Configuring virtual Ethernet bridges on the managed system using the Integrated Virtualization Manager

Use the Integrated Virtualization Manager to configure virtual Ethernet bridges on the managed system.

A physical Ethernet adapter or link aggregation that connects a virtual Ethernet network with a physical local area network (LAN) is called a virtual Ethernet bridge. Another name for a virtual Ethernet bridge is a shared Ethernet adapter because the logical partitions on the virtual Ethernet network share the physical Ethernet connection. Virtual Ethernet bridges connect the virtual Ethernet networks on your managed system to physical LANs.

Note: This is the only method that you can use to configure a communication adapter for an IBM® i partition. Before creating a shared Ethernet adapter, ensure that an interface is not configured over any Ethernet Adapters that are part of the shared Ethernet adapter configuration.

For greater security, do not set up the physical Ethernet adapter or link aggregation that you use to connect to the management partition as a virtual Ethernet bridge. This situation allows you to isolate the management partition from all external networks. (The management partition manages the virtual Ethernet networks on your managed system, but it does not participate in any virtual Ethernet networks.)

If you configure a single physical Ethernet adapter or link aggregation to connect to the management partition and to act as a virtual Ethernet bridge, consider installing OpenSSL and Portable OpenSSH on the management partition. You can use OpenSSL and Portable OpenSSH to connect securely to the Virtual I/O Server from a remote location.

You do not need to select a physical Ethernet adapter or link aggregation for a virtual Ethernet network. If no physical adapter or link aggregation is set for a virtual Ethernet network, then the logical partitions on the virtual Ethernet network can communicate with one another, but they cannot communicate directly with a physical network.

Your role must not be View Only or Service Representative (SR) to perform this procedure.

To configure virtual Ethernet bridges, do the following:

From the Virtual Ethernet Management menu, click View/Modify Virtual Ethernet. The View/Modify Virtual Ethernet panel is displayed.
Click the Virtual Ethernet Bridge tab.
Set each Physical Adapter field to the physical adapter that you want to use as the virtual Ethernet bridge for each virtual Ethernet network. (The HMC1 and HMC2 ports do not display in the Physical Adapter field and cannot be used as virtual Ethernet bridges.)
Click Apply to apply the changes.