Creating an AIX or Linux logical partition on a new or nonpartitioned managed system

Use this procedure to create an AIX® or Linux logical partition on a new or nonpartitioned managed system by using the Hardware Management Console (HMC). In this procedure, you will validate the hardware on the managed system and create the logical partitions on the managed system.

1. Ensure that the managed system is in a state of Standby. Complete the following:
   1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management and click Servers.
   2. In the work pane, find the state of the managed system as displayed in the work pane under the Status heading.
   3. If the managed system is in a Power off state, select the managed system in the work pane, click the Tasks button, click Operations > Power on, select the power-on mode of Partition Standby, click OK, and wait until the work pane displays a Standby state for the managed system.
   If the managed system does not display in the work pane, or if the managed system is in any state other than Standby or Operating, you must fix the problem before continuing.
2. Verify that a single logical partition exists on the managed system.

   When you connect a new or nonpartitioned managed system to an HMC, a single logical partition is displayed in the HMC user interface. All system resources belong to this logical partition. In this procedure, you will use this logical partition to validate the hardware on the managed system. After you validate the hardware on the managed system, you will delete this logical partition and create the logical partitions according to your logical partition plan.

   1. In the navigation pane of the HMC, open Servers and click on the managed system.
   2. In the work pane, verify that there is only one logical partition in the list of logical partitions. The name of this logical partition will be the serial number of the managed system, and the logical partition will have one partition profile named default_profile.
   If the logical partition that is described in this step exists, continue to step 4. Otherwise, continue to step 3 to reset the managed system.
3. Reset the managed system so that a single logical partition exists on the managed system. Complete the following steps at your HMC (not remotely) to create this logical partition:
   1. Ensure that the hardware placement in the managed system supports the manufacturing default configuration.

      If the hardware placement in the managed system does not support the manufacturing default configuration, you must move the hardware so that the hardware placement supports the manufacturing default configuration. For more information about placing the hardware in your managed system to support the manufacturing default configuration, contact your marketing representative or business partner.

   2. In the navigation pane, click Servers.
   3. In the work pane, select the managed system in the work pane, click the Tasks button, click Configuration > Manage Partition Data > Initialize and click Yes.
   4. In the navigation pane, click HMC Management.
   5. In the work pane, click Open Restricted Shell Terminal. The Restricted shell command-line interface displays.
   6. Type: lpcfgop -m managed_system_name -o clear where managed_system_name is the name of managed system as it displays in the work pane.
   7. Enter 1 to confirm. This step takes several seconds to complete.
4. Ensure that the logical partition is in a Not Activated state.

   In the navigation pane of the HMC, select the managed system if it is not already selected, and review the state of the logical partition on the managed system. If the logical partition is in a Running state, shut down the logical partition by completing the following steps:

   1. In the navigation pane, select the managed system, click the Tasks button, and click Properties.
   2. Ensure that Power off the system after all the logical partitions are powered off is cleared, and click OK.
   3. Shut down the logical partition using operating system procedures. For more information about shutting down logical partitions using operating system procedures, see the following information:
      • For managed systems running AIX, see Shutting down AIX logical partitions.
   If the logical partition is in an Error state, complete the following:
   1. In the work pane, select the logical partition, click the Tasks button, and click Serviceability > Reference Code History.
   2. Click the Reference Code tab and use the reference codes displayed on the Reference Code tab to diagnose and fix the problem. For information about using reference codes, see Reference codes.
5. Activate the logical partition and verify that the physical adapters on the managed system are connected and reporting to the managed system using the configuration manager.

   If AIX is not installed on your managed system, continue with step 6. You can use the configuration manager in AIX to view all of the available devices. When AIX boots and the configuration manager runs, the configuration manager displays all the working adapters. The recognized adapters will be in the Available state if they are configured correctly.

