Power Blade system board replacement and Virtual I/O System (VIOS) Logical Partition (LPAR) profile back up and restore - IBM BladeCenter

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H203281

Symptom

Replacing the system board of a blade which has Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) installed requires the backup and restoration of Logical Partition (LPAR) configuration information.

Failure to backup and restore LPAR configuration may result in the client LPARs not being available for use.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

• BladeCenter JS12, type 7998, any model
• BladeCenter JS22, type 7998, any model
• BladeCenter JS23, type 7778, any model
• BladeCenter JS43, type 7778, any model
• BladeCenter PS700 Express, type 8406, any model
• BladeCenter PS701 Express, type 8406, any model
• BladeCenter PS702 Express, type 8406, any model
• BladeCenter PS703 Express, type 7891, any model
• BladeCenter PS704 Express, type 7891, any model

The system is configured with at least one of the following:

• Virtual I/O Server (VIOS), any version

This tip is not option specific.

Note: This does not imply that the network operating system will work under all combinations of hardware and software.

Please see the compatibility page for more information: http://www.ibm.com/systems/info/x86servers/serverproven/compat/us/

Workaround

If the blade is accessible prior to replacing the system board, backup the VIOS LPAR, the LPAR configuration information, any user-defined virtual devices, external device configurations (such as Storage Area Network devices), and operating systems and applications running in client LPARs. After the system board has been replaced, restore the previously backed up items.

Backing up LPAR configuration information

There are two (2) ways to perform this backup:

Note: It is recommended to transfer profile.bak to a remote system so you can later restore it.

From the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) Web Interface:

1. From the Service Management menu, click Backup/Restore.
2. Select the Partition Configuration Backup/Restore tab.
3. Click Generate a backup.
4. From the VIOS Command Line Interface (CLI):
   Run the following command:
   
   

   $ bkprofdata -o backup

Restoring LPAR configuration information

To restore the LPAR configuration you can use either the Graphical User Interface (GUI) or the CLI.

From the IVM Web Interface:

1. From the Service Management menu, click Backup/Restore.
2. Select the Partition Configuration Backup/Restore tab.
3. Click Restore Partition Configuration.
4. From the VIOS CLI:
   
   Run the following command:
   
   

   $ rstprofdata -l 1 -f /home/padmin/profile.bak

Additional Steps for N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) configuration:

Note: The CLI commands "bkprofdata" and "rstprofdata" are operable only in an IVM environment.

Additional information

If you require assistance with the backup or restoration of the above items, please contact IBM support to open a VIOS or IVM software support case.

Find local contact and support information:

Each geography's System Service Contacts Telephone Number is available from the IBM web site.

Contact your IBM Service Provider or contact your appropriate Support Center for your geography, (in the U.S., contact 1-800-IBM-SERV at 1-800-426-7378).

The IBM "Directory of Worldwide Contacts" is available from the following URL:

• http://www.ibm.com/planetwide/