Control program identification

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For SEL guests, control program identification (CPI) information is not sent to the host. You can explicitly allow CPI information to be sent.

About this task

CPI data provides information about the operating system. Examples include system type, for example LINUX, system level, for example 0x010a000000060b00, and system name, for example TESTVM. For more information about CPI, see https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/linux-on-systems?topic=troubleshooting-control-program-identification.

In Linux distributions, the CPI data is sent from guests to hosts by default through the systemd unit cpi.service that runs the cpictl command. For SEL guests, this behavior is suppressed for security reasons.

You can set CPI data without it being sent to the host. You can also allow CPI data to be sent to the host, for example, for problem determination.

Procedure

To provide CPI values through a configuration file:
Open the configuration file in a text editor, for example:
```
# sudo vi /etc/sysconfig/cpi
```
Find the setting you want to specify and enter a value. The /etc/sysconfig/cpi configuration file looks similar to this:
```
# Apply control program identification (CPI) settings
#
# The system and sysplex names consist of up to eight characters of
# the following set: A-Z, 0-9, $, @, #, and blank.
#
# CPI system type
#
CPI_SYSTEM_TYPE="LINUX"
#
# CPI system name
#
CPI_SYSTEM_NAME=""
...
```
Save your changes and exit the text editor. Changes made to the /etc/sysconfig/cpi configuration file take effect at the next boot.
To specify a system name:
1. Open the /etc/sysconfig/cpi configuration file in a text editor.
2. Find the location of the system name and enter a name:
```
...
# CPI system name
#
CPI_SYSTEM_NAME="MYSYSTEM"
...
```
3. Save your changes and exit the text editor.
To allow CPI information to be sent to the host, use the environment variable CPI_PERMIT_ON_PVGUEST in the configuration file. Set the variable to "1" to permit CPI data.
1. Open the /etc/sysconfig/cpi configuration file in a text editor.
2. Find the CPI_PERMIT_ON_PVGUEST variable or add it if it isn't there. Specify a value for it:
```
...
# Allow CPI data to be sent to the host
#
CPI_PERMIT_ON_PVGUEST=1
...
```
3. Save your changes and exit the text editor.