What's new in PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2 for AIX

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What's NEW in PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8 for AIX

The following information is a summary of the updates that were made to PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8:

PowerHA SystemMirror GUI is updated with the following new features and enhancements:

ROHA on prem
Resource Optimized High Availability (ROHA) is added as a new feature in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI. The ROHA feature automatically and dynamically manages Dynamic Logical Partitions (DLPARs), Enterprise Pool CoD (EPCoD), and on or off CoD resources. Resources can be acquired and released on demand to manage those efficiently. HMC is used to manage resources. HMC communication can be established by using the following two methods.
  • SSH
  • REST

Prerequisites

The lab administrator must perform the following actions.
  • The HMC and cluster nodes do not require a password to communicate.
  • The HMC details must be updated in the /etc/hosts file of all the cluster nodes.
Email notifications Enhancement for System Based Events and Multiple email Configuration
The PowerHA SystemMirror GUI version 7.2.7, has the email notification feature, which configures a single email notification setting for multiple events, for example, events like Admin Op, Site Up, RG Move. All email IDs configured in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI are notified whenever one of the specified events occurs.

Starting PowerHA SystemMirror GUI 7.2.8, the user can create multiple email groups by using the Set email ID option. A user can also set up multiple email profiles for a single cluster.

A new system-specific AIX Shutdown event is added to the list of events. Before configuring the email notification, the user can also test the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) configuration by sending a test email.

Prerequisite

The lab administrator must perform the following actions.
  • SMTP configuration on the cluster nodes.
MFA with Voice call, TOTP, and Signature authentication methods
The IBM Security Verify feature supports two-factor authentication. The first authentication factor is the username and password. The second authentication factor is a system-generated numeric or alphanumeric code that the user must provide to prove their identity.

In the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI 7.2.6 version, Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) was introduced with the provision of sending One Time Password (OTP) to the user’s phone number or to email address. An OTP is valid for a specific time. It becomes invalid after a successful user login or when it expires.

Starting PowerHA SystemMirror GUI 7.2.8 version, the GUI supports MFA with the following features.

  • Voice Call: The user receives OTP through a phone call.
  • Time-Based One-Time Password (TOTP): TOTP authentication is supported by any authenticator application, for example: Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator.
  • Signature Authentication: Signature authentication uses IBM Verify application.
File Collection
Starting PowerHA SystemMirror GUI 7.2.8 version, the user has provision to create, view, modify, and delete a file collection by using the PowerHA SystemMirror File Collection GUI feature. Two default file collections are available.
  • Configuration_files
  • HACMP_files
Fix Central Installation support for the Service Pack (SP)
In the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI version 7.2.7, users might download Service pack (SP) packages directly from the GUI to discovered clusters with one click, instead of downloading from Fix Central. However, after installation the user had to manually install the SP filesets.
With the introduction of PowerHA SystemMirror GUI version 7.2.8, the GUI allows users to install downloaded files directly from the user interface. Users select the cluster from the drop-down menu and select their preferred installation for the available downloads. With these enhancements, the PowerHA simplifies the update process by using the following upgrade options.
  • NDU (Non-Disruptive Update)
  • Offline Update
Orphan Resources (Service IP and Application controller)
In PowerHA GUI version 7.2.7 and prior releases, users could create the resources only from the Resource Group page, which was associated with that Resource Group. But starting PowerHA SystemMirror GUI version 7.2.8, the GUI allows users to create independent resources, such as Service IP and Application controller that are not associated with any Resource Groups (RGs). This feature is now available in the Service IP and Application controller GUI. Users can create, edit, delete, and view these resources. Also, users have the flexibility to add these newly created or existing Orphan Resources to a specific RG. Users can either use the Cluster (Resource Page) or the Resource Group (Resource Page).
GLVM Sizing Tool Enhancement for Network Latency
In the previous releases, the Geographic Logical Volume Manager (GLVM) Sizing tool provided the network bandwidth and cache recommendations for the Asynchronous Volume Group(VG).

The GLVM sizing tool in PowerHA version 7.2.8 enhancement provides network latency information and recommendation in the GUI.

Following are some of the additional minor enhancements that are added to the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI 7.2.8 version:

  • User can select multiple hostnames for Cloud Backup Restoration (CBR). The multiple selections allows the user to initiate the restoration process for the cloud images on multiple nodes (hostname) by selecting the check boxes.
  • Delete function for storage devices (part of Cloud Backup Management (CBM)) is now supported which helps the user to remove the storage devices from the GUI itself.
  • Node version is upgraded from Node 16 to Node 18.3.
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