System information

Chapter 13. Virtual Partition Manager 397
When you exceed the allocation of five virtual I/O slots, the partition hypervisor sends a
command to allocate more virtual I/O slots. At this point, it just gets everything it will ever
need. Therefore, once you go beyond the eight available virtual I/O slots, the system sets
itself up to use all of the available virtual I/O slots and enables them during the next IPL.
Hence, notice that when you define more than one Linux partition — and enable a couple of
virtual Ethernet LANs — the Partition Configuration Screen shows you that you need to IPL
your system to implement the changes.
Note that once you get all of the allocations you need, even if you remove the LPARs or
delete them, the system does not reset the virtual I/O slot count.
In summary, notice that during Linux partition creation, you need an IPL of the system to
activate the changes in virtual I/O slots. This is only required once, and its best to perform it
during the initial set up of your LPARs.
13.5 Creating Linux partitions using Virtual Partition Manager
This chapter provides step by step instructions for creating a Linux partition on eServer i5
system using the Virtual Partition Manager, after you have removed resources from the i5/OS
partition.
13.5.1 Defining new Linux partitions
1. From the Work with System Partitions display, take option 5. Create a new partition
as shown in Figure 13-14.
Figure 13-14 Work with System Partitions