Creating a system plan by using HMC Version 7

You can use the Hardware Management Console (HMC) Version 7 to create a new system plan based on an existing system configuration, and then deploy that system plan to other managed systems.

You can use the newly-created system plan to create identical logical partition configurations on managed systems with identical hardware. The new system plan contains specifications for the logical partitions and partition profiles of the managed system that you used to create the plan. The new system plan also can contain hardware information that the HMC is able to obtain from the selected managed system. However, the amount of hardware information that the HMC can capture for the new system plan varies based on the method that the HMC uses to gather the hardware information. There are two methods that the HMC potentially can use: inventory gathering and hardware discovery. For example, using inventory gathering, the HMC can detect virtual device configuration information for the Virtual I/O Server. Additionally, the HMC can use one or both of these methods to detect disk and tape information for i5/OS®.

Inventory gathering prerequisites

The HMC always performs inventory gathering to capture detailed information for hardware that has an assignment to an active partition. To maximize the amount of data that the inventory gathering process of the HMC is able to collect from the managed system, ensure that you complete the following tasks:

Ensure that the managed system in the 'Standby' state or that the managed system is powered on.
Note: You cannot create a system plan if the managed server is in either the power off state or the recovery state.
Ensure that all the logical partitions on the managed system from which you plan to base the new system plan are activated.
To ensure that Linux® systems and partitions can perform inventory gathering, you must load the IBM® Installation Toolkit for Linux on POWER®, which is available at the IBM Service and productivity tools Web site (http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/lopdiags/installtools/home.html).
Ensure that there is an Resource Monitoring and Control (RMC) connection between the HMC and each logical partition. An RMC connection is required for the inventory-gathering process. An RMC connection also is required to configure Virtual I/O Server and to collect data for Virtual I/O Server device mappings.
Note: It is possible for an i5/OS partition to have more than one HMC set up to manage it. In this situation, if you want to use RMC to create a new system plan, you must ensure that you create the system plan from the primary HMC for the partition because secondary HMCs cannot use RMC.

To ensure that the HMC can use RMC, complete the following steps:

In the HMC navigation pane, select HMC Management.
In the contents pane, select Change Network Settings to display the Customize Network Settings window.
Click LAN Adapters, select the appropriate adapter from the list, and click Details.
On the LAN Adapter page of the LAN Adapters Details window, ensure that Partition communication is selected.
On the Firewall page, in the Firewall Settings list, select all instances of RMC, and click Allow Incoming, if necessary.
Click OK to close the LAN Adapter Details window.
Click OK to close the Customize Network Settings window.
Restart the HMC if you made any changes to these configuration settings.

For some operating systems, you might need to perform additional steps to ensure that RMC is configured and running correctly. To learn more about configuring and using RMC, review the appropriate operating system documentation.

Hardware discovery prerequisites

If the managed system supports hardware discovery, the HMC can use it, in addition to the inventory-gathering process, to capture hardware information for a new system plan. The hardware discovery process allows you to capture hardware configuration information, regardless of the state of the hardware. Using hardware discovery, you can capture information about hardware that does not have a partition assignment, as well as hardware with assignments to inactive partitions.

To use the hardware discovery process, ensure that you complete the following tasks:

Ensure that there is a minimum of .5 processor available.
Ensure that there is a minimum of 256 MB of free memory available.
Ensure that all partitions on the managed server for which you want to use the hardware discovery process are inactive. If a partition is active, the hardware discovery process cannot capture fresh information from the partition and retrieves information about the hardware assigned to the inactive partition from the hardware inventory cache on the managed system instead.
Note: Hardware discovery does not require the use of RMC.

To create a system plan from Version 7 of the Hardware Management Console, complete the following steps:

From the navigation area, select System Plans. The System Plans page opens.
From the Tasks area, select Create System Plan. The Create System Plan window opens.
Select the managed system that you want to use as the basis for the new system plan.
Enter a name and description for the new system plan.
Optional: Select whether you want to retrieve inactive and unallocated hardware resources. This option appears only if the managed system is capable of hardware discovery and the option is selected by default.
Note: If you do not select the Retrieve inactive and unallocated hardware resources option, the HMC does not perform hardware discovery. The HMC still performs inventory gathering and retrieves hardware information for any active partitions on the managed server. The resulting new system plan contains hardware information from the inventory-gathering process, as well as hardware information from the hardware inventory cache on the system.
Optional: Select whether you want to view the system plan immediately after the HMC creates it.
Click Create.

Now that you have a new system plan, you can export the system plan, import it onto another managed system, and deploy the system plan to the managed system.

Note: As an alternative to the HMC Web user interface, you can use the mksysplan command on the HMC to create a system plan based upon the configuration of an existing managed system.