Creating IBM i logical partitions on a new or nonpartitioned managed system

Use this procedure to create IBM® i logical partitions on a new or nonpartitioned managed system using the Hardware Management Console (HMC). In this procedure, you will validate the hardware on the managed system, create the logical partitions on the managed system, and designate the service logical partition for the managed system.

1. Ensure that the managed system is in a state of Standby. Complete the following:
   1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management and click Servers.
   2. In the work pane, find the state of the managed system as displayed in the work pane under the Status heading.
   3. If the managed system is in a Power off state, select the managed system in the work pane, click the Tasks button, click Operations > Power On, select the power-on mode of Partition Standby, click OK, and wait until the work pane displays a Standby state for the managed system.
   If the managed system does not display in the work pane, or if the managed system is in any state other than Standby or Operating, you must fix the problem before continuing.
2. Verify that a single logical partition exists on the managed system.

   When you connect a new or nonpartitioned managed system to an HMC, a single logical partition is displayed in the HMC user interface. All system resources belong to this logical partition. In this procedure, you will use this logical partition to validate the hardware on the managed system. After you validate the hardware on the managed system, you will delete this logical partition and create the logical partitions according to your logical partition plan.

   1. In the navigation pane of the HMC, open Servers and click the managed system.
   2. In the work pane, verify that there is only one logical partition in the list of logical partitions. The name of this logical partition will be the serial number of the managed system, and the logical partition will have one partition profile called default_profile.
   If the logical partition that is described in this step exists, continue to step 4. Otherwise, continue to step 3 to reset the managed system.
3. Reset the managed system so that a single logical partition exists on the managed system. Complete the following steps at your HMC (not remotely) to create this logical partition:
   1. Ensure that the hardware placement in the managed system supports the manufacturing default configuration. If the hardware placement in the managed system does not support the manufacturing default configuration, you must move the hardware so that the hardware placement supports the manufacturing default configuration. For more information on placing the hardware in your managed system to support the manufacturing default configuration, contact your marketing representative or business partner.
   2. In the navigation pane, click Servers.
   3. In the work pane, select the managed system, click the Tasks button, click Configuration > Manage Partition Data > Initialize, and click Yes.
   4. In the navigation pane, click HMC Management.
   5. In the work pane, click Open Restricted Shell Terminal. The Restricted shell command-line interface is displayed.
   6. Type: lpcfgop -m managed_system_name -o clear where managed_system_name is the name of managed system as it is displayed in the work pane.
   7. Enter 1 to confirm. This step takes several seconds to complete.
4. Ensure that the logical partition is in a Not Activated state.

   In the navigation pane of the HMC, select the managed system if it is not already selected, and review the state of the logical partition on the managed system. If the logical partition is in a Running state, shut down the logical partition by completing the following steps:

   1. In the work pane, click Properties > General.
   2. Ensure that Power off the system after all the logical partitions are powered off is cleared, and click OK.
   3. Shut down the logical partition using operating system procedures.
   If the logical partition is in an Error state, complete the following:
   1. In the work pane, select the logical partition, click the Tasks button, and click Serviceability > Reference Code History.
   2. Click the Reference Code tab and use the reference codes displayed on the Reference Code tab to diagnose and fix the problem. For information about using reference codes, see Reference codes.
5. Identify (or tag) the load source device, alternate restart device, and console device to use for system setup. Identify the HMC as the console device for system setup, regardless of the types of console device that you ultimately plan to use for the logical partitions on your system. The HMC provides the easiest, most reliable method to access a console session during system setup. When you create your logical partitions, you can specify the console of your choice for each logical partition.

   To identify the devices to use for system setup, complete the following:

