Datasheet

LUNs available in VIOS can then be linked to the new vhostX device through vtscsiX devices,

making them available to IBM i.

Prior to May 2009, creating vtscsiX devices and thus virtualizing open storage LUNs to IBM i was

necessarily a task performed only on the IVM/VIOS command line when the server was HMC-

managed. When the server is IVM-managed, assignment of virtual resources is performed using

the IVM browser-based interface for the first 16 devices for a client partition. However, the HMC

interface has been significantly enhanced, including support for assigning vtscsi devices to

multiple VSCSI adapters. This support became available on HMC firmware Version V7.7.3.x.

For HMC/SDMC provisioning of VIOS storage to work, the VIOS LPAR must have an active

Resource Monitoring and Control (RMC) connection to the HMC. The same connection is

required for performing dynamic LPAR (DLPAR) changes to the VIOS LPAR and it generally

involves successful TCP/IP communication between the LPAR and the HMC. If the HMC

displays an RMC error while attempting VIOS storage provisioning, refer to this document:

http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1012915

If the storage configuration is performed while VIOS is down or not yet installed, new storage will

be discovered upon boot and the HMC can then be used to assign the correct LUNs to IBM i. If

storage changes are made while VIOS and IBM i are running, it will still be necessary to use

Telnet or PuTTy to VIOS and run the cfgdev command to discover newly added storage prior to

using the HMC for assigning it to IBM i.

5.3.1 VSCSI adapter configuration using IVM

VIOS providing storage to an IBM i client LPAR uses an existing function of the system firmware,

or POWER Hypervisor: the capability to create VSCSI and Ethernet adapters in a partition.

Virtual adapters are created for each LPAR in the HMC/SDMC. VSCSI adapters are used for

storage and optical virtualization.

Using IVM for LPAR and virtualization management mandates using only virtual resources for

IBM i partitions. However, IVM provides the benefit of automatically creating VSCSI server (in

VIOS) and client adapters (in IBM i) as virtual disk, optical and tape resources are assigned to

IBM i. For more information on LPAR management with IVM, refer to the IVM topic in the

PowerVM Editions Guide, available at:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/scope/hw/index.jsp?topic=/arecu/arecukickoff.ht

Note that IVM will automatically create only the first pair of VSCSI server and client adapters

when disk and optical resources are virtualized to IBM i. Additional adapter pairs must be created

by using the IVM command line, available through a Telnet or Secure Shell (SSH) session to

VIOS. Refer to the VIOS topic in the PowerVM Editions Guide for more information on using the

IVM/VIOS command line. IVM will automatically create a new VSCSI adapter pair for each tape

resource assigned to IBM i.

HMC and SDMC offer interfaces to manually create virtual adapters and does not create them by

default as IVM does. Please see the following sections for more details.

As discussed above, IVM creates a pair of VSCSI server and client adapters as you map disks,

tapes or optical devices through the browser interface to an IBM i partition. Additional adapter

pairs have to be created using the VIOS command line interface (CLI).

5.3.2 Creating multiple Virtual SCSI adapters using the VIOS CLI

To create additional Virtual SCSI client adapters under IVM, you must use the VIOS command

line: