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Purpose of VIOS virtual devices

Question & Answer


Question

This document briefly describes the purpose of some virtual devices on a VIO Server.

 

Cause

What are the devices used for and can them be removed?

 

 

Answer

vasi - Virtual Asynchronous Services Interface (VASI). This device is used for Partition Mobility.

vbsd - Virtual Block Storage Device (VBSD)
pager - Pager Kernel Extension
These devices are used for Active Memory Sharing (AMS).

usbhc - USB Host Controller
usbhc - USB Enhanced Host Controller
These relate to USB device.

vsa0 - LPAR Virtual Serial Adapter
vty0 - Asynchronous Terminal
vsa0 is the partition virtual serial adapter and vty0 is the child device of vsa0.
They relate to the partition's virtual terminal, which is used when logging in via console (vterm) window using the HMC.

It is not recommended to remove any of these devices.

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Document Information

Modified date:
20 October 2021

UID

ibm10716497