   1. In the work pane, select the logical partition.
   2. From the Tasks menu, click Operations > Activate > Profile.
   3. Click OK to exit manufacturing default configuration if prompted.
   4. Click Advanced.
   5. In the Boot mode field, select Normal and click OK.
   6. Select Open a terminal window or console session and click OK. A virtual terminal (vterm) window opens for the logical partition.
   7. Ensure that all the resources are attached and powered on.
   8. Log in to AIX using a valid user name and password.
   9. Enter the following command at the command prompt to list all of the adapters on AIX: # lsdev -Cc adapter. If any adapters do not display as Available, contact service and support.
      Note: You can verify only the adapters that are recognized by AIX. Any adapter that is not recognized by AIX might have an error of unknown or failed hardware.
   10. Shut down the logical partition using operating system procedures and close the terminal session window. For information on how to shut down AIX, see Shutting down AIX logical partitions.
6. Activate the logical partition and verify that the physical adapters on the managed system are connected and reporting to the managed system using the System Management Services (SMS) interface. (If Linux is installed on the managed system, or if no operating system is on the managed system, you can use the SMS interface to view the available devices.) When the logical partition is activated, the bus is scanned to determine what device adapters are attached. The recognized adapters are listed.
   1. In the work pane, select the logical partition.
   2. From the Tasks menu, click Operations > Activate > Profile.
   3. Click Advanced.
   4. In the Boot mode field, select SMS and click OK.
   5. Select Open a terminal window or console session and click OK. A virtual terminal (vterm) window opens for the logical partition.
   6. When the SMS interface is displayed, type 5 and press Enter to select option 5 [Select Boot Options].
   7. Type 1 and press Enter to select option 1 [Select Install or Boot a Device]
   8. Type 7 and press Enter to select option 7 [List all Devices]. All of the recognized devices in the logical partition are listed. If any devices are not displayed, contact service and support.
      Note: You can verify only the adapters that are recognized by SMS. Any adapter that is not recognized by SMS might have an error of unknown or failed hardware.
   9. Close the terminal session window, click the Tasks button, and click Operations > Shut down, and click OK.
7. Power off the managed system using your HMC:
   1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management and click Servers.
   2. In the work pane, select the managed system in the work pane, click the Tasks button, and click Operations > Power Off.
   3. Select the Normal power off option and click OK.
8. Power on the managed system to the Standby state using your HMC:
   1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management and click Servers.
   2. In the work pane, select the managed system in the work pane, click the Tasks button, and click Operations > Power On.
   3. Select Partition standby as the power-on mode and click OK.
9. Activate the logical partition and verify that the physical adapters on the managed system are connected and reporting to the managed system using the configuration manager.

   If AIX is not installed on the managed system, continue with step 10. You can use the configuration manager in AIX to view all of the available devices. When AIX boots and the configuration manager runs, the configuration manager displays all the working adapters. The recognized adapters will be in the Available state if they are configured correctly.

   1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management > Servers, and click the managed system.
   2. In the work pane, select the logical partition.
   3. From the Tasks menu, click Operations > Activate > Profile.
   4. Click Advanced.
   5. In the Boot mode field, select Normal and click OK.
   6. Select Open a terminal window or console session and click OK. A virtual terminal (vterm) window opens for the logical partition.
   7. Ensure that all the resources are attached and powered on.
   8. Log in to AIX using a valid user name and password.
   9. Enter the following command at the command prompt to list all of the adapters on AIX: # lsdev -Cc adapter. If any adapters are not displayed as Available, contact service and support.
      Note: You can verify only the adapters that are recognized by AIX. Any adapter that is not recognized by AIX might have an error of unknown or failed hardware.
   10. Shut down the logical partition using operating system procedures and close the terminal session window. For information about how to shut down AIX, see Shutting down AIX logical partitions.
10. Activate the logical partition and verify that the physical adapters on the managed system are connected and reporting to the managed system using the System Management Services (SMS) interface. (If Linux is installed on the managed system, or if no operating system is on the managed system, you can use the SMS interface to view the available devices.) When the logical partition is activated, the bus is scanned to determine what device adapters are attached. The recognized adapters are listed.
    1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management > Servers, and click the managed system.
    2. In the work pane, select the logical partition.
    3. From the Tasks menu, click Operations > Activate > Profile.
    4. Click Advanced.
    5. In the Boot mode field, select SMS and click OK.
    6. Select Open a terminal window or console session and click OK. A virtual terminal (vterm) window opens for the logical partition.
    7. When the SMS interface is displayed, type 5 and press Enter to select option 5 [Select Boot Options].
    8. Type 1 and press Enter to select option 1 [Select Install or Boot a Device]
    9. Type 7 and press Enter to select option 7 [List all Devices]. All of the recognized devices in the logical partition are listed. If there are any devices that do not display, contact service and support.
       Note: You can verify only the adapters that are recognized by SMS. Any adapter that is not recognized by SMS might have an error of unknown or failed hardware.
    10. Close the terminal session window, click the Tasks button, and click Operations > Shut down, and click OK.
11. Delete the logical partition that owns all of the system resources:
    Attention: This procedure erases the logical partition and the logical partition configuration data stored on the logical partition profiles. This procedure does not affect any of the data stored on the managed system.
    1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management > Servers, and click the managed system.
    2. In the work pane, ensure that the logical partition is powered off.
    3. Select the logical partition, click the Tasks button, and click Operations > Delete.
    4. Click Yes to confirm.
12. Create each logical partition on your managed system according to your logical partition plan:
    Note: If you plan to create logical partitions that use shared memory, you must first configure the shared memory pool. For instructions, see Configuring the shared memory pool.
    1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management and click Servers.
    2. In the work pane, select the managed system, click the Tasks button, and click Configuration > Create Logical Partition.
    3. Follow the steps in the Create Logical Partition wizard to create a logical partition and a partition profile. By using the Create Logical Partition wizard, you can enable a VTPM on the logical partition. If you want to enable this option, you must select the Allow this partition to be VTPM capable check box when you create the logical partition. For more information about the creating a logical partition with VTPM capability, see Creating a logical partition with Virtual Trusted Platform capability.

