An Unusual VIOS Install

I had an interesting experience with a VIOS installation recently. I'm curious if anyone else has seen something similar. Maybe I just had a bad day.

When I do a NIM install of a VIOS on a new system, I typically refer to this documentation, which outlines a nice way to get the mksysb file off of the installation DVD to use with the NIM server.

The document states:

"Copy the VIOS mksysb image from the CD to your NIM master:

"Mount the VIOS base CD and copy the VIOS mksysb image from the CD (in /usr/sys/inst.images) to your NIM master:

# mount -o ro -v cdrfs /dev/cd0 /mnt
# cd /mnt/usr/sys/inst.images
# cp mksysb_image /export/mksysb/mksysb_image

"If using VIOS 1.5 or higher media, the mksysb file may be split into two parts. To combine these two parts and copy them to hdisk, run the following:

# cat /mnt/usr/sys/inst.images/mksysb_image
/mnt/usr/sys/inst.images/mksysb_image2 > /dir/filename

" *** You can substitute any path you would like to save the combined mksysb image, for '/export/mksysb_image'."

Why would I use NIM to install VIOS if I already have the installation media in hand?

With some IBM Power Systems models, you can get an optional split backplane. This allows you to set up multiple partitions with their own disk controller and disks. With some of these models, however, the DVD drive can only be accessed only by one of the disk controllers. So when the other partition boots up, it cannot see the DVD. This makes it difficult to load that second VIOS on that second set of internal disks, since they cannot see the VIO install media.

I've seen people load VIOS to one internal disk and then, when that installation finished, pull the disk out of the first controller and put it into the second controller. Then they reload VIOS onto a disk that they put into the original disk controller. This works, but I don't think it's a very clean method; you end up with defined devices on your VIOS that are no longer seen by the operating system.

My preference is to load VIOS and then immediately create a client partition and make it my NIM master. Once I have this NIM master, I define the VIOS mksysb image and use it to load any other VIO servers in the environment -- just what's layed out in the aforementioned document. With the NIM  server there, loading the rest of the client partitions is trivial -- at least it usually is.

In this case, however, the issue was that the VIO servers that I loaded from left me with a server at version 2.2.0.0 instead of 2.2.0.10 like I was expecting. Maybe it was bad media, or maybe I just fat-fingered something. At least the solution was simple enough. I just took a mksysb from my clean, newly installed VIOS with the command:

backupios –nomedialib –mksysb –file /mksysb/vios.mksysb

This command excluded the .iso images I'd copied into the /var/vio/VMLibrary (which is my virtual media repository).

I copied that mksysb image over to my NIM server and created my spot. The other VIOS installed as expected.

So has anyone else seen this issue when copying the mksysb file from the install media?

Comments

[Anthony English]

I prefer to install the VIOS without using physical media at all using the HMC command line and the installios command. http://bit.ly/gv9sFB Requires an FTP server or NFS mount.

I download the VIOS install "media" from Entitlement Software Support (http://www.ibm.com/eserver/ess - needs an IBM ID) and then install the VIOS without NIM or physical access to a managed system. True bare metal install.

This requires an HMC. Don't think it can be done for an IVM managed system.

[Chris Gibson]

Rob, I had the very same issue recently. So I suspect a media issue? I worked around the problem just as you did.

By the way, I use the exact same method for installing VIO servers on low end systems, like a 720 for example. And like you, I prefer to install the first VIO from DVD, then install my NIM LPAR using the virtual media library. It takes a few extra steps but once NIM is up and running, everything else just flows along nicely.

Cheers.

[Kentucky Packrat]

The media I got from IBM installs to 2.2.0.0 as well. I just went ahead and applied Fixpack 24 SP01 anyway.

[Marcelo Salinas]

The iso you can download from IBM ESS is version 2.2.0.0.

I prefer to use NIM to install the VIOS and AIX because I'm thousands of miles away from the servers, and ask to insert a DVD, then remove it, keep it safe, etc, is a pain... so I have everything (iso, mksysb, filesets,firmware,etc) in the NIM.

[cheap louis vuitton]

With some IBM Power Systems models, you can get an optional split backplane. This allows you to set up multiple partitions with their own disk controller and disks. With some of these models, however, the DVD drive can only be accessed only by one of the disk controllers. So when the other partition boots up, it cannot see the DVD. This makes it difficult to load that second VIOS on that second set of internal disks, since they cannot see the VIO install media.

