc/security/audit/config Contains audit system configuration information.
/etc/security/audit/events Contains the audit events of the system.
/etc/security/audit/objects Contains audit events for audited objects (files).
/etc/security/audit/bincmds Contains auditbin backend commands.
/etc/security/audit/streamcmds Contains auditstream commands.
/etc/security/audit/hosts Contains host and CPU IDs.

Related Information
The audit command, auditcat command, auditconv command, auditpr command, auditselect command.

The auditbin daemon.

166 Commands Reference, Volume 1

For general information on auditing, refer to Auditing Overview in Security.

For more information about the identification and authentication of users, discretionary access control, the
trusted computing base, and auditing, refer to Securing the network in Security.

To see the steps you must take to establish an Auditing System, refer to Setting up Auditing in Security.

autoconf6 Command

Purpose
Automatically configures IPv6 network interfaces at boot time.

Syntax
autoconf6 [ -a ] [ -A ] [ -i ] [ -s ] [ -6 ] [ -M ] [ -O ] [ -R ] [ -c ] [ -v ] [ -m main_interface ] [ interface_name
... ]

Description
The autoconf6 command is used at boot time to assign link-local addresses to ND-capable network
interfaces. The autoconf6 command initializes also the loopback interface, the automatic tunnels if
needed, and adds some needed routes. It can also be used at any time to set link-local addresses and
automatic tunnelling on newly configured ethernet-like interfaces.

Flags
-a Configures and turns up all acceptable interfaces that are already configured with
IPv4.
-A Configures and turns up all acceptable interfaces.
-i Configures and turns up the interfaces in the argument list. Without the -a and -i
flags only the interfaces already up are configured.
-m main_interface Specifies the main interface. You can also use the no command with the argument,
main_if6.
-s Installs the SIT interfaces and IPv4-compatible programs. Without this flag, the SIT
interfaces are configured only if an SIT interface is already up.
-6 The SIT interface and IPv4-compatible interoperability are not installed or modified.
-M (Debug) Do not modify existing IPv6 multicast routes.
-O (Debug) Do not configure the loopback interface.
-R (Debug) Do not install a default IPv6 route.
-c Old compatibility flag for those who have bad LL addresses.
-v Verbose output. The program displays what it is doing and/or what it is failing.
interface_name Specifies the names of the interfaces that should be configured. This is used with
the -i flag. If the -i flag is given and no interface_names are specified, no interfaces
are configured. If an interface_name is given and the -i flag is not specified, a
usage message is displayed.

Messages
Messages indicate the different actions done and/or problems encountered by autoconf6.

Related Information
The ifconfig command, ndpd-host command, ndpd-router command, and route command.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 167

automount Daemon

Purpose
Mounts automatic mount points.

Syntax
/usr/sbin/automount [ -m ] [ -n ] [ -v ] [ -t duration ] [ -i interval ] [ -f file ] [ -s timeout ] [
-D value ] [ -d value ]

Description
The automount command is used as an administration tool for AutoFS. It installs AutoFS mount points
and associates an automount map with each mount point. The AutoFS file system monitors attempts to
access directories within it and notifies the automountd daemon. The daemon uses the map to locate a
file system, which it then mounts at the point of reference within the AutoFS file system.

The previous automount behavior can be specified if the COMPAT_AUTOMOUNT environment variable is
set to any value before running the automount command. The current behavior became the default
behavior in AIX 5.0.

If the file system is not accessed within an appropriate interval (ten minutes by default), the automountd
daemon unmounts the file system.

If the automountd daemon has not been started the automount command attempts to start it using SRC.

Maps
Automount maps specify the mount points to be automatically mounted when accessed, and what should
be mounted over those mount points. The /etc/auto_master map file specifies the initial mount points,
known as keys, and their corresponding maps that determine which remote filesystem is mounted over it.
The format of the /etc/auto_master file is:
/key map

Note: The /etc/auto_master file is only read when the automount command is initially executed.
Changes to it will not take effect until the automount command is run again.

The most common maps are direct maps, indirect maps, and host maps.

Direct maps require a special key (/-) in the /etc/auto_master file, and their map is a file with the following
format:
/directkey [-options] server:/dir

When a user accesses the /directkey directory, the automountd daemon will mount server:/dir over
/directkey.

Indirect maps have the following format:

indirectkey [-options] server:/dir

When a user accesses the /key/indirectkey directory, the automountd daemon will mount server:/dir
over /key/indirectkey.

Host maps require a special map (-hosts) in the /etc/auto_master file. The automountd daemon will
create a subdirectory under the /key directory for every server listed in the /etc/hosts file. When a user
accesses the /key/server directory, the automountd daemon will mount the server’s exported directories
over the /key/server directory.

168 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Alternate Map Locations: Automount maps may also be located on NIS/NIS+ and LDAP servers. The
automount command will look for maps as files on the local system by default, unless the automount
entry in the /etc/[Link] file is changed. For example:
automount nis_ldap

It is possible to specify more than one name service, in the order that they will be used, by using a
whitespace separated list. For example, to indicate that LDAP maps should be used first, followed by local
files, the automount entry would be the following:
automount nis_ldap files

The valid values for the automount entry are files, nis, nisplus, and nis_ldap.

For more information on how to manage automount maps in NIS/NIS+, see Managing NIS Automount
Maps in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Network Information Services (NIS and NIS+) Guide.

For more information on how to manage automount maps in LDAP, see the Managing LDAP Automount
Maps section in PC-NFS in Networks and communication management.

Flags
-d value Specifies the debug level of the autofs extension and automount daemon.
-D value Specifies an environment variable and its value.
-f file Specifies a new master map file to use. The default is /etc/auto_master.
-i Interval Specifies the amount of time, in seconds, that an inactive autofs mounted directory
exists.
-m Specifies not to search NIS for automount maps.
-n Specifies the nobrowse option.
-s timeout Specifies the amount of time, in seconds, before a new process is forked off if a
mount takes too long. The minimum value is 30.
-t Duration Specifies the amount of time, in seconds, that the auto unmount process sleeps
before it starts to work again. The minimum value is 21. The default value is 120.
The maximum value is 600.
-v Displays on standard output verbose status and warning messages.

Files
/etc/auto_master The default map file used to create the initial automount keys.
/etc/hosts Specifies servers that will be used in automount host maps.
/etc/[Link] Specifies the location of the automount maps.

Related Information
The mount command.

Managing NIS Automount Maps in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Network Information Services (NIS and NIS+) Guide
discusses map formatting, multiple mounts, special maps, and the [Link] NIS configuration map file.

Managing LDAP Automount Maps section in PC-NFS in Networks and communication management

Network File System (NFS) Overview for System Management in Networks and communication
management.

List of NFS commands in Networks and communication management.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 169

automountd Daemon

Purpose
AutoFS mount and unmount daemon.

Syntax
/usr/sbin/automountd [ -n ] [ -T ] [ -v ] [ -D name=value ]

Description
The automountd daemon is an RPC server that processes and answers requests from the local AutoFS
filesystem kernel extension. It uses local files or name service maps to locate file systems to be mounted.

Maps
For a description on map files see the information on Maps in the automount daemon.

Flags
-Dname=Value Assigns a value to the indicated automountd daemon environment variable.
-n Sets the nobrowse option on all maps by default.
-T Traces RPC server calls, displaying it on standard output.
-v Displays on standard output verbose status and warning messages.

Related Information
The df command, mount command, automount daemon.

How to Manage NIS automount Maps in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Network Information Services (NIS and NIS+)
Guide discusses map formatting, multiple mounts, special maps, and the auto_master/[Link] NIS
configuration map file.

List of NFS commands in Networks and communication management.

Network File System (NFS) Overview for System Management in Networks and communication
management.

autopush Command

Purpose
Configures lists of automatically pushed STREAMS modules.

Syntax
autopush -f File

autopush -r -M Major -m Minor

autopush -g -M Major -m Minor

Description
The autopush command configures the list of modules to be automatically pushed onto the stream when
a device is opened. It can also remove a previous setting or obtain information on a setting.

170 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Flags
-f File Sets up the autopush configuration for each driver according to the information stored in the
specified file.

The file specified by the File parameter consists of lines consisting of at least four fields per line.
Each field is separated by a character space as shown in the following example:
maj_ min_ last_min_ mod1 mod2 . . . modn

The first three fields are integers that specify the major device number, minor device number, and
last minor device number. The subsequent fields represent the names of modules. If the value of the
min_ field is -1, then all minor devices of a major driver specified by the maj_ field are configured and
the value of the last_min_ field is ignored. If the value of the last_min_ field is 0, then only a single
minor device is configured. To configure a range of minor devices for a particular major, the value of
the min_ field must be less than the value of the last_min_ field.

