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Welcome to the AIX6 & POWER6 Hands-On Technical Demo Movies
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The idea is to provide the "cook book" information to get your started with these new interesting technologies and to answer some basic questions like:
- What is it about?
- How do I get started?
- What are a few typical first good uses I could start with?
- How easy is it to use?
- How could this save me time or money?
- Where can I get more information?
We hope you find these movies interesting and let you make a flying start.
Currently, the movies add up to 718 minutes = 12.7 hours of education on the hottest topics.
The latest movie added are:
- 13th March 2009 = File Permission manager (fpm) - movie 55
- 17th March 2009 = WPAR Faster Application Mobility (Relocation) with the new WPAR version - movie 56
- 17th March 2009 = WPAR Static Mobility for local disk WPARs - movie 57
- 28th April 2009 = AMS Regular Paging - movie 58
- 28th April 2009 = AMS Concepts - movie 59
- 28th April 2009 = AMS Setup movie - 60
- 8th May 2009 = AMS Simple Monitoring - movie 61
- 18th May 2009 = Solid State Disks - movie 62
- 6th June2009 = HMC GUI Interface to VIOS commands - movie 63
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Notes on getting the movies to work on your PC:
- These movies are in Windows Movie Format (.wmv) to make them small enough to watch over the internet or download but this means some quality has been lost from the Audio Video Interleave (.avi) originals which are 60 MB to 90 MBs in size.
- When tested on some PCs it took 4 to 5 minutes to start the movie - please be patient and don't just assume its broken - some browsers download the entire movie before they start playing it.
- Other browsers handle the media file differently - some start Windows Media Player and some start it within the browser itself. Also I have found that some auto resize the movie to fit the window - so start the movie in a suitable sized browser window. The movies where first recorded at 1024x768 but later ones at 800x600 but higher resolution. Sorry but I rather create new movies than try to regenerate them all to one size. If the movie does not fit your screen the best fix is to upgrade your screen to at least 1280x1024

- If all else fails try to download the .wmv file and play locally on your machine: using Right Click on the Download link below and selecting "Save Link as" or "Save Target as". This may highlight your PC does not support this format (good luck sorting that out!).
- Linux workstation users - ideas please, can Linux handle the .mwv format? If so, how or a good alternative solution is welcome.
- Feed back and further ideas for movies to Nigel Griffiths - nag @ uk . ibm . com
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Other AIX, Power and Related Technology Movies
Other places to look for movies - no guarantees and at your own risk
- IBM Demo Zone
- HACMP - High Availability
AIX6 Workload Partitions In Detail
Workload Partition (WPAR), WPAR Manager and Application Mobility (AM) are part of AIX 6. This series of moves introduces the topic, concepts and gets in to the details of managing and controlling them. It is assumed you are familiar with AIX Systems Administration.
