HMC-managed systems: Preparing the source and destination servers for partition mobility

You need to verify that the source and destination servers are configured correctly so that you can successfully migrate the mobile partition from the source server to the destination server by using the Hardware Management Console (HMC). This includes tasks such as verifying the logical memory block size of the source and destination servers, and verifying the available memory and processor resources of the destination server.

To prepare the source and destination servers for active or inactive partition mobility, complete the following tasks.

Table 1. Preparation tasks for the source and destination servers
Server planning tasks	Active mobility task	Inactive mobility task	Information resources
1. Ensure that the PowerVM® Enterprise Edition hardware feature is activated.	X	X	Entering the activation code for PowerVM Editions using the HMC version 7
2. If you do not have the PowerVM Enterprise Edition hardware feature, you can evaluate Live Partition Mobility at no cost by using Trial Live Partition Mobility. Ensure that you enter the activation code for Trial Live Partition Mobility.	X	X	Entering the activation code for PowerVM Editions using the HMC version 7
3. Ensure that the source and destination servers are one of the following POWER8® models: 8247-21L 8247-22L 8247-42L 8284-22A 8286-41A 8286-42A 8408-E8E 8408-44E 9080-MHE and 9119-MHE 9080-MME and 9119-MME Notes: The source and destination servers can also be POWER7® processor-based servers. See Processor compatibility mode definitions for processor compatibility mode information. Ensure that the destination server has the necessary software licenses and support maintenance contracts. To verify the entitlements that are active on your servers, see the Entitled Software Support website.	X	X
4. Ensure that the firmware levels on the source and destination servers are compatible.	X	X	HMC-managed systems: Firmware support matrix for partition mobility
5. Ensure that the source and destination servers are managed by an HMC in one of the following ways: The source and destination servers are managed by the same HMC (or redundant HMC pair). The source server is managed by one HMC and the destination server is managed by a different HMC.	X	X
6. Ensure that the logical memory block size is the same on the source and destination servers.	X	X	Changing the logical memory block size
7. Ensure that the destination server is not running on battery power. If the destination server is running on battery power, return the server to its regular power source before moving a logical partition.	X	X
8. If the mobile partition uses shared memory, ensure that the shared memory pool is created on the destination server.	X	X	Configuring the shared memory pool
9. Ensure that the destination server has enough available memory to support the mobile partition.	X		If the mobile partition uses dedicated memory, see Determining the available physical memory on the destination server. If the mobile partition uses shared memory, see Determining the available I/O entitled memory on the destination server.
10. Ensure that the destination server has enough available processors to support the mobile partition.	X		Determining available processors on the destination server
11. Verify that the source and destination mover service partitions (MSPs) can communicate with each other.	X
12. Optional: Define the partition profile policy for inactive partition mobility.		X	Defining the partition profile policy for inactive partition mobility
13. If the mobile partition on the source server uses Active Memory™ Expansion, verify that the destination server is capable of Active Memory Expansion.	X	X	Verifying the destination server for Active Memory Expansion
14. If the mobile partition on the source server is suspend-capable, verify that the destination server also supports suspend-capable partitions. You must also verify that there is a minimum of one reserved storage device with a size that can be determined by running the lsrsdevsize command from the HMC command line. The Suspend/Resume feature for logical partitions is supported on POWER8 processor-based servers when the firmware is at level FW840, or later.	X	X	To verify that the destination server supports suspend-capable partitions, see Verifying that the destination server supports suspend-capable partitions. To determine the reserved storage device size in the destination server, see, see Determining the reserved storage device size in the destination server.
15. If the mobile partition on the source server is capable of the Trusted Boot feature, verify that the destination server supports the Trusted Boot feature and has the same trusted key as the source server. The partition mobility operation fails when the trusted key at the destination server is different from the one on the source server. To change the trusted key on the destination server to match the trusted key on the source server, you can run the chtskey command from the HMC command line. Verify that the destination server has an adequate number of available Virtual Trusted Platform Modules (VTPMs) for the mobile partitions to use.	X	X	To verify that the destination server supports the Trusted Boot feature, see Verifying that the destination server supports Trusted Boot. To verify that the destination server has the same trusted system key as the source server, see Determining the trusted system key in the destination server. To verify that the destination server has an adequate number of available VTPMs for the mobile partitions to use, see Determining the number of available VTPMs in the destination server.