[Michael Puchalek]

Rob,
Tried the cat of the split VIOS mysysb's to a directory in my NIM repository and created a mksysb resource from the result. When I tried to create a SPOT resource from it, it chugs for a bit and starts to create the SPOT resource directories and filesets, but quits with a failure. I tried a restore of the mksysb by doing:
"restore -Tvqf mksysb_image > /dev/null" and it eventually asks me to mount a second volume. Is the cat command placing some erroneous "space" between the two cat-ted files?
(AIX 7.1 TL01 SP01 and VIOS 2.2.1)

[Michael Puchalek]

OK, leapt before I looked. Turns out that for VIOS 2.2.1.0, there is a THIRD mksysb image on the second DVD of the distro. Appending that to the result of the concatenation of the two mksysb images from the first DVD yielded a successful SPOT creation.
SO:
-Mount VIOS 2.2.1.0 DVD 1 of 2
-cd /usr/sys/inst.images
-cat mksysb_image mksys)image2 > /
-unmount first DVD
-Mount VIOS 2.2.1.0 DVD 2 of 2
-cd /usr/sys/inst.images
-cat mksysb_image >> /

Then proceed with NIM resource creation.

[Gerald]

What is the minimum OS level for the NIM server when installing VIOS 2.2.1.0

[David Nowalis]

Kudos on the third mksysb Michael.

[Krzysiek]

@Marcelo Salinas - you don;t need to ask someone to insert VIOS install media to HMC's DVD drive.

I did the installios installation copying original iso images to /tmp on HMC. The installation went without any problem (when I was aksed for second image, I just paste full path to it in /tmp/...)

[Roshan K]

I got to download VIOS 2.2.1 from IBM ESS site as Anthony pointed out. But When I point my HMC to x.x.x.x:/var/vio/VMLibrary/

(assuming it is ok to do, as output shows it accepts)
the installios keep failing with error.

nimol_install ERROR: Unable to find the label corresponding to ioserver in /etc/nimol.conf
ERROR unconfiguring nimol_install.

Any ideas?

These are the two files I have in my VM Library, and as a matter of fact, i've tried to put and use directly from hmc:/tmp also, but with same results, so I know path is not an issue.

1296357376 Mar 06 12:25 Virtual_IO_Server_Base_Install_V2.2.1_DVD_2_of_2_102011.iso

4032843776 Mar 05 15:51 Virtual_IO_Server_V2.2.1_DVD_1_of_2_102011.iso

[Roshan K]

Also, want to point out that this is a new P770 im building and have no network connectivity, other than HMCs private network offcourse. I have no physical DVDs either in my possession :( yet.

[Roshan K]

so any one ideas have?

[Anthony English]

Roshan,

The /var/vio/VMLibrary is created on the VIOS itself (after the VIOS has been installed). This directory is the location for the Virtual Media Repository (VMR) for sharing ISO images from the VIOS to VIO clients (AIX logical partitions).

Back to your problem. Assuming your two VIOS ISO images are accessible from the HMC (e.g. on an NFS mount from a windows server), you could clear the locks and start again. See this APAR: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1MB02022

You may also find soemthing helpful in this article "Build your Power System without Data Center Access" http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/aix/library/au-powersystem/index.html?ca=drs-

That article has some helpful links at the bottom in the resources section.

One other thing: I ran into a similar difficulty to you and logged a call with IBM who were very helpful (although they did point out that installios is rarely used!). I'm sure IBM could respond more quickly and thoroughly than we can in a forum like this.

[Abduxukur Abdurixit]

what is the difference between ios_mksysb and mksysb? I can not select ios_mksysb if I want to install VIO with mksysb. I guess here I have to define my VIO as vios management Object, right? Are there any documentation?

[Rob McNelly]

Google found me this one:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/aix/v7r1/topic/com.ibm.aix.install/doc/insgdrf/resource_ios_mksysb.htm

"An ios_mksysb resource represents a file that is a system backup image created by using the mksysb command on a VIOS. The ios_mksysb resource can be used as the source for the installation of VIOS or an Integrated Virtualization Management (IVM) client management system."

Also:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/aix/v7r1/topic/com.ibm.aix.install/doc/insgdrf/basic_ios_mksysb_image_cmd.htm

"Procedure for using an ios_mksysb image to install the base operating system on a NIM client from the command line."