Body

AIX Nutanix Migration

 

IBM Hyperconverged Systems powered by Nutanix offer a high performance platform for Linux and AIX workloads with a single pane, easy to use management interface.

 

There are a few supported methods for migrating an AIX system into a VM in the Nutanix environment.

1. You can install from a mksysb that has been created in the ISO format.  This is the simplest method and the one we will document here.
2. You can create an AIX VM, attach a second disk and use alt_disk_mksysb to restore a mksysb onto the second disk.
3. You can install from NIM, but this requires some Open Firmware command line entries and with static IPs requires the NIM server to be in the same subnet.  We expect in some cases this will still be a good option and will document it in a future post.

 

Migrating Using a mksysb ISO

 

To begin, the AIX system that you intend to migrate needs to be updated to levels supported by Nutanix. You’ll need AIX 7.2 TL2 SP2 and APARs IJ05283 and IJ06373.  You can download the two fixes at the following links:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1IJ05283

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1IJ06373

 

Once everything is updated, the best way to confirm that the correct levels are installed is with oslevel -sg 7200-02-02-1810.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because you are going to be deploying the system into a new environment with new devices, you’ll want to enable clouddev which will clean up all the device entries.

 

 

 

Take a mksysb of the system as an ISO image using mkdvd -V rootvg -R -S.

 

 

ISO image files will be created in /mkcd/cd_images.  You’ll need to copy those to a location where they can be uploaded to Nutanix.  For simplicity, we’ll just upload the files from the desktop where we are running the Prism GUI.

 

 

To bring the images into the Nutanix environment, login to Prism and choose Image Configuration from the cog menu.

 

 

Then click the button to Upload Image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now fill in the required fields.  Give the image a name and select ISO as the type.  Then select Upload a file and click Browse to find the disk image on your workstation.  Then click Save to add the disk image to the library.  If your mksysb spans multiple image files, you’ll need to repeat this process for each one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, create a VM to run AIX. Go to the VM page in Prism and click the Create VM button on the right had side.

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give the new VM a name and a reasonable CPU and Memory configuration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Disks section, click the pencil icon to the right of the CD-ROM to open the Update Disk window. Then choose the appropriate image to boot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After updating the CD-ROM device, also select Add New Disk and create an appropriate sized disk to install AIX on to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now you should see your CD-ROM and disk defined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also make sure to add a network adapter in the Network Adapters section.  If you want AIX to use the IP you configure here, you’ll need to configure DHCP in AIX after restoring the image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the VM is created, you should see it listed in the Table view on the VM screen.

 

 

 

 

Now click Power On to start up the VM.

 

Then select the Console tab. If the VNC console is selected, you should see the AIX Startup screen.

 

 

 

However, you’ll need to switch to the COM1 console to interact with AIX.  The console will initially be blank, but press 1 and hit Enter and you should see the first screen of the installer appear.  Follow the prompts to proceed with the installation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If your mksysb spanned multiple ISOs, you’ll be prompted to insert the second volume after some time.

 

 

Select the option to Update the VM, scroll to the Disks section and click the eject symbol next to the CD-ROM device to virtually unload the first ISO.

Then select the pencil icon and choose the second volume from the Image Service.

Press Enter upon returning to the console and the install will proceed.

You may see an error about changing the bootlist.  This is because the boot device order in the Nutanix environment is controlled by Nutanix rather than Open Firmware.  You can just press 1 to continue and the VM will reboot.

After a few messages and a brief wait you will be able to login to AIX.

 

Because the available system devices have changed in the Nutanix environment, you’ll need to reconfigure your network connection to access the VM remotely.  In the Nutanix environment, it is recommended to use DHCP for network address configuration to allow the VM’s IP assignment to be configured from the Prism GUI.  DHCP will also prevent conflicts if the VM is cloned.

 

You should now be able to run your AIX workload in the Nutanix environment.