Add Adapter to Running Etherchannel

First we want to make sure that the adapter we want to add does not have an ip address on it. If so we need to remove the ip configuration from it and then we can add it to our etherchannel.

Lets say we have an etherchannel ent5 for example and it already has ent1 and ent3 as primary adapters. You want to add ent0 as a primary adapter as well. Here is what we would do first.

smitty etherchannel




select your etherchannel --> in our example it would be ent5

Next your given a screen like this:



You will scroll down to Add Main Adapter

hit f4 to display your adapters



select the adapter you want to add --> in our example ent0

hit enter when done
It will then display if it failed or if succeeded.

Now to verify that it was added to your etherchannel you can do the following command:

lsattr -El ent5
The first line you see will show the adapters that are setup as primary adapters:



adapter_names ent0,ent1,ent3 EtherChannel Adapters True

 

Importance of chpv -c and -C

# chpv -c hdisk# : Command to clear the bootimage on the disk.

# chpv -C hdisk# :  Command to clear the owning Logical Volume Manager from the disk .

Situation:

The mkvg command fails with errors similar to: mkvg -f VGName hdiskpower18
0516-1376 mkvg: Physical volume contains a VERITAS volume group.
0516-1397 mkvg: The physical volume hdiskpower18, will not be added to the volume group.
0516-862 mkvg: Unable to create volume group.

Solution:


# chpv -C hdiskpower18 and execute the # mkvg command...

Finding the WWN on a FC Adapter

# lscfg -vl fcs0
fcs0 U789D.001.DQD51D7-P1-C1-T1 4Gb FC PCI Express Adapter (df1000fe)
Alternatively one may use the fcstat command:
# fcstat fcs0
FIBRE CHANNEL STATISTICS REPORT: fcs0
Device Type: FC Adapter (adapter/pciex/df1000fe)
Serial Number: 1F8240C89D
Option ROM Version: 02E8277F
Firmware Version: Z1D2.70A5
World Wide Node Name: 0x20000000C97710F3
World Wide Port Name: 0x10000000C97710F3

Create and Remove Alias

# ifconfig en0 192.168.1.100 netmask 255.255.255.0 alias : Command to set alias for an interface (Temporarily).

# ifconfig en0 192.168.1.100 netmask 255.255.255.0 delete : Command to remove an alias.

# chdev -l en0 -a alias4=192.168.1.100,255.255.255.0 : Command to set alias permanently.

# chdev -l en0 -a delalias4=192.168.1.100,255.255.255.0 : Command to remove alias permanently.

# lsattr -EHl en0 : Command to view the alias set for an interface.

Problem:

Tried to remove an IP alias on en0, but failed.

# chdev -l en0 -a delalias4=192.168.1.100,255.255.254.0 Method error (/usr/lib/methods/chgif): 0514-009 Cannot delete an object from the device configuration database. 0821-232 chgif: Cannot delete alias6 (192.168.1.100) from CuAt.

Solution:

Check the alias IP and netmask which has been set for the interface.

# lsattr -El en0 -a  alias4|grep 192.168.1.100
alias4 192.168.1.100,255.255.255.0  IPv4 Alias including Subnet Mask True

Enter the correct netmask, now it works:

# chdev -l en0 -a delalias4=192.168.1.100,255.255.255.0
en0 changed

I need to add or remove processors, memory, or I/O devices from an LPAR using the HMC. Its not working and I would like to know why ?

Cause

Most likely, the cause is a broken RMC connection between the HMC and the LPAR

Answer

Starting point for troubleshooting problems with Dynamic Logical Partitioning.
The procedures listed below apply to Power4, Power5, & Power6 HMCs

The most common reason is broken RMC connection between the HMC and the LPAR.

The first place to check is the HMC using queries within the HMC restricted shell command prompt.

# lspartition -dlpar

If you get no output at all, then there is an RMC problem affecting all lpars attached to this particular HMC. A good thing to do if this happens is to close all Serviceable Events (under Service Focal Point) and reboot the HMC

# hmcshutdown -r -t now

Once the HMC reboots, wait about 15 minutes and re-run

# lspartition -dlpar

If still no output, then you should probably open a call with tech support.

