IBM Support

How to disable the FC-NVMe protocol devices on AIX hosts using a PCIe3 x8 2-port Fibre Channel (32 Gb/s )

How To


Summary

How to disable the FC-NVMe protocol devices on AIX and PowerVM VIOS hosts that use the PCIe3 x8 2-port Fibre Channel Adapters (32 Gb/s); (FC EN1A, EN1B, EL5U, and EL5V; CCIN 578F)

Objective

AIX 7.2 TL 5 and AIX 7.3 on a Power 9 host (with FW 950 or later) or Power 10 host (FW 1010 or later) support using FC-NVMe disks which are switch attached. This support is only provided for 32Gb FC adapters (EN1A, EN1B), which have at least the 12.4.257.30 (FCode level 12.8.9) adapter firmware level.
However, if the FC-NVMe protocol devices are not being used to attach FC-NVMe disks, there could be a need to disable these protocol devices to avoid unnecessary errors being posted when running cfgmgr (or cfgdev on a PowerVM VIOS host). 

Environment

  • Hardware:
    • IBM Power9 Systems with PCIe3 x8 2-port Fibre Channel adapter (32 Gb/s); (FC EN1A, EN1B, EL5U, and EL5V; CCIN 578F)
  • Software:
    • AIX 7.2 Technology Level 05, AIX 7.3 or PowerVM VIOS 3.1.2 or later as host operating system

Steps

  • Disable the FC-NVMe device on the host. AIX creates children devices of the fcs device for each protocol that AIX supports.
    a) The FC-NVMe protocol appears through the lsdev command with a name starts with fcnvme.
    # lsdev | grep fcnvme
    fcnvme0    Available 00-00-02    FC-NVMe Protocol Device
    fcnvme1    Available 00-01-02    FC-NVMe Protocol Device
    b) Disable the FC-NVMe interfaces
    # rmdev -Rl fcnvme0
    # rmdev -Rl fcnvme1
    # chdev -l fcnvme0 -a  autoconfig=defined
    # chdev -l fcnvme1 -a  autoconfig=defined

Additional Information

SUPPORT

If you require more assistance, use the following step-by-step instructions to contact IBM to open a case for software with an active and valid support contract.  

1. Document (or collect screen captures of) all symptoms, errors, and messages related to your issue.

2. Capture any logs or data relevant to the situation.

3. Contact IBM to open a case:

   -For electronic support, see the IBM Support Community:
     https://www.ibm.com/mysupport
   -If you require telephone support, see the web page:
      https://www.ibm.com/planetwide/

4. Provide a clear, concise description of the issue.

 - For more information, see: Working with IBM AIX Support: Describing the problem.

5. If the system is accessible, collect a system snap, and upload all of the details and data for your case.

 - For more information, see: Working with IBM AIX Support: Collecting snap data

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Document Information

Modified date:
18 March 2022

UID

ibm16564633

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