The last fields of a line in the autopush file represent the list of module names. Each module name
is separated by a character space. The maximum number of modules that can be automatically
pushed on a stream is eight, and they are pushed onto the stream in the order they are listed.
Comment lines start with a # (pound sign).
-r Removes the previous configuration setting of a particular major and minor device number.
-g Obtains the current configuration setting of a particular major and minor device number. It also
returns the starting minor device number if the request corresponds to a setting of a range.
-M Major Specifies a major device number.
-m Minor Specifies a minor device number.

This operating system provides an enhancement to the autopush command that makes it easier to
specify major numbers. The name of a driver can be specified instead of its major number anywhere the
major number is normally used.

Parameters
File Contains at least the major device number, minor device number, last minor device number and modules.
Major Specifies a major device number.
Minor Specifies a minor device number.

Examples
1. To configure a list of automatically pushed Streams modules, type:
autopush -f File
2. To remove the previous configuration, type:
autopush -r -M Major -m Minor
3. To show the current configuration, type:
autopush -g -M Major -m Minor

Related Information
The streamio operations.

List of Streams Commands.

STREAMS Overview in AIX 5L Version 5.3 Communications Programming Concepts.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 171

awk Command

Purpose
Finds lines in files that match a pattern and performs specified actions on those lines.

Syntax
awk [ -F Ere ] [ -v Assignment ] ... { -f ProgramFile | ’Program’ } [ [ File ... | Assignment ... ] ] ...

Description
The awk command utilizes a set of user-supplied instructions to compare a set of files, one line at a time,
to extended regular expressions supplied by the user. Then actions are performed upon any line that
matches the extended regular expressions.

The pattern searching of the awk command is more general than that of the grep command, and it allows
the user to perform multiple actions on input text lines. The awk command programming language
requires no compiling, and allows the user to use variables, numeric functions, string functions, and logical
operators.

The awk command is affected by the LANG, LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES,
LC_NUMERIC, NLSPATH, and PATH environment variables.

The following topics are covered in this article:

v Input for the awk Command
v Output for the awk Command
v File Processing with Records and Fields
v The awk Command Programming Language
– Patterns
– Actions
– Variables
– Special Variables
v Flags
v Examples

Input for the awk Command

The awk command takes two types of input: input text files and program instructions.

Input Text Files

Searching and actions are performed on input text files. The files are specified by:
v Specifying the File variable on the command line.
v Modifying the special variables ARGV and ARGC.
v Providing standard input in the absence of the File variable.

If multiple files are specified with the File variable, the files are processed in the order specified.

Program Instructions
Instructions provided by the user control the actions of the awk command. These instructions come from
either the `Program’ variable on the command line or from a file specified by the -f flag together with the
ProgramFile variable. If multiple program files are specified, the files are concatenated in the order
specified and the resultant order of instructions is used.

172 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Output for the awk Command
The awk command produces three types of output from the data within the input text file:
v Selected data can be printed to standard output, without alteration to the input file.
v Selected portions of the input file can be altered.
v Selected data can be altered and printed to standard output, with or without altering the contents of the
input file.

All of these types of output can be performed on the same file. The programming language recognized by
the awk command allows the user to redirect output.

File Processing with Records and Fields

Files are processed in the following way:
1. The awk command scans its instructions and executes any actions specified to occur before the input
file is read.
The BEGIN statement in the awk programming language allows the user to specify a set of
instructions to be done before the first record is read. This is particularly useful for initializing special
variables.
2. One record is read from the input file.
A record is a set of data separated by a record separator. The default value for the record separator is
the new-line character, which makes each line in the file a separate record. The record separator can
be changed by setting the RS special variable.
3. The record is compared against each pattern specified by the awk command’s instructions.
The command instructions can specify that a specific field within the record be compared. By default,
fields are separated by white space (blanks or tabs). Each field is referred to by a field variable. The
first field in a record is assigned the $1 variable, the second field is assigned the $2 variable, and so
forth. The entire record is assigned to the $0 variable. The field separator can be changed by using the
-F flag on the command line or by setting the FS special variable. The FS special variable can be set
to the values of: blank, single character, or extended regular expression.
4. If the record matches a pattern, any actions associated with that pattern are performed on the record.
5. After the record is compared to each pattern, and all specified actions are performed, the next record
is read from input; the process is repeated until all records are read from the input file.
6. If multiple input files have been specified, the next file is then opened and the process repeated until
all input files have been read.
7. After the last record in the last file is read, the awk command executes any instructions specified to
occur after the input processing.
The END statement in the awk programming language allows the user to specify actions to be
performed after the last record is read. This is particularly useful for sending messages about what
work was accomplished by the awk command.

The awk Command Programming Language

The awk command programming language consists of statements in the form:

Pattern { Action }

If a record matches the specified pattern, or contains a field which matches the pattern, the associated
action is then performed. A pattern can be specified without an action, in which case the entire line
containing the pattern is written to standard output. An action specified without a pattern is performed for
every input record.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 173

Patterns
There are four types of patterns used in the awk command language syntax:
v Regular Expressions
v Relational Expressions
v Combinations of Patterns
v BEGIN and END Patterns.

Regular Expressions
The extended regular expressions used by the awk command are similar to those used by the grep or
egrep command. The simplest form of an extended regular expression is a string of characters enclosed
in slashes. For an example, suppose a file named testfile had the following contents:
smawley, andy
smiley, allen
smith, alan
smithern, harry
smithhern, anne
smitters, alexis

Entering the following command line:

awk ’/smi/’ testfile

would print to standard output of all records that contained an occurrence of the string smi. In this
example, the program ’/smi/’ for the awk command is a pattern with no action. The output is:
smiley, allen
smith, alan
smithern, harry
smithhern, anne
smitters, alexis

The following special characters are used to form extended regular expressions:

Character Function
+ Specifies that a string matches if one or more occurrences of the character or extended
regular expression that precedes the + (plus) are within the string. The command line:
awk ’/smith+ern/’ testfile

prints to standard output any record that contained a string with the characters smit,
followed by one or more h characters, and then ending with the characters ern. The output
in this example is:
smithern, harry
smithhern, anne
? Specifies that a string matches if zero or one occurrences of the character or extended
regular expression that precedes the ? (question mark) are within the string. The command
line:
awk ’/smith?/’ testfile

prints to standard output of all records that contain the characters smit, followed by zero or
one instance of the h character. The output in this example is:
smith, alan
smithern, harry
smithhern, anne
smitters, alexis

174 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Character Function
| Specifies that a string matches if either of the strings separated by the | (vertical line) are
within the string. The command line:
awk ’/allen
|
alan /’ testfile

prints to standard output of all records that contained the string allen or alan. The output in
this example is:
smiley, allen
smith, alan
() Groups strings together in regular expressions. The command line:
awk ’/a(ll)?(nn)?e/’ testfile

prints to standard output of all records with the string ae or alle or anne or allnne. The
output in this example is:
smiley, allen
smithhern, anne
{m} Specifies that a string matches if exactly m occurrences of the pattern are within the string.
The command line:
awk ’/l{2}/’ testfile

prints to standard output

smiley, allen
{m,} Specifies that a string matches if at least m occurrences of the pattern are within the string.
The command line:
awk ’/t{2,}/’ testfile

prints to standard output:

smitters, alexis
{m, n} Specifies that a string matches if between m and n, inclusive, occurrences of the pattern
are within the string ( where m <= n). The command line:
awk ’/er{1, 2}/’ testfile

prints to standard output:

smithern, harry
smithern, anne
smitters, alexis
[String] Signifies that the regular expression matches any characters specified by the String
variable within the square brackets. The command line:
awk ’/sm[a-h]/’ testfile

prints to standard output of all records with the characters sm followed by any character in
alphabetical order from a to h. The output in this example is:
smawley, andy
[^ String] A ^ (caret) within the [ ] (square brackets) and at the beginning of the specified string
indicates that the regular expression does not match any characters within the square
brackets. Thus, the command line:
awk ’/sm[^a-h]/’ testfile

prints to standard output:

smiley, allen
smith, alan
smithern, harry
smithhern, anne
smitters, alexis

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 175

Character Function
~,!~ Signifies a conditional statement that a specified variable matches (tilde) or does not match
(tilde, exclamation point) the regular expression. The command line:
awk ’$1 ~ /n/’ testfile

prints to standard output of all records whose first field contained the character n. The
output in this example is:
smithern, harry
smithhern, anne
^ Signifies the beginning of a field or record. The command line:
awk ’$2 ~ /^h/’ testfile

prints to standard output of all records with the character h as the first character of the
second field. The output in this example is:
smithern, harry
$ Signifies the end of a field or record. The command line:
awk ’$2 ~ /y$/’ testfile

prints to standard output of all records with the character y as the last character of the
second field. The output in this example is:
smawley, andy
smithern, harry
. (period) Signifies any one character except the terminal new-line character at the end of a space.
The command line:
awk ’/a..e/’ testfile

prints to standard output of all records with the characters a and e separated by two
characters. The output in this example is:
smawley, andy
smiley, allen
smithhern, anne
*(asterisk) Signifies zero or more of any characters. The command line:
awk ’/a.*e/’ testfile

prints to standard output of all records with the characters a and e separated by zero or
more characters. The output in this example is:
smawley, andy
smiley, allen
smithhern, anne
smitters, alexis
\ (backslash) The escape character. When preceding any of the characters that have special meaning in
extended regular expressions, the escape character removes any special meaning for the
character. For example, the command line:
/a\/\//

would match the pattern a //, since the backslashes negate the usual meaning of the slash
as a delimiter of the regular expression. To specify the backslash itself as a character, use
a double backslash. See the following item on escape sequences for more information on
the backslash and its uses.