In order for RMC to work, port 657 upd/tcp most be open in both directions between the HMC public interface and the lpar.

Look for the partition in question. In order for dlpar to function,
the partition must be returned, the partition must return with the correct IP of the lpar. Also, the active value must be higher than zero, and the decaps value must be higher 0x0

Example of a working lpar

<#1> Partition:<11*9117-570*10XXXX, correct_hostname.domain, correct_ip>
Active:<1>, OS:<AIX, 5.3, 5.3>, DCaps:<0x3f>, CmdCaps:<0xb, 0xb>, PinnedMem:<146>

Example of non-working lpar

<#9> Partition:<10*9117-570*10XXXX, hostname, ip>
Active:<0>, OS:<, , >, DCaps:<0x0>, CmdCaps:<0x0, 0x0>, PinnedMem:<0>

There are too many reasons as to why the RMC connection is broken to list in one document. However, if you see the condition in the 2nd example (and dlpar is working for other lpars on this HMC) then the next step is to check the RMC status from the lpar (AIX root access will be needed).

lssrc -a | grep rsct
ctcas rsct inoperative
ctrmc rsct inoperative
IBM.ERRM rsct_rm inoperative
IBM.HostRM rsct_rm inoperative
IBM.ServiceRM rsct_rm inoperative
IBM.CSMAgentRM rsct_rm inoperative
IBM.DRM rsct_rm inoperative
IBM.AuditRM rsct_rm inoperative
IBM.LPRM rsct_rm inoperative


Here we see that all the rsct daemons are inoperative. In many cases, you will see some active and some missing. The key for dynamic logical partitioning is that IBM.DRM



This is the correct method to stop and start RMC without erasing the configuration.

# /usr/sbin/rsct/bin/rmcctrl -z
# /usr/sbin/rsct/bin/rmcctrl -A
# /usr/sbin/rsct/bin/rmcctrl -p

Now repeat

# lssrc -a | grep rsct
Is IBM.DRM active now? If so, there is a pretty good chance the problem is resolved.

Go back to the HMC restricted shell command prompt

# lspartition -dlpar
Now the partition shows correct hostname & IP
Active<1> and Decaps value 0x3f

The values mean the partition is capable of a dlpar operation.

*** Other notes *** an lpar cloned from a mksysb may still have the
RMC config from the mksysb source. In this case, you may see IBM.DRM active, but if it does not return after running the three rmcctrl commands listed above, then they were never really active.

****Using the recfgct command*****

recfgct deletes the RMC database, does a discovery, and recreates the RMC configuration.

In nearly all cases, recfgct is safe to run on a production system. There are just a few cases where you would not use recfgct, and those are if the LPAR is a CSM Management Server or the LPAR has RMC Virtual Shared Disks (VSDs). VSDs are usually only found in very large GPFS clusters. If you are using VSDs, then these filesets would be installed on your AIX system: rsct.vsd.cmds, rsct.vsd.rvsd, rsct.vsd.vsdd, and
rsct.vsd.vsdrm

# lslpp -L | grep vsd
If no output, then you are not using VSDs

The other rarely used application that can be interrupted by recfgct, but without significant consequences, is if the node is a CSM Manager node or CSM client node. All AIX lpars should have these filesets
# lslpp -L | grep csm
csm.client 1.7.0.10 C F Cluster Systems Management
csm.core 1.7.0.10 C F Cluster Systems Management
csm.deploy 1.7.0.10 C F Cluster Systems Management
csm.diagnostics 1.7.0.10 C F Cluster Systems Management
csm.dsh 1.7.0.10 C F Cluster Systems Management Dsh
csm.gui.dcem 1.7.0.10 C F Distributed Command Execution

If you have additional filesets that start with csm, such as csm.server, csm.hpsnm, csm.ll, csm.gpfs, then you may have an LPAR that is part of a larger CSM cluster. The csm.server fileset should only be installed on a CSM Management Server. Following details a few additional checks you can perform to see if you have a Management Server configured.


