IBM Virtual I/O Server support for Power Systems

Contents

This Readme contains installation and other information about VIOS Update Release 2.2.2.4

• Package information
• Known capabilities and limitations
• Installation information
  • Pre-installation information and instructions
  • Installing the Update Release
  • Performing the necessary tasks after installation
• Additional information
• Fixes included in this release

PACKAGE: Update Release 2.2.2.4
IOSLEVEL: 2.2.2.4

General package notes

Review the list of fixes included in Update Release 2.2.2.4.

To take full advantage of all the function available in the VIOS on IBM Systems based on POWER6 or POWER7 technology, it is necessary to be at the latest system firmware level. If a system firmware update is necessary, it is recommended that the firmware be updated before you upgrade the VIOS to 2.2.2.4.

Microcode or system firmware downloads for Power Systems

The VIOS update Release 2.2.2.4 includes the IVM code, but it will not be enabled on HMC-managed systems. 2.2.2.4, like all VIOS Update Releases, can be applied to either HMC-managed or IVM-managed VIOS.

Update Release 2.2.2.4 updates your VIOS partition to ioslevel 2.2.2.4. To determine if Update Release 2.2.2.4 is already installed, run the following command from the VIOS command line:

$ ioslevel

If Update Release 2.2.2.4 is installed, the command output is 2.2.2.4

The following requirements and limitations apply to Shared Storage Pool (SSP) features and any associated virtual storage enhancements.

Requirements for Shared Storage Pool

• Platforms: Power6 and Power7 only (includes Blades), IBM PureFlex Systems (Power Compute Nodes only)
• System requirements per SSP node:
  • Minimum CPU: 1 CPU of guaranteed entitlement
  • Minimum memory: 4GB
  • Storage requirements per SSP cluster (minimum): 1 fiber-channel attached disk for repository, 1 GB
  • At least 1 fiber-channel attached disk for data, 10GB
• All storage devices (repository and pool) should be allocated on Hardware RAIDed storage for redundancy.

Limitations for Shared Storage Pool

Software Installation

• All VIOS nodes must be at version 2.2.1.3 or later.
• When installing updates for VIOS version 2.2.2.4 participating in a Shared Storage Pool, the Shared Storage Pool Services must be stopped on the node being upgraded.

• Maximum number of physical volumes that can be added to or replaced from a pool at one time: 64
• The Shared Storage Pool cluster name must be less than 63 characters long.
• The Shared Storage Pool pool name must be less than 127 characters long.
• The supported LU size is 4TB. Howerver, it is recommended to limit the size of individual luns to 16 GB for optimal performance in cases where all of the following conditions are met:
  • The server generates a random access pattern for the I/O device.
  • There are more than 8 processes concurrently performing I/O.
  • The performance of the application is dependent on the I/O subsystem throughput.

• Uninterrupted network connectivity is required for operation. i.e. The network interface used for Shared Storage Pool configuration must be on a highly reliable network which is not congested.
• A Shared Storage Pool configuration can use IPV4 or IPV6, but not a combination of both.
• Shared Storage Pools utilizes CAA technology for its clustering technology. CAA requires a multicast network environment to operate.
• A Shared Storage Pool configuration should configure the TCP/IP resolver routine for name resolution to resolve host names locally first, and then use the DNS. For step by step instructions, refer to the TCP/IP name resolution documentation in the AIX Information Center.
• The forward and reverse lookup should resolve to the IP address/hostname that is used for Shared Storage Pool configuration.
• It is recommended that the VIOSs that are part of the Shared Storage Pool configuration keep their clocks synchronized.

• Physical Disks in the SAN Storage subsystem assigned to the Shared Storage Pool cannot be resized.
• Virtual SCSI devices provisioned from the Shared Storage Pool may drive higher CPU utilization than the classic Virtual SCSI devices.
• Using SCSI reservations (SCSI Reserve/Release and SCSI-3 Reserve) for fencing physical disks in the Shared Storage pool is not supported.
• High availability SAN solutions should be utilized to mitigate outages.
• SANCOM will not be supported in a Shared Storage Pool environment.

• Virtual SCSI disk is the peripheral device type supported by SSP at this time.
• VIOSs configured for SSP require that Shared Ethernet Adapter(s) (SEA) be setup for Threaded mode (the default mode). SEA in Interrupt Mode is not supported within SSP.
• VIOSs configured for SSP can be used as a Paging Space Partition (PSP), but the storage for the PSP paging spaces must come from logical devices not within a Shared Storage Pool. Using a VIOS SSP logical unit (LU) as an Active Memory Sharing (AMS) paging space or as the suspend/resume file is not supported. Also, Suspend/Resume and Remote restart features for client LPARs backed by VIOS SSP LUs is not supported.
• When creating Virtual SCSI Adapters for VIOS LPARs, the option "Any client partition can connect" is not supported.