Recognized Escape Sequences: The awk command recognizes most of the escape sequences used in
C language conventions, as well as several that are used as special characters by the awk command
itself. The escape sequences are:

Escape Sequence Character Represented

\″ \″ (double-quotation) mark
\/ / (slash) character

176 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Escape Sequence Character Represented
\ddd Character whose encoding is represented by a one-, two- or three-digit octal integer,
where d represents an octal digit
\\ \ (backslash) character
\a Alert character
\b Backspace character
\f Form-feed character
\n New-line character (see following note)
\r Carriage-return character
\t Tab character
\v Vertical tab.

Note: Except in the gsub, match, split, and sub built-in functions, the matching of extended regular
expressions is based on input records. Record-separator characters (the new-line character by
default) cannot be embedded in the expression, and no expression matches the record-separator
character. If the record separator is not the new-line character, then the new-line character can be
matched. In the four built-in functions specified, matching is based on text strings, and any character
(including the record separator) can be embedded in the pattern so that the pattern matches the
appropriate character. However, in all regular-expression matching with the awk command, the use
of one or more NULL characters in the pattern produces undefined results.

Relational Expressions
The relational operators < (less than), > (greater than), <= (less than or equal to), >= (greater than or
equal to), = = (equal to), and ! = (not equal to) can be used to form patterns. For example, the pattern:
$1 < $4

matches records where the first field is less than the fourth field. The relational operators also work with
string values. For example:
$1 =! "q"

matches all records where the first field is not a q. String values can also be matched on collation values.
For example:
$1 >= "d"

matches all records where the first field starts with a character that is a, b, c, or d. If no other information is
given, field variables are compared as string values.

Combinations of Patterns
Patterns can be combined using three options:
v Ranges are specified by two patterns separated with a , (comma). Actions are performed on every
record starting with the record that matches the first pattern, and continuing through and including the
record that matches the second pattern. For example:
/begin/,/end/

matches the record containing the string begin, and every record between it and the record containing
the string end, including the record containing the string end.
v Parentheses ( ) group patterns together.
v The boolean operators || (or), && (and), and ! (not) combine patterns into expressions that match if they
evaluate true, otherwise they do not match. For example, the pattern:
$1 == "al" && $2 == "123"

matches records where the first field is al and the second field is 123.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 177

BEGIN and END Patterns
Actions specified with the BEGIN pattern are performed before any input is read. Actions specified with the
END pattern are performed after all input has been read. Multiple BEGIN and END patterns are allowed
and processed in the order specified. An END pattern can precede a BEGIN pattern within the program
statements. If a program consists only of BEGIN statements, the actions are performed and no input is
read. If a program consists only of END statements, all the input is read prior to any actions being taken.

Actions
There are several types of action statements:
v Action Statements
v Built-in Functions
v User-Defined Functions
v Conditional Statements
v Output Actions

Action Statements
Action statements are enclosed in { } (braces). If the statements are specified without a pattern, they are
performed on every record. Multiple actions can be specified within the braces, but must be separated by
new-line characters or ; (semicolons), and the statements are processed in the order they appear. Action
statements include:

Arithmetical Statements
The mathematical operators + (plus), - (minus), / (division), ^ (exponentiation), * (multiplication), % (modulus) are used
in the form:
Expression Operator Expression

Thus, the statement:

$2 = $1 ^ 3

assigns the value of the first field raised to the third power to the second field.

Unary Statements
The unary - (minus) and unary + (plus) operate as in the C programming language:
+Expression or -Expression

Increment and Decrement Statements

The pre-increment and pre-decrement statements operate as in the C programming language:
++Variable or --Variable

The post-increment and post-decrement statements operate as in the C programming language:

Variable++ or Variable--

Assignment Statements

178 Commands Reference, Volume 1

The assignment operators += (addition), -= (subtraction), /= (division), and *= (multiplication) operate as in the C
programming language, with the form:
Variable += Expression
Variable -= Expression
Variable /= Expression
Variable *= Expression

For example, the statement:

$1 *= $2

multiplies the field variable $1 by the field variable $2 and then assigns the new value to $1.

The assignment operators ^= (exponentiation) and %= (modulus) have the form:

Variable1^=Expression1

AND
Variable2%=Expression2

and they are equivalent to the C programming language statements:

Variable1=pow(Variable1, Expression1)

AND
Variable2=fmod(Variable2, Expression2)

where pow is the pow subroutine and fmod is the fmod subroutine.

String Concatenation Statements

String values can be concatenated by stating them side by side. For example:
$3 = $1 $2

assigns the concatenation of the strings in the field variables $1 and $2 to the field variable $3.

Built-In Functions
The awk command language uses arithmetic functions, string functions, and general functions. The close
Subroutine statement is necessary if you intend to write a file, then read it later in the same program.

Arithmetic Functions: The following arithmetic functions perform the same actions as the C language
subroutines by the same name:

atan2( y, x ) Returns arctangent of y/x.

cos( x ) Returns cosine of x; x is in radians.
sin( x ) Returns sin of x; x is in radians.
exp( x ) Returns the exponential function of x.
log( x ) Returns the natural logarithm of x.
sqrt( x ) Returns the square root of x.
int( x ) Returns the value of x truncated to an integer.
rand( ) Returns a random number n, with 0 <= n < 1.
srand( [Expr] ) Sets the seed value for the rand function to the value of the Expr parameter, or use the
time of day if the Expr parameter is omitted. The previous seed value is returned.

String Functions: The string functions are:

gsub( Ere, Repl, [ In ] ) Performs exactly as the sub function, except

that all occurrences of the regular expression
are replaced.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 179

sub( Ere, Repl, [ In ] ) Replaces the first occurrence of the extended
regular expression specified by the Ere
parameter in the string specified by the In
parameter with the string specified by the Repl
parameter. The sub function returns the number
of substitutions. An & (ampersand) appearing in
the string specified by the Repl parameter is
replaced by the string in the In parameter that
matches the extended regular expression
specified by the Ere parameter. If no In
parameter is specified, the default value is the
entire record ( the $0 record variable).
index( String1, String2 ) Returns the position, numbering from 1, within
the string specified by the String1 parameter
where the string specified by the String2
parameter occurs. If the String2 parameter does
not occur in the String1 parameter, a 0 (zero) is
returned.
length [(String)] Returns the length, in characters, of the string
specified by the String parameter. If no String
parameter is given, the length of the entire
record (the $0 record variable) is returned.
blength [(String)] Returns the length, in bytes, of the string
specified by the String parameter. If no String
parameter is given, the length of the entire
record (the $0 record variable) is returned.
substr( String, M, [ N ] ) Returns a substring with the number of
characters specified by the N parameter. The
substring is taken from the string specified by
the String parameter, starting with the character
in the position specified by the M parameter.
The M parameter is specified with the first
character in the String parameter as number 1.
If the N parameter is not specified, the length of
the substring will be from the position specified
by the M parameter until the end of the String
parameter.
match( String, Ere ) Returns the position, in characters, numbering
from 1, in the string specified by the String
parameter where the extended regular
expression specified by the Ere parameter
occurs, or else returns a 0 (zero) if the Ere
parameter does not occur. The RSTART special
variable is set to the return value. The
RLENGTH special variable is set to the length of
the matched string, or to -1 (negative one) if no
match is found.
split( String, A, [Ere] ) Splits the string specified by the String
parameter into array elements A[1], A[2], . . .,
A[n], and returns the value of the n variable. The
separation is done with the extended regular
expression specified by the Ere parameter or
with the current field separator (the FS special
variable) if the Ere parameter is not given. The
elements in the A array are created with string
values, unless context indicates a particular
element should also have a numeric value.

180 Commands Reference, Volume 1

tolower( String ) Returns the string specified by the String
parameter, with each uppercase character in the
string changed to lowercase. The uppercase and
lowercase mapping is defined by the
LC_CTYPE category of the current locale.
toupper( String ) Returns the string specified by the String
parameter, with each lowercase character in the
string changed to uppercase. The uppercase
and lowercase mapping is defined by the
LC_CTYPE category of the current locale.
sprintf(Format, Expr, Expr, . . . ) Formats the expressions specified by the Expr
parameters according to the printf subroutine
format string specified by the Format parameter
and returns the resulting string.

