Readme for IBM PowerVM NovaLink 1.0.0.5
This is the March 2017 release of IBM PowerVM NovaLink. Learn more about PowerVM NovaLink at
Download of the IBM PowerVM NovaLink installation media is available at the Entitled Systems Support site (ESS).
http://www-304.ibm.com/servers/eserver/ess/OpenServlet.wss
NovaLink is entitled for download if you have a license for IBM PowerVM
Table of
Contents
Upgrading from Ubuntu 15.10 to 16.04.2
LTS
Fixes and
service packs for this product are available in the following online
repositories:
· Ubuntu: https://public.dhe.ibm.com/systems/virtualization/Novalink/debian
· RHEL 7.3: https://public.dhe.ibm.com/systems/virtualization/Novalink/rhel/73/novalink_1.0.0
To upgrade to
the 1.0.0.5 release, run the following:
·
If
you are currently running Ubuntu 15.10, you will need to upgrade
to Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS as 15.10 is no longer supported by Canonical. You should do this before you update NovaLink.
·
Update
the apt repository cache
o
sudo
apt update
·
Upgrade
to 1.0.0.5. The ‘upgrade’ will upgrade
all software, or you can specifically only update the NovaLink
and RSCT portion.
o
sudo
apt upgrade (or
alternatively: sudo apt install pvm-novalink rsct.basic)
·
Remove
old packages that are no longer used (optional)
o
sudo
apt-get autoremove
See the
Knowledge Center documentation for more information on installing fixes and
updates
· http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8eig/p8eig_updating_ubuntu_online.htm?cp=POWER8
·
Support
for Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS
·
Advanced
GRUB menu option for SDN installation
·
Installer
post install script support
·
Bug
fixes
·
Advanced GRUB menu option for SDN installation
o
User can enable NovaLink SDN installation
mode in the advanced GRUB menu
·
Installer post install script support
o
User can specify customized post NovaLink
install commands/scripts to run by using the “PostInstallCommand”
variable under the [NovaLinkConfiguration] section in
the template.
·
Issues
affecting HMC Co-Management
o
Prior
to converting a system to a co-managed environment, the user should create a
backup of the profile data (bkprofdata) on the
HMC. This will allow the user to revert back to the state prior to
co-management should they desire.
o
Any
LPAR that has not been powered on at least once prior to switching over to a
co-managed mode will need to be re-created.
o
The
HMC Enhanced UI should be used when using the HMC in a co-managed mode.
The classic UI is missing key functionality due to the lack of partition
profiles when running co-managed.
o
NovaLink
does not currently have support for Active Memory Sharing or Hibernation.
·
Issues
affecting full installs (where NovaLink deploys the
entire PowerVM stack including the VIOS).
o
When
performing a full install on a new system, if any error occurs before the VIOS
server(s) have been created or installed, you will need to reset the system in
order to try again.
Resolution:
If
you encounter an error during the creation or installation of the VIOS
Server(s), you will need to reset your system to the initial factory settings.
This can be done via the ASMI interface or by rebooting the NovaLink
partition and use the 'Reset System' under the 'Choose to repair a system'
option of the NovaLink installation wizard.
o
When
performing a full install on a new system, the IP addresses associated with NovaLink and the VIOS should not use the 192.168.128.1
network (or any superset). NovaLink sets up a
192.68.128.1 network through which to install the VIOS, and allocating that
same network for the external facing IPs will cause the install to fail.
·
Issues
affecting installation in an HMC environment.
o
NovaLink
supports using multipath I/O of physical volumes via redundant VIOSs. However, when using Virtual Optical DVD (vtoptX)
to perform an installation of the NovaLink software,
the same vhostY hosting the NovaLink
LPARs disk must be used if the disk has multiple paths. The following is an example lsmap (on VIOS) output showing vhost0 serving both vtopt0
and vtscsi0 for hdisk1.
