System plan overview for the HMC

Learn about system plan concepts and operations, as well as understand the high-level tasks that you can perform with system plans when using the Hardware Management Console (HMC).

A system plan is a specification of the hardware and the logical partitions contained in one or more systems. A system plan is stored in a system-plan file, which has a file suffix of .sysplan. A system-plan file can contain more than one system plan, although multiple plans in a single file are not common. After you create a system plan, you also can also view, delete, and export the system plan.

System plans have a number of valuable uses. For example, you can use system plans to accomplish the following goals:

You can create a system plan as a means of capturing up-to-date system documentation. The system plan provides a record of the hardware and partition configuration of the managed system at a given time.
You can use a system plan that you create for system documentation as part of your disaster recovery planning. You can export the system-plan file to an offsite location or to removable media for offsite storage so that you have the system documentation that you need available to you if you must recover a managed system.
You can use system plans as audit records to track system resources for accounting and accountability purposes by exporting them to a spreadsheet.
You can use system plans to help you plan new workloads that require additional system and hardware resources. You can use a system plan, along with appropriate capacity planning information, to make decisions about whether your current system can handle a new workload.
You can deploy this system plan to other systems that this HMC manages that have hardware that is identical to the hardware in the system plan. In this way, you can rapidly configure and use other, similar systems in your business.
You can export the system plan to another HMC and use it to deploy the system plan to other systems that the target HMC manages that have hardware that is identical to the hardware in the system plan. In this case and the previous case, you can use the system plan to create logical partitions on new managed systems that do not already have logical partitions created on them.

To create logical partitions from a system plan, you must first complete the following tasks:

Create the system plan.
Import the system plan (when necessary).
Deploy the system plan.

After you create a system plan, you also can also view, delete, and export the system plan. The following table provides a complete overview of system plan tasks.

Table 1. Overview of the tasks for system plans
Task	Overview
Create a system plan	You can create system plans by using any of the following methods: System Planning Tool (SPT) SPT helps you design a system to fit your needs, whether you want to design a logically partitioned system or to design an unpartitioned system. SPT incorporates the function from Workload Estimator (WLE) to help you create an overall system plan. The SPT opens the WLE to help you gather and integrate workload data, and provides advanced users with the option of creating a system plan without the help of additional tools. To help you get started, SPT provides the following options: You can use the sample system plans that SPT provides as a starting point for planning your system You can create a system plan based on existing performance data You can create a system plan based on new or anticipated workloads You can export a system plan as a .cfr file and import it into the marketing configurator (eConfig) tool to use for ordering a system. When you import the .cfr file into the eConfig tool, the tool populates your order with the information from the .cfr file. However, the .cfr file does not contain all the information that the eConfig tool requires and you will need to enter all required information before you can submit your order. Hardware Management Console (HMC) Web user interface You can use the HMC to create a system plan based on the configuration of one managed system and can use the HMC to deploy that plan to another managed system. Based on the logical partition configuration in the system plan, the HMC creates logical partitions on the managed system to which it deploys the system plan. Depending on the contents of the system plan, the HMC can install operating environments on the partitions in the plan and, if the plan contains Virtual I/O Server provisioning information for a partition, such as storage assignments, the HMC can make these resource assignments for the partition. HMC command-line interface You also can use the mksysplan command to create a system plan. After the system plan is created, you can also use the command-line interface to deploy that plan to a managed system. Based on the logical partition configuration in the system plan, the HMC creates logical partitions on the managed system to which it deploys the system plan.
Import the system plan	Before you can use a system plan to create logical partitions, the system-plan file must exist on the HMC that manages the managed system to which you want to deploy the system plan. If the system-plan file does not already exist on the HMC, you must import the file into the HMC. You can use the HMC Web user interface to import the file into the HMC from one of the following sources: Upload the system-plan file from the remote console (the computer from which you remotely access the HMC) Copy the system-plan file to media (optical disc or USB drive), insert the media into the HMC, and import the file from the media. Download the system-plan file from a remote FTP site. Note: You can also use the HMC command-line interface to import a system plan. After you import the system-plan file into an HMC, you can deploy the system plan within that file to other systems that the HMC manages.
Deploy the system plan	You can choose to deploy a system plan in stages, with some logical partitions being created in one stage, and other logical partitions being created in later stages. You cannot, however, deploy a system plan to a managed system if the managed system already has logical partitions. The managed system must be in the manufacturing default configuration. Also, if you want to deploy a system plan in stages, you need to create a new system plan if you change the resource allocations on the logical partitions on the managed system between stages to avoid validation problems in later stages. When you deploy a system plan by using the HMC Web user interface, the HMC validates the system plan. The managed system on which you deploy a system plan must have hardware that is identical to the hardware in the system plan. The HMC deploys a system plan to a managed system only if the system plan level is supported by the HMC, the format of the system plan is valid, and the hardware and each existing logical partition on the managed system passes validation. If the system plan contains installation information about the Virtual I/O Server, you can use the Deploy System Plan wizard to install the Virtual I/O Server and assign virtual networking and storage resources for the client logical partitions.
Export the system plan	You can use the HMC Web user interface to export a system-plan file from the HMC to one of the following locations: Save the system-plan file to the remote console (the computer from which you remotely access the HMC). Export the system-plan file to media that is mounted to the HMC (such as optical discs or USB drives). Download the system-plan file to a remote FTP site. Note: You can also use the HMC command-line interface to export a system plan.
View the system plan	You can look at the contents of a system-plan file in the HMC by using the System Plan Viewer that is integrated with the HMC. The System Plan Viewer uses a navigation tree and tables to display the information in the system-plan file. It includes features such as dynamic table-column sorting and displaying EADS boundary lines. You can open a system plan in the System Plan Viewer, either by using the View System Plan task or by clicking the name of a system plan. When you start the System Plan Viewer, you must enter your HMC user ID and password before you can view the system plan.
Print the system plan	You can use the System Plan Viewer to print a system plan that you have open in the Viewer. You can print all of the system plan or a portion of the system plan, depending on the current view of the system plan. To print the current view of the system plan, click Print in the Actions pane of the System Plan Viewer.
Delete the system plan	You can delete unnecessary system plans from your HMC.

