Configuring Shared Processor Pools for Use with Operating System Licensing Rules

Resolving The Problem

A common use of shared processor pools is to enforce IBM i licensing. Consider the following example:

If the user runs LPAR 1 and/or LPAR 2 uncapped, the hypervisor can borrow unused processor from LPAR 3 and assign it to LPAR 1 or 2, exceeding the IBM i license. This will log message CPF9E7F and/or message CPF9E2D. One possible solution to this problem is to create a shared processor pool for use by the IBM i partitions. By assigning a maximum of one processor to the shared processor pool and placing both IBM i partitions in the shared pool, the IBM i partitions are limited to a total of one CPU.

Prerequisite

Creating Shared Processor Pools

1. In the Enhanced UI navigation pane, open Resources > All Servers and click on the he managed system whose shared processor pools you want to configure.

2. Select PowerVM > Shared Processor Pool

The Shared Processor Pool panel is opened:



3. Click the name of the shared processor pool that you want to configure.

4. Enter the maximum number of processing units that you want the logical partitions in the shared processor pool to use in the Maximum processing units field. If desired, change the name of the shared processor pool in the Pool name field (the name of the shared processor pool must be unique on the managed system) . Optionally enter the number of processing units that you want to reserve for use by uncapped logical partitions in the shared processor pool in the Reserved processing units field. When you are done, click OK. Changes made on the 'Modify Pool Attributes' screen take effect immediately:




5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for any other shared processor pools that you want to configure. Click OK.

6. After this procedure is complete, assign logical partitions to the configured shared processor pools. You can assign a logical partition to a shared processor pool by changing the partition profile and activating the profile. You can also dynamically reassign existing logical partitions from their current shared processor pools to the shared processor pools that you configured.

Note: 

1. Choose one of the following navigation options depending on the interface type of the Hardware Management Console (HMC):
   • If you are using an HMC Enhanced interface, complete the following steps:
     1. In the navigation pane, expand Systems Management > Servers.
     2. In the work pane, select the server on which you want to view and change the shared processor pool configuration.
     3. Select Manage PowerVM by using one of the following options to open the PowerVM Configuration page:
        • Click the menu next to the server name and select Manage PowerVM.
        • In the work pane, click Manage PowerVM.
   • If you are using an HMC Enhanced+ interface, complete the following steps:
     1. In the navigation pane, click the Resources icon .
     2. Click All Systems. The All Systems page is displayed.
     3. In the work pane, select a system and click Actions > View System Properties. You can view and change the properties of the system that are listed under the PowerVM area.
2. In the PowerVM area, click Shared Processor Pool. The Shared Processor Pool page opens.
3. From the table, select the shared processor pool that you want to change.

Dynamic Assignment of a Partition to a Shared Processor Pool

You should use this procedure for each partition that should be assigned to the new pool.

1. On the Shared Processor Pool panel, click the Partitions tab.

2. Click the partition to move:



3. Select the new pool and click OK:



A message appears that it is moving the processor to the new shared pool. After the move completes, the server and partition properties are updated to reflect the change.

Shared processor pool table after the move is as follows:



Partition Properties > Processors can also be used to view and/or dynamically change the pool the partition belongs to:




Save the changes to the Partition Profile's Shared Processor Pool Setting

Note: If you dynamically assign a partition to a pool, you should save the changes to the profile to prevent the changes from being lost on the next power down/activate. 

If the partition setting "Save configuration changes to profile" is enabled, the dynamic changes are automatically saved to the last activated profile.  The "Save configuration changes to profile" setting can be found under Partition Properties > General Properties then check the Advanced button.

To manually save the current partition settings to a profile select Partition Actions > Profiles > Save Current Configuration.  Verify the profile to save to and click OK. 

To manually update the profile or view/verify the profile settings select Partition Actions > Profiles > Manage Profiles.  Select the profile to view/modify, and click the menu Actions > Edit:



4. Click the Processors tab, and select the desired Shared Processor pool. Click OK to save the change:



5. Activate the profile.

The change goes into effect the next time the profile is activated. To activate a profile, power down the partition without any restart (PWRDWNSYS RESTART(*NO)), and then activate the profile.