Live Partition Mobility (LPM) Nutshell
Neil Koropoff
, 10/12/2009
Access pdf version of the Live Partition Mobility (LPM) Nutshell
The information below is from multiple sources including:
This document is not intended to replace the LPM Redbook or other IBM documentation. It is only to summarize the requirements and point out fixes that have been released.
Major requirements for active Live Partition Mobility are:
Software Version Requirements:
Base LPM:
Hardware Management Console (HMC) minimum requirements
- Version 7 Release 3.2.0 or later with required fixes MH01062 for both active and inactive partition migration. If you do not have this level, upgrade the HMC to the correct level.
- Model 7310-CR2 or later, or the 7310-C03
Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) minimum requirements
- IVM is provided by the Virtual I/O Server at release level 1.5.1.1or higher.
PowerVM minimum requirements:
- Both source and destination systems must have the PowerVM Enterprise Edition license code installed.
- Both source and destination systems must be at firmware level 01Ex320 or later, where x is an S for BladeCenter®, an L for Entry servers (such as the Power 520, Power 550, and Power 560), an M for Midrange servers (such as the Power 570) or an H for Enterprise servers (such as the Power 595).
Although there is a minimum required firmware level, each system may have a different level of firmware. The level of source system firmware must be compatible with the destination firmware. The latest firmware migration matrix can be found here:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/pm/migrate.html
Source and destination Virtual I/O Server minimum requirements
- At least one Virtual I/O Server at release level 1.5.1.1or higher has to be installed both on the source and destination systems.
Operating system minimum requirements
The operating system running in the mobile partition has to be AIX or Linux. A Virtual I/O Server logical partition or a logical partition running the IBM i operating system cannot be migrated. The operating system must be at one of the following levels:
- AIX 5L™ Version 5.3 Technology Level 7 or later (the required level is 5300-07-01)
- AIX Version 6.1 or later (the required level is 6100-00-01)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 5 (RHEL5) Update 1 or later (with the required kernel security update)
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (SLES 10) Service Pack 1 or later (with the required kernel security update)
Active Memory Sharing (AMS) software minimum requirements:
Note: AMS is not a requirement to perform LPM and is listed because both are features of PowerVM Enterprise Edition but AMS has more restrictive software requirements in case you plan to use both.
- PowerVM Enterprise activation
- Firmware level 01Ex340_075
- HMC version 7.3.4 service pack 2 (V7R3.4.0M2) for HMC managed systems
- Virtual I/O Server Version 2.1.0.1-FP21 for both HMC and IVM managed systems
- AIX 6.1 TL 3
- Novell SuSE SLES 11
Virtual Fibre Channel (NPIV) software minimum requirements:
- HMC Version 7 Release 3.4, or later
- Virtual I/O Server Version 2.1 with Fix Pack 20.1, or later
- AIX 5.3 TL9, or later
- AIX 6.1 TL2 SP2, or later
Configuration Requirements:
Base LPM:
Source and destination system requirements for HMC managed systems:
The source and destination system must be an IBM Power Systems POWER6 technology- based model such as:
- 8203-E4A (IBM Power System 520 Express)
- 8204-E8A (IBM Power System 550 Express)
- 8234-EMA (IBM Power System 560 Express)
- 9117-MMA (IBM Power System 570)
- 9119-FHA (IBM Power System 595)
- 9125-F2A (IBM Power System 575)
- 9406-MMA (IBM Power System 570)
- 9407-M15 (IBM Power System 520 Express)
- 9408-M25 (IBM Power System 520 Express)
- 9409-M50 (IBM Power System 550 Express)
Source and destination system requirements for IVM managed systems:
- 8203-E4A (IBM Power System 520 Express)
- 8204-E8A (IBM Power System 550 Express)
- 8234-EMA (IBM Power System 560 Express)
- 9407-M15 (IBM Power System 520 Express)
- 9408-M25 (IBM Power System 520 Express)
- 9409-M50 (IBM Power System 550 Express)
- BladeCenter JS12
- BladeCenter JS22
- BladeCenter JS23
- BladeCenter JS43
A system is capable of being either the source or destination of a migration if it contains the necessary processor hardware to support it.