| No |
Click to Run
the Movie |
Title |
Minutes |
Description |
| 1 |
 |
WPAR part1
The Theory |
12 |
AIX 6 Workload Partition Introduction and Key Features - a mini presentation.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
| 2 |
 |
WPAR part2
WPAR Manager
Intro |
9 |
AIX6 WPAR Manager basics - Login, a look around the Graphical User Interface and Start/Stop WPAR
For more information read the WPAR Redbook
After installing WPAR Mgr don't forget to run configure it with /opt/IBM/WPAR/manager/bin/WPMConfig.sh |
| 3 |
 |
WPAR part3
Mobility
Relocation |
5 |
AIX6 WPAR Mobility/Relocate using WPAR Manager.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
| 4 |
 |
WPAR part4
Simple Create |
6 |
Creating a simple WPAR with WPAR Manager.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
| 5 |
 |
WPAR part5
Detailed Create |
3 |
AIX6 Creating a WPAR with the WPAR Manager Wizard.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
| 6 |
 |
WPAR part6
p5 to p6
Relocate |
6 |
AIX6 WPAR Mobility from POWER5 to POWER6 machines.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
| 7 |
 |
WPAR part7
Full Properties |
9 |
A look around WPAR Properties that can be Modified.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
| 8 |
 |
WPAR part8
Command Line |
16 |
Command line control of WPAR and a quick look at Application type WPARs.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
| 9 |
 |
WPAR part9
Compare Global
and WPAR Env. |
12 |
Comparing the global AIX and WPAR environments.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
| 19 |
 |
WPAR part10
Backup & Clone |
10 |
Workload Partition - Backup, Restore and Cloning is simple, small and quick. The backup file is only a few MB as there is no need to save AIX and Cloning a WPAR takes just a couple of minutes.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
| 56 |
 |
WPAR part11
Faster Relocation |
7 |
Workload Partition - With WPAR Mgr 1.2 in November 2008, a new memory to memory Application Mobility feature avoids the NFS I/O means both faster relocation and reduced WPAR freeze time.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
| 57 |
 |
WPAR part12
Static Relocation |
8 |
Workload Partition - With WPAR Mgr 1.2 in November 2008, if your WPARs have to use disk space local to the global AIX rather than NFS, you can still use static relocation to automatically and quickly stop the WPAR, backup it up, move the backup file, restore the backup and start the WPAR on a different machine.
For more information read the WPAR Redbook |
New AIX6 Operating System Features
These are features of the latest AIX release and are not found on previous releases or are greatly enhanced on AIX 6 and are not functions of the hardware i.e. will work on any machine supporting AIX6 - which is POWER4 onwards.
| No |
Click to Run
the Movie |
Title |
Minutes |
Description |
| 13 |
 |
AIX6 System
Director
pConsole |
5 |
AIX 6 IBM System Director Console for System p or pConsole for short - System Admin Browser tool (like WebSM and Smitty). This was the first movie - its a little rough!
For more information read the AIX6 Differences Redbook |
| 14 |
 |
AIX6 RBAC =
Role based
Access Control |
14 |
AIX 6 Role Based Access Control (RBAC) by a few simple examples.
For more information read the Security Redbook |
| 16 |
 |
AIX6 JFS2 with
the no log
option |
4 |
AIX 6 JFS2 with no log for high performance file movement.
For more information read the AIX6 Differences Redbook |
| 17 |
 |
AIX6 JFS2 with
in-line snapshot
option |
5 |
AIX 6 JFS2 with in line snapshot for point in time backup & rapid file recovery.
For more information read the AIX6 Differences Redbook |
| 20 |
 |
AIX6 Probevue
new wave
monitoring |
14 |
Probevue a new way to monitor, dynamic trace and investigate AIX6 kernel and user programs with no need to even stop the application.
For more information go to AIX Wiki page on Probevue |
| 25 |
 |
AIX6 Encrypted
File System |
20 |
AIX 6 Encrypted File System provides high security to important files and data. So secure that even the super-user/root user can read it or access it.
For more information read the Security Redbook |
| 54 |
 |
System Hardening
with aixpert |
23 |
AIX 6 includes the "aixpert" command to make system hardening easier and largely automated. There are multiple levels and a set of rules, commands and arguments for each. You can also make a custom rule set based on the given rules for your circumstances. The aixpert command also appears in recent levels of AIX 5.3.
For more information read the Security Redbook . Also see the new aixpert Hints and Tips AIX wiki webpage. |
| 55 |
 |
System Hardening
with fpm |
17 |
AIX 6 includes the File Permission Manager (fpm) command to help in system hardening by removing unnecessary SUID and SGID file permissions from roughly 270 root user commands. Particularly, useful for servers that don't allow regular UNIX users. This makes it much harder for "hackers" to gain root user access from a regular user account. You can also manage your own application SUID programs or further reduce the number of system SUID programs. The fpm command also appears in recent levels of AIX 5.3.
