AIX

I have an RS/6000 running AIX 5.3. I would like to get either dhcp client working or assigning it an ip would be fine as well. I have tried using smit to do it many times trying different things, and I can get an ip assigned but it doesn't communicate with the network or internet. I haven't been able to get dhcp client to assign it an ip address either. I think it is communicating with the router because my router's name is cisco and i've seen where it gave it a hostname.cisco.blah as the domain, etc, but I still can't get it to work. I would appreciate help because this problem is really keeping me from getting the server into my closet and being a part of my network that I need. TIA.

The quickest way to resolve your issue is to manually assign the address.

I assume you can open a terminal session using telnet, ssh or (xterm at the console).
use smitty tcpip at a # prompt
choose Minimum Configuration & Startup
choose en0 as the network interface (unless you have evidence that it should be something else)
fill in the blanks with
hostname (can include domain name)
gateway
DNS servers
etc
Your connection type should probably be dix or tp. I would not change from default.

Note: Some will say this should only be used once at initial setup of the server. Use outside that initial time frame can corrupt your ODM. (ODM is the configuration database for AIX.) It has been my experience at AIX 5.2 and later that you can make changes here and not experience corruption.

I would consider it best practice to staticly assign an IP address to a server.

I have tried that and in many variations and still cannot communicate on the network.

Machine model -- enter "prtconf | more" -- model is in first few lines
OS maintenance level -- enter "oslevel -r"
Number of adapters -- enter "lsdev -Cc adapter"

More basics.

When you connect the network cable, do the light patterns change on the Network card? Do the light patterns change on the hub / switch at the other end of the cable?

Try the following sequence, assuming static IP address is 192.168.10.12 and your workstation is 192.168.10.10

ping -c 4 127.0.0.1
ping -c 4 192.168.10.12
ping -c 4 192.168.10.10

Then do the following:enter "smitty tcpip"
Move cursor to desired item and press Enter.
Choose -->
Further Configuration

Move cursor to desired item and press Enter.
Choose -->
Start Configured TCPIP Daemons
Output should resemble:

Checking for srcmstr active...complete
Starting tcpip daemons:
0513-029 The syslogd Subsystem is already active.
Multiple instances are not supported.
0513-029 The sendmail Subsystem is already active.
Multiple instances are not supported.
0513-029 The portmap Subsystem is already active.
Multiple instances are not supported.
0513-029 The inetd Subsystem is already active.
Multiple instances are not supported.
0513-029 The xntpd Subsystem is already active.
Multiple instances are not supported.
0513-029 The snmpd Subsystem is already active.
Multiple instances are not supported.
0513-029 The dpid2 Subsystem is already active.
Multiple instances are not supported.
0513-029 The hostmibd Subsystem is already active.
Multiple instances are not supported.
Finished starting tcpip daemons.