AIX How to exchange hostname and IP address between two AIX servers?

UNIX AIX
1

Hi all,

I am trying to exchange hostname and IP address of two AIX machines.

But i am confused as how to change it ?
do i need to use "smitty mktcpip" or "smitty tcpip" ?

what is the difference between smitty mktcpip and smitty tcpip ?

Also anymore steps to follow or just updating using smitty is enough (hoping that no reboot is required)

Also below is the procedure i want to use for the whole process of swapping hostname and IP address:

1) remove server A from network and update hostname and IP address (to Server B's hostname and IP) using smitty

2) move network connection cables from server B to server A

3) update hostname and IP of server B (to that of server A's old values)

4) attach network cables removed from server A to server B

Does this procedure is good to go ?

Thanks in advance!

2

These are so-called "fastpaths". Instead of calling "smitty" (which takes you to a main menu) and going through a series of smitty-panels you can go to a certain panel directly. If unsure, just use "smitty" and follow the panels, they are pretty self-explanatory.

No, that is enough. Hostname and IP address only take a "touchdown" (stop/start) of the network. Depending on the IP addresses involved you might need to change also the routing, but this need no reboot too.

Looks good. The only thing you have to avoid is to have the same IP address twice on the network. Pulling cables is a pretty sure way of avoiding to be on the network, regardless of the validity of the IP address. ;-))

I hope this helps.

bakunin

3

i believe the short cut would be

smitty inet
4

smitty tcpip - fastpath to general tcpip menu selection
smitty inet - fastpath to change/add ip address only
smitty mktcpip - fastpath to set ip address, hostname, default route, dns info all in one dialog. Normally, mktcpip should only be used once because it also updates /etc/hosts. The common error is to use the mktcpip for multiple NIC (interfaces) and the single hostname gets set multiple times in /etc/hosts to different addresses.

So, what I would add to your procedure is to review /etc/hosts on both systems and verify no double/incorrect entries remain behind or get added.