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Add a Logical Partition for an IBM AIX Computer

You can use the Provisioning wizard to manage the logical partitions on an IBM AIX system.

To add a logical partition for an IBM AIX computer

1. Click Resources.
2. Right-click IBM PowerVM Server in the Explore pane, and select Provisioning, Provision LPAR.

   The Provisioning wizard appears with the Partition and Memory page.

3. Select the HMC/IVM server and managed system name. Specify the partition name and, for an HMC server, the profile name. Specify the minimum, desired, and maximum memory for the partition. Click Next.

   The Processors page appears.

4. Specify whether to allocate partial processor units or dedicated processors and the minimum, desired, and maximum processors units. Advanced settings are available for shared modes and virtual processors. Click Next.

   The I/O Components page appears.

5. Select the I/O devices to associate with the partition, and click Next.

   Note: For each I/O device, you can specify that the I/O device is required or optional for logical partition activation. If the I/O device is required, the partition cannot be activated if the I/O device is unavailable or in use by another logical partition. If the I/O device is optional, and if the desired I/O device is available when the partition is activated, the managed system commits the I/O device to the partition. If the optional I/O device is not available, the managed system skips the I/O device.

   The I/O Pools page appears.

6. (Optional) To create a new I/O pool, click the + (Add) on the I/O Pools table, enter a numerical value, and click Save.

   Note: When you add an I/O device to a partition, the I/O device belongs to an I/O pool. When this partition is activated, the managed system automatically adds the I/O pools defined for the partition to the logical partition.

7. Click Next.

   If an HMC server was selected, the Virtual Serial page appears.

   If an IVM server was selected, the Virtual Ethernet page appears. Proceed to Step 10.

8. (Optional) Specify the maximum virtual adapters for the partition. To create a new virtual serial adapter, click + (Add) and specify the Adapter ID, Remote Partition, and Remote Slot Number. You can require that the virtual adapter must be allocated and the managed system must have enough memory to run the required virtual adapters for the partition profile, or the logical partition does not activate.
9. Click Next.

   The Virtual Ethernet page appears.

10. Specify the maximum virtual adapters for the partition. (Optional) You can add new virtual ethernet adapters by clicking + (Add) and selecting an Adapter ID, Virtual LAN ID, Access External Network, Trunk Priority, IEEE 802.1 Q Compatibility, additional Virtual LAN IDs, and whether the Ethernet adapter is Required.
11. Click Next.

    The Virtual Disks page appears.

12. Specify the virtual SCSI devices or physical fibre channel port for the partition. (Optional) To add a new virtual SCSI adapter, click + (Add) on the Virtual SCSI Adapters table.

    Select an Adapter ID, specify whether the SCSI adapter is Required, and select a Device name from the SCSI Devices table. If the desired device is on the SCSI Devices list, click OK, click Next in the Virtual SCSI panel, and skip to the last step. To add a new SCSI backing device, click + (New Backing Device) on the SCSI devices table.

    Note: If the selected device has a slot number, that is the slot number of the virtual SCSI server adapter defined to the Virtual I/O server partition. If the selected device doesn’t have a slot number, it is not associated with a virtual SCSI server adapter yet. When the job to create the partition takes place, the virtual SCSI server adapter is created and assigned to the device.

    Note: If a physical fibre channel port that supports NPIV is selected, a virtual fibre channel server adapter and virtual fibre channel client adapter are created for the partition.

13. Click Next.

    The Provision Storage wizard appears only when adding a new backing device. If not adding a new backing device, skip to Step 21.

14. Select a provisioning method. For more information about storage provisioning, see Storage Provisioning Manager for NetApp in the Administration Guide.
15. Select HMC server, Managed System.
16. Select a Virtual I/O Server. To add a new virtual Virtual I/O Server, click New to create a Virtual I/O Server. Select the Virtual I/O Server partition name, user name, and password, and click Save to validate the virtual I/O server and add the configuration.
17. Select the NetApp Data Fabric Manager, desired storage services, and any other advanced options.
18. Click Finish to confirm the request.

    The NetApp iSCSI storage is attached to the Virtual I/O Server, and the new provisioned storage is selected.

    The New SCSI Adapter dialog appears.

19. Select this device or another device, and click OK.
20. Click Next.

    The NIM page appears. You can choose whether to provision AIX using NIM by toggling Deploy Operating System.

21. Specify the necessary Build Machine, System Attributes, Software Delivery Information, and Template, and click Next.
22. Verify the Summary page, and click Add Computer

    The logical partition is created, and NIM provisioning starts.

    If a physical fibre channel port is selected and NIM is enabled, a dialog displays WWPNs assigned to the partition. Further configuration is required to zone and create the storage LUN for the WWPNs. There is an option to continue or to cancel the NIM provisioning. You can choose to continue after the additional configuration has been completed. You can choose to cancel and perform a separate NIM provision operation at a later time once the configuration is complete.

Provision an IBM AIX Image Using MKSYSB

The IBM NIM MKSYSB utility provides one-step IBM AIX image provisioning that can include both the operating system and additional software. To provision using MKSYSB, you must already have MKSYSB images and NIM resources available.

When the IBM NIM environment is configured with MKSYSB resources, use the CA Server Automation user interface to provision the IBM AIX image.

Follow these steps:

Note: Verify that you are logged in to the CA Server Automation user interface as an administrator.

1. Click Resource, and open the Explore pane.
2. Right-click an IBM PowerVM resource, and select Provisioning, Provision NIM.

   The Provision AIX with NIM dialog appears.

3. Complete the following fields:

   NIM Master

   Specify the computer where you configured your NIM environment. There can only be one active NIM master server in an environment.

   Machine Resource Name

   Specify the target computer for NIM installation and update operations.

4. In the Installation Type drop-down, select mksysb.
5. In the Resource Type drop-down, select Resource Group.
6. Select an MKSYSB resource group.
7. In the System Attributes pane, provide the administrator credentials to log in to the host NIM system.

   Note: The administrator user ID and password must match the ones specified in the install_path/imaging/etc/ca_post_install.sh script during IBM AIX imaging configuration.

8. Click Add Computer.

The new IBM AIX system image is created and ready for use. By having the MKSYSB resource group already available, provisioning did not require a multistep build process.