Pre-installation information and instructions

Please ensure that your rootvg contains at least 30GB and that there is at least 4 GB free space before you attempt to upgrade to VIOS service release 2.2.2.4.

Run the lsvg rootvg command, and then ensure there is enough free space.

Example:

$ lsvg rootvg 
VOLUME GROUP:       rootvg                   VG IDENTIFIER:  00f6004600004c000000014306a3db3d
VG STATE:           active                   PP SIZE:        64 megabyte(s)
VG PERMISSION:      read/write               TOTAL PPs:      511 (32704 megabytes)
MAX LVs:            256                      FREE PPs:       120 (7680 megabytes)

LVs:                14                       USED PPs:       391 (25024 megabytes)
OPEN LVs:           12                       QUORUM:         2 (Enabled)
TOTAL PVs:          1                        VG DESCRIPTORS: 2
STALE PVs:          0                        STALE PPs:      0
ACTIVE PVs:         1                        AUTO ON:        yes
MAX PPs per VG:     32512                                     
MAX PPs per PV:     1016                     MAX PVs:        32
LTG size (Dynamic): 256 kilobyte(s)          AUTO SYNC:      no
HOT SPARE:          no                       BB POLICY:      relocatable 
PV RESTRICTION:     none                     INFINITE RETRY: no

If you are planning to update a version of VIOS lower than 2.1, you must first migrate your VIOS to VIOS version 2.1.0 using the Migration DVD. After the VIOS is at version 2.1.0, the Update Release VIOS 2.2.2.1 must be applied to bring the VIOS to the latest VIOS 2.2.2.1 level. The VIOS 2.2.2.4 service pack can then be applied to bring the VIOS to the latest level.

Note: In order to upgrade to VIOS 2.2.2.4 from a level between 2.2.1.1 and 2.2.2.1 in a single step, you can put the 2.2.2.1 and 2.2.2.4 updates in the same location and do the update using the updateios command.

After the VIOS migration is complete, from 1.X to 2.X, you must set the Processor Folding attribute, described here under Migration DVD:

Virtual I/O Server support for Power Systems

While the above process is the most straightforward for users, you should note that with this Update Release version 2.2.2.4, a single boot alternative to this multiple step process is available to NIM users. NIM users can update by creating a single, merged lpp_source that combines the contents of the Migration DVD with the contents of this Update Release 2.2.2.4

A single, merged lpp_source is not supported for VIOS that uses SDDPCM. However, if you use SDDPCM, you can still enable a single boot update by using the alternate method described at the following location:

SDD and SDDPCM migration procedures when migrating VIOS from version 1.x to version 2.x

Before installing the Service Release 2.2.2.4

The update could fail if there is a loaded media repository.

Checking for a loaded media repository

To check for a loaded media repository, and then unload it, follow these steps.

1. To check for loaded images, run the following command:

   $ lsvopt
   The Media column lists any loaded media.

2. To unload media images, run the following commands on all Virtual Target Devices that have loaded images.

   $ unloadopt -vtd <file-backed_virtual_optical_device >

3. To verify that all media are unloaded, run the following command again.

   $ lsvopt
   The command output should show No Media for all VTDs.

Migrate Shared Storage Pool Configuration

The Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) Version 2.2.2.1 or later, supports rolling updates for clusters. The VIOS can be updated to VIOS 2.2.2.4 using rolling updates.

If your current VIOS is configured with Shared Storage Pools from 2.2.1.1 or 2.2.1.3, the following information applies:

A cluster that is created and configured on earlier VIOS Version 2.2.1.1 or 2.2.1.3 must be migrated to version 2.2.1.4 or 2.2.1.5 prior to utilizing rolling updates. This allows the user to keep their shared storage pool devices. When VIOS version is equal or greater than 2.2.1.4 and less than 2.2.2.1, the user needs to download 2.2.2.1 and 2.2.2.4 update images into the same directory. Then update the VIOS to VIOS 2.2.2.4 using rolling updates.

If your current VIOS is configured with Shared Storage Pool from 2.2.1.4 or later on 2.2.1 level, or similar case for 2.2.2.1 or later on 2.2.2 level, the following information applies:

The rolling updates enhancement allows the user to apply Update Release 2.2.2.4 to the VIOS logical partitions in the cluster individually without causing an outage in the entire cluster. The updated logical partitions cannot use the new capabilities until all logical partitions in the cluster are updated and the cluster is upgraded to use the new capabilities.