   1. In the work pane, select the logical partition, click the Tasks button, and click Configuration > Manage Profiles.
   2. Select the partition profile, click Actions, and click Edit.
   3. Click the Tagged I/O tab.
   4. Under Load source, click Select.
   5. Select the slot in which the load source I/O adapter (IOA) is installed and click OK.
   6. Under Alternate restart device, click Select.
   7. Select the slot in which the alternate restart device IOA is installed and click OK.
   8. Select Use HMC console and click OK.
   9. Click Close.
6. If Licensed Internal Code was not preinstalled on the server, or if you want to install Licensed Internal Code yourself, install Licensed Internal Code at this time. When the Licensed Internal Code installation is complete, continue to step 8.
7. Activate the logical partition:
   1. In the work pane, select the logical partition.
   2. From the Tasks menu, click Operations > Activate > Profile.
   3. Click OK to exit manufacturing default configuration if prompted.
   4. Click Advanced.
   5. Select Manual in the Keylock position field, select B: IPL from the second side of the load source in the IPL type field, and click OK.
   6. If you are performing this procedure from the HMC, select Open a terminal window or console session and click OK. If you are performing this procedure remotely, click OK and then open an HMC 5250 console session remotely on the logical partition.
   7. Type 1 and press Enter to start a dedicated HMC 5250 console session.
8. Verify that the physical adapters are connected and reporting to the managed system using the Failed and non-reporting hardware resources option in the Hardware Service Manager. The Failed and non-reporting hardware resource option displays a list of the logical hardware resources that either failed or did not report to the system at the last IPL.
   Attention: Incorrect use of the Failed and non-reporting hardware resource option can cause damage to data in your system.
   1. In the HMC 5250 console session, type 3 and press Enter to select option 3 [Use Dedicated Service Tools (DST)].
   2. Sign onto DST with a valid user ID and password.
   3. Type 7 and press Enter to select option 7 [Start a service tool].
   4. Type 4 and press Enter to select option 4 [Hardware service manager].
   5. Type 4 and press Enter to select option 4 [Failed and non-reporting hardware resources].
   6. Verify that there are no failed or non-reporting resources. If no failed resources or non-reporting resources exist, the informational message No failed or non-reporting logical hardware resources were found opens. If there are failed resources, contact your service provider.
      Note: You can verify only the adapters that are supported by IBM i. Any adapter that is not supported by IBM i might have an error of unknown or failed hardware.
   7. Press F3 until the Use Dedicated Service Tools (DST) display opens.
   8. Type 7 and press Enter to select option 7 [Start a service tool].
   9. Type 7 and press Enter to select option 7 [Operator panel functions].
   10. Press F10 to power off, press Enter to confirm, close the 5250 console session window, and wait until the logical partition shuts down.
9. Power® off the managed system using your HMC:
   1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management and click Servers.
   2. In the work pane, select the managed system in the work pane, click the Tasks button, and click Operations > Power Off.
   3. Select the Normal power off option and click OK.
10. Power on the managed system to the Standby state using your HMC.
    1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management and click Servers.
    2. In the work pane, select the managed system in the work pane, click the Tasks button, and click Operations > Power On.
    3. Select Partition standby as the power-on mode and click OK.
11. Activate the logical partition:
    1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management, open Servers, and click the managed system.
    2. In the work pane, select the logical partition.
    3. From the Tasks menu, click Operations > Activate > Profile.
    4. Click Advanced.
    5. Select Manual in the Keylock position field, select B: IPL from the second side of the load source in the IPL type field, and click OK.
    6. If you are performing this procedure from the HMC, select Open a terminal window or console session and click OK. If you are performing this procedure remotely, click OK and then open an HMC 5250 console session remotely on the logical partition.
    7. Type 1 and press Enter to start a dedicated HMC 5250 console session.
12. Verify that the physical adapters are connected and reporting to the managed system using the Failed and non-reporting hardware resources option in the Hardware Service Manager:
    Attention: Incorrect use of the Failed and non-reporting hardware resource option can cause damage to data in your system.
    1. Type 3 and press Enter to select option 3 [Use Dedicated Service Tools (DST)].
    2. Sign onto DST with a valid user ID and password.
    3. Type 7 and press Enter to select option 7 [Start a service tool].
    4. Type 4 and press Enter to select option 4 [Hardware service manager].
    5. Type 4 and press Enter to select option 4 [Failed and non-reporting hardware resources].
    6. Verify that there are no failed or non-reporting hardware resources. If no failed or non-reporting hardware resources exist, the informational message No failed or non-reporting logical hardware resources were found opens. If there are failed resources, contact your service provider.
       Note: You can verify only the adapters that are supported by IBM i. Any adapter that is not supported by IBM i might have an error of unknown or failed hardware.
    7. Press F3 until the Use Dedicated Service Tools (DST) display opens.
    8. Type 7 and press Enter to select option 7 [Start a service tool].
    9. Type 7 and press Enter to select option 7 [Operator panel functions].
    10. Press F10 to power off, press Enter to confirm, close the 5250 console session window, and wait until the logical partition shuts down.
13. Delete the logical partition that owns all of the system resources:
    Attention: This procedure erases the logical partition and the logical partition configuration data stored on the partition profiles. This procedure does not affect any of the data stored on the managed system.
    1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management > Servers, and click the managed system.
    2. In the work pane, ensure that the logical partition is powered off.
    3. Ensure that none of the listed logical partitions are selected and click Properties > General
    4. Select Unassigned in the Service partition list
    5. Click Ok.
    6. Select the logical partition, click the Tasks button, and click Operations > Delete.
    7. Click Ok.
14. Create each logical partition on your managed system according to your logical partition plan:
    Note: If you plan to create logical partitions that use shared memory, you must first configure the shared memory pool. For instructions, see Configuring the shared memory pool.
    1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management and click Servers.
    2. In the work pane, select the managed system, click the Tasks button, and click Configuration > Create Partition > IBM i.
    3. Follow the steps in the Create Logical Partition wizard to create a logical partition and a partition profile.