# csmconfig -L ---> csmconfig not found, this is not a csm server
# lsrsrc IBM.ManagementServer
This will list resources that manage the lpar, including the HMC
and/or a csm server
Look at the Manager Type field
Manager Type = CSM --- this is a csm node

So if it turns out your node is a csm manager, then you would have to re-add all the nodes. If the system was a csm client node, then you would need to get onto the manager server and re-add the node.

Thats it for the warnings on recfgct. If you think you might be using VSDs and/or a CSM cluster, but are not sure, then please open a pmr and support can assist in you in determining this.

Assuming you have not reason to be concerned about the warning discussed above, then proceed.

# /usr/sbin/rsct/install/bin/recfgct

Wait several minutes

# lssrc -a | grep rsct
If you see IBM.DRM active, then you have probably resolved the issue

# lsrsrc IBM.ManagementServer

Do you see?
ManagerType=HMC

Try the dlpar operation again. If it fails, then you will likely need
to open a software PMR.

The other main reason for a dlpar failure is that the lpar has reached its minimum or maximum (on processors or memory)

Note. The partition profile does not give a true picture of the current
running configuration. If the profile was edited, but the partition did not go down into a "not activated" state, then reactivated, then the profile edits have not been read.

To check the current "running configuration" check the Partition Properties instead of the profile properties. You will see the min, max, & current. You can not remove or add processors and memory that are not within these boundaries. The command to check the running properties from the HMC restricted shell listed here

# lssyscfg -r sys -F name
(you need the value of name for use with the -m flag on many HMC commands)

# lshwres -r proc -m <server_name> --level lpar
(this list just the lpars settings)
# lshwres -r proc -m <server_name> --level sys
(this list the entire servers memory settings)

If you are checking for memory, replace "proc" in the above commands with "mem"

DLPAR can fail for many reasons, and it may be necessary to contact Remote Technical Support. However, the above may solve your problem.

IBM AIX_Interview_Questions_Part II

1) What is the port number used by HMC to communicate with the LPAR?

443

2) What is the port number for Telnet, FTP, SSH, RMC and NFS ?

FTP : 21
SSH : 22
Telnet : 23
RMC : 657
NFS: 111

3) What is the command to check NFS Exported file systems?

# showmount -e localhost

4) What is the command to view firewall settings in VIOS ?

$ viosecure firewall -view

5) What is RSCT ?

Reliable, Scalable and Clustering Technology.

6) What is the command to issue hardware failure in AIX to test cluster ?

# halt -q

7) How to re-read the /etc/inittab ?

# telinit q

8) 2 Types of IPAT in Hacmp  ?

* IPAT by Aliases
* IPAT by Replacement.

9) Command to set temp alias?

# ifconfig interface <IP Address> netmask <Netmask> alias

10) Command to set perm alias?

# chdev -l en0 -a alias=<IP Address>,<Netmask>

10) Command to remove alias ?

# ifconfig interface <IP Address> netmask <Netmask> delete

11) Command to list the PCI slots ?

# lsslot -c pci# -a

12) Command to find the parent adapter for a hdisk# ?

# lsdev -Cl hdisk # -F parent

13) Command to list the child devices ?

# lsdev -p pci0

14) Command to take backup of OS ?

# mksysb -vipeX /dev/rmt0

15) Command to view routing table?

# netstat -r

AIX Performance Monitoring Commands

# sar : System Activity Report.
# vmstat : Virtual Memory Monitoring
# iostat : I/O Monitoring.
# lparstat : LPAR Statistics.
# mpstat : LPAR Statistics.
# netstat : Network Traffic Monitoring.
# topas : Global System Monitoring Tool.
# ps auxwww : View process details via CPU and Memory Consumption.
# filemon : Monitor filesystem.
# fileplace : Monitor filesystem.
# entstat : Interface Statistics.
# monhmc : Monitor HMC.

Add a Removable Media Drive

The following procedure uses SMIT to add a CD-ROM drive to your system. Other types of removable media drives are added using different fast paths but all follow the same general procedure. You can also add a removable media drive using Web-based System Manager, the Configuration Manager, or the mkdev command.