For more information read the AIX 6 Security Features Redbook . |
| 62 |
 |
Solid State Drive (SSD) |
23 |
In May 2009, AIX supports these special new Solid State Devices (SSD) with no moving parts. Not only that but they are extremely fast compared to a hard disk (like 200 to 300 times faster) and take less electrical power too. They do, however, need to be formatted and configured with the "diag" AIX command before they can be used. This movie takes one apart, shows you how to set one up and then runs two simple tests to confirm it is working properly. After creating this movie I found that you can also get to the SAS Disk Manager menu via smitty->Devices->Disk Array->SAS Disk Array-> SAS Disk Array Manager or in one command "smitty sas_raid_menu" |
New POWER6 Processor Features
These are features introduced on the new POWER6 processor and not available on earlier processors. While the HMC7 is required for POWER6 based machines it also supports POWER5 and POWER5+ based machines.
| No |
Click to Run
the Movie |
Title |
Minutes |
Description |
| 10 |
 |
POWER6 Decimal
Floating Point |
4 |
POWER6 Decimal Floating Point calculations on the processor, particularly good for money calculations.
For more information go to the AIX Wiki page for DFP - this includes the source code used here. |
| 15 |
 |
HMC7 = Hardware
Management
Console |
17 |
POWER6 Hardware Management Console 7 (HMC7) - a look around at the new faster interface. HMC7 also supports POWER5 machines.
For more information read the Hardware Management Console 7 Redbook |
| 18 |
 |
POWER6
Partition Mobility |
9 |
Jump an entire Logical Partition from one POWER6 machine to another in a fraction of a second.
For more information read the Partition Mobility Redbook |
| 21 |
 |
POWER6 Memory
Protection Keys |
13 |
Memory Protection Keys allow you to detect programming mistakes were stray pointer damage the wrong part of your data. These can be nearly impossible to find otherwise. It also allows catches duff storage procedure or user written code from causing chaos.
For more information go to AIX Wiki page on Memory Keys |
| 22 |
 |
POWER6
Partition Priority |
7 |
HMC7 and POWER6 machines allow you to decide the most important Logical Partitions. In the unlikely event of a CPU failure, the priority is used to decide which LPARs are closed down to keep the others running.
For more information read the HMC7 Redbook chapter 7 |
| 23 |
 |
POWER6
Multiple Shared
CPU Pools |
9 |
HMC7 and POWER6 machines allow you to have more than one Shared CPU pool - this is excellent for limiting LPARs to not break Application License based on the total number of CPUs that application can run on. It can also be used for controlling the performance of groups of LPARs. |
| 24 |
 |
POWER6
Shared CPU &
Pool Monitoring |
16 |
The benefits of Shared CPUs are many, including reduced costs and higher performance peak handling but its important to monitor the Shared CPU Pool (unused CPU cycles) and logical partition physical CPU use (not the old utilisation statistics which are misleading). |
Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) - the HMC alternative
IVM is the alternative to the hardware management console (HMC) for the smaller machines (i.e. not POWER6 p570 or p595). The HMC like functions runs within the first Logical Partition (LPAR) which is the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) and are accessed via a web browser. the below tn movies covers the basics and the prime Systems Management functions.
| No |
Click to Run
the Movie |
Title |
Minutes |
Description |
| 26 |
 |
Install IVM
& using the
IVM website |
11 |
IVM is installed on to a "blank" machine such as the Power Systems and System p p505, p510, 520, p550, POWER6 520, 550 and JS22/12. First, the VIO Server is installed which will include IVM. Then four important commands are user to set it up and then everything is done on the IVM website that is not running. This session includes a look around the website options.
For more information go to the IVM Redbook |
| 27 |
 |
Prepare IVM
for the first LPAR |
5 |
Setting up the IVM Virtual Ethernet bridging and the disk storage pools ready for the first IVM and Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) Client Logical Partition (LPAR). Note: with POWER6 there are more options.
For more information go to the IVM Redbook |
| 28 |
 |
Create 1st client
LPAR: name,
memory, CPU, network &disks |
7 |
Step by step creating your first Client LPAR - it takes far longer to explain than actually do it!
