How to access an ISO image on an LPAR via a virtual CDROM device on a VIO Server at the 1.5 level

The following instructions were cribbed from the VIO Server file-backed devices web page. My thanks to Joe Pu for publishing it. Any errors in this article are, of course, not Mr. Pu's responsibility.

A .ISO image file can be obtained in several different ways:

1. Download it
2. Build your own
3. Copy from CD or DVD media: dd if=/dev/cd0 of=/tmp/cdcopy.iso bs=1m

Several articles on the web suggest that the third alternative will work, but no testing has been done. And please consider potential copyright violations before using the third alternative.

Note For information about the VIOS 1.5 commands used below, see the Power Systems Virtual I/O Server and Integrated Virtualization Manager Command Reference (SA76-0101-04 as of 8/28/2008, downloadable from the Virtual I/O Server command descriptions web page. Please note that on 8/28/2008, the command descriptions on the web page itself are for an earlier level of VIOS. That may change in the future, but for now the sa76-0101.pdf file must be downloaded to get descriptions of commands at the VIOS 1.5 level.

First, when logged in as padmin on a Virtual I/O Server:

1. Because support for virtual CDROM devices was introduced in VIOS 1.5, confirm that VIO Server software is at the 1.5 level or above:

   $ ioslevel
   1.5.2.1-FP-11.1
   $
   

   Notes If the VIOS level is below 1.5, the instructions below will not work as described. An AIX VIO client may sometimes read incorrect data from virtual CDROM devices unless the fix for APAR IZ20663 is installed on the client.

2. Determine if a Virtual Media Repository has already been defined on the VIO Server:

   $ lsrep
   The DVD repository has not been created yet.
   
   $
   

   There is no Virtual Media Repository yet.

   Note A VIO Server can have only one Virtual Media Repository, so if one has already been defined, it must be used.

3. Display the storage pools which are available on the VIO Server:

   $ lssp
   Pool              Size(mb)   Free(mb)  Alloc Size(mb)    BDs Type
   rootvg              279552     122112             128     10 LVPOOL
   $
   

4. Define a Virtual Media Repository:

   $ mkrep -sp rootvg -size 128M
   Virtual Media Repository Created
   Repository created within "VMLibrary_LV" logical volume
   $
   

   where:
   o rootvg is the name of the storage pool chosen from list displayed by lssp and
   o 128M is the size of the Virtual Media Repository.

   Note Because a VIO Server can have only one repository, the repository defined here must be large enough to hold all the CD images staged on the VIO Server. The 128 MB example used here is very small. The chrep command can be used later to increase the size of the repository.

5. List the Virtual Media Repository to confirm that it was defined properly:

   $ lsrep
   Size(mb) Free(mb) Parent Pool         Parent Size      Parent Free
        125      125 rootvg                   279552           121984
   $
   

6. Add one or more ISO images to the Virtual Media Repository, which could be referred to as creating a virtual optical media disk:

   $ pwd
   /home/padmin
   $ ls -altr *.iso
   -rw-r--r--    1 padmin   staff        102400 Aug 28 12:52 bestprac.iso
   $ mkvopt -name bestprac -file bestprac.iso
   $
   

   where:
   o bestprac is the name chosen for the ISO image in the Virtual Media Repository and
   o bestprac.iso is the ISO image file to be loaded into the Repository.

7. Confirm that the ISO images were added to the Repository and remove the ISO image file, assuming it is no longer needed:

   $ lsrep
   Size(mb) Free(mb) Parent Pool         Parent Size      Parent Free
        126      125 rootvg                   279552           121984
   
   Name                                    File Size Optical         Access
   bestprac                                        1 None            rw
   $ rm bestprac.iso
   $
   

Second, when logged in as hscroot on the Hardware Management Console:

1. Get a list of managed servers:

   hscroot@hmc-p520:~> lssyscfg -r sys -F name
   Server-9111-520-SN10-5F2CD
   hscroot@hmc-p520:~>
   

   There is only one managed server (named Server-9111-520-SN10-5F2CD) in this example.

2. List the LPARs on one of the managed servers listed above:

   hscroot@hmc-p520:~> lssyscfg -r lpar -m Server-9111-520-SN10-5F2CD -F name,lpar_id,lpar_env,state
   Telstar,9,aixlinux,Not Activated
   p520-sr5,8,aixlinux,Not Activated
   RedHat,7,aixlinux,Not Activated
   p520-sr4,6,aixlinux,Running
   p520-sr3,5,aixlinux,Running
   9.72.8.225,4,aixlinux,Running
   p520-sr2,3,aixlinux,Running
   p520-sr1  vio,2,vioserver,Running
   10-5F2CD,1,aixlinux,Error
   hscroot@hmc-p520:~>
   

   where:
   o Server-9111-520-SN10-5F2CD is the managed server name chosen in the previous step.
   
   From the list, choose an LPAR on which media in the Virtual Media Repository will be used and which is (or can be) a Virtual I/O client. Note the lpar_id of the LPAR. In the example above, LPAR p520-sr4 will be chosen, the lpar_id of which is 6:

   p520-sr4,6,aixlinux,Running
   

Third, back in the padmin session on the VIO Server:

1. List the virtual server adapters:

   $ lsmap -all -field svsa clientid
   SVSA             Client Partition ID
   ---------------  -------------------
   vhost0           0x00000003
   
   SVSA             Client Partition ID
   ---------------  -------------------
   vhost1           0x00000005
   
   SVSA             Client Partition ID
   ---------------  -------------------
   vhost2           0x00000006
   
   SVSA             Client Partition ID
   ---------------  -------------------
   vhost3           0x00000008
   
   $
   

   From the list, choose the virtual server adapter which connects to the Client Partition ID which is the same as the lpar_id (6) identified in the previous step, except that the Client Partition ID is displayed as 0x00000006 instead of 6. Virtual server adapter vhost2 is associated with Client Partition ID 0x00000006 in the list above.

