Installing VIOS 1.5
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[edit] VIO server installation and configuration
The VIO server is a partition used by the IBM pSeries for allocating and sharing hardware resources to other "regular" partitions (LPARS). The advantages of a VIO are redundancy (through the use of 2 VIO servers on one pSystem), managability (easily switch hardware such as disks between partitions), and control (using limited physical resources multiple times). Due to the use of the VIO it is advised to install it before other partitions are created and installed.
[edit] Create VIO Logical Partition
The VIO partition is a special partition type within the HMC which runs on a pSeries system. The HMC treats VIO partitions differently then normal LPARS.
On the managed server: Configuration - Create Logical Partition - VIO Server (Create Lpar Wizard).
Create Partition
Partition ID: 1 Partition name: aixserver01vio1
The partition ID is the indicator used within the HMC to which certain connections can be locked. The partition name is the name that is displayed within the HMC, it is adviseable to keep this the same as the hostname.
Partition Profile
Profile name: default
Within the HMC multiple profiles can be assigned to a partition to determine what physical and virtual adapters will be available and how the partition is to operate.
Processors
Shared
Processor Settings
Minimum processing units: 0.1 Desired processing units: 0.2 Maximum processing units: 0.5 Minimum virtual processors: 1 Desired virtual processors: 1 Maximum virtual processors: 1 CHECKED: Uncapped Weight: 192.0
The processor setting allows for assigning the number of processors and the amount of relative processing power to assign the partition. The Uncapped weight determines how close the server is to keep to the desired amount of processing power required (up and to the maximum amount allowed). The higher the number the more "right" the partition has to the available resources. It is adviced to keep the weight of the VIO's higher than of the regular partitions as their functioning is critical to others partitions on the system.
Memory
Minimum memory: 128 MB Desired memory: 256 MB Maximum memory: 512 MB
As with the processors this allows for the setting of the minimal, desired, and maximum amount of memory the partition is allowed to use. The VIO isn't particularly memory hungry.
I/O: Add all resources as required except ‘Other Mass Storage Controller’ (which connects to the cdrom). Add this ‘Other Mass Storage Controller’ as Desired.
The cdrom can also be assigned to other partitions through the VIO but it is just as easily moved from one partition to the other directly.
Figure 1.1 1
Maximum virtual adapters: 100 Create a Virtual Ethernet Adapter Adapter ID: 11 VLAN ID: 1 CHECKED: Access external network Create a Virtual SCSI Adapter Adapter: 20 CHECKED: This adapter is required for partition activation Create a Virtual SCSI Adapter Adapter: 30 CHECKED: This adapter is required for partition activation Create a Virtual SCSI Adapter Adapter: 40 CHECKED: This adapter is required for partition activation
The adapters assigned here allow other partitions to connect to the VIO. To keep overview of assigned hardware it is good practice to create a corrolation between the adapter number and the partition ID of other partitions (for example 20 for the partition with ID 2, 30 for the partition with ID 3 etc.) The VLAN ID is used to distinguish different networks within the system P server and are often connected to physical network adapters in the VIO to allow network sharing. Note that this is not manditory, meaning that a VLAN can be set up that is fully contained within the server itself.
[edit] Install VIO Server v1.5
Activate the recently made VIO logical partition and activate the Console Window. Select ‘SMS Menu’ as bootmode by pressing 1.
5. Select Boot Options
-->1. Select Install/Boot device
-->7. List all Devices
-->‘IDE CD-ROM’ drive (in our case: 2. IDE CD-ROM)
-->Select ‘2. Normal Boot Mode’
-->Select ‘1. Yes’ to exit the System Management Console
When the screen ‘Please define the System Console.’ appears, select option 1. Wait for the next menu and select 1 again for English language during install.
At the screen ‘Welcome to Base Operation System – Installation and Maintenance’, select option 1. Wait for the ‘System Backup Installation Summary’, notice the disks for installation (hdisk0) and select 1 to start the installation.
As soon as the installation completes, the VIO will restart and prompts for a login. Login as ‘padmin’ and enter a new password twice.
Accept the license.
Go to the AIX KSH shell using ‘oem_setup_env’ and again, accept the license using
license –accept
[edit] Configuring the VIO server
Login as ‘padmin’
[edit] Creating a Shared Ethernet Adapter
Check the device name of the Virtual Ethernet Adapter using ‘lsdev –virtual’. In our case the Virtual SCSI Adapter is ‘ent6’. Ensure that one of the physical adapters is connected to the external network. Our connected physical interface is ‘ent0’.