General Functions: The general functions are:

close( Expression ) Close the file or pipe opened by a print or

printf statement or a call to the getline
function with the same string-valued
Expression parameter. If the file or pipe is
successfully closed, a 0 is returned; otherwise
a non-zero value is returned. The close
statement is necessary if you intend to write a
file, then read the file later in the same
program.
system(Command ) Executes the command specified by the
Command parameter and returns its exit
status. Equivalent to the system subroutine.
Expression | getline [ Variable ] Reads a record of input from a stream piped
from the output of a command specified by the
Expression parameter and assigns the value
of the record to the variable specified by the
Variable parameter. The stream is created if
no stream is currently open with the value of
the Expression parameter as its command
name. The stream created is equivalent to one
created by a call to the popen subroutine with
the Command parameter taking the value of
the Expression parameter and the Mode
parameter set to a value of r. Each
subsequent call to the getline function reads
another record, as long as the stream remains
open and the Expression parameter evaluates
to the same string. If a Variable parameter is
not specified, the $0 record variable and the
NF special variable are set to the record read
from the stream.
getline [ Variable ] < Expression Reads the next record of input from the file
named by the Expression parameter and sets
the variable specified by the Variable
parameter to the value of the record. Each
subsequent call to the getline function reads
another record, as long as the stream remains
open and the Expression parameter evaluates
to the same string. If a Variable parameter is
not specified, the $0 record variable and the
NF special variable are set to the record read
from the stream.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 181

getline [ Variable ] Sets the variable specified by the Variable
parameter to the next record of input from the
current input file. If no Variable parameter is
specified, $0 record variable is set to the value
of the record, and the NF, NR, and FNR
special variables are also set.

Note: All forms of the getline function return 1 for successful input, zero for end of file, and -1 for an
error.

User-Defined Functions
User-defined functions are declared in the following form:
function Name (Parameter, Parameter,...) { Statements }

A function can be referred to anywhere in an awk command program, and its use can precede its
definition. The scope of the function is global.

Function parameters can be either scalars or arrays. Parameter names are local to the function; all other
variable names are global. The same name should not be used for different entities; for example, a
parameter name should not be duplicated as a function name, or special variable. Variables with global
scope should not share the name of a function. Scalars and arrays should not have the same name in the
same scope.

The number of parameters in the function definition does not have to match the number of parameters
used when the function is called. Excess formal parameters can be used as local variables. Extra scalar
parameters are initialized with a string value equivalent to the empty string and a numeric value of 0
(zero); extra array parameters are initialized as empty arrays.

When invoking a function, no white space is placed between the function name and the opening
parenthesis. Function calls can be nested and recursive. Upon return from any nested or recursive
function call, the values of all the calling function’s parameters shall be unchanged, except for array
parameters passed by reference. The return statement can be used to return a value.

Within a function definition, the new-line characters are optional before the opening { (brace) and after the
closing } (brace).

An example of a function definition is:

function average ( g,n)
{
for (i in g)
sum=sum+g[i]
avg=sum/n
return avg
}

The function average is passed an array, g, and a variable, n, with the number of elements in the array.
The function then obtains an average and returns it.

Conditional Statements
Most conditional statements in the awk command programming language have the same syntax and
function as conditional statements in the C programming language. All of the conditional statements allow
the use of { } (braces) to group together statements. An optional new-line can be used between the
expression portion and the statement portion of the conditional statement, and new-lines or ; (semicolon)
are used to separate multiple statements in { } (braces). Six conditional statements in C language are:

182 Commands Reference, Volume 1

if Requires the following syntax:

if ( Expression ) { Statement } [ else Action ]

while Requires the following syntax:

while ( Expression ) { Statement }

for Requires the following syntax:

for ( Expression ; Expression ; Expression ) { Statement }

break Causes the program loop to be exited when the break statement is used in either a while or for
statement.
continue Causes the program loop to move to the next iteration when the continue statement is used in either
a while or for statement.

Five conditional statements in the awk command programming language that do not follow C-language
rules are:

for...in Requires the following syntax:

for ( Variable in Array ) { Statement }

The for...in statement sets the Variable parameter to each index value of the Array variable, one
index at a time and in no particular order, and performs the action specified by the Statement
parameter with each iteration. See the delete statement for an example of a for...in statement.
if...in Requires the following syntax:

if ( Variable in Array ) { Statement }

The if...in statement searches for the existence of the Array element. The statement is performed if
the Array element is found.
delete Requires the following syntax:

delete Array [ Expression ]

The delete statement deletes both the array element specified by the Array parameter and the index
specified by the Expression parameter. For example, the statements:
for (i in g)
delete g[i];

would delete every element of the g[] array.

exit Requires the following syntax:

exit [ Expression ]

The exit statement first invokes all END actions in the order they occur, then terminates the awk
command with an exit status specified by the Expression parameter. No subsequent END actions are
invoked if the exit statement occurs within an END action.
# Requires the following syntax:

# Comment

The # statement places comments. Comments should always end with a new-line but can begin
anywhere on a line.
next Stops the processing of the current input record and proceeds with the next input record.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 183

Output Statements
Two output statements in the awk command programming language are:

print Requires the following syntax:

print [ ExpressionList ] [ Redirection ] [ Expression ]

The print statement writes the value of each expression specified by the ExpressionList parameter to
standard output. Each expression is separated by the current value of the OFS special variable, and
each record is terminated by the current value of the ORS special variable.

The output can be redirected using the Redirection parameter, which can specify the three output
redirections with the > (greater than), >> (double greater than), and the | (pipe). The Redirection
parameter specifies how the output is redirected, and the Expression parameter is either a path name to
a file (when Redirection parameter is > or >> ) or the name of a command ( when the Redirection
parameter is a | ).
printf Requires the following syntax:

printf Format [ , ExpressionList ] [ Redirection ] [ Expression ]

The printf statement writes to standard output the expressions specified by the ExpressionList parameter
in the format specified by the Format parameter. The printf statement functions exactly like the printf
command, except for the c conversion specification (%c). The Redirection and Expression parameters
function the same as in the print statement.

For the c conversion specification: if the argument has a numeric value, the character whose encoding is
that value will be output. If the value is zero or is not the encoding of any character in the character set,
the behavior is undefined. If the argument does not have a numeric value, the first character of the string
value will be output; if the string does not contain any characters the behavior is undefined.

Note: If the Expression parameter specifies a path name for the Redirection parameter, the
Expression parameter should be enclosed in double quotes to insure that it is treated as a string.

Variables
Variables can be scalars, field variables, arrays, or special variables. Variable names cannot begin with a
digit.

Variables can be used just by referencing them. With the exception of function parameters, they are not
explicitly declared. Uninitialized scalar variables and array elements have both a numeric value of 0 (zero)
and a string value of the null string (″ ″).

Variables take on numeric or string values according to context. Each variable can have a numeric value,
a string value, or both. For example:
x = "4" + "8"

assigns the value of 12 to the variable x. For string constants, expressions should be enclosed in ″ ″
(double quotation) marks.

There are no explicit conversions between numbers and strings. To force an expression to be treated as a
number, add 0 (zero) to it. To force an expression to be treated as a string, append a null string (″ ″).

Field Variables
Field variables are designated by a $ (dollar sign) followed by a number or numerical expression. The first
field in a record is assigned the $1 variable , the second field is assigned to the $2 variable, and so forth.
The $0 field variable is assigned to the entire record. New field variables can be created by assigning a
value to them. Assigning a value to a non-existent field, that is, any field larger than the current value of
$NF field variable, forces the creation of any intervening fields (set to the null string), increases the value
of the NF special variable, and forces the value of $0 record variable to be recalculated. The new fields

184 Commands Reference, Volume 1

are separated by the current field separator ( which is the value of the FS special variable). Blanks and
tabs are the default field separators. To change the field separator, use the -F flag, or assign the FS
special variable a different value in the awk command program.

Arrays
Arrays are initially empty and their sizes change dynamically. Arrays are represented by a variable with
subscripts in [ ] (square brackets). The subscripts, or element identifiers, can be numbers of strings, which
provide a type of associative array capability. For example, the program:
/red/ { x["red"]++ }
/green/ { y["green"]++ }

increments counts for both the red counter and the green counter.

Arrays can be indexed with more than one subscript, similar to multidimensional arrays in some
programming languages. Because programming arrays for the awk command are really one dimensional,
the comma-separated subscripts are converted to a single string by concatenating the string values of the
separate expressions, with each expression separated by the value of the SUBSEP environmental
variable. Therefore, the following two index operations are equivalent:
x[expr1, expr2,...exprn]

AND
x[expr1SUBSEPexpr2SUBSEP...SUBSEPexprn]

When using the in operator, a multidimensional Index value should be contained within parentheses.
Except for the in operator, any reference to a nonexistent array element automatically creates that
element.

