HP-UX Virtual Partitions Release Notes

vPars A.04.01
January 2006 Update
Documentation Web Site: http://docs.hp.com

Manufacturing Part Number : None E0106

U.S.A. Copyright 2001-2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

Legal Notices
The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Hewlett-Packard makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this manual, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Hewlett-Packard shall not be held liable for errors contained herein or direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material. Warranty A copy of the specific warranty terms applicable to your Hewlett-Packard product and replacement parts can be obtained from your local Sales and Service Office. U.S. Government License Proprietary computer software. Valid license from HP required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license. Copyright Notice Copyright 2001-2005 Hewlett-Packard Development Company L.P. All rights reserved. Reproduction, adaptation, or translation of this document without prior written permission is prohibited, except as allowed under the copyright laws. Trademark Notices UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

vPars Release Notes What is in this Document

1 vPars Release Notes

What is in this Document

This document covers the vPars A.04.01 release. The first chapter covers Whats New vPars Documents and Web Sites Obtaining vPars

The second chapter covers Known Problems and Workarounds

vPars Synopsis
The vPars (Virtual Partitions) product allows you to run multiple instances of HP-UX simultaneously on one server or nPartition by dividing a server or nPartition into virtual partitions. Each virtual partition is assigned its own subset of hardware, runs a separate instance of HP-UX, and hosts its own set of applications. vPars provides application and OS (operating system) fault isolation.

Chapter 1

vPars Release Notes Whats New in this January 2006 Update

Whats New in this January 2006 Update

Relative to the September 2005 documents, the following represents the changes shown in the January 2006 Update of the vPars documents. Note that this represents the changes in documentation; the July 2005 vPars A.04.01 software bits have not changed. HP-UX Virtual Partitions Release Notes for vPars A.04.01: Removals in Known Problems and Workarounds: The section titled Virtual Partition May Hang After a Virtual Partition Panic has been removed. With the correct firmware installed, the problem did not occur. The original text is shown below: Virtual Partition May Hang After a Virtual Partition Panic

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf65238 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity vPars A.04.01 on PA

Description Virtual partition may hang after a panic. Symptoms If a running virtual partition panics, it is possible that under certain rare conditions, the panicking virtual partition could hang while trying to handle the panic. In a normal panic situation, the system displays the reason for the panic and a menu of crashdump options within several minutes of the panic. In this case, no panic message or option to choose the type of crashdump is displayed. vparstatus indefinitely reports the virtual partition state as crashing. Workaround The hung virtual partition should be reset using vparreset -h and booted back up.

Chapter 1

vPars Release Notes Revision History

Revision History
September 2005 Update Relative to the July 2005 documents, the following represents the changes shown in the September 2005 Update of the vPars documents. Note that this represents the changes in documentation; the July 2005 vPars A.04.01 software bits have not changed. HP-UX Virtual Partitions Release Notes for vPars A.04.01: Additions to Known Problems and Workarounds: In Specific Configurations, One Virtual Partition Does Not Load with vparload -all on page 15 of this document Monitor Assigns All Available ILM Memory to a Virtual Partition rather than Requested Amount on page 16 of this document

Ordering vPars: The Software Depot web page for T1335BC (vPars A.04.01) is now available and the information to access this web page has been added to this document. See Ordering vPars on page 12 of this document. HP-UX Virtual Partitions Ordering and Configuration Guide: The firmware version table for the IO and networking cards has been updated. Ordering vPars: The Software Depot information web page for T1335BC (vPars A.04.01) has been added. Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions: Ordering vPars: The Software Depot information web page for T1335BC (vPars A.04.01) has been added to the Ordering vPars section of Chapter 1. July 2005 This is the original documentation set that includes vPars A.04.01.

Chapter 1

vPars Release Notes Whats New in This Version of vPars (A.04.01)

Whats New in This Version of vPars (A.04.01)

This version includes: OS Support vPars A.04.01 supports the HP-UX 11i v2 May 2005 Update or later. Note that there are now two streams for the vPars products: vPars A.04.xx supports HP-UX 11i v2 May 2005 Update or later. vPars A.03.xx supports HP-UX 11i v1. Each stream has its own product number: T1335BC T1335AC vPars A.04.xx for HP-UX 11i v2 vPars A.03.xx and earlier for HP-UX 11i v1

Note that T1335BC requires a new bundle named Feature-11i that is on the OE DVD. If the Feature-11i bundle is in the same depot as T1335BC, it will automatically be selected when T1335BC is selected. Additional Hardware Support vPars A.04.01 supports these Integrity servers (requires firmware upgrade): HP Integrity Superdomes rx8620 rx7620 as well as the previously supported PA-RISC servers: HP Superdomes (PA) rp8420 rp7420 rp8400 rp7410 and rp7405 rp7400/N4000 rp5470/L3000 and rp5405

NOTE: See the HP-UX Virtual Partitions Ordering and Configuration Guide for information on the supported hardware, cards, and the required firmware for vPars A.04.01.