To upgrade the VIOS logical partitions to use the new capabilities, ensure that the following conditions are met:

• All VIOS logical partitions must have VIOS Update Release version 2.2.1.4 or later installed. After the update, you can verify that the logical partitions have the new level of software installed by typing the cluster -status -verbose command from the VIOS command line. In the Node Upgrade Status field, if the status of the VIOS logical partition is displayed as UP_LEVEL, the software level in the logical partition is higher than the software level in the cluster. If the status is displayed on ON_LEVEL, the software level in the logical partition and the cluster is the same.
• All VIOS logical partitions must be running. If any VIOS logical partition in the cluster is not running, the cluster cannot be upgraded to use the new capabilities.

The VIOS SSP software monitors node status and will automatically upgrade the cluster to make use of the new capabilities when all the nodes in the cluster have been updated to support those capabilities.

Installing the Update Release

There is now a method to verify the VIOS update files before installation. This process requires access to openssl by the 'padmin' User, which can be accomplished by creating a link.

To verify the VIOS update files, follow these steps:

$ oem_setup_env
Create a link to openssl
# ln -s /usr/bin/openssl /usr/ios/utils/openssl
Verify the link to openssl was created
# ls -al /usr/ios/utils
# exit

Use one of the following methods to install the latest VIOS Service Release. As with all maintenance, you should create a VIOS backup before making changes.

If you are running a Shared Storage Pool configuration, you must follow the steps in Migrate Shared Storage Pool Configuration.

Note : While running 'updateios' in the following steps, you may see accessauth messages, but these messages can safely be ignored.

If your current level is between 2.2.1.1 and 2.2.2.1, you have to put the 2.2.2.1 and 2.2.2.4 updates in the same location to apply updates in one step. The one step approach fixes an update problem with the bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images fileset.

If your current level is 2.2.2.1, 2.2.2.2 or 2.2.2.3, you need to run “updateios” command twice to get bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images fileset update problem fixed . Run the following command after the step of “$ updateios -accept -install -dev <directory_name >” is completed.

$ updateios –accept –dev <directory_name >

Applying updates from a local hard disk

To apply the updates from a directory on your local hard disk, follow these steps.

The current level of the VIOS must be 2.2.2.1 or later, if you use shared storage pool. Otherwise, it must be 2.1.0 or later.

1. Log in to the VIOS as the user padmin.
2. If you use one or more File Backed Optical Media Repositories, you need to unload media images before you apply the Update Release. See details here..
3. If you use Shared Storage Pools, then Shared Storage Pool Services must be stopped.

   $ clstartstop -stop -n <cluster_name > -m <hostname >

4. Create a directory on the Virtual I/O Server.

   $ mkdir <directory_name >

5. Using ftp, transfer the update file(s) to the directory you created.
6. Commit previous updates by running the updateios command

   $ updateios –commit

7. Verify the updates files that were copied. This step can only be performed if the link to openssl was created.

   $ cp <directory_path >/ck_sum.bff /home/padmin
   $ chmod 755 /home/padmin/ck_sum.bff
   $ ck_sum.bff <directory_path >
   If there are missing updates or incomplete downloads, an error message is displayed.

8. Apply the update by running the updateios command

   $ updateios –accept –install –dev <directory_name >

9. Run the following command to set authorization for padmin:

   $ swrole -PAdmin

10. To load all changes, reboot the VIOS as user padmin .

    $ shutdown –restart

11. If cluster services were stopped in step 3, restart cluster services.

    $ clstartstop –start –n <cluster_name > –m <hostname >

12. Verify that the update was successful by checking the results of the updateios command and by running the ioslevel command, which should indicate that the ioslevel is now 2.2.2.4.

    $ ioslevel

Applying updates from a remotely mounted file system

If the remote file system is to be mounted read-only, follow one of these steps.

The current level of the VIOS must be 2.2.2.1 or later, if you use shared storage pool. Otherwise, it must be 2.1.0 or later.

$ clstartstop -stop -n <cluster_name> -m <hostname>

1. Log in to the VIOS as the user padmin.
2. If you use one or more File Backed Optical Media Repositories, you need to unload media images before you apply the Update Release. See details here..
3. If you use Shared Storage Pools, then Shared Storage Pool Services must be stopped.
4. Mount the remote directory onto the Virtual I/O Server.

   $ mount remote_machine_name:directory /mnt

5. Commit previous updates, by running the updateios command.

   $ updateios -commit

6. Verify the updates files that were copied, this step can only be performed if the link to openssl was created.

   $ cp /mnt/ck_sum.bff /home/padmin
   $ chmod 755 /home/padmin/ck_sum.bff
   $ ck_sum.bff /mnt
   If there are missing updates or incomplete downloads, an error message is displayed.

7. Apply the update by running the updateios command.

   $ updateios -accept -install -dev /mnt

8. Run the following command to set authorization for padmin.

   $ swrole - PAdmin

9. To load all changes, reboot the VIOS as user padmin .

   $ shutdown -restart

10. If cluster services were stopped in Step 3, restart cluster services.

    $ clstartstop -start -n <cluster_name> -m <hostname>

11. Verify that the update was successful by checking the results of the updateios command and by running the ioslevel command, which should indicate that the ioslevel is now 2.2.2.4.

