OK, sorry for the delay, here is my approach to managing NIM resources:

Start with an LPP_SOURCE. To avoid having update packages without the respective base-level filesets in my LPP_SOURCES i always copy the base-level LPP_SOURCE (which contains only install-packages and no update-packages) first. Then i create version X+1 using the resource of version X as a basis. Here is how i created the AIX 7.1 TL3 SP3 LPP_source from the 7.1 TL2.

First, copy the LPP_SOURCE of your base level fileset:

Code:

# mkdir /nimres/aix_71/lpp_71_03_03
# cd /nimres/aix_71/lpp_71_02
# pax -rwl * ../lpp_71_03_03

after this you update the newly created image(-copy) with your updates to the level you want. /nimres/aix_71/lpp_71_03_source holds the packages i downloaded from fix-central:

Code:

# bffcreate -d /nimres/aix_71/lpp_71_03_source \
            -t /nimres/aix_71/lpp_71_03_03/installp/ppc \
            -X all

Once this is through i create the NIM-resource to use that image:

Code:

# nim -o define \
      -t lpp_source \
      -a server=master \
      -a comments="AIX 7.1.3 SP3 (1415)" \
      -a location=/nimres/aix_71/lpp_71_03_03 lpp_71_03_03

To remove all the unnecessary languages you don't need (perhaps you need only "C", "en_US" and maybe your local locale):

Code:

nim -o lppmgr -a lppmgr_flags="-bux -r -e"  lpp_71_03_03

Now your LPP_source is ready to use. If you need a SPOT you create it from the LPP-SOURCE:

Code:

nim -o define -t spot -a server=master \
      -a location=/nimres/spots \
      -a comments="AIX 7.1.3 SP3 (1415)" \
      -a source=lpp_71_03_03 spot_71_03_03

Here is how you install packages through NIM:

a) from the NIM-Master:

Code:

root@nim-master # nim -o cust -a lpp_source=<lpp_source> -a filesets="<pkg1> [<pkg2> <pkg3> .. ]"  <client>

b) from the NIM-client (the /etc/niminfo file has to be configured already and the client needs to be configured on the NIM-master) :

Code:

root@lpar # nimclient -o cust -a lpp_source=<lpp_source> -a filesets="<pkg1> [<pkg2> <pkg3> .. ]"

I hope this helps.

bakunin