Live Update restrictions

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Consider the following restrictions for the AIX® Live Update operation:

I/O restrictions

  • Any Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface (CAPI) device must not be open during the Live Update operation.
  • In IBM® AIX 7.2 with Technology Level 4, and earlier, the Live Update operation is not supported on a physical tape device, virtual tape device, and virtual optical device. These devices must be removed before you perform the Live Update operation. In IBM AIX 7.2 with Technology Level 5, or later, the Live Update operation supports only N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) virtual tape devices. These NPIV devices must be used by the storage agent in IBM Spectrum Protect Version 8.1.11, or later, for LAN-free data transfer, and the AIX Enhanced device driver (A tape device driver). Before you perform the Live Update operation, ensure that no backup operation is in progress and that the storage agent is stopped. For more information, see Storage agent overview.
  • The mirrorvg utility can mirror up to 3 copies. If the root volume group of the original partition is already being mirrored with 3 copies, the Live Update operation cannot proceed.
  • The Live Update operation is not supported on diskless AIX clients.
  • The Live Update operation is not supported in a multibos environment.
  • Data Management API (DMAPI) is not supported by the Live Update feature.
    Note: During the Live Update operation, IBM Spectrum Protect Space Management (HSM) cannot be in an active state because it uses DMAPI.
  • The Live Update operation supports Virtual Small Computer System Interface (vSCSI) only for disks that are backed by physical volumes or by Shared Storage Pool (SSP) logical units. The vSCSI disks that are backed directly by logical volumes are not supported.
  • If you run the syncvg command on non-rootvg volume groups during the Live Update operation, the operation might fail.
  • When you create a new logical volume or extend a logical volume on rootvg during the Live Update operation, the physicalvolume parameter must be used. Do not use the mhdisk parameter that is specified in the lvupdate.data file. Otherwise, the Live Update operation might fail.
  • If you run the mount command during the Live Update operation, the update might fail.
  • After the Live Update operation is complete, if only interim fixes were applied, the mhdisk disk that is specified for the rootvg mirror volume group is labeled as old_rootvg. The old_rootvg volume group can be used for a reboot to return to the previous version of the root volume group before the update was applied.
  • An existing altinst_rootvg label can cause the Live Update operation to fail.
  • Geographic Logical Volume Manager (GLVM) is supported only within PowerHA® SystemMirror®.
  • In IBM AIX 7.2 with Technology Level 3, and earlier, Network File System (NFS) mounts with Kerberos security are not supported.
  • If Power® Flash Caching is enabled (by using the cache_mgt command, for example), the caching is disabled during the Live Update operation, and reenabled after the Live Update operation. The cached data is invalidated as a result, which can have a performance impact for some time until caching is resumed.
  • If you create or delete file systems during the Live Update operation, the Live Update operation might fail.
  • If you restart a Virtual I/O Server during a Live Update operation, the Live Update operation might fail.
  • Adding or removing I/O adapters during the Live Update operation can cause the operation to fail.
  • Increasing the size of a disk (for example, by using the GROW LU capability of Shared Storage Pools) during the Live Update operation can cause the operation to fail.
  • An active Encrypted File System (EFS) mount point is not supported by the Live Update function.
  • If you add or remove a paging space during the Live Update operation, the Live Update operation might fail.
  • A Power Virtualization Center (PowerVC)-based Live Update operation might fail if a storage device is accessed by using a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) adapter. PowerVC does not support FCoE network.
  • The intercept tunable parameter is a restricted parameter that takes effect after a reboot operation. If the poll_select_intercept attribute is set to 1, the Live Update operation fails.
  • start of changeIf you force unmount a file system that might still be in use by any workloads, the Live Update operation might fail. end of change
  • PowerVC supports virtual Fibre Channel (VFC) adapter movement with the following limitations:
    • Storage connectivity group (SCG) on PowerVC must have NPIV for both boot and data connectivity.
    • PowerVC version 2.1.1.1, or later, must be installed on the IBM Power Systems server.
    • Each disk on the VFC adapters that are installed on the IBM Power Systems server must have at least two filepaths.
    • IBM Power Systems servers that are managed by PowerVM® Novalink cannot be used along with VFC adapters on PowerVC.