   Notes If there is no match in the lsmap -all -field svsa clientid output for the lpar_id identified in the previous step, then the chosen LPAR is not yet a Virtual I/O SCSI client and a virtual server adapter must be defined for it. Defining a new virtual server adapter (if necessary) is done on the HMC GUI and is not discussed further here. For more information, see Section 3.6.1, "Virtual SCSI resources" in the PowerVM Virtualization on IBM System p: Managing and Monitoring Redbook. Other earlier sections of the Redbook provide useful background on virtual SCSI adapters. If there is more than one VIO server, then to determine the VIO server(s) to which the identified lpar_id has SCSI connections, when logged in as hscroot on the Hardware Management Console: hscroot@hmc-p520:~> lshwres -m Server-9111-520-SN10-5F2CD -r virtualio --rsubtype scsi \ --filter lpar_ids=6 -F lpar_name,remote_lpar_name p520-sr4,p520-sr1 vio hscroot@hmc-p520:~> where: o Server-9111-520-SN10-5F2CD is the managed server name and o 6 is the identified lpar_id. The VIO LPAR name is p520-sr1 vio in the example above. (Please note that the command line in the example above is continued onto a second line with the \ character.)

2. Define a file-backed optical device on the virtual server adapter identified in the previous step:

   $ mkvdev -fbo -vadapter vhost2
   vtopt0 Available
   $
   

   where:
   o vhost2 is the virtual server adapter name identified in the previous step.

3. Load virtual optical media in the file-backed optical device defined in the previous step:

   $ loadopt -disk bestprac -vtd vtopt0
   $
   

   where:
   o bestprac is the name chosen when the ISO image was added to the Virtual Media Repository and
   o vtopt0 is the file-backed optical device created in the previous step.

Fourth, when logged in as root on the selected LPAR which is a Virtual I/O client:

1. List CD devices which are already configured:

   p520-sr4:/ # lsdev -Cc cdrom
   p520-sr4:/ #
   

   In this example, there are no CD devices already configured.

2. List the virtual adapters which are configured:

   p520-sr4:/ # lsdev -Cc adapter
   ent0   Available  Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
   ent1   Defined    Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
   vsa0   Available  LPAR Virtual Serial Adapter
   vscsi0 Available  Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
   p520-sr4:/ #
   

   In this example, there is only one virtual SCSI client adapter, so it must be the one which connects to the VIO server on which the file-backed optical device was just defined.

3. Discover the new file-backed optical device:

   p520-sr4:/ # cfgmgr -l vscsi0
   p520-sr4:/ # lsdev -Cc cdrom
   cd0 Available  Virtual SCSI Optical Served by VIO Server
   p520-sr4:/ #
   

   where:
   o vscsi0 is the virtual SCSI client adapter identified in the previous step. If there is more than one virtual SCSI client adapter, then it might be necessary to run cfgmgr against each of them.

4. Define a CDROM filesystem on the file-backed optical device just discovered:

   p520-sr4:/ # crfs -v cdrfs -p ro -d cd0 -m /cdrom -An
   p520-sr4:/ #
   

   where:
   o cd0 is the file-backed optical device discovered in the previous step and
   o /cdrom is mount point chosen for the CDROM filesystem.

5. Mount the CDROM filesystem defined in the previous step:

   p520-sr4:/ # mount /cdrom
   p520-sr4:/ #
   

   where:
   o /cdrom is mount point chosen for the CDROM filesystem in the previous step.

6. Confirm that the CDROM filesystem contains the files which reside on the ISO image in the Virtual Media Repository:

   p520-sr4:/ # cd /cdrom
   p520-sr4:/cdrom # ls
   .kshrc                  mkuser.sys.v53.new      pagemon
   .kshrc.root             mkuser.sys.v53.orig     ptree
   .profile.ksh            mkuser.sys.v53tl7.new   stopcmd
   .profile.root           mkuser.sys.v53tl7.orig  sysreadme
   README                  motd.new
   installbp               pagemax
   p520-sr4:/cdrom #
   

Note Before attempting to install from the virtual optical media, unmount the filesystem (cd / ; umount /cdrom). If the filesystem is left mounted, it may interfere with the installation process.

Fifth (once the Virtual I/O client is done with the virtual optical media), back in the padmin session on the VIO Server:

1. List information about the file-backed optical devices:

   $ lsvopt
   VTD             Media                                   Size(mb)
   vtopt0          bestprac                                       1
   $
   

   Only one file-backed optical device is displayed in this example. Note that the virtual optical media (named bestprac) is still in the file-backed optical device.

2. Remove the media from the file-backed optical device:

   $ unloadopt -vtd vtopt0
   $
   

   where:
   o vtopt2 is the name of the file-backed optical device.

3. Confirm that there is no longer any media in the file-backed optical device:

   $ lsvopt
   VTD             Media                                   Size(mb)
   vtopt0          No Media                                     n/a
   $
   

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