Activating IBM i partitions

You can activate or network boot an IBM® i partition by using the Hardware Management Console (HMC).

About this task

To activate or network boot an IBM i partition by using the HMC, complete the following steps:

Procedure

  1. In the navigation window, click System resources.
  2. Click Systems. In the work pane, click a system of your choice. The system properties are displayed. In the navigation pane, click Partitions.
    Alternatively, you can navigate to System resources > Partitions.
    The Partitions page opens where you can view all the partitions that belong to the system.
  3. To view the Activate <IBM i partition name> wizard, choose one of the following options:
    • In the work window, select the partition that you want to activate and click Operations > Activate partition. The Activate <IBM i partition name> wizard is displayed.
    • In the work window, click the partition name that you want to activate. The partition properties page opens. Click Partition Actions > Operations > Activate partition. The Activate <IBM i partition name> wizard is displayed.
  4. From the Partition Configuration list, select the required partition configuration profile.
    Note: If you choose Current Configuration, the Advanced Settings are disabled.
  5. From the Operation Type field, you can select any one of the following options for the partition:
    • Select Activate to activate the partition.
      Note: If you select Activate, the Next button is not available and you can click Finish to activate and close the wizard after making all your choices in the wizard.
    • Select Network Boot to install the operating system on the partition. Alternatively, you can select the logical partition that you want to network boot from the work window and click Actions > Network Boot. The Network Boot wizard is displayed. Click Next to configure the network settings for the logical partition.
  6. Click Advanced Settings if you want to view and modify the following options for the selected partition:
    • Keylock Position establishes the power-on and power-off modes for the system. You can select the following keylock values - Do not override configuration, Manual (attended), and Normal (unattended).
      Attention: The Manual (attended) value is not preferred value for security reasons.
    • IPL Type determines the copy of programs that are used by your system during initial program load (IPL).
    • Open 5250 console establishes a console session using the HMC 5250 emulator. This option is available only on the HMC local console and is not available on the HMC remote console.
    • Use VSI Profile activates the partition with Virtual Station Interface (VSI) profiles.
      Note: If the VSI attributes are not set correctly, the activation fails.
  7. If you have selected the Activate option from the Operation Type field, click Finish to activate the IBM i partition and close the activation wizard.
  8. If you have selected the Network Boot option from the Operation Type field, click Next. The Network Settings page opens.
  9. From the network boot option field, you can select any one of the following network boot options for the IBM i partition:
    • NFS Optical uses virtual optical installation images on a Network File System (NFS) server. If you select this option, you musts specify the following details:
      • Boot Server IP address to specify the IP address of the NFS server that contains the network installation images for an IBM i partition.
      • Server Directory Path to specify the directory of the NFS server that contains the network installation images for an IBM i partition.
    • iSCSI Tape uses virtual tape installation images on an Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) attached virtual tape library. If you select this option, you musts specify the following details:
      • Target IP Address to specify the IP address of the iSCSI target device that contains the network installation images for an IBM i partition.
      • Target Name to specify the name of the iSCSI target device that contains the network installation images for an IBM i partition.
      • Initiator Name to specify the name of an iSCSI initiator that is associated with the iSCSI target device. The name that is initially displayed in this field is the default initiator name that is generated for the logical partition by the managed system. If you want to use a different initiator name, you can modify the default initiator name.
        Note: The Target Port, the CHAP Name, and the CHAP Secret fields are optional. If you specify the Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) name in the CHAP Name field, you must specify the value for the CHAP Secret field.
      Note: If the managed system does not support the iSCSI network boot option, the iSCSI Tape option is disabled. If the IBM i operating system does not support iSCSI Tape network boot option, the logical partition goes into an error state posted with a system reference code (SRC).
  10. From the Select IP Address Protocol field, you can select either IPv4 or IPv6 to use the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) or Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) server and client addresses.
  11. Configure network adapter settings for the logical partition by using the following options:
    • Network Adapter to specify the network adapter that is assigned to the logical partition that is being booted.
    • IP Address to specify the IPv4 or IPv6 address of the Ethernet adapter or Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) logical port that is assigned as the alternative restart device for the IBM i partition on which the network installation operation is performed.
    • Subnet Mask to specify the network mask that is associated with the IPv4 address of the specified IP Address parameter.
    • Gateway to specify the IPv4 or IPv6 address of the network gateway that is used during the network installation of an IBM i partition.
  12. In the Network Settings page, configure network adapter settings for the partition by using the following options:
    • IPv4 or IPv6 address to use the IPv4 or IPv6 server and client address.
    • Boot Server IP address to specify the IP address of the boot server that contains the network installation image for a partition. If you select IPv4, you must also specify the other details, such as the subnet mask and the default gateway. If you select IPv6 you must specify the required IPv6 settings for your system.
  13. Click Advanced Settings to view and change the following network configuration settings for the selected partition:
    1. From the Adapter Speed list, select the speed of the Ethernet adapter for the target partition. By default, Auto is selected to enable the system to determine the required speed for the adapter. You can also select the following values - 10, 100, or 1000.
    2. From the Adapter Duplex list, select duplex value for the Ethernet adapter. By default, Auto is selected to enable the system to determine the required duplex for the adapter. You can also select the Full or Half values.
    3. In the VLAN Tag Identifier field, specify a valid value for the virtual local area network (VLAN) tag identifier. The valid value is in the range 1 - 4094. This is an optional parameter and it is displayed only if the managed system is capable of the VLAN tagging function for the IBM i partition network boot.
  14. Click Finish to activate with the selected network boot settings and to close the activation wizard.