Readme for IBM PowerVM NovaLink 1.0.0.6
This is the June 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
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 1.0.0.6
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
1.0.0.6. 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
·
Supports PowerVM Open I/O Software
Defined Environments (SDE) mode.
· Supports automated installation
of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by using a configured kickstart
file.
·
Supports GRUB
option pvm-noupdate, when set to 1 will prevent the
IBM’s public APT repository from being used to obain
updates during the installation.
·
Bug fixes
·
PowerVM Open I/O Software
Defined Environments (SDE)
o
In
this mode, PowerVM NovaLink
LPAR will act as the I/O server and hosts the network and storage.
o
PowerVM NovaLink partition must be
running the Ubuntu Linux operating system. The Red Hat
Enterprise Linux operating system is not currently supported because the
kernel level must be version 4.8, or later.
o
Once installed,
make sure that you are using the HWE kernel at 4.8 or later (uname -a). You should update to the latest available
4.8 kernel (apt update / apt upgrade).
o
To
support the Live Partition Mobility operation in SDE mode, a Mover Service Partition (MSP)
is required. To install an MSP on
the PowerVM system, you can run the following
command:
sudo apt install pvm-msp
o
NFS is currently
not supported for Live Partition Mobility operation in SDE mode. IBM Spectrum Scale (GPFS) is supported as
part of the technology preview in SDE.
o
Users can find
more information regarding SDE support here
and the IBM Spectrum Scale preview here.
o
The linux-hwe kernel will be pinned at 4.8. To remove this
pinning, remove the file /etc/apt/preferences.d/hwekernel48.pref
and run ‘sudo apt update’.
o
If the APT
repository have the pvm-msp
package, user will be prompted to accept the VIOS license during install. To
prevent the license from being asked during an unattended installation, the
attribute licenseaccepted
can be set to ‘True’ in the NovaLinkConfiguration section of the configuration file.
·
Automated installation of Red
Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
o
User
can now automate the installation of PowerVM NovaLink software by using a kickstart file.
·
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
·
Issues
affecting installation in a Software Defined Network mode:
o When installing in Software Defined
Network mode, if a slot assigned to SDN contains disk storage device previously
installed with NovaLink, the installation may fail
with the error message 'No root filesystem is defined'.
Resolution:
If possible assign slots that only have
network device to SDN
·
Issues
affecting installation in PowerVM SDE mode:
o After installing NovaLink in SDE mode, user might not be able to have network connectivity to the NovaLink LPAR because of invalid entries in /etc/network/interfaces
Resolution:
Example of
an invalid /etc/network/interfaces entry:
auto
iface inet static
address
192.168.128.1
netmask
255.255.128.0
iface inet6 auto
As a workaround, user can add the interface name in the 3
places it is missing. On a greenfield install, the interface name will be
ibmveth3. Here is an example
of the correct stanza:
auto ibmveth3
iface ibmveth3 inet static
address
192.168.128.1
netmask
255.255.128.0
iface ibmveth3 inet6 auto
Once you have made that change, either run "sudo systemctl restart
networking" or reboot
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
PowerVM NovaLink uses versioning
in the form of Version, Release, Mod Level and Fix (VRMF). Example
1.0.0.6
· 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.