       The I/O tab of the Create Logical Partition Wizard does not display cable cards, because slots that contain cable cards cannot be assigned to a partition.

       The Suspend/Resume feature for logical partitions is supported on POWER8 processor-based servers when the firmware is at level FW840, or later. The Create Logical Partition wizard provides an option to suspend the partition. If you want to enable this option, you must select the Allow this partition to be suspended check box when creating the logical partition. For more information about creating a partition with suspension capability, see Creating a logical partition with suspension capability.

       When you create the logical partition, the default processor mode is the shared processor mode. You can specify a value of 0.05 in the Minimum processing units field when the firmware is at level FW760, or later. You can also change this value after partition creation by changing the partition profile.

       When you create an AIX or Linux logical partition on a server that uses the virtual server network (VSN), and the HMC is at version 7.7, or later, you can associate a Virtual Station Interface (VSI) profile with the virtual Ethernet.

       The Create Logical Partition wizard provides an option to enable synchronization of the current configuration capability. If you want to enable this option, you can select Sync turned ON from the Sync Current Configuration Capability list when creating the logical partition. When this value is set, the partition profile is always synchronized with the last activated partition profile. For more information about creating a partition with synchronization of the current configuration capability, see Creating a logical partition with synchronization of the current configuration.

       The Create Logical Partition wizard provides an option to create an SR-IOV logical port and assign the logical port to the profile. You can follow the steps in the wizard to create the SR-IOV logical port. You can also add an SR-IOV logical port to a partition after you create the partition. For more information about adding an SR-IOV logical port to a partition, see Assigning a single root I/O virtualization logical port to a logical partition

       The HMC graphical user interface does not provide an option to disable the Live Partition Mobility feature of a logical partition. However, you can use HMC command line to disable the Live Partition Mobility feature, either during partition creation, or after partition creation. To disable the Live Partition Mobility feature of an AIX, or Linux logical partition after partition creation, run the chsyscfg command with a value 1 for the migration_disabled attribute, from the HMC command line. To disable the Live Partition Mobility feature of a logical partition during partition creation, run the mksyscfg command with a value 1 for the migration_disabled attribute, from the HMC command line.

    Alternatively, you can create logical partitions by importing a system plan file into your HMC and deploying the system plan to the managed system. For instructions, see Deploying a system plan using the HMC. However, if you want one or more logical partitions to use shared memory, you must configure shared memory resources for those logical partitions after you deploy the system plan. System plans that you create by using the SPT do not contain configuration information for shared memory.
13. Ensure that at least one LAN adapter on the HMC is configured to connect with the logical partitions on your managed system. To do this, complete the following:
    1. In the navigation pane, open HMC Management.
    2. Click HMC Configuration.
    3. In the work pane, click Change Network Settings.
    4. Click the LAN Adapters tab.
    5. Select any LAN adapter other than the eth0 adapter that connects the HMC with the service processor and click Details.
    6. On the LAN Adapter tab, under Local area network information, click Open, and select Partition communication.
    7. Click the Firewall Settings tab.
    8. Ensure that the Resource Monitoring and Control (RMC) application is one of the applications displayed in Allowed Hosts. If it is not displayed in Allowed Hosts, select the RMC application under Available Applications and click Allow Incoming. The RMC application is displayed in Allowed Hosts to signify that it has been selected.
    9. Click OK.