Providing logical partition (LPAR) failover with live migration

This section describes how to create a profile file and use the ProfileFile attribute to automate LPAR profile creation on failback after migration.

For more information on manage the LPAR profile on source system after migration:

See Live partition mobility of managed LPARs.

Live migration of a managed LPAR deletes the LPAR profile and mappings of adapters from VIO servers from the source physical server. Without the LPAR configuration and VIOS adapter mappings of the physical server the LPAR cannot be brought online or failed over to the Cluster Server (VCS) node from which it has been migrated.

If an LPAR is to be made highly available, the LPAR profile file must be created using the steps provided below on all the VCS nodes on which the LPAR is to be made highly available. The VIO server names for an LPAR are different for each physical server and the adapter ids for the LPAR on each of the physical servers also might be different, therefore the profile file must be created for each of the VCS nodes separately.

When bringing an LPAR online on another node, VCS performs the following actions:

The ProfileFile attribute is used to specify path of LPAR profile file.If the ProfileFile attribute for a VCS node is configured and the RemoveProfileOnOffline attribute is set to 1, VCS performs the following on offline or clean:

For more information on attributes RemoveProfileOnOffline and ProfileFile, see the Cluster Server Bundled Agent Reference Guide.

To create the profile file for an LPAR

  1. Run the following command on HMC:
    $ lssyscfg -r lpar -m physical-server-name --filter \
    lpar_names=managed-lpar-name
  2. From the output of above command, select the following fields in key-value pairs:
    name,lpar_id,lpar_env,work_group_id,shared_proc_pool_util_auth,\
    allow_perf_collection,power_ctrl_lpar_ids,boot_mode,auto_start,\
    redundant_err_path_reporting,time_ref,lpar_avail_priority,\
    suspend_capable,remote_restart_capable,affinity_group_id --header

    Delete the remaining attributes and their values.

  3. The remaining attributes are obtained from any profile associated with the managed LPAR.The name of the profile which you want to create is managed-lpar-profile-name.

    Run the following command on HMC to get the remaining attribute.

    $ lssyscfg -r prof -m physical-server-name --filter \
    lpar_names=managed-lpar-name,profile_names=managed-lpar-profile-name
    

    From the output of above command, select the following fields in key-value pairs:

    name,all_resources,min_mem,desired_mem,max_mem,mem_mode,\
    mem_expansion,hpt_ratio,proc_mode,min_procs,desired_procs,max_procs,\
    sharing_mode,io_slots,lpar_io_pool_ids,max_virtual_slots,\
    virtual_serial_adapters,virtual_scsi_adapters,virtual_eth_adapters,\
    vtpm_adapters,virtual_fc_adapters,hca_adapters,conn_monitoring,\
    auto_start,power_ctrl_lpar_ids,work_group_id,bsr_arrays,\
    lhea_logical_ports,lhea_capabilities,lpar_proc_compat_mode
  4. Rename the name attribute in the above output to profile_name.
  5. Concatenate outputs from 1 and 3 with a comma and write it in a single line to a text file. This is the configuration file required for VCS to create or delete LPAR configuration. The absolute path of this file should be given in ProfileFile attribute.

Note:

If an error occurs while creating a partition from the LPAR profile file, make sure that all the missing attributes are populated in the profile data file. For more information on the error, see the LPAR_A.log file.

Following example procedure illustrates the profile file generation for lpar05 which is running on physical_server_01. The LPAR resource which monitors lpar05 LPAR is lpar05_resource. The VCS node that manages the lpar05_resource on physical server physical_server_01 is lpar101 and on physical_server_02 is lpar201.

To generate a file profile for lpar05 on on physical_server_01

  1. To get the LPAR details from the HMC, enter:
    $ lssyscfg -r lpar -m physical_server_01 --filter \
    lpar_names=lpar05

    The output of this command is the following:

    name=lpar05,lpar_id=15,lpar_env=aixlinux,state=Running,\
    resource_config=1,os_version=AIX 7.1 7100-00-00-0000,\
    logical_serial_num=06C3A0PF,default_profile=lpar05,\
    curr_profile=lpar05,work_group_id=none,\
    shared_proc_pool_util_auth=0,allow_perf_collection=0,\
    power_ctrl_lpar_ids=none,boot_mode=norm,lpar_keylock=norm,\
    auto_start=0,redundant_err_path_reporting=0,\
    rmc_state=inactive,rmc_ipaddr=10.207.111.93,time_ref=0,\
    lpar_avail_priority=127,desired_lpar_proc_compat_mode=default,\
    curr_lpar_proc_compat_mode=POWER7,suspend_capable=0,\
    remote_restart_capable=0,affinity_group_id=none
  2. Select the output fields as explained in the procedure above.

    See “To create the profile file for an LPAR”.

