Managing logical partitions

If you implement logical partitions on your system, you must consider a few factors when managing logical partitions, such as restarting and powering down individual logical partitions, changing logical partition configuration, managing security, and changing processing resources.

When you create one or more logical partitions on the system, you are creating partitions that are independent of each other. Each logical partition has its own independent configuration of processor, memory, input/output (I/O) devices, Licensed Internal Code, operating system (IBM® i ), and optional software applications.

You can use System i® Navigator to manage your logical partitions. Most tasks you perform are independent of the other logical partitions on the system. You must approach each logical partition as an independent system.

Managing logical partitions by using System i Navigator, DST, and SST
On a system without logical partitions, you can use the control panel to perform many tasks. However, for systems with logical partitions, secondary partitions do not have physical control panels. To control your secondary partitions you can use the remote control panel graphical user interface (GUI).
Managing security for logical partitions
Most security-related tasks that you perform on a partitioned system are the same as on a system without logical partitions. However, when you create logical partitions, you work with more than one independent system. Therefore, you have to perform the same tasks on each logical partition instead of just once on a system without logical partitions.
Printing system configuration for logical partitions
It is strongly recommended that you print the system configuration for all of your I/O resources that are allocated to all of the logical partitions, when your setup is complete. You can use DST or SST to print copies of your system hardware configuration.
Dynamically moving logical partition resources
Dynamic movement of resources provides users with the ability to move processors, memory, and interactive performance between partitions without requiring a partition or the system to be restarted.
Scheduling moving logical partition resources
You can schedule the movement of memory, processors, interactive performance, and I/O processors. You have the option of choosing to perform a task immediately or choosing a later time. The logical partition scheduling functions provide you with the flexibility to accommodate changing workloads and demands on resources.
Installing new hardware for logical partitions
When you install new hardware in a partitioned environment, be aware of these items:
Adding a new I/O adapter on a partitioned server
When adding a new I/O adapter in a partitioned environment, make detailed preparation before starting the new I/O adapters installation. Use this information to help prepare to install a new I/O adapter and perform resource management.
Installing a new software release in the primary partition
The minimum memory required by the primary partition might change if you install a new IBM i software release. A logical partition configuration error might occur if the minimum memory value is insufficient. Use System i Navigator to change the minimum and maximum memory value for each partition.
Expansion unit conversions in a partitioned environment
Detailed planning is necessary before you begin the expansion unit conversion of a partitioned server. It is highly recommended that all of the logical partition configuration actions be performed by an LPAR-trained service representative.
Restarting and powering down a system with logical partitions
At times you will need to perform an initial program load (IPL) or power down the entire system or a single partition. It is important to remember that when you perform an IPL on the primary partition you are also performing an IPL on all the secondary partitions.

Parent topic: Partitioning with a System i

Related concepts:

Logical partition concepts

System i Navigator

Backup and recovery

Basic system operations