IBM Support

Change to FSP Default IP Address Behavior in Ex340 and Later

Troubleshooting


Problem

IBM POWER7 and POWER6 servers with firmware Ex340 or later implement zero configuration (zeroconf) networking for the FSP HMCx Ethernet ports IP address acquisition.

Resolving The Problem

IBM POWER7 and POWER6 servers with firmware Ex340 or later implement zero configuration (zeroconf) networking for the FSP HMCx ethernet ports IP address acquisition.

Ex330 and earlier
In prior versions of firmware, the FSP defaulted to DHCP client. If no DHCP server was available, it would assume a fixed IP address based on the physical location of the FSP card:

FSP Location
HMC1 (IPv4)
HMC2 (IPv4)
Subnet Mask
First FSP
169.254.2.147
169.254.3.147
255.255.255.0
Dual FSP (if installed)
169.254.2.146
169.254.3.146
255.255.255.0

Ex340 and later
Ex340 and later still uses the same default settings; however, it implements zero configuration networking to prevent duplicate IP addresses, should multiple servers be plugged into the same network with no DHCP server available.

When the FSP is plugged into a network with no active DHCP server, it will locate a unique IP address in the 169.254 range. The current implementation starts at the bottom of the range with the 169.254.x.2 address.

To determine the current IP address of the FSP, use control panel function 30.

[{"Product":{"code":"SSB6AA","label":"Power System Hardware Management Console Physical Appliance"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU054","label":"Systems w\/TPS"},"Component":"POWER6\u2122","Platform":[{"code":"PF012","label":"IBM i"},{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Version":"Version Independent;7.1.0;6.1.1;6.1.0;5.4.5;5.4.0;5.3.5;5.3.0","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB08","label":"Cognitive Systems"}}]

Historical Number

549528336

Document Information

Modified date:
22 September 2021

UID

nas8N1012531