    The key value pairs are the following:

    name=lpar05,lpar_id=15,lpar_env=aixlinux,work_group_id=none,\
    shared_proc_pool_util_auth=0,allow_perf_collection=0,\
    power_ctrl_lpar_ids=none,boot_mode=norm,auto_start=0,\
    redundant_err_path_reporting=0,time_ref=0,lpar_avail_priority=127,\
    suspend_capable=0,remote_restart_capable=0
  3. To get the profile details from the HMC, enter:
    $ lssyscfg -r lpar -m physical_server_01 --filter \
    lpar_names=lpar05,profile_names=lpar05

    The output of this command is the following:

    name=lpar05,lpar_name=lpar05,lpar_id=15,lpar_env=aixlinux,\
    all_resources=0,min_mem=512,desired_mem=2048,max_mem=4096,\
    min_num_huge_pages=null,desired_num_huge_pages=null,\
    max_num_huge_pages=null,mem_mode=ded,mem_expansion=0.0,\
    hpt_ratio=1:64,proc_mode=ded,min_procs=1,desired_procs=1,\
    max_procs=1,sharing_mode=share_idle_procs,\
    affinity_group_id=none,io_slots=none,lpar_io_pool_ids=none,\
    max_virtual_slots=1000,\
    "virtual_serial_adapters=0/server/1/any//any/1,\
    1/server/1/any//any/1",\
    "virtual_scsi_adapters=304/client/2/vio_server1/4/1,\
    404/client/3/vio_server2/6/1",\
    "virtual_eth_adapters=10/0/1//0/0/ETHERNET0//all/none,\
    11/0/97//0/0/ETHERNET0//all/none,\
    12/0/98//0/0/ETHERNET0//all/none",vtpm_adapters=none,\
    "virtual_fc_adapters=""504/client/2/vio_server1/8/c050760431670010,\
    c050760431670011/1"",""604/client/3/vio_server2/5/c050760431670012,\
    c050760431670013/1""",hca_adapters=none,boot_mode=norm,\
    conn_monitoring=1,auto_start=0,power_ctrl_lpar_ids=none,\
    work_group_id=none,redundant_err_path_reporting=null,bsr_arrays=0,\
    lhea_logical_ports=none,lhea_capabilities=none,\
    lpar_proc_compat_mode=default,electronic_err_reporting=null
  4. After selection of the fields and renaming name to profile_name, the output is as follows:
    profile_name=lpar05,all_resources=0,min_mem=512,desired_mem=2048,\
    max_mem=4096,mem_mode=ded,mem_expansion=0.0,hpt_ratio=1:64,\
    proc_mode=ded,min_procs=1,desired_procs=1,max_procs=1,\
    sharing_mode=share_idle_procs,affinity_group_id=none,io_slots=none,\
    lpar_io_pool_ids=none,max_virtual_slots=1000,\
    "virtual_serial_adapters=0/server/1/any//any/1,1/server/1/any//any/1",\
    "virtual_scsi_adapters=304/client/2/vio_server1/4/1,\
    404/client/3/vio_server2/6/1",\
    "virtual_eth_adapters=10/0/1//0/0/ETHERNET0//all/none,\
    11/0/97//0/0/ETHERNET0//all/none,\
    12/0/98//0/0/ETHERNET0//all/none",vtpm_adapters=none,\
    "virtual_fc_adapters=""504/client/2/vio_server1/8/c050760431670010,\
    c050760431670011/1"",""604/client/3/vio_server2/5/c050760431670012,\
    c050760431670013/1""",hca_adapters=none,\
    boot_mode=norm,conn_monitoring=1,auto_start=0,\
    power_ctrl_lpar_ids=none,work_group_id=none,bsr_arrays=0,\
    lhea_logical_ports=none,lhea_capabilities=none,\
    lpar_proc_compat_mode=default
  5. Concatenate these two outputs with comma, which is as follows:
    name=lpar05,lpar_id=15,lpar_env=aixlinux,work_group_id=none,\
    shared_proc_pool_util_auth=0,allow_perf_collection=0,\
    power_ctrl_lpar_ids=none,boot_mode=norm,auto_start=0,\
    redundant_err_path_reporting=0,time_ref=0,lpar_avail_priority=127,\
    suspend_capable=0,remote_restart_capable=0,profile_name=lpar05,\
    all_resources=0,min_mem=512,desired_mem=2048,max_mem=4096,\
    mem_mode=ded,mem_expansion=0.0,hpt_ratio=1:64,proc_mode=ded,\
    min_procs=1,desired_procs=1,max_procs=1,sharing_mode=share_idle_procs,\
    affinity_group_id=none,io_slots=none,lpar_io_pool_ids=none,\
    max_virtual_slots=1000,"virtual_serial_adapters=0/server/1/any//any/1,\
    1/server/1/any//any/1",\
    "virtual_scsi_adapters=304/client/2/vio_server1/4/1,\
    404/client/3/vio_server2/6/1",\
    "virtual_eth_adapters=10/0/1//0/0/ETHERNET0//all/none,\
    11/0/97//0/0/ETHERNET0//all/none,12/0/98//0/0/ETHERNET0//all/none",\
    vtpm_adapters=none,\
    "virtual_fc_adapters=""504/client/2/vio_server1/8/c050760431670010,\
    c050760431670011/1"",""604/client/3/vio_server2/5/c050760431670012,\
    c050760431670013/1""",hca_adapters=none,boot_mode=norm,\
    conn_monitoring=1,auto_start=0,power_ctrl_lpar_ids=none,\
    work_group_id=none,bsr_arrays=0,lhea_logical_ports=none,\
    lhea_capabilities=none,lpar_proc_compat_mode=default
  6. Write this output to a text file. Assuming that the absolute location of profile file thus generated on lpar101 is /configfile/lpar05_on_physical_server_01.cfg, execute the following commands to configure the profile file in VCS.
    $ hares -local lpar05_res ProfileFile 
    $ hares -modify lpar05_res ProfileFile \
    /configfile/lpar05_on_physical_server_01 -sys lpar101
  7. Repeat steps 1-6 to create the profie file for lpar05 for physical_server02.