Special Variables
The following variables have special meaning for the awk command:

ARGC The number of elements in the ARGV array. This value can be altered.
ARGV The array with each member containing one of the File variables or Assignment variables, taken in
order from the command line, and numbered from 0 (zero) to ARGC -1. As each input file is finished,
the next member of the ARGV array provides the name of the next input file, unless:
v The next member is an Assignment statement, in which case the assignment is evaluated.
v The next member has a null value, in which case the member is skipped. Programs can skip
selected input files by setting the member of the ARGV array that contains that input file to a null
value.
v The next member is the current value of ARGV [ARGC -1], which the awk command interprets as
the end of the input files.
CONVFMT The printf format for converting numbers to strings (except for output statements, where the OFMT
special variable is used). The default is ″%.6g″.
ENVIRON An array representing the environment under which the awk command operates. Each element of the
array is of the form:

ENVIRON [ ″Environment VariableName″ ] = EnvironmentVariableValue

The values are set when the awk command begins execution, and that environment is used until the
end of execution, regardless of any modification of the ENVIRON special variable.
FILENAME The path name of the current input file. During the execution of a BEGIN action, the value of
FILENAME is undefined. During the execution of an END action, the value is the name of the last
input file processed.
FNR The number of the current input record in the current file.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 185

FS The input field separator. The default value is a blank. If the input field separator is a blank, any
number of locale-defined spaces can separate fields. The FS special variable can take two additional
values:
v With FS set to a single character, fields are separated by each single occurrence of the character.
v With FS set to an extended regular expression, each occurrence of a sequence matching the
extended regular expression separates fields.
NF The number of fields in the current record, with a limit of 99. Inside a BEGIN action, the NF special
variable is undefined unless a getline function without a Variable parameter has been issued
previously. Inside an END action, the NF special variable retains the value it had for the last record
read, unless a subsequent, redirected, getline function without a Variable parameter is issued prior to
entering the END action.
NR The number of the current input record. Inside a BEGIN action the value of the NR special variable is
0 (zero). Inside an END action, the value is the number of the last record processed.
OFMT The printf format for converting numbers to strings in output statements. The default is ″% .6g″.
OFS The output field separator (default is a space).
ORS The output record separator (default is a new-line character).
RLENGTH The length of the string matched by the match function.
RS Input record separator (default is a new-line character). If the RS special variable is null, records are
separated by sequences of one or more blank lines; leading or trailing blank lines do not result in
empty records at the beginning or end of input; and the new-line character is always a field
separator, regardless of the value of the FS special variable.
RSTART The starting position of the string matched by the match function, numbering from 1. Equivalent to
the return value of the match function.
SUBSEP Separates multiple subscripts. The default is \031.

Flags
-f ProgramFile Obtains instructions for the awk command from the file specified by the ProgramFile
variable. If the -f flag is specified multiple times, the concatenation of the files, in the
order specified, will be used as the set of instructions.
-F Ere Uses the extended regular expression specified by the Ere variable as the field separator.
The default field separator is a blank.
-v Assignment Assigns a value to a variable for the awk command’s programming language. The
Assignment parameter is in the form of Name = Value. The Name portion specifies the
name of the variable and can be any combination of underscores, digits, and alphabetic
characters, but it must start with either an alphabetic character or an underscore. The
Value portion is also composed of underscores, digits, and alphabetic characters, and is
treated as if it were preceded and followed by a ″ (double-quotation character, similar to a
string value). If the Value portion is numeric, the variable will also be assigned the
numeric value.

The assignment specified by the -v flag occurs before any portion of the awk command’s
program is executed, including the BEGIN section.
Assignment Assigns a value to a variable for the awk command’s programming language. It has the
same form and function as the Assignment variable with the -v flag, except for the time
each is processed. The Assignment parameter is processed just prior to the input file
(specified by the File variable) that follows it on the command line. If the Assignment
parameter is specified just prior to the first of multiple input files, the assignments are
processed just after the BEGIN sections (if any). If an Assignment parameter occurs after
the last file, the assignment is processed before the END sections (if any). If no input files
are specified, the assignments are processed the standard input is read.
File Specifies the name of the file that contains the input for processing. If no File variable is
specified, or if a - (minus) sign is specified, standard input is processed.
’Program’ Contains the instructions for the awk command. If the -f flag is not specified, the Program
variable should be the first item on the command line. It should be bracketed by ’ ’ (single
quotes).

186 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.

You can alter the exit status within the program by using the exit [ Expression ] conditional statement.

Examples
1. To display the lines of a file that are longer than 72 characters, enter:
awk ’length >72’ chapter1

This selects each line of the chapter1 file that is longer than 72 characters and writes these lines to
standard output, because no Action is specified. A tab character is counted as 1 byte.
2. To display all lines between the words start and stop, including ″start″ and ″stop″, enter:
awk ’/start/,/stop/’ chapter1
3. To run an awk command program, [Link], that processes the file, chapter1, enter:
awk -f [Link] chapter1

The following program, [Link], computes the sum and average of the numbers in the second
column of the input file, chapter1:
{
sum += $2
}
END {
print "Sum: ", sum;
print "Average:", sum/NR;
}

The first action adds the value of the second field of each line to the variable sum. All variables are
initialized to the numeric value of 0 (zero) when first referenced. The pattern END before the second
action causes those actions to be performed after all of the input file has been read. The NR special
variable, which is used to calculate the average, is a special variable specifying the number of records
that have been read.
4. To print the first two fields in opposite order, enter:
awk ’{ print $2, $1 }’ chapter1
5. The following awk program
awk -f [Link] chapter2

prints the first two fields of the file chapter2 with input fields separated by comma and/or blanks and
tabs, and then adds up the first column, and prints the sum and average:
BEGIN {FS = ",|[ \t]+"}
{print $1, $2}
{s += $1}
END {print "sum is",s,"average is", s/NR }

Related Information
The egrep command, fgrep command, grep command, lex command, printf command, sed command.

The popen subroutine, printf subroutine, system subroutine.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 187

back Command

Purpose
Starts the backgammon game.

Syntax
back

Description
The back command provides you with a partner for backgammon. You select one of the following three
skill levels: beginner, intermediate, or expert. You can choose to roll your own dice during your turns, and
you are asked if you want to move first.

Important locations on the computer-generated board are:

v 0 is the bar for removed white pieces.
v 1 is white’s extreme inner table.
v 24 is brown’s extreme inner table.
v 25 is the bar for removed brown pieces.

For details on how to make your moves, enter Y when prompted for Instructions? at the beginning of the
game. During play, you are prompted for move?. Either enter a numerical move or press ? (question mark)
key for a list of move choices.

When the game is finished, you are asked if you want to save game information. Entering Y stores game
data in the [Link] file in your current directory.

The back command plays only the forward game, even at the expert level. It objects if you try to make too
many moves in a turn, but not if you make too few. Doubling is not permitted.

To quit the game, press the Interrupt (Ctrl-C) key sequence.

Files
/usr/games Location of the system’s games.
/usr/games/lib/backrules Location of the rules file.
/tmp/b* Location of the log temp file.
[Link] Contains data from previously played games.

Related Information
The arithmetic command, bj command, craps command, fish command, fortune command, hangman
command, moo command, number command, quiz command, ttt command, turnoff command, turnon
command, wump command.

backsnap Command

Purpose
Provides an interface to create a snapshot for a JFS2 file system and perform a backup of the snapshot.

Syntax
backsnap [ -R ] -m MountPoint -s size=Size [ BackupOptions ] FileSystem

188 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Description
Provides an interface to create a snapshot for a JFS2 file system and perform a backup of the snapshot.
The restore command can be used to retrieve the backup.

Flags
-m MountPoint Specifies the path of where the snapshot created should
be mounted.
-R Specifies that the snapshot created by this command will
be removed when the backup completes.
-s size=Size Specifies the size to create the new logical volume.

If Size is followed by an M, the value is treated as

megabytes. If Size is followed by a G, the value is treated
as gigabytes. Otherwise, the value is treated as 512-byte
blocks.

Parameters
BackupOptions Any other options are passed to the backup command
when the backup of the snapshot is performed. Minimally,
it is required to specify the type of backup desired.

For backup by name, the -i option must be specified along

with the device for the backup.

For backup by inode, the level option, -[0-9], must be

specified along with the device for the backup.

Use the restore command to retrieve the backup.

FileSystem Specifies the JFS2 file system to create a snapshot of and
backup.

Exit Status
0 The command completed successfully.
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
1. To create a snapshot for the /home/janet/sb file system and perform a backup on the snapshot by
name, enter:
backsnap -m /tmp/snapshot/janetsb -s size=16M -i -f/dev/rmt0 /home/janet/sb

This command creates a logical volume of size 16 megabytes and then creates a snapshot for the
/home/janet/sb file system on the newly created logical volume. It then mounts the snapshot on
/tmp/snapshot/janetsb and backs up the files and directories in that file system by name to the
/dev/rmt0 device.
2. To create a snapshot for the /home/janet/sb file system and perform a backup on the snapshot by
inode, enter:
backsnap -R -m /tmp/snapshot/janetsb -s size=16M -0 -f /dev/rmt0 /home/janet/sb

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 189

 This command creates a logical volume of size 16 megabytes and then creates a snapshot for the
/home/janet/sb file system on the newly created logical volume. It then mounts the snapshot on
/tmp/snapshot/janetsb and backs up the data in the snapshot by inode to the /dev/rmt0 device. After
the backup completes, the snapshot is deleted.