Security restrictions

  • In IBM AIX 7.2 with Technology Level 3, and earlier, the Live Update operation is not supported if a process is using Kerberos authentication.
  • The Live Update feature does not support PowerSC Trusted Logging.
  • The Live Update feature is not supported if any of the following security profiles are active: high-level security (HLS), medium-level security (MLS), Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) - Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT), payment card industry (PCI) (any version), database, or Department of Defense (DoD) (any version).
  • The Live Update feature is not supported when audit is enabled for a stopped workload partition (WPAR).
  • The Live Update feature does not support Public-Key Cryptography Standards # 11 (PKCS11). The security.pkcs11 fileset cannot be installed.
  • The Live Update feature is not supported when the Trusted Execution option is turned on (TE=ON) and if any update must be applied. If only interim fixes are applied and the Trusted Execution option is turned on, the following Trusted Execution options in the trustchk command are not supported:
    • TEP=ON
    • TLP=ON
    • CHKSHLIB=ON and STOP_UNTRUSTD=ON
    • TSD_FILES_LOCK=ON
  • The Live Update feature does not support Internet Protocol Security (IPsec). The Live Update operation fails if IPsec is started.
  • The Live Update operation fails if the Virtual Trusted Platform Module (VTPM) is in use for PowerSC Trusted Boot.

Reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) restrictions

  • It cannot perform system trace of the Live Update operation if channel 0 is already in use.
  • The Live Update function is not supported when ProbeVue is running. The ProbeVue session must be stopped to run the Live Update operation.
  • User storage keys are not supported in the Live Update environment.
  • The system dump that is present on the root volume group of the original LPAR might not be available after a successful Live Update operation.
  • If livedump operations are in progress, then a Live Update operation might fail.

