Install X on AIX

When you have an already installed AIX system it might happen you'll need to install X on the system. Oracle dba's will love you for it, since it will make it easier for them to install Oracle for example. This is an how to install X on AIX, assuming you have a AIX NIM server. If you don't have one you'll need to install the filesets from a different medium.

Install required filesets

The basic required fileset for X on AIX is X11.base.rte. You can check for the fileset with this command:

lslpp -L | grep X11.base.rte

If the command returns nothing, the fileset is not installed. Follow these steps to install the package:

root@system:/home/root>nimclient -o cust -a lpp_source=lpp_5300_06_07 -a filesets=X11.base.rte

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                    Pre-installation Verification...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Verifying selections...done
Verifying requisites...done
Results...

SUCCESSES
---------
  Filesets listed in this section passed pre-installation verification
  and will be installed.

  Selected Filesets
  -----------------
  X11.base.rte 5.3.0.50                       # AIXwindows Runtime Environment
  X11.base.rte 5.3.0.64                       # AIXwindows Runtime Environment

  Requisites
  ----------
  (being installed automatically;  required by filesets listed above)
  X11.apps.aixterm 5.3.0.50                   # AIXwindows aixterm Application
  X11.apps.rte 5.3.0.30                       # AIXwindows Runtime Configura...
  X11.apps.util 5.3.0.0                       # AIXwindows Utility Applicati...
  X11.base.common 5.3.0.0                     # AIXwindows Runtime Common Di...
  X11.base.lib 5.3.0.50                       # AIXwindows Runtime Libraries
  X11.base.smt 5.3.0.30                       # AIXwindows Runtime Shared Me...
  X11.fnt.defaultFonts 5.3.0.0                # AIXwindows Default Fonts
  X11.fnt.iso1 5.3.0.0                        # AIXwindows Latin 1 Fonts
  X11.loc.en_US.base.rte 5.3.0.0              # AIXwindows Locale Configurat...
  X11.motif.lib 5.3.0.50                      # AIXwindows Motif Libraries
  X11.motif.mwm 5.3.0.30                      # AIXwindows Motif Window Mana...

  << End of Success Section >>

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                   BUILDDATE Verification ...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Verifying build dates...done
FILESET STATISTICS
------------------
    2  Selected to be installed, of which:
        2  Passed pre-installation verification
   11  Additional requisites to be automatically installed
  ----
   13  Total to be installed

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                         Installing Software...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

installp: APPLYING software for:
        X11.loc.en_US.base.rte 5.3.0.0

...<cut>....
Finished processing all filesets.  (Total time:  11 secs).

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                Summaries:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Installation Summary
--------------------
Name                        Level           Part        Event       Result
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
X11.loc.en_US.base.rte      5.3.0.0         USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.base.smt                5.3.0.30        USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.base.common             5.3.0.0         USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.base.rte                5.3.0.50        USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.base.lib                5.3.0.50        USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.base.smt                5.3.0.30        ROOT        APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.base.rte                5.3.0.50        ROOT        APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.apps.util               5.3.0.0         USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.apps.rte                5.3.0.30        USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.apps.aixterm            5.3.0.50        USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.motif.mwm               5.3.0.30        USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.motif.lib               5.3.0.50        USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.fnt.iso1                5.3.0.0         USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.fnt.defaultFonts        5.3.0.0         USR         APPLY       SUCCESS
X11.base.rte                5.3.0.64        USR         APPLY       SUCCESS

installp:  * * *  A T T E N T I O N ! ! !
        Software changes processed during this session require this system
        and any of its diskless/dataless clients to be rebooted in order
        for the changes to be made effective.

The message right above is not a joke, and you should perform a reboot as soon as possible.

Install X tools on AIX

So now you have X, but you don't have tools like xauth yet. To acquire them, install the fileset X11.apps.config:

root@system:/home/root>nimclient -o cust -a lpp_source=lpp_5300_06_07 -a filesets=X11.apps.config

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                    Pre-installation Verification...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Verifying selections...done
Verifying requisites...done
Results...

SUCCESSES
---------
  Filesets listed in this section passed pre-installation verification
  and will be installed.

  Selected Filesets
  -----------------
  X11.apps.config 5.3.0.50                    # AIXwindows Configuration App...

  << End of Success Section >>

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                   BUILDDATE Verification ...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Verifying build dates...done
FILESET STATISTICS
------------------
    1  Selected to be installed, of which:
        1  Passed pre-installation verification
  ----
    1  Total to be installed

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                         Installing Software...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

installp: APPLYING software for:
        X11.apps.config 5.3.0.50


. . . . . << Copyright notice for X11.apps >> . . . . . . .
 Licensed Materials - Property of IBM

 5765G0300
   (C) Copyright International Business Machines Corp. 1985, 2005.
   (C) Copyright Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) 1985, 1994.
   (C) Copyright Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1985, 1994.
   (C) Copyright Network Computing Devices 1985,1994.
   (C) Copyright Sun Microsystems, Inc. 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991.

 All rights reserved.
 US Government Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or disclosure
 restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.
. . . . . << End of copyright notice for X11.apps >>. . . .

Finished processing all filesets.  (Total time:  4 secs).

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                Summaries:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Installation Summary
--------------------
Name                        Level           Part        Event       Result
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
X11.apps.config             5.3.0.50        USR         APPLY       SUCCESS

You now have X fully functional on your system.

aix

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