Files
/usr/sbin/backsnap Contains the backsnap command.

Related Information
The backup command, restore command, snapshot command.

backup Command

Purpose
Backs up files and file systems.

Syntax
To Back Up Files by Name
backup -i [ -b Number ] [ -p [ -e RegularExpression ] ] [ -E{force|ignore|warn} ] [ -f Device ] [ -l Number ]
[ -U ] [ -o ] [ -q ] [ -v ]

To Back Up File Systems by i-node

backup [ [ -Level ] [ -b Number ] [ -c ] [ -f Device ] [ -L Length ] [ -U ] [ -u ] ] [ FileSystem ] | [ -w | -W ]

Description
The backup command creates copies of your files on a backup medium, such as a magnetic tape or
diskette. The copies are in one of the two backup formats:
v Specific files backed up by name using the -i flag.
v Entire file system backed up by i-node using the Level and FileSystem parameters.

If you issue the backup command without any parameters, it defaults to a level 9 i-node backup of the
root file system to the /dev/rfd0 device. The default syntax is:
-9uf/dev/rfd0 /dev/rhd4

The default backup device is /dev/rfd0. If flags are specified that are not appropriate for the specified
backup device, the backup command displays an error message and continues with the backup.

A single backup can span multiple volumes.

Notes:
1. Running the backup command results in the loss of all material previously stored on the selected
output medium.
2. Data integrity of the archive may be compromised if a file is modified during system backup.
Keep system activity at a minimum during the system backup procedure.
3. If a backup is made to a tape device with the device block size set to 0, it might be difficult to
restore data from the tape unless the default write size was used with the backup command. The
default write size for the backup command can be read by the restore command when the tape
device block size is 0.

190 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 In other words, the -b flag should not be specified when the tape device block size is 0. If the -b
flag of the backup command is specified and is different from the default size, the same size
must be specified with the -b flag of the restore command when the archived files are restored
from the tape.
4. Do not attempt to back up a logical volume.

Backing Up Files by Name

To back up by name, use the -i flag. The backup command reads standard input for the names of the files
to be backed up.

File types can be special files, regular files, or directories. When the file type is a directory, only the
directory is backed up. The files under the directory are not backed up, unless they are explicitly specified.

Notes:
1. Files are restored using the same path names as the archived files. Therefore, to create a
backup that can be restored from any path, use full path names for the files that you want to
back up.
2. When backing up files that require multiple volumes, do not enter the list of file names from the
keyboard. Instead, pipe or redirect the list from a file to the backup command.
When you enter the file names from the keyboard and the backup process needs a new tape or
diskette, the command ″loses″ any file names already entered but not yet backed up. To avoid
this problem, enter each file name only after the archived message for the previous file has been
displayed. The archived message consists of the character a followed by the file name.
3. If you specify the -p flag, only files of less than 2GB are packed.

Backing Up File Systems by i-node

To back up a file system by i-node, specify the -Level and FileSystem parameters. When used in
conjunction with the -u flag, the -Level parameter provides a method of maintaining a hierarchy of
incremental backups for each file system. Specify the -u flag and set the -Level parameter to n to back up
only those files that have been modified since the n-1 level backup. Information regarding the date, time,
and level of each incremental backup is written to the /etc/dumpdates file. The possible backup levels are
0 to 9. A level 0 backup archives all files in the file system. If the /etc/dumpdates file contains no backup
information for a particular file system, specifying any level causes all files in that file system to be
archived.

The FileSystem parameter can specify either the physical device name (block or raw name) or the name
of the directory on which the file system is mounted. The default file system is the root (/) file system.

Users must have read access to the file system device (such as /dev/hd4) or have Backup authorization
in order to perform backups by i_node.

Notes:
1. You must first unmount a file system before backing it up by i-node. If you attempt to back up a
mounted file system, a warning message is displayed. The backup command continues, but the
created backup may contain inconsistencies because of changes that may have occurred in the
file system during the backup operation.
2. Backing up file systems by i-node truncates the uid or gid of files having a uid or gid greater
than 65535. When restored, these files may have different values for the uid and gid attributes.
To retain the values correctly, always back up by name files having a uid or gid greater than
65535.
3. You can archive only JFS (Journaled File System) file systems when backing up by i-node. Back
up any non-JFS file systems by file name or by using other archive commands, such as the pax,
tar, or cpio command.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 191

Flags
-b Number For backups by name, specifies the number of 512-byte blocks; for backups
by i-node, specifies the number of 1024-byte blocks to write in a single output
operation. When the backup command writes to tape devices, the default is
100 for backups by name and 32 for backups by i-node.

The write size is the number of blocks multiplied by the block size. The
default write size for the backup command writing to tape devices is 51200
(100 * 512) for backups by name and 32768 (32 * 1024) for backups by
i-node. The write size must be an even multiple of the tape’s physical block
size.

The value of the -b flag is always ignored when the backup command writes
to diskette. In this case, the command always writes in clusters that occupy a
complete track.
-c Specifies that the tape is a cartridge, not a nine-track.
-e RegularExpression Specifies that the files with names matching the regular expression are not to
be packed. A regular expression is a set of characters, meta characters, and
operators that define a string or group of strings in a search pattern. It can
also be a string containing wildcard characters and operations that define a
set of one or more possible strings. The -e flag is applied only when the -p
flag is specified.
-E For backups by name, the -E option requires one of the following arguments.
If you omit the -E option, warn is the default behavior.
force Fails the backup operation on a file if the fixed extent size or space
reservation of the file cannot be preserved.
ignore Ignores any errors in preserving extent attributes.
warn Issues a warning if the space reservation or the fixed extent size of
the file cannot be preserved.
-f Device Specifies the output device. To send output to a named device, specify the
Device variable as a path name (such as /dev/rmt0). To send output to the
standard output device, specify a - (minus sign). The - (minus) feature
enables you to pipe the output of the backup command to the dd command.

You can also specify a range of archive devices. The range specification must
be in the following format:
/dev/deviceXXX-YYY

where XXX and YYY are whole numbers, and XXX must always be less than
YYY; for example, /dev/rfd0-3.

All devices in the specified range must be of the same type. For example, you
can use a set of 8mm, 2.3GB tapes or a set of 1.44MB diskettes. All tape
devices must be set to the same physical tape block size.

If the Device variable specifies a range, the backup command automatically

goes from one device in the range to the next. After exhausting all of the
specified devices, the backup command halts and requests that new volumes
be mounted on the range of devices.
-i Specifies that files be read from standard input and archived by file name. If
relative path names are used, files are restored (with the restore command)
relative to the current directory at restore time. If full path names are used,
files are restored to those same names.

192 Commands Reference, Volume 1

-L Length Specifies the length of the tape in bytes. This flag overrides the -c, -d, and -s
flags. You can specify the size with a suffix of b, k, m, or g to represent
Blocks (512 bytes), Kilo (1024 bytes), Mega (1024 Kilobytes), or Giga (1024
Megabytes), respectively. To represent a tape length of 2 Gigabytes, enter -L
2g.

Note: Use the -L flag for i-node backups only.

-l Number (lowercase L) Limits the total number of blocks to use on the diskette device.
The value specified must be a non-zero multiple of the number of sectors per
diskette track. This option applies to by-name backups only. See the format
command for information on sectors per diskette track.
-o Creates a Version 2-compatible backup by name. This flag is required for
compatibility with Version 2 systems because backups by name that are
created by a version higher than 2 cannot be restored on Version 2 systems.
To create a Version 2-compatible backup by name, use the -o flag along with
other flags required for backups by name.

Files with attributes and values, such as user IDs and group IDs, that are too
large for Version 2 systems will not be backed up. A message is displayed for
each such file and each value that is too large.
-p Specifies that the files be packed, or compressed, before they are archived.
Only files of less than 2GB are packed.

Note: This option should only be used when backing up files from an
inactive filesystem. Modifying a file when a backup is in progress may
result in corruption of the backup and an inability to recover the data.
When backing up to a tape device which performs compression, this
option can be omitted.
-q Indicates that the removable medium is ready to use. When you specify the
-q flag, the backup command proceeds without prompting you to prepare the
backup medium and press the Enter key to continue. This option applies only
to the first volume; you are prompted for subsequent volumes. The -q flag
applies only to backups by name.
-U Specifies to backup any ACLs or named extended attributes. Without this
option the image will include only AIXC ACLs and PCLs in the archive along
with the other regular file data. For files containing NFS4 ACLs, conversion to
AIXC will happen by default during archival.
-u Updates the /etc/dumpdates file with the raw device name of the file system
and the time, date, and level of the backup. You must specify the -u flag if
you are making incremental backups. The -u flag applies only to backups by
i-node.
-v Causes the backup command to display additional information about the
backup. When using the -v flag, the size of the file as it exists on the archive
is displayed in bytes. Additionally, a total of these file sizes is displayed when
all files have been processed. Directories are listed with a size of 0. Symbolic
links are listed with the size of the symbolic link. Hard links are listed with the
size of the file, which is how hard links are archived. Block and character
devices, if they were backed up, are listed with a size of 0.