Optimizing system plan hardware information

The amount of hardware information that the HMC can capture in a new system plan varies based on the method that the HMC uses to gather the hardware information. Setting up your environment to maximize inventory gathering allows the HMC to capture more complete information about the hardware allocated to the partitions on the managed system. For example, the HMC can capture disk drive and tape drive configuration information for an active partition in the new system plan. However, doing so can cause system plan creation to take several more minutes to complete.

There are two methods that the HMC potentially can use:

Inventory gathering, which is available for HMC Version 7 Release 3.1.0 and later
Hardware discovery, which is available for some systems with HMC Version 7 Release 3.2.0 and later

System plan inventory gathering

The HMC always performs inventory gathering to capture detailed information for hardware that has an assignment to an active partition.

Note: Beginning with HMC Version 7.3.2, you can use the hardware discovery process to gather information about hardware assignments for an inactive partition or hardware on a managed system that does not have a partition assignment.

To optimize the amount of and type of hardware information that the inventory-gathering process is able to capture, ensure that you meet the following prerequisites and conditions:

You must set up Resource Monitoring and Control (RMC) prior to creating a system plan. Using RMC ensures that the inventory-gathering process can capture more detailed hardware information. Without RMC, the inventory-gathering process is not able to detect the types of disk drives installed on a managed system.
Note: i5/OS® partitions respond to RMC requests from the HMC by means of the Management Server.
To ensure that Linux® systems and partitions can perform inventory gathering, you must load the IBM® Installation Toolkit for Linux on POWER™, which is available at the IBM Service and productivity tools Web site (http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/lopdiags/installtools/home.html).
You must have the managed system in the 'Standby' state or you must power on the managed system and activate the logical partitions on the managed system before creating the system plan.

Note: It is possible for a partition to have more than one HMC set up to manage it. In this situation, if the partition is an i5/OS partition and you want to use RMC to create a new system plan, ensure that you create the system plan from the primary HMC for the partition because redundant HMCs cannot use RMC.

System plan hardware discovery

In some cases, the HMC Version 7.3.2 can use hardware discovery, in addition to the inventory-gathering process, to capture hardware information for a new system plan. Using hardware discovery, you can capture information about hardware that does not have a partition assignment, as well as hardware with assignments to inactive partitions.

On a system that can use hardware discovery, the hardware discovery process runs whenever the system is powered on in hardware discovery mode. The hardware discovery process writes hardware inventory information to a cache on the system. The hardware inventory cache ensures that a certain amount of hardware information is available on the system when you create a system plan. The HMC can capture the information in the cache for a system plan when partitions are active and the HMC cannot perform fresh hardware discovery on the partition.

Note: It is recommended that you power on the system in hardware discovery mode whenever you add or change hardware on the system.

If the managed system is capable of hardware discovery, the Create System Plan page provides an additional option that you can select to capture a broader range of hardware information for the new system plan. This option, called Retrieve inactive and unallocated hardware resources, allows you to capture hardware configuration information for the managed system, regardless of the state of the hardware.

When you create a system plan and do not select the Retrieve inactive and unallocated hardware resources option, the HMC does not perform hardware discovery. The HMC still performs inventory gathering and retrieves hardware information for any active partitions on the managed server. The resulting new system plan contains hardware information from the inventory-gathering process, as well as hardware information from the hardware inventory cache on the system.

To use the hardware discovery process, ensure that you meet the following prerequisites and conditions:

Available processing capability:: The hardware discovery process requires a minimum .5 processor be available for it to use.

Memory capability:: The hardware discovery process requires a minimum of 256 MB of free memory for it to use.