Miscellaneous restrictions

  • The Live Update operation is not supported by quality of service (QoS).
  • The Live Update operation does not support rootvg on PowerPath.
  • The Live Update operation fails for LPARs that have 4 TB or more of memory.
  • Any interim fix that you want to install must have the LU CAPABLE attribute, which means the interim fix must be compatible with the Live Update operation. The emgr command can display this attribute. Ideally, all the interim fixes can be applied with the Live Update operation, but there might be few exceptions.
  • The destination of the interim fixes must be on the root volume group of the client partition in either /, /usr, /home, /var, /opt, or /tmp file systems.
  • The volume group definitions must not be changed during a Live Update operation. The changes include the usage of the chvg, extendvg, reducevg, mirrorvg, unmirrorvg, syncvg, varyonvg, varyoffvg, exportvg, importvg, reorgvg, redefinevg commands.
  • NFS-mounted libraries that can be executed and shared must not be running during a Live Update operation.
  • Active WPARs must be stopped before the Live Update operation.
  • RSCT Cluster Services are stopped during a Live Update operation, and then restarted before the Live Update operation completes.
  • The Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) database and DB2® pureScale® database are not supported by the Live Update operation.
  • A configuration with 16 MB page support is not allowed. The promoted (16 MB Multiple Page Segment Size (MPSS)) pages by Dynamic System Optimizer (DSO) are supported by the Live Update operation.
  • The Live Update operation is supported when the DSO is running, but DSO optimization is reset by the Live Update operation. The optimization begins again based on workload monitoring after the Live Update operation.
  • The Live Update feature is not supported on a partition that participates in Active Memory Sharing (AMS).
  • The Live Update feature is not supported on a partition with the remote restart capability enabled. However, the Live Update feature is supported on a partition with the simplified version of the remote restart capability enabled.
  • When you select the target system for AIX Live Update across frames, the target system must have the simplified remote restart capability enabled.
  • If a running process is checkpointed at any time (legacy AIX checkpoint), the Live Update operation fails.
  • The Live Update feature is not supported when Advanced Accounting is active.
  • The console must be closed before running the Live Update operation. The Live Update operation fails if the console device is open for any process.
  • A system firmware update during a Live Update operation can cause the update to fail.
  • PowerVM Partition Suspend feature is not supported during a Live Update operation.
  • A process that has the /dev/vty0 file, the /dev/kmem file (for example, kdb), or the /dev/nvram file open can cause the Live Update operation to fail.
  • A process that locked its text or data region (for example, by using the plock() subroutine) can cause the Live Update operation to fail.
  • A process that has a file from the /proc file system open can cause the Live Update operation to fail.
  • If any memory ranges are associated with the named resource sets on the system, those memory ranges are not preserved by the Live Update operation. Also, if any exclusive resource sets are defined on the system, the Live Update operation fails.
  • If a process that is CPU-bound or is attached to a resource set, and if CPU reduction is specified, the Live Update operation might fail. CPU reduction is a method to reduce the number of CPUs that are used to start the surrogate LPAR when you perform the Live Update operation. For more information about CPU reduction, see Configuring resources for Live Update.
  • When you plan a PowerVC-based Live Update operation on a partition that uses storage from an SSP that is multi-tiered, you must set the SSP default tier to the same tier from which the storage was allocated to the partition. Otherwise, the Live Update operation might fail. PowerVC can allocate storage only from the default tier.
  • You must not start an HMC-based Live Update operation on a partition that is managed by PowerVC because an HMC-based Live Update operation causes issues when PowerVC manages partitions. If an HMC-based Live Update operation is started, you must stop managing the partition from PowerVC by using the Unmanage option, and then import the partition to be managed by PowerVC by using the Manage Existing option.
  • If you do a PowerVC VM resize operation, or any other operation that can cause PowerVC to initiate a DR add or remove, while Live Update is running on that VM, it might cause the Live Update operation to fail.
  • The Live Update operation is not supported by products that use Shared Memory Transport Sockets (for example, Xserver).
  • Any change to the PowerVC configuration that restarts the HTTP service during a live update might cause the live update to fail.
  • If you move the source or destination system in maintenance during the Live Update operation, the Live Update operation might fail.
  • The Live Kernel Update (LKU) operation is not supported on a system on which the ramdisk device is mounted.
  • Installing the cas.agent fileset that is used by the IBM Systems Director causes the Live Update operation to fail.
  • The Live Partition Mobility (LPM) operation or any disaster recovery operations are not supported during the Live Update operation.
  • The Live Update operation might fail if you access a newly mounted directory or an inactive directory through an automount file system (AutoFS) during the Live Update operation.
  • The Live Update operation might fail if you change the AutoFS configuration, for example, if you change the map file during the Live Update operation.
  • Processes, for example, a running shell, must not have its current working directory set to an automount file system (AutoFS).
  • The Live Update operation is not supported on an LPAR that has Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) Migratable Virtual Function (MVF) configured.
  • The Live Update operation is not supported on an LPAR that is configured as a service partition.
  • A PowerVC-based Live Update operation fails if the instance_name_template property in the nova.conf file forces the same name as the original VM to a cloned VM. For instructions on how to correct this issue, see the Best practices for Live Update in PowerVC management.
  • The Live Update operation might fail if the LPAR name has one or more spaces in it.
  • Ensure that sufficient free virtual slots are available for a specific LPAR profile and associated VIOS profile before you attempt the Live Update operation on PowerVC-based systems. Otherwise, the Live Update operation might fail.
  • The Live Update operation might fail if you force unmount a mount point from which an application is running during the Live Update operation.
  • Loader domains and applications that utilise loader domains are not supported with the Live Update operation.