Activating AIX or Linux partitions

You can activate or network boot an AIX® or a Linux partition by using the Hardware Management Console (HMC).

1. In the navigation pane, click the Resources icon .
2. Click All Systems. The All Systems page is displayed.
3. In the work pane, select a system and click Actions > View System Partitions. In the Partitions page, you can view all the partitions that belong to the system.
4. To view the Activate <AIX / Linux partition name> wizard, choose one of the following options:
   • In the work pane, select the partition that you want to activate and click Actions > Activate. The Activation wizard is displayed.
   • In the work pane, click on the partition name that you want to activate. The partition properties page is displayed. Click Partition Actions > Operations > Activate. The Activation wizard is displayed.
5. From the Partition Configuration list, select the required partition configuration profile. You can select only the profile that is associated to the selected partition. When you create a partition a default profile is always associated to the partition. This is indicated with the profile name being followed by default in parentheses.
   Note: If you choose Current Configuration, the Advanced Settings are unavailable.
6. From the Activation Options list, select the activation option for the partition.
   • Select Activate to activate the partition.
     Note: If you select Activate, the Next button is not available. You can only click Finish to activate and close the wizard, after making all your choices in the current screen.
   • Select Network Boot to install the operating system on the partition. The HMC enables the network installation. When you select Network Boot, click Next to configure the network settings for the logical partition.
7. Click Advanced Settings if you want to view and modify the following options for the selected partition:
   • Keylock Position establishes the power-on and power-off modes allowed for the system. You can select the following keylock values - Do not override configuration, Manual (attended), and Normal (unattended).
     Attention: The Manual (attended) value is not preferred value for security reasons.
   • Boot Mode indicates the activation type for a partition. This activation type is applicable only for AIX, Linux, or Virtual I/O Server partitions. This option is not displayed for IBM® i partitions.
   • Open vterm opens a virtual terminal console.
   • Use VSI Profile activates the partition with Virtual Station Interface (VSI) profiles.
     Note: If the VSI attributes are not set correctly, the activation fails.
8. If you selected Activate from the Activation Options list, click Finish to activate the AIX or the Linux partition and close the activation wizard.
9. If you selected Network Boot from the Activation Options list, click Next. The Network Settings tab is displayed.
10. In the Network Settings tab, configure network adapter settings for the partition by using the following options:
    • IPv4 or IPv6 address to use the IPv4 or IPv6 server and client address.
    • Boot Server IP address to specify the IP address of the boot server that contains the network install image for a partition. If you select IPv4, you must also specify the other details, like the subnet mask and the default gateway. If you select IPv6 you must specify the required IPv6 settings for your system.
11. Click Advanced Settings to view and change the following network configuration settings for the selected partition:
    1. From the Adapter Speed list, select the speed of the Ethernet adapter for the target partition. By default, Auto is selected to enable the system to determine the required speed for the adapter. You can also select the following values - 10, 100, or 1000.
    2. From the Adapter Duplex list, select duplex value for the Ethernet adapter. By default, Auto is selected to enable the system to determine the required duplex for the adapter. You can also select the Full or Half values.
    3. From the VLAN Tag Priority list, select the virtual local area network (VLAN) tag priority value to determine the priority of the client partition. You can select the VLAN priority within the range 0 to 7. The default value is 0.
       Note: The VLAN Tag Priority field is available only when the Virtual I/O Server image is installed using the Network Installation Management (NIM) server.
    4. In the VLAN Tag Identifier field, specify a valid value. The valid value is in the range 1 - 4094.
12. Click Finish to activate the selected partition. The activation wizard closes.