       The I/O tab of the Create Logical Partition Wizard does not display cable cards, because slots that contain cable cards cannot be assigned to a partition.

       To enable mobility of the IBM i logical partition during partition creation, select the Restricted I/O partition check box when you create the IBM i logical partition. For information about the configuration requirements for IBM i logical partition mobility, see Configuration requirements to migrate IBM i mobile partitions. On servers with firmware at level FW860, or later, that do not support IBM i partitions with native I/O capability, you must select the Restricted I/O partition check box. If you do not select the Restricted I/O partition check box, the partition creation fails. To verify the IBM i native I/O capability of the server, see Verifying that the server supports IBM i native I/O capability

       The Suspend/Resume feature for logical partitions is supported on POWER8® processor-based servers when the firmware is at level FW840, or later. The Create Logical Partition wizard also provides an option to suspend the partition. If you want to enable this option, you must select the Allow this partition to be suspended check box when you create the IBM i logical partition. For more information about the Create Logical Partition wizard, see Creating a logical partition with suspension capability.

       When you create an IBM i logical partition, the default processor mode is the shared processor mode. You can specify a value of 0.05 in the Minimum processing units field when the firmware is at level FW760, or later. You can also change this value after partition creation by changing the partition profile.

       When you create an IBM i logical partition on a server that uses the virtual server network (VSN), and the HMC is at version 7.7, or later, you can associate a Virtual Station Interface (VSI) profile with the virtual Ethernet.

       The Create Logical Partition wizard provides an option to enable synchronization of the current configuration capability. If you want to enable this option, you can select Sync turned ON from the Sync Current Configuration Capability list when creating the logical partition. When this value is set, the partition profile is always synchronized with the last activated partition profile. For more information about creating a partition with synchronization of the current configuration capability, see Creating a logical partition with synchronization of the current configuration.

       The Create Logical Partition wizard provides an option to create an SR-IOV logical port and assign the logical port to the profile. You can follow the steps in the wizard to create the SR-IOV logical port. You can also add an SR-IOV logical port to a partition after you create the partition. For more information about adding an SR-IOV logical port to a partition, see Assigning a single root I/O virtualization logical port to a logical partition

       The HMC graphical user interface does not provide an option to disable the Live Partition Mobility feature of a logical partition. However, you can use HMC command line to disable the Live Partition Mobility feature, either during partition creation, or after partition creation. To disable the Live Partition Mobility feature of an IBM i logical partition after partition creation, run the chsyscfg command with a value 1 for the migration_disabled attribute, from the HMC command line. To disable the Live Partition Mobility feature of a logical partition during partition creation, run the mksyscfg command with a value 1 for the migration_disabled attribute, from the HMC command line.

    Alternatively, you can create logical partitions by importing a system plan file into your HMC and deploying the system plan to the managed system. For instructions, see Deploying a system plan using the HMC. However, if you want one or more logical partitions to use shared memory, you must configure shared memory resources for those logical partitions after you deploy the system plan. System plans that you create by using the SPT do not contain configuration information for shared memory.
15. Designate one of the IBM i logical partitions on your managed system as the service logical partition for the managed system.
    1. In the navigation pane, open Systems Management and click Servers.
    2. In the work pane, select the managed system, click the Tasks button, and click Properties.
    3. In the Service partition field, select the logical partition that you want to designate as the service logical partition, and click OK.
16. Ensure that there is at least one LAN adapter on the HMC that is configured to connect with the logical partitions on your managed system:
    1. In the navigation pane, open HMC Management.
    2. In the work pane, click Change Network Settings.
    3. Click the LAN Adapters tab.
    4. Select any LAN adapter other than the eth0 adapter that connects the HMC with the service processor, and click Details.
    5. On the LAN Adapter tab, under Local area network information, select Open, and select Partition communication.
    6. Click the Firewall Settings tab.
    7. Ensure that the Resource Monitoring and Control (RMC) application is one of the applications displayed in Allowed Hosts. If it is not displayed in Allowed Hosts, select the RMC application under Available Applications and click Allow Incoming. The RMC application is displayed in Allowed Hosts to signify that it has been selected.
    8. Click OK.