Source and destination Virtual I/O Server minimum requirements
- A new partition attribute, called the mover service partition, has been defined that enables you to indicate whether a mover-capable Virtual I/O Server partition should be considered during the selection process of the MSP for a migration. By default, all Virtual I/O Server partitions have this new partition attribute set to FALSE.
- In addition to having the mover partition attribute set to TRUE, the source and destination mover service partitions communicate with each other over the network. On both the source and destination servers, the Virtual Asynchronous Services Interface (VASI) device provides communication between the mover service partition and the POWER Hypervisor.
Storage requirements
For a list of supported disks and optical devices, see the Virtual I/O Server
data sheet for VIOS:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/vios/documentation/datasheet.html
Make sure the reserve_lock on SAN disk is set to no_reserve.
Network requirements
The migrating partition uses the virtual LAN (VLAN) for network access. The VLAN must be bridged (if there is more than one, then it also has to be bridged) to a physical network using a shared Ethernet adapter in the Virtual I/O Server partition. Your LAN must be configured so that migrating partitions can continue to communicate with other necessary clients and servers after a migration is completed.
Note: IBM plans to enhance its support of 10 Gb FCoE Adapters (5708, 8275) on the Linux and IBM AIX operating systems in first half 2010 by adding N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) capability through VIOS.
Requirements for remote migration
The Remote Live Partition Mobility feature is available starting with HMC Version 7 Release 3.4.
This feature allows a user to migrate a client partition to a destination server that is managed by a different HMC. The function relies on Secure Shell (SSH) to communicate with the remote HMC.
The following list indicates the requirements for remote HMC migrations:
- A local HMC managing the source server
- A remote HMC managing the destination server
- Version 7 Release 3.4 or later HMC version
- Network access to a remote HMC
- SSH key authentication to the remote HMC
The source and destination servers, mover service partitions, and Virtual I/O Servers are required to be configured exactly as though they were going to be performing migrations managed by a single HMC.
To initiate the remote migration operation, you may use only the HMC that contains the mobile partition.
Active Memory Sharing configuration:
An IBM Power System server based on the POWER6 processor
Virtual Fibre Channel (NPIV) configuration
Virtual Fibre Channel is a virtualization feature. Virtual Fibre Channel uses N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV), and enables PowerVM logical partitions to access SAN resources using virtual Fibre Channel adapters mapped to a physical NPIV-capable adapter.
The mobile partition must meet the requirements described above. In addition, the following components must be configured in the environment:
- An NPIV-capable SAN switch
- An NPIV-capable physical Fibre Channel adapter on the source and destination Virtual I/O Servers
- Each virtual Fibre Channel adapter on the Virtual I/O Server mapped to an NPIV-capable physical Fibre Channel adapter
- Each virtual Fibre Channel adapter on the mobile partition mapped to a virtual Fibre Channel adapter in the Virtual I/O Server
- At least one LUN mapped to the mobile partition's virtual Fibre Channel adapter
- Mobile partitions may have virtual SCSI and virtual Fibre Channel LUNs. Migration of LUNs between virtual SCSI and virtual Fibre Channel is not supported at the time of publication.
Fixes that effect LPM:
Firmware Release Ex340_095:
On systems running system firmware Ex340_075 and Active Memory Sharing, a problem was fixed that might have caused a partition to lose I/O entitlement after the partition was moved from one system to another using PowerVM Mobility.
VIOS V2.1.0
Fixed problem with disk reservation changes for partition mobility
Fixed problem where Mobility fails between VIOS levels due to version mismatch
Change history:
10/20/2009 - added SoD for converged network adapters.
Other Sources of Information
Live Partition Mobility information on InfoCenter
