You can use the Integrated Virtualization Manager to
dynamically configure virtual fibre channel on your managed system
and to assign physical fibre channel ports to logical partitions.
Assigning a port to a pair of worldwide port names (WWPNs)
for a logical partition enables the partition to communicate with
storage devices in a storage area network (SAN). The ability to configure
this type of storage resource is available only if the system supports
the use of virtual fibre channel adapters and has a physical fibre
channel adapter installed and connected that supports N_Port ID Virtualization
(NPIV) ports.
A Linux logical
partition supports the dynamic addition of virtual fibre channel adapters
only if the DynamicRM tool package is installed on the Linux logical partition.
To download the DynamicRM tool package, see the Service and productivity tools for Linux on POWER® systems Web site.
To
add or remove a worldwide port name (WWPN) pair for a logical partition,
the partition must be either in the Not activated state or the Running state.
If the partition is in the Running state, the partition must also be capable of
dynamic LPAR (DLPAR). To assign a WWPN pair for a partition to a physical
port, the partition can be in any state.
To avoid configuring
the physical fibre channel adapter to be a single point of failure
for the connection between the client logical partition and its physical
storage on the SAN, do not assign more than one pair of WWPNs for
a client logical partition to the physical ports on the same physical fibre
channel adapter. Instead, assign each pair of WWPNs for a logical
partition to physical ports on different physical fibre channel adapters.
To configure a logical partition to use a physical fibre
channel port to access a SAN, complete the following steps in the Integrated Virtualization Manager:
- In the navigation area, select View/Modify Partition
Properties under Partition Management. The View/Modify Partition Properties page is displayed.
- Select the logical partition for which you want to create
a physical port connection.
- From the Tasks menu, click Properties. The Partition Properties page is displayed.
- Select the Storage tab and expand Virtual
Fibre Channel.
- Add one or more worldwide port name (WWPN) pairs to the
logical partition. This step assigns the WWPN pair to
the logical partition and allows you to connect the logical partition
to a physical port through the associated WWPN pair. The Integrated Virtualization Manager generates the actual
worldwide port names when you complete this task.
- Select a physical port for the WWPN pair to create a connection
to the port for the logical partition. If you want to
remove a connection for a physical port from the logical partition,
select None for the physical port. You also can remove the WWPN pair
from the logical partition by selecting the appropriate WWPN pair
and clicking Remove.
Note: If you remove an
existing WWPN pair from a logical partition, the worldwide port names
associated with the logical partition and the storage area network
(SAN) are deleted permanently. The Integrated Virtualization Manager does not reuse them
when it generates port names in the future. If you run out of port
names, you must obtain a code key to enable an additional prefix and
range of port names for use on your system. See the online help for
additional information.
- Click OK. If necessary,
the Integrated Virtualization Manager generates
the required pair of worldwide port names for any new partition connections
based on the range of names available for use with the prefix in the
vital product data on the managed system. This six digit prefix comes
with the purchase of the managed system to enable the generation of
a large, but finite, set of worldwide port names for your use. The
number of port names initially available on the managed system is
65536. To determine the actual number of port names available on the
managed system, use this command: lshwres -r virtualio --rsubtype
fc --level sys -F num_wwpns_remaining
Integrated Virtualization Manager creates
or removes the necessary server and client virtual fibre channel adapters
for the selected physical port and the mappings for the server adapter
to the selected physical port.
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