For more information go to the IVM Redbook |
| 29 |
 |
Installing the
operating system via the Console |
10 |
Start up the LPAR and install the operating system via the remote console. Here AIX is used as the example of how to install from DVD or how to install over the network but the same methods can be used for Linux or IBM i OS.
For more information go to the IVM Redbook |
| 30 |
 |
House keeping & tidy up |
8 |
Various typical early changes are made to IVM and the first LPAR including renaming LPARs, check auto-start, update IVM explained, check firmware levels, HEA use, Stop & Start LPARs, Select All, Update screen, Help = actually quite good! and Dynamic LPARs.
For more information go to the IVM Redbook |
| 31 |
 |
Performance &
CPU Control |
8 |
Performance Monitoring via the IVM website and time lag, watching a busy client LPAR CPU use and using shared CPUs with guaranteed entitlements. Controlling the CPU use in four ways: free for all, limiting virtual processors, using the soft capped feature to use just the entitlement, balancing across LPARs using weights
For more information go to the IVM Redbook |
| 32 |
 |
Assigning Physical Adapters to client
LPARs |
6 |
Adding a physical adapter to a IVM client LPAR, getting the adapter online in AIX, diagrams of the three options (virtual adapters via the VIO Server, HEA/IVE for hardware virtual networking or physical adapters slots and card for direct I/O.
For more information go to the IVM Redbook |
| 33 |
 |
Create users and
backing up LPARs |
10 |
Creating more users and read-only users plus how to backup the IVM Server and IVM Client LPARs configuration and the disks in various ways including Tape, DVD-RAM, NFS, remotely over a Network.
For more information go to the IVM Redbook |
| 34 |
  |
Using physical and
virtual Optical devices |
9 |
Moving the physical CD/DVD between LPARs. Creating the Media Library and installing .iso images as virtual optical drives - finally creating a Read/Write DVD-RAM type device which can be used for backups.
For more information go to the IVM Redbook .
Reference sheet for equivalent Virtual I/O Server Optical Commands to use if using a HMC. |
| 35 |
|
Partition Mobility
between IVM machines |
9 |
This is PowerVM Partition Mobility (PM) but controlled via two IVM Servers (instead of a HMC). This requires POWER6 machines, a recent level of AIX and VIOS 1.5.2.
For more information read the Partition Mobility Redbook |
Other Cool and Interesting Stuff
These movies don't fall into the other categories but are interesting and useful. Ganglia is not from IBM but many System Administrators find it invaluable for monitoring whole machines and it is easily extended. For those running Linux for POWER the IBM PowerVM Lx86 tool provides the very useful ability to run Intel/AMD binaries.
| No |
Click to Run
the Movie |
Title |
Minutes |
Description |
| 11 |
 |
Ganglia
Performance Monitoring
across machines |
15 |
Ganglia the popular Open Source cluster monitoring tool. Extended on POWER Systems to monitor at both the Global whole machine (CEC) level and individual LPAR machine use. It include all the POWER5 and POWER6 numbers like physical CPU used and Entitlements.
For more information go to the AIX Wiki page for Ganglia |
| 12 |
 |
Linux for Power
PowerVM Lx86
Translator |
27 |
PowerVM Lx86 allows you to run Linux for x86 (Intel and AMD) application unmodified on System p POWER machines running Linux. This translator means you can consolidate Linux application to gain the System benefits and features.
For more information read the PowerVM LX86 Redbook |
| 46 |
 |
nmon - Get You Started |
19 |
The author of nmon (Nigel Griffiths) covers finding nmon, downloading, installing, running nmon online for live performance monitoring, capturing data to a file and using the nmon Analyser to create all the important performance graphs. What's more you get to see what this guy looks like!
