Managing virtual optical devices

You can virtualize a DVD or a CD device that is assigned to the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) by using the Hardware Management Console (HMC). The virtualized devices are shared among the client partitions of the VIOS.

Only one client partition can access the shared optical device at a time. The advantage of a virtual optical device is that you do not have to move the parent Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) adapter between the VIOS client partitions. You cannot share optical devices if the SCSI adapter also controls the internal disk drives on which the VIOS is installed.

Note: You cannot move the virtual drive to another VIOS because client SCSI adapters cannot be created in a VIOS. If you want to virtualize the CD or DVD drive in another VIOS, the virtual device must be unconfigured and the parent SCSI adapter must be unconfigured and must be moved.
To change the virtual optical media, consider the following system requirements:
  • The HMC must be Version 7 release 3.4.2, or later.
  • The VIOS must be Version 2.1.1.0, or later.
  • The resource monitoring and control (RMC) connection is established between the HMC and the VIOS.
  • The virtual media library exists before you manage, create, or assign virtual optical devices.