AIX

Hi KGB
reference code says 'IO hosting"
click on that and it says 'there is no add'l descriptive text available for code IO.
ACT 04292

in the actual console window, I see
'welcome to the Virtual IO Server' message.
under that
IO hosting requires a hosting partition, boot not permitted
EXIT called ok
0 >

I've done that.entered VET via HMC, countless times,always says' accepted,PowerVM standard license accepted' etc.
I've just re-entered it through the ASMI and selected reboot via same, the link you provided mentioned a reboot so I'll try that out.
looking at CoD settings,nearly everything is set to true or enabled. meaning multi partitions are already enabled.let's see what the reboot does.

Computron, please tell me if i am trying to explain to you something you do already know, but i sense the problem is in fact the understanding of how virtualisation the IBM way works.

We'll start at the basics: what you get from IBM is a "managed system", which is the synonym for "hardware node" in most Linux-centric virtualisation platforms (Openbox, OpenVM, KVM, OpenVZ, etc.). The difference between these Linux-systems and the IBM hardware is that there is no OS you have to install at the base. Everything is handled in (or near) hardware.

With i.e. OpenBox you install an OS to the system, install the virtualisation software onto it, create several virtual machine profiles and start these as programs in the base system.

With IBM you have the hardware which already allows virtualisation (controlled by the HMC, which is a mere management platform, not a direct part of the virtualized system) and install directly into the LPARs (=virtual machines) you create.

For this to work you need to create "profiles", where you give out parts of the systems resources to the various LPARs. Your system might come with 2 processors and you might decide to give 0.1 to the one system and 1.2 to the other, keeping the remaining 0.7 in reserve. So, a good idea would be to first meticulously describe your system here:

# of Processors
# amount of memory installed
# and types of network adapters
# and types of built-in disks
etc.

This will get you a base for planning what to give to whom and when.

Now, the virtualisation works well for "anonymus" ressources like CPU and memory. It gets a little more tricky with less anonymous resources, namely network adapters and (internal) disks. Therefore the first (usually) thing to do is to create a special LPAR which acts as a man-in-the-middle between the physical hardware and the (other) virtualised systems. This special type of LPAR is called "VIOS" (virtual I/O server) and one has usually 2 (or several pairs) of them (a stripped-down two-node HACMP cluster is part of the software package for VIOS) per managed system.

Here is a typical way to create a system:

after discovering the MS and getting the HMC to manage it you create two LPAR profiles for your VIOS and use "installios" to install the VIOS software onto it. Typically these are the only systems in the whole MS which have physical disks to boot from. In a typical setting the bootdisks for all the other LPARs come from SAN and are connected to the LPARs via the VIOS as vSCSI LUNs.

You also give the VIOS each one (or more) real network adapter(s) to connect to the outside. Network traffic for the other LPARs is done via the VIOSes which act as a (virtual) bridge. You will have to plan thoroughly how to route what through this. Non-VIOS LPARs usually get one virtual network device which is in turn created on the VIOS and mapped to the system. (This is quite similar to how the Linux systems handle things, except that there is no specialised virtual system there but the hardware node, where you define this.)

The VIOS can pass information about handed-down LUNs and virtualised network to another VIOS - even one in another managed system - and it is possible to move (running!) LPARs around between different MSes. This is called "Live Partition Mobility" and a thing not possible with any other virtualisation system.

Also the built-in hypervisor is the fastest in the industry. It offers a real huge bandwidth and in practice you will have nothing to do to tune it.

So i suggest you start by posting your exact system data and start to plan what you want to do and how.

I hope this helps.

bakunin

Hi Bakunin you and KGB are giving me plenty of insights here, just wanted to say thanks in advance..
in a nutshell, we have an 8202 with 6 internal 146GB drives, 128GB RAM, 6CPUs, PowerVM 'standard' licensing,4 internal NICs, plus two disk enclosures( g30,d24) that we cannot power-on yet,because we don't ( yet) have adequate power (210v line).electricians will be here in a week or 2 to install the new power lines.
I'm hoping to install at least 2 VMs on the 6 internal drives on the 8202, and use them for now. is this possible or do I just have to wait for the power to be installed for enclosures, first? we have a client that uses aix 6.1 with sybase 15.7 and we're trying to replicate that here so we can go forward with our sybase runtime building and testing of our S/w in this environment.

I'm familiar with AIX,linux,hp-ux,solaris, vmware esxi 4,5,6,etc. you mentioned that powerVM is really at the hardware level as opposed to having an OS installed, but I think you mean like what the older VmWare used to be , a VmWare server ( service) installed on top or linux or Windows OS.esxi is a 60MB 'bare metal' os that can run off of a USB drive leaving all disks accessible to a raid array,etc.from your info, I really see no difference between VIOS and esxi.it's basically a small OS that gives out resources to VMs,am I right?

due to Sybase's strict and costly licensing, we can only use 1 CPU for dev, anything more than that and the price goes through the roof. so, we're trying to config the first VM with 32GB RAM, 1 CPU and only 1 ( MAX=1). I can create that VM in my sleep. using a profile, I add scsi adapter, ethernet, configure the CPU and memory,etc.it works without a problem.
It's when I begin to make VM #2 that I really run in to a problem..I can configure #2 with an identical profile, give it ethernet, scsi adapter,etc..only real difference is this VM gets 2 CPU because it will not house a sybase installation, it is a testing VM.also gets 32GB RAM..everything goes swimmingly well until I get to the SMS menu and try to configure the boot device, no matter what I do , it says not scsi devices found.this means it can't see dvd, disk,etc.it's just basically an OS shell booted to BIOS..it's like a laptop without a harddrive and DVD.
so I've rebooted the server via ASMI power on/off countless times.I've even selected 'factory default install' which reverts the system back to a single LPAR, AIX 7 or 7.1, which owns all system resources.I can change these to smaller CPU and RAM footprint down from 6 CPU and 128GB RAM to ,say, 1CPU and 4GB ram.I can even delete this partition which I've done a number of times. I just can't create VM #2.coincidentally,when creating #2, if I shutdown #1, I can then give #2 access to the resources,and it'll now see all disks,dvds,etc when I boot to SMS.. so really one VM keeps all resources for itself,and unless it's powered off I cannot grant those resources to a 2nd VM.

yes, I have a very basic understanding of IBMs powerVM structure..it's all Greek to me. frankly, I find it absolutely bizarre and so different compared to everything else that I can't wrap my head around it.at times, I've seen on the HMC, 'create partition' link.most other times, it is not there. how/why would a link appear/disappear like that? it's like a funhouse loaded with wavy mirrors and illusions.. I have the PowerVM code VET installed.I've done that countless times ,too..

when I run installios -u it says it can't continue because the entry for default1 exists in the config file..I can't manually delete it because I can't get root access inside the limited terminal.. when I run installios ( no -u flag) , it says 'the following types of managed system were found, 1. Server-8202-E4B-SN066C39P Enter a number: 1 Error: installios no objects of type "virtual I/O server partition found'.

so why would they give you a 'limited' or 'restricted' shell , anyways? you can't even edit a file.

I'm a dog chasing his tail at this point.

the sales team from the vendor we purchased the server from is scheduling a consultant to come out at some point..nothing set just yet. I'd really like to do this on my own,it's the only way I'm going to learn this technology. it's what I have done with everything else that I work on. but I'm likely headed for an IBM weeklong classroom training session in June ( nothing available until then).

I've even installed VIOS from the serial connection via laptop onto the 8202. go to HMC to get in to the console,and it just says 'cant do io hosting without a hosting partition'. or, worse, a panic error code while booting, dropping me to OK prompt. so clearly I'm doing something very wrong.and the documentation hasn't been very helpful.. I never thought making two very basic VMs would require so much 'planning' and configuration..

Yup, you are doing it wrong and need more understanding.
We'll try again, as you are obviously not reading and or understanding all the doc's and links we point you to.
You'll need two scsi adapters, each with their own disks to make this work, and at the moment you have one scsi adapter with all the disks.
Each vios will need its own scsi adapter and disks to install to but you don't have that without being able to power up the expansion drawers.
You install vio, but it has all the disks and the only scsi adapter.
When you try to install the second vio there is nothing left because the first vio has all the disks.
When you shut down the first VIO then the other can see the scsi adapter and disks but they really belong to the first one.
You need the expansion drawers so that each VIO can have its own scsi adapter and its own disks to install to.
Read.......no point in keep playing if you don't understand the basics.
HTH

Duke
thanks, it'll have to wait until we get the add'l power installed? I knew I was on the right track with what I was seeing.I suspected that mightbe the case.
I don't have time to read 702 page docs that are wrong in many places.I've seen enough of the HMC to know that it has poor wording on many of its pages.
installing vios via system template ,for instance, says 'click start when ready'.only they have no start button ( so I instead click on the 'next' button)..but how can you pass along a product like that? there was no QA of the HMC product? hmc 8.2 mind you.latest and *cough* greatest..

then they give you a read-only Vterm which stops at 'insert disk #2' but gives you no way to actually tell it to continue, because it is read-only.it also says click 'accept license' only you can't click the radio button. they have another section in documentation which clearly states that HMC will automatically find VIOS disk #2 in the hmc repository.it doesnt.it hasn't.it wont.LOL
outside of my shortcomings on the subject, it's painfully obvious that this is still a work in progress for IBM..the fact that you can't even 'vi ' a file in restricted shell is comical to me..


but as you say , I need the disk arrays powered up so it can see all of the disks and controllers, etc..
question: shouldn't this whole set up work on just the 8202 alone? I mean,what if I'm a client who doesn't need the extra 6+ TB disk space, I only need the 6x146GB internal drives on the 8202? I should then be able to install VIOS on it, and let it work with the internal disk controllers and network controllers and spread them out to the soon-to-be newly created VMs..right? so, in my case, why is this not working as such? I don't have the enclosures hooked up.the 8202 should work without a problem..
is there something that's telling the 8202 that it absolutely,positively needs the add'l enclosures to work? what if I had all three working, and decided to get rid of the g30 and the 24? I should still be able to work with PowerVM on the 8202 correct?
I distinctly remember when ordering the server that the enclosures were an add-on, not mandatory.so why can't I work without the add'l 210v power line, and without g30 and 24?

thanks for clarifying things though.you're right, no need to waste time playing with it.
If I sound completely off the rails frustrated , it's because I am..