Creating additional logical partitions

You can use the Create Logical Partition wizard on the Hardware Management Console (HMC) to create a new logical partition. When you create a logical partition, you also create a partition profile that contains the resource allocations and settings for the logical partition.

Use this procedure only if you are creating logical partitions on a managed system that has already been partitioned. If you are creating logical partitions on a new or nonpartitioned managed system, you must test the hardware on your managed system to ensure that the hardware is in working order. Testing the hardware helps you detect potential problems with your managed system and makes such problems easier to correct.

If you plan to create logical partitions that use shared memory, you must first configure the shared memory pool. For instructions, see Configuring the shared memory pool.

If you plan to create AIX® logical partitions that use Active Memory™ Expansion, you must first enable Active Memory Expansion for the server by entering an activation code. For instructions, see Entering the activation code for Active Memory Expansion.

If you want to assign single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) logical ports to a logical partition during partition creation, verify whether the managed system supports SR-IOV before you create the logical partition.

The HMC Classic interface is not supported in Hardware Management Console (HMC) Version 8.7.0, or later. The functions that were previously available in the HMC Classic interface are now available in the HMC Enhanced+ interface.

For more information about creating a logical partition when the HMC is at version 8.7.0, or later, see Creating logical partitions.

To create a logical partition and a partition profile on your server using the HMC, follow these steps:

In the navigation pane, open Systems Management and click Servers.
In the work pane, select the managed system, click the Tasks button, and click Configuration > Create Logical Partitions.
Follow the steps in the Create Logical Partition wizard to create a logical partition and a partition profile.
The Create Logical Partition wizard provides an option to enable mobility of the logical partition during partition creation. On servers with firmware at level FW860, or later, that do not support IBM® i partitions with native I/O capability, you must select the Restricted I/O partition check box. If you do not select the Restricted I/O partition check box, the partition creation fails. To verify the IBM i native I/O capability of the server, see Verifying that the server supports IBM i native I/O capability. For information about the configuration requirements for IBM i logical partition mobility, see Configuration requirements to migrate IBM i mobile partitions.
By using the Create Logical Partition wizard, you can enable a VTPM on the logical partition. If you want to enable this option, you must select the Allow this partition to be VTPM capable check box when you create the logical partition. For more information about the creating a logical partition with VTPM capability, see Creating a logical partition with Virtual Trusted Platform capability.
The Suspend/Resume feature for logical partitions is supported on POWER8® processor-based servers when the firmware is at level FW840, or later. The Create Logical Partition wizard also provides an option to suspend the partition. If you want to enable this option, you must select the Allow this partition to be suspended check box when you create the logical partition. For more information about the Create Logical Partition wizard, see Creating a logical partition with suspension capability.

When you create a logical partition, the default processor mode is the shared processor mode. You can specify a value of 0.05 in the Minimum processing units field when the firmware is at level FW760, or later. You can also change this value after partition creation by changing the partition profile.

When you create a logical partition on a server that uses the virtual server network (VSN), and the HMC is at version 7.7, or later, you can associate a Virtual Station Interface (VSI) profile with the virtual Ethernet.

The Create Logical Partition wizard provides an option to enable synchronization of the current configuration capability. If you want to enable this option, you can select Sync turned ON from the Sync Current Configuration Capability list when creating the logical partition. When this value is set, the partition profile is always synchronized with the last activated partition profile. For more information about creating a partition with synchronization of the current configuration capability, see Creating a logical partition with synchronization of the current configuration.

The Create Logical Partition wizard provides an option to create a single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) logical port and assign the logical port to the profile. You can follow the steps in the wizard to create the SR-IOV logical port. You can also add an SR-IOV logical port to a partition after you create the partition. For more information about adding an SR-IOV logical port to a partition, see Assigning a single root I/O virtualization logical port to a logical partition.

The HMC graphical user interface does not provide an option to disable the Live Partition Mobility feature of a logical partition. However, you can use HMC command line to disable the Live Partition Mobility feature, either during partition creation, or after partition creation. To disable the Live Partition Mobility feature of an AIX, Linux, or IBM i logical partition after partition creation, run the chsyscfg command with a value 1 for the migration_disabled attribute, from the HMC command line. To disable the Live Partition Mobility feature of a logical partition during partition creation, run the mksyscfg command with a value 1 for the migration_disabled attribute, from the HMC command line.

After creating your logical partition and partition profile, you must install an operating system. For installation instructions for the AIX, IBM i, and Linux operating systemsLinux operating system, see Working with operating systems and software applications for POWER8 processor-based systems. For installation instructions for the Virtual I/O Server, see Installing the Virtual I/O Server and client logical partitions.

Last updated: Fri, July 05, 2019