Now we are going to create the ‘bridge’ between the physical and vlan by creating an SEA-adapter. To do this use the following command:
mkvdev -sea ent0 -vadapter ent6 -default ent6 -defaultid 1
Replace ent0 with the physical connected Ethernet adapter you are using and ent6 by the virtual ethernet adapter created when the VIO was defined.
This will create a new Ethernet adapter with a consecutive number, in our case the latest Ethernet adapter was ‘ent6’, so this newly created adapter is ‘ent7’.
You can check if the device is created properly using ‘lsmap –all –net’.
[edit] TCP/IP settings on the SEA-adapter
Use ‘smitty tcpip’ to setup the IP settings for the VIO server on the SEA adapter (‘en7’ in our case).
In our case, we used the following information.
Hostname: aixserver01vio1 IP-address: 192.168.1.1 Netmask: 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway: 192.168.1.254 START Now: Yes
[edit] Creating Volume Groups and Logical Volumes for the logical partitions (lpars)
[edit] Determine how to arrange the logical partition (harddisks)
First, you need to determine how many logical partitions you are going to create and how much harddisks you want to allocate to them.
Currently we have 2 harddisks in our server. The first harddisk (hdisk0) is allocated for the VIO itself. We won’t use it for any logical partitions. Our second harddisk will be used for our logical partitions (lpars).
On our second hdisk (74 GB) we will create a Volume Group called ‘clientvg’ where the disks for the logical partitions will be stored (the logical volumes).
Our setup:
Volume Group: clientvg LPAR: aixserver01nim nim_rvg (8 GB) nim_datavg (5 GB) nim_datavg2 (5 GB) LPAR: aixserver01lpar1 lpar1_rvg (8 GB) LPAR: aixserver01lpar2 lpar2_rvg (8 GB)
[edit] Creating the Volume Group and Logical Volumes
To create the earlier determined volume group(s) (in our case only clientvg) use:
mkvg -f -vg clientvg hdisk1
To create the earlier determined lpar harddisks (logical volumes):
mklv -lv lpar1_rvg clientvg 8G
Do this for every harddisk you need to create.
[edit] Assigning Logical Volumes (virtual harddisks) to Virtual SCSI Adapters
After creating the logical volumes you can assign the logical volumes to the SCSI adapters to act as a harddisk.
First you need to check (in the AIX environment) the Virtual SCSI id’s of the available vhosts. You can use the command ‘lsslot –c slot’. You will get a list of all Logical I/O Slots with the device names.
Your list will be like the following:
U9131.52A.*******-V1-C20 Virtual I/O Slot vhost0 U9131.52A.*******-V1-C30 Virtual I/O Slot vhost1 U9131.52A.*******-V1-C40 Virtual I/O Slot vhost2
As you can see, the earlier created SCSI adapters have the ids given in the default profile of the VIO-server.
There is one more thing you need to keep in mind
U787F.001.*******-P1-T12 Logical I/O Slot pci3 ide0
On this line, you can see that the ide0 (where cd0 is connected to) is connected to pci3. This pci3 should be removed from the system (with all connected client devices) to use the cdrom on an other logical partition.
Now, we are going to assign the logical volumes (harddisks) to the vhosts:
mkvdev -vdev lpar1_rvg -vadapter vhost0 -dev vlpar1_rvg
lpar1_rvg is the name of the logical volume that should be attached to the vhost. The device can also be a physical volume or a SAN attached storage device, in which case the lpar1_rvg is to be replaced with eg. hdisk3 (or the hdisk to be attached) or powerpath16 (or powerpath to be attached). vhost0 is the vhost that is assigned to the logical partition (LPAR) and through which the LPAR will connect to the VIO.
Use this command for every logical volume/hdisk/storage device you wish to attach to the LPAR associated with the VHOST. It is possible to attach more than one harddisk/storage device to a vhost (Virtual SCSI Adapter)
This command creates a new virtual device which acts as the link between the Virtual SCSI adapter and the logical volume (hdisk). In the LPAR the attached device will show up as a hdisk on the device. Note that when multiple VIO servers are used and a SAN disk is available through multiple paths, the SAN lun can be attached simultaniously through all the VIO servers to which the LPAR is connected. In order for the SAN storage to allow doing this the reserve_lock is to be set to "no" on each VIO. This done through the following command:
chdev -l hdiskpower16 -a reserve_lock=no
note: this command is to be executed in the oem_setup_env level (this is accessed by running the command oem_setup_env from the VIO command line).
To remove a logical volume Removing this device will detach the logical volume/storage device from the partition it has been assigned.
rmvdev -vdev lpar1_rvg