When the -v flag is not specified, the backup command displays only the
names of the files being archived. This option is used only when backing up
by file name.
-w Currently disabled. If the -w flag is specified, no other flags are applied.
-W Displays, for each file system in the /etc/dumpdates file, the most recent
backup date and level. If the -W option is specified, no other flags are
applied.
-Level Specifies the backup level (0 to 9). The default level is 9.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 193

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
1. To backup all the files and subdirectories in the /home directory using full path names, enter:

find /home -print | backup -i -f /dev/rmt0

The -i flag specifies that files will be read from standard input and archived by file name. The find
command generates a list of all the files in the /home directory. The files in this list are full path names.
The | (pipe symbol) causes this list to be read from standard input by the backup command. The -f
flag directs the backup command to write the files to the /dev/rmt0 tape device. Because the files are
archived using full path names, they will be written to the same paths when restored.
2. To backup all the files and subdirectories in the /home/mike directory using relative path names, enter:

cd /home
find . -print | backup -i -v -q

Each file name in the list generated by the find command is preceded by ./ (dot, slash). Because the
files are backed up using relative path names, they will be written to the current directory when
restored. The -v flag causes the backup command to display additional information about the backup.
The files are written to the default backup device /dev/rfd0.
3. To backup the / (root) file system, enter:

backup -0 -u -f /dev/rmt0 /

The 0 level specifies that all the files in the / (root) file system be backed up. The -u flag causes the
backup command to update the /etc/dumpdates file for this backup.
4. To backup all the files in the / (root) file system that have been modified since the last level 0 backup,
enter:

backup -1 -u -f /dev/rmt0 /

If the /etc/dumpdates file does not have an entry for a level 0 backup of the / (root) system, all the
files in the file system are backed up.
5. To create an archive with Extended Attributes and ACLs, enter:
ls /etc/passwd | backup -ivUf [Link]

Files
/etc/filesystems Contains file system mount information.
/etc/dumpdates Specifies log for incremental by i-node backups.
/dev/rfd0 Specifies default backup device.
/dev/rhd4 Specifies device where the default file system (root) is located.
/usr/sbin/backup Contains the backup command.

194 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Related Information
The dd command, find command, rdump command, restore command.

The dumpdates file, filesystems file, rmt special file.

The System backup in Operating system and device management provides information on different
methods of backing up, restoring process, different types of backup media, and guidelines for backup
policies.

The Directories in Operating system and device management explains working with directories and path
names.

The File systems in Operating system and device management explains file system types, management,
structure, and maintenance.

The Mounting in Operating system and device management explains mounting files and directories, mount
points, and automatic mounts.

The System management interface tool in Operating system and device management explains the
structure, main menus, and tasks that are done with SMIT.

banner Command

Purpose
Writes ASCII character strings in large letters to standard output.

Syntax
banner String

Description
The banner command writes ASCII character Strings to standard output in large letters. Each line in the
output can be up to 10 uppercase or lowercase characters in length. On output, all characters appear in
uppercase, with the lowercase input characters appearing smaller than the uppercase input characters.

Each word you input appears on a separate line on the screen. When you want to display more than one
word to a line, use quotation marks to specify which words will appear on one line.

Examples
1. To display a banner at the workstation, enter:
banner SMILE!
2. To display more than one word on a line, enclose the text in quotation marks, as follows:
banner "Out to" Lunch

This displays Out to on one line and Lunch on the next.

Files
/usr/bin/banner Contains the banner command.

Related Information
The echo command.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 195

The Input and output redirection overview in Operating system and device management describes how the
operating system processes input and output and how to use redirect and pipe symbols.

basename Command

Purpose
Returns the base file name of a string parameter.

Syntax
basename String [ Suffix ]

Description
The basename command reads the String parameter, deletes any prefix that ends with a / (slash) and any
specified Suffix parameter, and writes the remaining base file name to standard output. The basename
command applies the following rules in creating the base file name:
1. If the String parameter is a // (double slash), or if the String parameter consists entirely of slash
characters, change the string to a single / (slash). Skip steps 2 through 4.
2. Remove any trailing / characters from the specified string.
3. If there are any / characters remaining in the String parameter, remove the prefix of the string up to
and including the last / character.
4. If a Suffix parameter is specified and is identical to the characters remaining in the string, the string is
not modified. For example, entering:
K > basename /u/dee/desktop/[Link] [Link]

results in:
[Link]

If a Suffix parameter is specified and is not identical to all the characters in the string but is identical to
a suffix in the string, the specified suffix is removed. For example, entering:
K > basename /u/dee/desktop/[Link] .boo

results in:
cns

Failure to find the specified suffix within a string is not considered an error.

The basename and dirname commands are generally used inside command substitutions within a shell
script to specify an output file name that is some variation of a specified input file name.

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
1. To display the base name of a shell variable, enter:
basename $WORKFILE

196 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 The command displays the base name of the value assigned to the shell variable WORKFILE. If the
value of the WORKFILE variable is the /home/jim/program.c file, then the command displays program.c.
2. To construct a file name that is the same as another file name, except for its suffix, enter:
OFILE=`basename $1 .c`.o

This command assigns to the OFILE file the value of the first positional parameter ($1), but with its .c
suffix changed to .o. If $1 is the /home/jim/program.c file, OFILE becomes program.o. Because
program.o is only a base file name, it identifies a file in the current directory.

Note: The ` (grave accent) specifies command substitution.

Files
/usr/bin/basename Contains the basename command.

Related Information
The dirname command, sh command.

batch Command

Purpose
Runs jobs when the system load level permits.

Syntax
batch

Description
The batch command reads from standard input the names of commands to be run at a later time and runs
the jobs when the system load level permits. The batch command mails you all output from standard
output and standard error for the scheduled commands, unless you redirect that output. It also writes the
job number and the scheduled time to standard error.

When the batch command is executed, it retains variables in the shell environment, and the current
directory; however, it does not retain open file descriptors, traps, and priority.

The batch command is equivalent to entering the at -q b -m now command. The -q b flag specifies the at
queue for batch jobs.

Exit Status
This command returns the following exit values:

0 Successful completion
>0 An error occurred.

Examples
To run a job when the system load permits, enter:
batch <<!
longjob
!

This example shows the use of a ″Here Document″ to send standard input to the batch command.
Alphabetical Listing of Commands 197
Files
/usr/bin/batch Contains the batch command.
/bin/batch Symbolic link to the batch command.
/var/adm/cron Indicates the main cron daemon directory.
/var/spool/cron/atjobs Indicates the spool area.

Related Information
at command, bsh command, csh command, kill command, ksh command, mail command, nice
command, ps command.

Daemons: cron.

Input and output redirection overview in Operating system and device management describes how the
operating system processes input and output.

Korn shell or POSIX shell built-in commands and Bourne shell built-in commands in Operating system and
device management.

National Language Support Overview for Programming in AIX 5L Version 5.3 General Programming
Concepts: Writing and Debugging Programs explains collating sequences, equivalence classes, and
locale.

Shells in Operating system and device management describes what shells are, the different types of
shells, and how shells affect the way commands are interpreted.

battery Command

Purpose
Controls or queries battery information.

Syntax
battery [ -d ]

Description
The battery command controls or queries the battery. If the battery command is invoked without -d
option, the following battery information is displayed:
battery type: NiCd or NiMH
current battery usage: charging, discharging, in use, fully charged
battery capacity
current remaining capacity
full charge count

If the battery command is invoked with -d option, the following battery information is also displayed:
discharge quantity
discharge time

If you use 50% of a battery’s capacity and charge it every time (about 20 to 30 times), then the battery
cannot be used at more than 50% of its capacity. This is called the memory effect of battery. If, then, the
battery is discharged (made empty) and then recharged, the battery can be used at 100% again.

198 Commands Reference, Volume 1

Flags
-d Discharges the battery so you can reset the memory effect of battery.

Security
Access Control: Any User

Auditing Events: N/A

Examples
1. To show current battery status, enter:
battery

Something similar to the following displays:

battery type: NiMH
current battery usage: in use
battery capacity: 3200 (mAH)
current remaining capacity: 1800 (mAH) [57%]
full charge count: 3

Files
/usr/bin/battery Contains the battery command.

bc Command

Purpose
Provides an interpreter for arbitrary-precision arithmetic language.

Syntax
bc [ -c ] [ -l ] [ File ... ]

Description
The bc command is an interactive process that provides arbitrary-precision arithmetic. The bc command
first reads any input files specified by the File parameter and then reads the standard input. The input files
must be text files containing a sequence of commands, statements, or function definitions that the bc
command can read and execute.