For more information read the Wiki websites for nmon Performance Monitor , nmon Analyser or add a question or comment on the Performance Tools Forum at Developerworks |
| 47 |
 |
nmon - version 12 |
40 |
This 30 slide presentation covers the new nmon features of nmon version 12. Some are to support new features for AIX 6 and POWER6 but 20 are general improvements in usability, bug fixes, new performance data and direct Shared Ethernet Adapter and Fibre Channel statistics. Many of these are as a result of user requests. Find out the details and upgrade now!
For more information read the Wiki websites for nmon Performance Monitor , nmon Analyser or add a question or comment on the Performance Tools Forum at Developerworks |
| 50 |
 |
nmon now in AIX |
26 |
nmon is now part of AIX from AIX 5.3 TL09 and AIX 6.1 TL02 and onwards. This movie covers the details, how this was done, why the nmon features are integrated into the topas command, some beneficial side effects and a demonstration of the two versions side by side. Also covered is the transition to this fully supported nmon and the additional new smitty and pConsole user interfaces.
For more information read the Wiki websites for nmon Performance Monitor , nmon Analyser or add a question or comment on the Performance Tools Forum at Developerworks |
Back to POWER Basics
These movies are for people new to pSeries, System p or Power Systems running AIX and covers the basics of installing, setup and controlling of these machines using a Hardware management Console (HMC) to manage Logical Partitions (LPAR) and the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS). See the above movies for using the IVM alternative.
| No |
Click to Run
the Movie |
Title |
Minutes |
Description |
| 36 |
 |
POWER Introduction |
13 |
Small presentation about the concepts, Power3, 4, 5 and 6 12 year performance curve, POWER6 range, top to bottom same chip and PowerVM, Concepts, LPAR, DLPAR, SPLPAR and VIOS
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 37 |
 |
HMC Introduction |
9 |
Why a HMC? The HMC private and public networks plus a tour of the Browser based Graphical User Interface, menu system and key functions.
For more information go to the Hardware Management Console 7 Redbook |
| 38 |
 |
Create the first Logical Partition (LPAR) |
10 |
Creating your first LPAR on the HMC with physical resources and boot it up and accessing the remote console.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 39 |
 |
Installing AIX from CDROM |
8 |
Booting and installing AIX from a physical CDROM
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 40 |
 |
Installing AIX from NIM |
9 |
Booting and installing AIX from a NIM Server
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 41 |
 |
Dynamically changing LPARs |
9 |
Dynamic Logical Partitions for changing the LPAR and OS on the fly including CPU, Memory and PCI slots with adapters initially Dedicated CPUs but also shows the differences for Shared CPU LPARs.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 42 |
 |
Ethernet Options with Virtual Ethernet |
10 |
The three options for Ethernet are compared: Direct PCI Adapter, Virtual Ethernet via the VIO Server and the POWER6 only IVE/HEA. The Virtual Ethernet is covered in more detail.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 43 |
 |
Virtual Ethernet Setup |
10 |
Hands-on Demo of the 5 stages of setting up the Virtual Ethernet: 1) create/install VIOS, 2) create virtual Ethernet adapter, 3) create SEA, 4) add hostname & IP address to the VIOS and 5) creating a VIO client with a matching virtual Ethernet.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 44 |
 |
Disk Options with Virtual SCSI |
11 |
Presentation on SCSI, Fibre-Channel/SAN and Virtual Disks and the Virtual I/O Server options for virtual disks like LV based, file based and whole disk based virtual SCSI disks.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 45 |
 |
Virtual Disk Setup |
13 |
Setting up virtual SCSI adapters on the HMC and then setting up Storage pools, creating a LV and assigning the LV based virtual disk, file backed Storage Pools, creating a large file and using it as a virtual disk and finally using a whole disk as a virtual disk.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 48 |
 |
How many CPUs in a Power Chip? |
11 |
Power Misunderstandings No 1 - This movie explains the number of CPUs on a single Power chip and how we build larger machines. Also covered is the Chip Modules - DCM, QCM and MCM. Also covered how to find out the number of CPUs on a standalone machine, via the HMC or in a Logical Partition (LPAR). |
| 49 |
 |
Are Logical CPUs Real? What is SMT? |
11 |
Power Misunderstandings No 2 - This confuses most people, it is hard to understand and difficult to known if you are looking at Logical or Physical CPUs in command output and performance data. We even get ISV's claiming they should get paid for all 128 CPUs and we known that's impossible for a System p machine! This movie explains all. |
| 53 |
 |
What is a Virtual Processor? And
controlling Shared Processor LPARs? |
22 |
Power Misunderstandings No 3 - What are Shared CPUs and the CPU Pool? What is a Virtual Processor? How does the Minimum, Desired and Maximum effect the run time CPU use? What is the Entitlement and how to you set it? What is the difference between Dedicated, Donating and Shared Processor Logical Partitions? How do the limits: Entitlement, Cap, VP, shared CPU pool and Weight work together to control a LPAR? This movie explains the SPLAR. |
New Virtualisation Features
These movies cover new features in virtualisation for 2008 and onwards.
