Virtually converted to AIX 7 I just did my first migration of an LPAR to AIX 7.1. I chose to migrate my AIX 6.

1 NIM server. I first downloaded AIX 7.1 from the Entitled Software Support web site. I copied the two ISO images to the Virtual Media Library on the VIO server, and I broadly followed the procedure outlined by my compatriot Chris Gibson in his article AIX Migration with File-Backed VIOS Devices. I gave the two ISO images shorter names when I copied them into /var/vio/VMLibrary. You can also rename them using the VIO server mkvopt or chvopt commands. The fine print All up, the migration took about 35 minutes from the SMS menus to the login prompt following the reboot. I migrated from AIX 6.1 on a virtualised LPAR (no dedicated physical adapters) and there were 555 filesets to install. Most of my time was spent speed reading copyright notices. Hardware requirements Given my reluctance to open data centre doors, and the fact that it's spring in Sydney so I didn't bring my winter woollies with me, I decided to do it all from the comfort of my desk. Here is the list of hardware I was in physical contact with: a keyboard a mouse a chair a coffee cup

df shows free space (see update below) After the reboot, I noticed a small but significant change to the df command in AIX 7. It now displays free space by default, without

using the -I flag. I still like to have the sizes in Gigabytes, so I used df -g # df -g Filesystem GB blocks Free %Used Iused %Iused Mounted on /dev/hd4 0.38 0.17 55% 10177 18% / /dev/hd2 2.00 0.32 84% 41293 30% /usr /dev/hd9var 0.56 0.22 62% 12238 17% /var /dev/hd3 1.06 1.06 1% 69 1% /tmp /dev/hd1 0.06 0.06 1% 13 1% /home /dev/hd11admin 0.12 0.12 1% 5 1% /admin /proc - - - /proc /dev/hd10opt 4.94 1.34 73% 98194 20% /opt /dev/livedump 0.25 0.25 1% 4 1% /var/adm/ras/livedump /dev/fslv01 0.12 0.04 65% 13 1% /tftpboot /dev/eznim 16.00 5.74 65% 64201 5% /export/eznim

Update: The default output of the df command hasn't changed from AIX 6 to AIX 7. It just took me to do a migration to notice! AIX 7 migration - a positive experience

It was a very straightforward migration with no surprises, apart from some warnings about missing filesets to do with virtual devices. I ignored them and they went away (the warnings, not the devices). I am tempted to use the VM Library rather than NIM for the other LPARs I have to do, as most of the LPARs are on the one physical server and are clients of the same VIO server.

AIX Migration with File-Backed VIOS Devices.

Chris Gibson

In this scenario, I migrated an LPAR running AIX 5.3 TL7 SP3 to AIX 6.1. The migration was performed using ISO images located in the virtual media library on the VIOS. SAP/Oracle were installed on this system. The physical hardware was a JS22 blade running VIOS/IVM. - Create an "iso" image of the AIX 6.1 DVD Install Media. This was done via a virtual CD, exported from a VIOS. # dd if=/dev/cd0 of=/cg/AIX61DVD1.iso bs=1m # dd if=/dev/cd0 of=/cg/AIX61DVD2.iso bs=1m - Create the media library on the VIOS (IVM).

Filesystem 512-blocks Free %Used Iused %Iused Mounted on /dev/hd4 524288 461952 12% 2528 5% / /dev/hd2 8912896 1991904 78% 72364 24% /usr /dev/hd9var 1572864 1308448 17% 524 1% /var /dev/hd3 4718592 4598456 3% 227 1% /tmp /dev/fwdump 1572864 1571960 1% 5 1% /var/adm/ras/platform /dev/hd1 20971520 20942600 1% 57 1% /home /proc - - - - - /proc /dev/hd10opt 4718592 3290232 31% 11253 3% /opt /dev/VMLibrary_LV 10485760 10442544 1% 4 1% /var/vio/VMLibrary - Copy the images to the media library on the VIOS. # set -o vi # cd /var/vio/VMLibrary # ls -ltr total 0 drwxr-xr-x 2 root system 256 Dec 03 11:08 lost+found # pwd /var/vio/VMLibrary

# df -g . Filesystem GB blocks Free %Used Iused %Iused Mounted on /dev/VMLibrary_LV 5.00 4.98 1% 4 1% /var/vio/VMLibrary # scp 10.3.73.89:/cg/AIX61DVD1.iso . AIX61DVD1.iso 100% 3679MB 16.4MB/s 03:44 # ls -ltr total 8949056 drwxr-xr-x 2 root system 256 Dec 03 11:08 lost+found -rw-r--r-- 1 root staff 3857645568 Dec 04 08:53 AIX61_DVD_1.iso -rw-r--r-- 1 root staff 724271104 Dec 04 10:09 AIX61_DVD_2.iso - List the contents of the media repository. $ lsrep Size(mb) Free(mb) Parent Pool Parent Size Parent Free 5099 729 rootvg 139776 110592 Name File Size Optical Access AIX61_DVD_1.iso 3679 vtopt0 rw AIX61_DVD_2.iso 691 None rw - Map a virtual optical device to the client LPAR. $ mkvdev -fbo -vadapter vhost0 vtopt0 Available $ lsmap -all SVSA Physloc Client Partition ID --------------- -------------------------------------------- ----------------vhost0 U7998.61X.10071DA-V1-C11 0x00000003 VTD vtopt0 Status Available LUN 0x8400000000000000 Backing device Physloc VTD vtscsi0 Status Available LUN 0x8200000000000000 Backing device hdisk1 Physloc U78A5.001.WIH076E-P1-C6-T2-W500507630608059A-L4000402D00000000 VTD vtscsi1 Status Available LUN 0x8300000000000000 Backing device hdisk2 Physloc U78A5.001.WIH076E-P1-C6-T2-W500507630608059A-L4001402D00000000 VTD vtscsi2 Status Available LUN 0x8100000000000000 Backing device hdisk3

Physloc U78A5.001.WIH076E-P1-C6-T2-W500507630608059A-L4000402E00000000 - Load the image into the vtopt0 device. $ loadopt -vtd vtopt0 -disk AIX61_DVD_1.iso - If prompted for disk 2, load the second image to vtopt0. $ loadopt -f -vtd vtopt0 -disk AIX61_DVD_2.iso $ lsmap -all SVSA Physloc Client Partition ID --------------- -------------------------------------------- ----------------vhost0 U7998.61X.10071DA-V1-C11 0x00000003 VTD vtopt0 Status Available LUN 0x8400000000000000 Backing device /var/vio/VMLibrary/AIX61_DVD_1.iso Physloc VTD vtscsi0 Status Available LUN 0x8200000000000000 Backing device hdisk1 Physloc U78A5.001.WIH076E-P1-C6-T2-W500507630608059A-L4000402D00000000 VTD vtscsi1 Status Available LUN 0x8300000000000000 Backing device hdisk2 Physloc U78A5.001.WIH076E-P1-C6-T2-W500507630608059A-L4001402D00000000 VTD vtscsi2 Status Available LUN 0x8100000000000000 Backing device hdisk3 Physloc U78A5.001.WIH076E-P1-C6-T2-W500507630608059A-L4000402E00000000 - Start the AIX migration. Boot from SCSI CD. Migrate AIX as normal.

- If prompted for disk 2, load the second image to vtopt0. $ loadopt -f -vtd vtopt0 -disk AIX61_DVD_2.iso