The bc command is a preprocessor for the dc command. It calls the dc command automatically, unless
the -c (compile only) flag is specified. If the -c flag is specified, the output from the bc command goes to
standard output.

The bc command allows you to specify an input and output base for operations in decimal, octal, or
hexadecimal. The default is decimal. The command also has a scaling provision for decimal point notation.
The bc command always uses the . (period) to represent the radix point, regardless of any decimal point
character specified as part of the current locale.

The syntax for the bc command is similar to that of the C language. You can use the bc command to
translate between bases by assigning the ibase keyword to the input base and the obase keyword to the
output base. A range of 2-16 is valid for the ibase keyword. The obase keyword ranges from 2 up to the

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 199

limit set by the BC_BASE_MAX value defined in the /usr/include/sys/limits.h file. Regardless of the
ibase and obase settings, the bc command recognizes the letters A-F as their hexadecimal values 10-15.

The output of the bc command is controlled by the program read. Output consists of one or more lines
containing the value of all executed expressions without assignments. The radix and precision of the
output are controlled by the values of the obase and scale keywords.

Further information about the way in which the bc command processes information from a source file is
described in the following sections:
v Grammar
v Lexical Conventions
v Identifiers and Operators
v Expressions
v Statements
v Function Calls
v Functions in -I Math Library

Grammar
The following grammar describes the syntax for the bc program, where program stands for any valid
program:
%token EOF NEWLINE STRING LETTER NUMBER
%token MUL_OP
/* ’*’, ’/’, ’%’ */
%token ASSIGN_OP
/* ’=’, ’+=’, ’-=’, ’*=’, ’/=’, ’%=’, ’^=’ */
%token REL_OP
/* ’==’, ’<=’, ’>=’, ’!=’, ’<’, ’>’ */
%token INCR_DECR
/* ’++’, ’--’ */
%token Define Break Quit Length
/* ’define’, ’break’, ’quit’, ’length’ */
%token Return For If While Sqrt
/* ’return’, ’for’, ’if’, ’while’, ’sqrt’ */
%token Scale Ibase Obase Auto
/* ’scale’, ’ibase’, ’obase’, ’auto’ */
%start program
%%
program : EOF
| input_item program
;
input_item : semicolon_list NEWLINE
| function
;
semicolon_list : /* empty */
| statement
| semicolon_list ’;’ statement
| semicolon_list ’;’
;
statement_list : /* empty */
| statement
| statement_list NEWLINE
| statement_list NEWLINE statement
| statement_list ’;’
| statement_list ’;’ statement
;

200 Commands Reference, Volume 1

statement : expression
| STRING
| Break
| Quit
| Return
| Return ’(’ return_expression ’)’
| For ’(’ expression ’;’
relational_expression ’;’
expression ’)’ statement
| If ’(’ relational_expression ’)’ statement
| While ’(’ relational_expression ’)’ statement
| ’{’ statement_list ’}’
;
function : Define LETTER ’(’ opt_parameter_list ’)’
’{’ NEWLINE opt_auto_define_list
statement_list ’}’
;
opt_parameter_list:/* empty */
| parameter_list
;
parameter_list : LETTER
| define_list ’,’ LETTER
;
opt_auto_define_list
: /* empty */
| Auto define_list NEWLINE
| Auto define_list ’;’
;
define_list : LETTER
| LETTER ’[’ ’]’
| define_list ’,’ LETTER
| define_list ’,’ LETTER ’[’ ’]’
;
opt_argument_list : /* empty */
| argument_list
;
argument_list : expression
| argument_list ’,’ expression
;
relational_expression
: expression
| expression REL_OP expression
;
return_expression : /* empty */
| expression
;
expression : named_expression
| NUMBER
| ’(’ expression ’)’
| LETTER ’(’ opt_argument_list ’)’
| ’-’ expression
| expression ’+’ expression
| expression ’-’ expression
| expression MUL_OP expression
| expression ’^’ expression
| INCR_DECR named_expression
| named_expression INCR_DECR
| named_expression ASSIGN_OP expression
| Length ’(’ expression ’)’
| Sqrt ’(’ expression ’)’
| Scale ’(’ expression ’)’
;

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 201

named_expression : LETTER
| LETTER ’[’ expression ’]’
| Scale
| Ibase
| Obase
;

Lexical Conventions
The following lexical conventions apply to the bc command:
1. The bc command recognizes the longest possible lexical token or delimiter beginning at a given
point.
2. Comments begin with /* (slash, asterisk) and end with */ (asterisk, slash). Comments have no effect
except to delimit lexical tokens.
3. The newline character is recognized as the NEWLINE token.
4. The STRING token represents a string constant. The string begins with ″ (double quotation mark) and
terminates with ″ (double quotation mark). All characters between the quotation marks are taken
literally. There is no way to specify a string that contains ″ (double quotation mark). The length of
each string is limited to the maximum bytes set in the BC_STRING_MAX value, which is defined in
the limits.h file.
5. Blank characters have no effect except as they appear in the STRING token or when used to delimit
lexical tokens.
6. The \n (backslash, newline) character:
v delimits lexical tokens.
v is interpreted as a character sequence in STRING tokens.
v is ignored when part of a multiline NUMBER token.
7. A NUMBER token uses the following grammar:
NUMBER : integer
| ’.’ integer
| integer ’.’
|integer ’.’ integer
;
integer : digit
| integer digit
;
digit : 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
| 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F
;

NUMBER token values are interpreted as numerals in the base specified by the ibase internal
register value.
8. The value of a NUMBER token is interpreted as a numeral in the base specified by the value of the
ibase internal register. Each of the digit characters has the value from 0 to 15 in the order listed here,
and the period character presents the radix point. The behavior is undefined if digits greater than or
equal to the value of the ibase register appear in the token. There is an exception for single-digit
values being assigned to the ibase and obase registers themselves.
9. The following keywords are recognized as tokens:
auto for length return sqrt
break ibase obase scale while
define if quit
10. Except within a keyword, any of the following letters are considered a LETTER token:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
11. The following single-character and two-character sequences are recognized as the ASSIGN_OP
token:
v = (equal sign)

202 Commands Reference, Volume 1

 v += (plus, equal sign)
v -= (minus, equal sign)
v *= (asterisk, equal sign)
v /= (slash, equal sign)
v %= (percent, equal sign)
v ^= (caret, equal sign)
12. The following single characters are recognized as the MUL_OP token:
v * (asterisk)
v / (slash)
v % (percent)
13. The following single-character and two-character sequences are recognized as the REL_OP token:
v == (double equal sign)
v <= (less than, equal sign)
v >= (greater than, equal sign)
v != (exclamation point, equal sign)
v < (less than)
v > (greater than)
14. The following two-character sequences are recognized as the INCR_DECR token:
v ++ (double plus sign)
v -- (double hyphen)
15. The following single characters are recognized as tokens. The token has the same name as the
character:
<newline>
( (left parenthesis)
) (right parenthesis)
, (comma)
+ (plus)
- (minus)
; (semicolon)
[ (left bracket)
] (right bracket)
^ (caret)
{ (left brace)
} (right brace)
16. The EOF token is returned when the end of input is reached.

Identifiers and Operators

There are three kinds of identifiers recognized by the bc command: ordinary identifiers, array identifiers,
and function identifiers. All three types consist of single, lowercase letters. Array identifiers are followed by
[ ] (left and right brackets). An array subscript is required except in an argument or auto list. Arrays are
singly dimensioned and can contain up to the amount specified by the BC_DIM_MAX value. Indexing
begins at 0. Therefore an array is indexed from 0 up to the value defined by BC_DIM_MAX -1. Subscripts
are truncated to integers. Function identifiers must be followed by ( ) (left and right parentheses) and
possibly by enclosing arguments. The three types of identifiers do not conflict.

Alphabetical Listing of Commands 203

The Operators in a bc Program table summarizes the rules for precedence and associativity of all
operators. Operators on the same line have the same precedence. Rows are in order of decreasing
precedence.

Operators in a bc Program
Operator Associativity
++, - - not applicable
unary - not applicable
^ right to left
*, /, % left to right
+, binary - left to right
=, +=, -=, *=, /=, ^= right to left
==, <=, >=, !=, <, > none

Each expression or named expression has a scale, which is the number of decimal digits maintained as
the fractional portion of the expression.

Named expressions are places where values are stored. Named expressions are valid on the left side of
an assignment. The value of a named expression is the value stored in the place named. Simple
identifiers and array elements are named expressions; they have an initial value of zero and an initial
scale of zero.

The internal registers scale, ibase, and obase are all named expressions. The scale of an expression
consisting of the name of one of these registers is 0. Values assigned to any of these registers are
truncated to integers. The scale register contains a global value used in computing the scale of
expressions (as described below). The value of the scale register is limited to 0 <= sc