| No |
Click to Run
the Movie |
Title |
Minutes |
Description |
| 51 |
 |
VIOS 2.1 Principles |
20 |
Presentation covering the value of the Virtual I/O Server, looking after your VIOS and the history, adoption paths and direction of PowerVM Virtualisation
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 52 |
 |
VIOS 2.1 Features |
30 |
Presentation covering the new features in the Virtual I/O Server 2.1 released in Nov 2008, including a few that might have escaped your notice in the last 2 years. In details are N Port Id Virtualisation (NPIV), virtual DVD and virtual tapes, Heterogeneous Multipathing and improved VIOS CEC level monitoring of virtual disks and virtual networks.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on PowerVM |
| 58 |
 |
Active Memory Sharing Regular Paging |
19 |
Active Memory Sharing requires you to understand regular UNIX/AIX virtual memory paging before you start. If you don't understand paging then you are not going to understand AMS. Cover are 1) why do virtual memory? and 2) how the OS paging in and pages out memory to the paging space disks.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on Active Memory Sharing |
| 59 |
 |
Active Memory Sharing Concepts |
16 |
Here the concepts of AMS are covered including very briefly the components, the various AMS modes of working to handle various cases which are 1) it all fits, 2) LPARs can co-operate over sharing memory and 3) when that is not enough and AMD has to force pages out.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on Active Memory Sharing |
| 60 |
 |
Active Memory Sharing Setup |
16 |
Enough of the theory, this movie covers how to setup the Shared Memory Pool, the backing paging space on the Virtual I/O Server and then setup a Logical Partition (LPAR) to use AMS. It is very simple to setup. We convert a LPAR to AMS, start the LPAR and show how to confirm its using shared memory.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on Active Memory Sharing |
| 61 |
 |
Active Memory Sharing Simple Monitoring |
10.5 |
In this movie we show "topas -C" and "vmstat -h 2" monitoring the simple AMS setup from the previous movie. We see at the whole machine level (with topas -C) the current LPARs use of memory. Both the LPARs using the shared memory pool and dedicated memory LPARs. Then AMS LPARs making room (loaning memory) for a newly starting Logical Partition that needs memory from the shared pool. Then a busy LPAR which is grabbing more memory pages due to high memory demand program takes more memory from the other LPARs. Finally, we watch at the LPAR level (with vmstat -h), it giving up memory for another high memory demand LPAR.
For more information go to the IBM Redbook on Active Memory Sharing |
| 63 |
 |
HMC GUI for VIOS commands |
24 |
With the May 2009 Hardware Management Console and Virtual I/O Server versions: the HMC can directly setup virtual disks, VIOS networks, Shared Ethernet Adapter, create extra virtual network switches, move physical optical between logical partitions, create and manage the media library (filesystem of .iso images) and assign a virtual optical to logical partitions. In addition you can manage NPIV resources
For more information go to the HMC GUI for VIOS |
- - - That's All Folks! - - -
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