Edit: Had to update the link to the toolbox, otherwise it is still relevant. I also added a link to an article from June 2004 that talked about vnc and screen.
Originally posted June 24, 2008 on AIXchange
AIX newcomers will often ask where they can find useful tools for their machines. Though they can certainly download source code and compile the tools themselves, many times they’re just looking for something that’s precompiled and ready to run. In those cases, I point them to the AIX Toolbox for Linux Applications.
While I like building tools from source, especially when newer versions are available compared to what’s on the Toolbox, oftentimes the Toolbox is good enough.
Once the files (which are also available on CD) are copied to the target machine, they can be installed using the rpm command. I usually run rpm -ivh . In some cases, prerequisite filesets must also be loaded from the toolbox, but rpm is pretty good about telling you which files must also be installed. To see which files are already loaded on your machine, enter this command:
rpm -qa | more
Which tools do I like? At the top of my list are vnc and screen. I wrote about both in an article in IBM Systems Magazine.
Using these tools I can disconnect (either on purpose or due to a network or computer error) and then reconnect later from a different location.
I also like wget, rsync, lsof, and expect.
The Toolbox has many tools to choose from, so load them onto a test box and try them out. I also encourage you to recommend your favorite AIX tools in comments.