    $ ioslevel

Applying updates from the CD/DVD drive

This Update Release can be burned onto a CD by using the ISO image file(s). After the CD has been created, follow these steps.

The current level of the VIOS must be 2.2.2.1 or later, if you use shared storage pool. Otherwise, it must be 2.1.0 or later.

1. Log in to the VIOS as the user padmin.
2. If you use one or more File Backed Optical Media Repositories, you need to unload media images before you apply the Update Release. See details here..
3. If you use Shared Storage Pools, then Shared Storage Pool Services must be stopped.

   # clstartstop -stop -n <cluster_name> -m <hostname>

4. Place the CD-ROM into the drive assigned to VIOS.
5. Commit previous updates, by running the updateios command.

   $ updateios -commit

6. Apply the update by running the following update command.

   $ updateios -accept -install -dev /dev/cdX
   where X is the device number 0-N assigned to VIOS.

7. Run the following command to set authorization for padmin.

   $ swrole - PAdmin

8. To load all changes, reboot the VIOS as user padmin .

   $ shutdown -restart

9. If cluster services were stopped in step 3, restart cluster services.

   $ clstartstop -start -n <cluster_name> -m <hostname>

10. Verify that the update was successful by checking the results of the updateios command and by running the ioslevel command, which should indicate that the ioslevel is now 2.2.2.4.

    $ ioslevel

Performing the necessary tasks after installation

Checking for an incomplete installation caused by a loaded media repository

After installing an Update Release, you can use this method to determine if you have encountered the problem of a loaded media library.

Check the Media Repository by running this command:
$ lsrep

If the command reports: "Unable to retrieve repository date due to incomplete repository structure," then you have likely encountered this problem during the installation. The media images have not been lost and are still present in the file system of the virtual media library.

Running the lsvopt command should show the media images.

Recovering from an incomplete installation caused by a loaded media repository

To recover from this type of installation failure, unload any media repository images, and then reinstall the ios.cli.rte package. Follow these steps:

1. Unload any media images

   $ unloadopt -vtd <file-backed_virtual_optical_device>

2. Reinstall the ios.cli.rte fileset by running the following commands.

   To escape the restricted shell:
   $ oem_setup_env
   To install the failed fileset:
   # installp –Or –agX ios.cli.rte -d <device/directory>
   To return to the restricted shell:
   # exit

3. Restart the VIOS.

   $ shutdown –restart

4. Verify that the Media Repository is operational by running this command:

   $ lsrep

NIM installation information

Using NIM to back up and install the VIOS is supported as follows.

• Always create the SPOT resource directly from the VIOS mksysb image. Do NOT update the SPOT from an LPP_SOURCE.
• To use NIM, ensure that the NIM Master is at the appropriate level to support the VIOS image. Refer to above Package information section.

If NIM is not used to update the VIOS, please note that only the updateios command should be used to update it.

This release of VIOS contains several enhancements. These enhancements are in the area of POWER virtualization. The following list provides the features of each element by product area.

Note: Version 6.1.0, the previous version of Tivoli TSM, is still shipped and installed from the VIOS installation DVD.

Tivoli TSM version 6.2.2

The Tivoli filesets are now being shipped on the VIOS Expansion Pack, with the required GSKit8 libraries.

The following are sample installation instructions for the new Tivoli TSM filesets:

$ updateios -fs tivoli.tsm.client.api.32bit -dev /dev/cd0

Note: Any prerequisite filesets will be pulled in from the Expansion DVD, including for TSM the GSKit8.gskcrypt fileset.

1. Insert the VIOS Expansion DVD in to the DVD drive that is assigned to the VIOS partition.
2. List Contents of the VIOS Expansion DVD.

   $ updateios -list -dev /dev/cd0
   Fileset Name
   GSKit8.gskcrypt32.ppc.rte 8.0.14.7
   GSKit8.gskcrypt64.ppc.rte 8.0.14.7
   GSKit8.gskssl32.ppc.rte 8.0.14.7
   GSKit8.gskssl64.ppc.rte 8.0.14.7
   ..
   tivoli.tsm.client.api.32bit 6.2.2.0 tivoli.tsm.client.api.64bit 6.2.2.0
   ..

3. Install Tivoli TSM filesets.
4. If needed, install additional TSM filesets.

   $ updateios -fs tivoli.tsm.client.ba.32bit -dev /dev/cd0

5. Verify TSM installed by listing software installed.

   $ lssw
   Sample output:
   ..
   tivoli.tsm.client.api.32bit 6.2.2.0 CF TSM Client - Application Programming
   Interface