Migrating a NIM client to an IBM Power Systems server logical partition

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The nim_move_up application allows you to easily migrate a back-level AIX system onto an logical partition (LPAR) residing on an IBM Power Systems server.

The system must meet the following requirements before you can run the nim_move_up application properly.

  • NIM Master Requirements
    • A configured NIM master
    • Perl 5.6 or above
    • Openssh (obtainable from the Linux® Toolbox media)
    • At least one stand-alone NIM client running AIX®
    • AIX product media version, or equivalent lpp_source and SPOT NIM resources
  • Server and resource requirements
  • An IBM Power Systems server with sufficient hardware resources to support the target clients' equivalent IBM Power Systems configuration
  • If virtual resources will be used to migrate the clients, an installed and configured Virtual I/O Server is required
  • HMC controlling the IBM Power Systems server, along with sufficient privileges to start, stop, and create LPARs
  • root user authority
This nim_move_up process requires no downtime on the part of the original client. In addition, nim_move_up is capable of migrating a client onto virtualized hardware, such as virtual disks, using the Virtual I/O capabilities of the IBM Power Systems server. This migration process can be completed by the nim_move_up application in phases to allow more control over the process, or it can be completed all at once without any user interaction required.
With the nim_move_up application, you can use a NIM master and its clients as the starting point for a migration that produces the following hardware environment:
  • The original NIM master
  • LPARs on an IBM Power Systems server that correspond to the original NIM clients and are controlled by the NIM master
  • HMC to control the LPARs on the IBM Power Systems servers, communicated with by the NIM master through SSH
  • The original NIM clients
The nim_move_up migration process is completed in the following phases to allow more control over the process.
  1. The Create NIM Resources phase creates the needed NIM resources to perform the migration steps if they don't already exist or are not provided beforehand.
  2. The Pre-migration Software Assessment phase performs an assessment on each target client to determine what software is installed and can be migrated. Any software that is missing from the lpp_source will be added from the source of installation images that should be provided to nim_move_up.
  3. The Client Hardware and Utilization Data Gathering phase gathers data about each target client's hardware resources and attempts to assess how much of those resources are utilized on average over a given amount of time.
  4. The IBM Power Systems Resource Availability Data Gathering and Client Resource Data Translation phase searches the given managed system for available hardware resources. Uses the data gathered in the previous phase to create an equivalent LPAR configuration that utilizes the managed system's available resources. Creates the client LPARs with virtual I/O resources instead of physical I/O resources if nim_move_up was provided a Virtual I/O Server LPAR to work with. Creates the appropriate adapters and configuration on the Virtual I/O Server as they are needed.
  5. The Create System Backups of Target Clients phase creates an installable image of each target client and its resources using the mksysb command.
  6. The Migrate Each System Backup phase uses the nimadmin command to migrate the newly-created installable images to the new level of AIX.
  7. The Allocate NIM Resources to New LPARs phase uses the network information provided to the nim_move_up application to create NIM standalone client objects for the new LPARs created in the IBM Power Systems Resource Availability Data Gathering and Client Resource Data Translation phase. Allocates the appropriate NIM resources and runs a bos_inst pull operation (i.e. NIM will not attempt to boot the client) on each NIM client.
  8. The Initiate Installation on LPARs phase reboots each LPAR via the control host (HMC partition) and initiates the installation.
    Note: This phase ends when the installation begins. The actual progress of the installation is not monitored.
  9. Post-migration Software Assessment

    Assesses the overall success of the migration after each installation, and reports on any software migration issues. It may be necessary to manually correct the errors reported for filesets that fail to migrate.

  10. Post-installation Customization

    Performs a NIM customization operation on each client with the values provided if an alternate lpp_source, fileset list, or customization script was provided to the nim_move_up application. This allows for the optional installation of additional software applications or for any additional customization that may be needed.