Partition state:: To maximize the information that the hardware discovery process can capture, partitions on the managed server must be inactive. If a partition is active, the hardware discovery process cannot capture fresh information from the partition and instead retrieves information about the hardware assigned to the inactive partition from the hardware inventory cache on the managed system.

By setting up your system to optimize the hardware information that you capture in a system plan that you create by using the HMC, you ensure that your system plan provides you with the most valuable information possible. It also ensures that you have the most usable configuration information possible when you convert the system plan for use in the System Planning Tool (SPT). The following table describes the type of hardware information that you can expect to see in a system plan that you convert, based on the system management product that you use to create the plan.

Table 2. Type of hardware information available in a system plan that you create in the HMC and convert to use in the SPT
Expected Conversion Results
Partition	HMC version 7 release 3.1.0 and earlier	HMC version 7 release 3.2.0 and later	Integrated Virtualization Manager
i5/OS	Most cards. No disk, tape, CD, SCSI.	More cards. Some disk. No tape, CD, SCSI.	Not applicable.
All other operating systems	Very few cards. No disk, tape, CD, SCSI.	Most cards. Some disk. No tape, CD, SCSI.	Few, if any, cards. No disk, tape, CD, SCSI.

System plan validation

When validating the hardware on the managed system, the HMC compares the following information from the system plan with the hardware available on the managed system:

Processor and memory amounts, including 5250 commercial processing workload (5250 CPW) where applicable
Physical I/O adapter placement

The hardware described in the system plan passes validation if it matches the hardware specified by the managed system. The hardware on the managed system can contain resources in addition to those specified in the system plan and still pass validation, but the hardware on the managed system must at least match the hardware specified in the system plan.

For example, a system plan specifies a server with two processors, 8 GB of memory, and a specific placement of physical I/O adapters within the system unit. A server that contains two processors, 16 GB of memory, a matching placement of physical I/O adapters within the system unit, and an expansion unit with additional physical I/O adapters would allow the system to pass validation. A server that contains 4 GB of memory can cause the system to fail validation. A system plan can also fail validation if the system plan specifies one type of physical I/O adapter in a slot but the actual system unit has a different type of physical I/O adapter in that slot. However, if the system plan specifies an empty slot, validation allows any type of physical I/O adapter to be in that slot on the actual system.

The HMC does not validate the disk drives that are attached to physical I/O adapters against the disk drives specified in the system plan. You must ensure that the disk drives installed in the managed system support your desired logical partition configuration. Embedded devices automatically pass hardware validation because they are embedded into the system and cannot be removed.

If any step fails, validation fails for the existing logical partition. Any existing partition found on the managed system must appear in the system plan and must match the system plan as it appears in the managed system. For example, hardware on the managed system must at least match the hardware specified in the system plan. When validating an existing logical partition, the HMC validates the following items for that logical partition:

Is there a logical partition in the system plan that has the same partition ID as the existing logical partition specified in the machine default configuration?
Does the existing logical partition have partition profiles that match each partition profile specified for the logical partition in the system plan?
Do the partition profiles for the existing logical partitions contain the resources specified in the corresponding partition profiles in the system plan?

For example, if the server has an existing logical partition with a partition ID of 1, the HMC examines the logical partition in the system plan that has a partition ID of 1. If this logical partition exists and has a partition profile that is named SUPPORT, the HMC looks at the existing logical partition to see if it also has a partition profile that is named SUPPORT. If so, the HMC verifies that the resources specified in the SUPPORT partition profile in the system plan are contained in the SUPPORT partition profile in the existing logical partition.

When the HMC validates partition profiles, it compares the following resources in the partition profiles:

Processor and memory amounts, including 5250 commercial processing workload (5250 CPW) where applicable
Physical I/O slot assignments

The following examples illustrate how the HMC compares resources in the partition profiles during the validation process to determine whether the system plan is valid for a managed system:

If the SUPPORT partition profile in the system plan specifies 2 GB of memory and the SUPPORT partition profile for the existing logical partition specifies 3 GB of memory, the amount of memory is valid.
If the SUPPORT partition profile in the system plan specifies 4 GB of memory and the SUPPORT partition profile for the existing logical partition specifies 3 GB of memory, the amount of memory is not valid.
If physical I/O slot P1 is assigned to the SUPPORT partition profile in the system plan but not to the SUPPORT partition profile for the existing logical partition, the physical slot assignment is not valid.
If physical I/O slot P2 is not assigned to the SUPPORT partition profile in the system plan, it does not matter whether slot P2 is assigned to the SUPPORT partition profile for the existing logical partition.

If the system plan contains installation information for the Virtual I/O Server, you can use the Deploy System Plan wizard to install the Virtual I/O Server and to set up virtual networking and storage resources for the client logical partitions of the Virtual I/O Server.

Note: The HMC cannot install AIX® or Linux or i5/OS operating environments on logical partitions.