1. To add a CD-ROM drive to your system, install the hardware according to the documentation that came with your system.
2. With root authority, type the following SMIT fast path:

   smit makcdr

3. In the next screen, select the drive type from the available list of supported drives.
4. In the next screen, select the parent adapter from the available list.
5. In the next screen, at minimum, select the connection address from the available list. You can also use this screen to select other options. When you are finished, press Enter, and then SMIT adds the new CD-ROM drive.

At this point, the new CD-ROM drive is recognized by your system. To add a read/write optical drive, use the smit makomd fast path. To add a tape drive, use the smit maktpe fast path.

Replace a Failed Physical Volume in a Mirrored Volume Group

The following scenario replaces a failed or failing disk associated with a physical volume within a mirrored volume group. In the instructions, you use the Configuration Manager to configure the new disk (named hdisk10), and then use the replacepv command to replace a physical volume in a mirrored volume group that resides, at least in part, on a failed disk drive (named hdisk02) without losing the physical volume's contents. You do not need to reboot or schedule downtime to complete the following procedure.

1. Select a new disk drive that has a capacity at least as large as the failed disk.
2. With root authority, run the Configuration Manager to configure the new disk. Type the following on the command line:

   cfgmgr -l hdisk10

   The -l flag allows you to configure only the specified device and any "child" devices. Without this flag, the cfgmgr command runs Configuration Manager against the entire system.
3. Replace the physical volume so it can begin using the new disk, using the following command:
   Note:
   If the mirror for the logical volume is stale, the replacepv command does not work correctly.

   replacepv hdisk02 hdisk10

4. When the associated mirrored volume group is the rootvg, you must also run the following commands to clear the failed disk from and add the new disk to the boot image:

   chpv -c hdisk02
   bootlist hdisk10
   bosboot -a

   The chpv -c command clears hdisk02 from the boot image. The bootlist command adds hdisk10 to the list of possible boot devices from which the system can be booted. The bosboot -a command creates a complete boot image on the default boot logical volume.

At this point, the physical volume hdisk02 now maps to the newly configured hdisk10.

Demons that support DLPAR Operations

The following demons have to be in active state to perform DLPAR Operations on the AIX Client.

SubSystems             Groups           
----------                 --------

ctrmc                         rsct 
ctcas                          rsct
IBM.HostRM              rsct_rm
IBM.DRM                  rsct_rm     
IBM.ServiceRM         rsct_rm
IBM.CSMAgentRM      rsct_rm

VIOS Command Related to Networking

$ cfgassist : Menu Driven Utility to Configure TCP/IP Settings.

$ lstcpip -hostname : To view the hostname.

$ lstcpip -adapters : To view Configured Adapters.

$ lstcpip -stored   : To view TCP/IP Configurations.

$ lstcpip -routtable : To view Routing Table.

$ lstcpip -ent4sea  : To view the Physical Adapters to create SEA.

$ lstcpip -vensea : To view the Virtual Adapters to built SEA.

$ lstcpip -ent4ip : To view the interface upon which IP Address can be assigned.

$ lstcpip -sockets : To view all the open sockets

What is T-Factor?

The below post should give an idea about the T-Factor in IBM AIX Physical Volume.

According AIX Redbook, Its noted that a Physical Volume contains 1016 Physical Partitions (PP) and the default size of a Physical Partition is 4MB.

We come across the T-Factor Problem, When we try to extend a Volume Group with the new Physical Volume.

When your Volume Group cannot accommodate for any new PP by the process of extending a Volume Group with the Disk, the command will throw T-Factor Problem.

Solution:

# chvg -t # Vgname /* Command to Change the T-Factor to Increase Max No.of PP's in PV */

How it Works:

With the T-Factor of 2, the Max.No.of PP's in the VG get increase by ( T-Factor * 1016)

So , 2*1016 : 2032 Partitions. So, I am making my Volume Group to be flexible to accommodate  additional 1016 Partitions which is equivalent of 1 Physical Volume. But, Increasing the T-Factor, reduces the number of Physical Volumes that can be added to a Volume Group.