$
lsmap -all
SVSA
Physloc Client Partition ID
---------------
-------------------------------------------- ------------------
vhost0
U9119.MHE.21BB977-V1-C5 0x00000003
VTD
vtopt0
Status
Available
LUN
0x8200000000000000
Backing
device /var/vio/VMLibrary/novalink-installer-96-ISO
Physloc
Mirrored
N/A
VTD
vtscsi0
Status
Available
LUN
0x8100000000000000
Backing
device hdisk1
Physloc U78CD.001.FZH8538-P1-C4-T1-W5005076802161E9F-L1000000000000
Mirrored
false
Installation
instructions for PowerVM NovaLink
are available on the on-line Knowledge Center.
· http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/POWER8/p8eig/p8eig_installing.htm?cp=POWER8
NovaLink 1.0.0.5 has full support for Ubuntu 16.04.2, and will install
16.04.2 by default. If you have an
existing NovaLink installation based on Ubuntu 15.10
(1.0.0.2 or earlier based NovaLink), you should plan
on upgrading to Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS as the 15.10 release is out of support (see http://www.ubuntu.com/info/release-end-of-life).
The
following is a one-time upgrade procedure and follows the standard Ubuntu
release upgrade procedure. The network
device names do change, so follow this procedure to maintain network
connectivity.
*-network:0
description: Ethernet interface
physical id: 1
logical name: eth0
serial: 1a:3a:1a:0f:c9:10
size: 1Gbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
capabilities: ethernet
physical fibre 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on
broadcast=yes driver=ibmveth driverversion=1.05 duplex=full ip=X.XX.XXX.X
link=yes multicast=yes port=fibre speed=1Gbit/s
*-network:1
description: Ethernet interface
physical id: 2
logical name: eth1
serial: 7e:e2:03:12:79:0d
size: 1Gbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
capabilities: ethernet
physical fibre 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on
broadcast=yes driver=ibmveth driverversion=1.05 duplex=full ip=X.XX.XXX.X
link=yes multicast=yes port=fibre speed=1Gbit/s
·
If the network interfaces use ibmveth,
you must edit and change their name in the /etc/network/interfaces file.
Beginning with 16.04.1, the IBM virtual ethernet
device's name will be renamed to ibmveth and use the
location with the name to uniquely identify it.
·
To determine the name to use run lscfg
command and find the location associated with each interface:
o sudo lscfg
| grep eth
+ eth0
U8247.22L.212A90A-V1-C3-T1
+ eth1
U8247.22L.212A90A-V1-C6-T1
In this example, eth0 is
at slot 3 (C3), while eth1 is at slot 6 (C6).
o Make a backup of your
network interfaces file:
§ sudo cp
/etc/network/interfaces ~/network-interfaces.bak
o Edit the /etc/network/interfaces file using sudo and replace all occurrences of eth0 with ibmvethX, then all occurrences of eth1 with ibmvethY, where X and Y match the slot numbers found above.
In our case, eth0 -> ibmveth3 and eth1 -> ibmveth6
o NovaLink repository
§ sudo cp
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pvm.list.distUpgrade /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pvm.list
o RSCT repository (if enabled)
§ sudo apt install software-properties-common
§ sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ibmpackages-ubuntu-rsct-wily.list*
§ sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:ibmpackages/rsct
PowerVM NovaLink uses
versioning in the form of Version, Release, Mod Level and Fix (VRMF).
Example 1.0.0.5
· Version and Release increments have a 3 year software support Lifecycle and follow IBM’s standard software lifecycle (http://www-01.ibm.com/software/support/lifecycle/lc-policy.html).
· Mod Level (third digit) increments have an N-1 support policy. The current available Mod Level and the previous release of a Mod Level are supported.
o For example if 1.0.1.x is currently the latest shipped release, then 1.0.0.x versions are in support. Once 1.0.2.x release is available, support for 1.0.0.x ceases.
· Fix (fourth digit) increments indicate fix and service pack levels for the Mod Level of the release. PowerVM NovaLink uses the Debian method of delivering fixes via a fix repository.
See the Knowledge Center for more information. Errata for service fixes will be posted to Fix Central.