16. If you are moving an IBM i mobile partition, verify that the destination server supports the migration of IBM i mobile partitions and the restricted I/O mode. Also, verify that the IBM i mobile partition is in the restricted I/O mode.	X	X	To verify that the destination server supports migration of IBM i mobile partition, see Verifying that the destination server supports migration of IBM i mobile partitions. To verify that the destination server supports the restricted I/O mode, see Verifying that the destination server supports the restricted I/O mode. To verify that the IBM i mobile partition is in the restricted I/O mode, see Verifying that the IBM i mobile partition is in the restricted I/O mode.
17. If the mobile partition on the source server is capable of remote restart, verify that the destination server also supports partitions that are capable of remote restart. You must add the reserved storage device that is mapped to the partition that is on the source server to the reserved storage pool in the destination server. Also, the HMC that manages the destination server must at version 7.6.0, or later. If the mobile partition on the source server is capable of the simplified version of the remote restart feature, verify that the destination server also supports partitions that are capable of the simplified version of the remote restart feature. When the HMC is at version 8.5.0, you can specify the `--requirerr` option for the migrlpar command. For more information about the `--requirerr` option, see Simplified remote restart and migration considerations.	X	X	To verify that the destination server supports partitions that are capable of remote restart, see Verifying that the destination server supports partitions that are capable of remote restart. To add the reserved storage device mapped to the partition that is currently on the source server to the reserved storage pool in the destination server, see Adding the reserved storage device in the destination server. To verify that the destination server supports partitions that are capable of the simplified version of the remote restart feature, see Verifying that the destination server supports partitions that are capable of the simplified version of the remote restart feature
If the mobile partition on the source server is a shared processor partition, and configured with processing units to virtual processor ratio of less than 0.1 and greater than or equal to 0.05, verify whether the destination server supports the processor minimum entitlement of 0.05 processor per virtual processor. The source and destination servers must be POWER7 or POWER8 processor-based servers.	X	X	You can verify that the destination server supports the same configuration as the source server by checking the processor level hardware capabilities of the destination server. To check the processor level hardware capabilities, see Verifying the processor-level hardware capabilities of the destination server.
If the mobile partition has Single Root IO Virtualization (SR-IOV) logical ports, then that partition cannot be migrated to the destination server. To migrate the mobile partition, you can use virtual Network Interface Controller (vNIC) adapters.	X	X
If the mobile partition is using a virtual Ethernet adapter which is using a virtual switch that is in the VEPA mode, or the mobile partition is using a virtual Ethernet adapter with a VSI profile, then verify that the destination server also supports virtual server network (VSN).	X	X	To verify that the destination server is capable of VSN, see Verifying that the destination server supports the virtual server network. To determine the virtual Ethernet switch name on the destination server, see Determining the virtual Ethernet switch name and mode in the destination server.
If the mobile partition contains virtual Network Interface Controller (vNIC) adapters, the mobile partition can be migrated to the destination server only when the destination server supports vNIC adapters. The virtual Network Interface Controller adapters use 100% of the SR-IOV port capacity when link aggregation is used on the source server. Therefore, to enable partition mobility operations, the destination server must have equivalent SR-IOV port resources. Additionally, the switch ports that are connected to the destination server must also be configured with link aggregation.	X	X	To verify that the destination server supports vNIC adapters, see Verifying that the destination server supports vNIC adapters.
When the HMC that manages the source server is at version 8.4.0, or later, and the firmware is at level FW840, or later, you can specify a different virtual switch name for each VLAN of the mobile partition, to match the network configuration of the destination server. You must ensure that the HMC at the destination server is at version 8.4.0, or later, and the firmware is at level FW840 or later. Additionally, you must ensure that the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) at the destination server that hosts the bridged VLAN adapter (with a VLAN ID that matches the VLAN ID of the source server and the virtual switch name that you specified) is at version 2.2.4.0, or later.	X	X	To verify that the destination server supports changing the virtual switch name, see Verifying that the destination server supports changing the virtual switch name.
When the HMC that manages the source server is at version 8.6.0, or later, and the firmware is at level FW860, or later, redundant MSPs are selected by default for partition mobility operations. The HMC that manages the destination server must also be at version 8.6.0, or later, and the firmware must be at level FW860, or later. Additionally, you must ensure that the VIOS in the source and destination servers is at version 2.2.5.0, or later.	X		To verify that the destination server supports redundant MSPs, see Verifying that the source or destination server supports redundant mover service partitions.

Last updated: Tue, March 12, 2019