Chapter 1

vPars Release Notes Whats New in This Version of vPars (A.04.01) Greater Flexibility full dynamic CPUs The restriction of bound and unbound CPUs has been removed. In vPars A.04.01 all CPUs, except for the one CPU on which the kernel of the virtual partition is booted (the boot processor), can be migrated without any reboots. Further, all active CPUs in an OS instance are capable of handling IO interrupts. support for cell local memory and cell local processors You can now assign both memory and/or CPUs from a specific cell to a specific virtual partition. For some workloads, this cell affinity for CPUs and memory can improve performance. See Chapter 6 of the Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions for information on assigning resources. Monitor prompt access The Monitor prompt (MON>) is available whenever there is one available CPU. See Chapter 5 of the Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions for information on the Monitor prompt. Easier Updating Process You can now upgrade from a vPars A.03.xx PA-RISC environment to a vPars A.04.01 PA-RISC environment within the vPars environment, resulting in fewer reboots. See Chapter 4 of the Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions document for the information on how to perform this update. new vPars commands For use only on Integrity systems, vPars A.04.01 includes three new commands: vparenv this UNIX shell command allows you to set the mode (vPars or nPars) for the next reboot of the nPartition and to display and set the memory granularity size vparconfig this EFI command allows you to set the mode (vPars or nPars) and forces a reboot of the nPartition. vparefiutil

Chapter 1

vPars Release Notes Whats New in This Version of vPars (A.04.01) this UNIX shell command allows you to display or modify the HP-UX hardware path to EFI path mappings of bootable disks within the vPars database. See Chapter 2 of the Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions document for information on using the EFI shell with vPars and the new -E option of the Monitors vparload command. See Chapter 5 of the Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions document for information on the modes and what can happen if modes are set incorrectly. Related Product Changes PPU (Pay Per Use) vPars A.04.01 includes support for both PPU products: PPU Percent Utilization PPU Active CPU iCAP (Instant Capacity) vPars A.04.01 includes integration with iCAP. Partition Manager Partition Manager (parmgr) is no longer required to install vPars A.04.01 and later. Virtual Partition Manager The vPars GUI (vparmgr) is not available for vPars A.04.01. Ignite-UX When using Ignite-UX with vPars A.04.01 and later, you should use Ignite-UX version C.6.2.241 or later.

Chapter 1

vPars Release Notes Switching Modes between vPars and nPars on Integrity Systems

Switching Modes between vPars and nPars on Integrity Systems

This section regarding modes and the new vPars commands for use on Integrity systems is included in Chapter 5 of the Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions document but is duplicated here so that users are aware of this for vPars A.04.01 when using Integrity systems. Please see Chapter 2 for further information on using vPars A.04.01 on Integrity systems, including other Integrity-only specifics.

Usage Scenarios
If you are running HP-UX in nPars mode (standalone), use the following vPars command to switch to vPars mode: OS-Prompt> vparenv -m vPars OS-Prompt> reboot /* sets the mode for the next nPartition reboot */ /* to reboot the system into vPars mode */

If you are at the Monitor prompt, use the following Monitor command to switch to nPars mode: MON> reboot nPars /* sets the mode and reboots the system */

If you are at EFI shell prompt, use the following EFI utility to switch to either nPars or vPars mode: Shell:> fsN: fsN:> vparconfig reboot nPars|vPars Since vparconfig is not a built-in EFI shell command, you must go to the disk to execute vparconfig. For example, to switch to vPars mode: Shell:> fs0: fs0:> vparconfig reboot vPars /* go to the EFI partition of the disk */ /* sets the mode and reboots the system */

Note: vparconfig is an EFI utility which gets installed in the EFI partition during the installation of the vPars product. If you are at EFI shell prompt in vPars mode and you do not have vPars installed on any of your disks, you can use the built-in EFI command parconfig to switch to nPars mode: Shell:> parconfig nPars Shell:> parconfig reset

Chapter 1

vPars Release Notes Switching Modes between vPars and nPars on Integrity Systems Note: Remember to issue a parconfig reset after setting the mode. parconfig nPars only sets the mode to nPars. You must issue the parconfig reset to reset the system so that it boots into nPars mode. Note: parconfig does not support switching to vPars mode. In other words, you can use parconfig to set the mode to nPars, but you cannot use parconfig to set the mode to vPars.

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Chapter 1

vPars Release Notes vPars Documents

vPars Documents
This section lists the official vPars documents. All documents, including additional topic-specific papers related to using vPars, are available at the HP Documentation web site at http://docs.hp.com/hpux/11i/index.html#Virtual%20Partitions. HP-UX Virtual Partitions Release Notes (this document) This describes whats new as well as known problems for a specific vPars release. Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions This is the vPars system administrators guide that describes the basic concepts and common tasks for the vPars product. HP-UX Virtual Partitions DVD Booklet/Read Before Installing HP-UX Virtual Partitions Prior to vPars A.03.02, this describes the contents of the vPars DVD as well as known problems and other vPars release-specific information. Beginning with vPars A.03.02 and A.04.01, this describes only the contents of the vPars DVD. For known problems and other vPars release-specific information, see the HP-UX Virtual Partitions Release Notes (this document). HP-UX Virtual Partitions Ordering and Configuration Guide This document contains information on licensing and version requirements for the vPars product and related HP-UX products, such as HP-UX 11i Operating Environments (OEs), for servers using vPars. The document also contains the information on supported hardware, firmware, I/O cards and devices, and other HP-UX products used with vPars. Topic Specific Papers: Securing Virtual Partitions with HP-UX Role-Based Access Control Using Golden Images with Virtual Partitions Kernel Memory Allocation LPMC and resulting CPU States LVM & vPars IO Backplane Upgrade Resizing vPars automatically with HP-UX Workload Manager Booting, Installing, Recovery, and Sharing in a vPars Environment from DVD/CDROM/TAPE/Network

Chapter 1

11

vPars Release Notes Ordering vPars

Ordering vPars
Product Numbers vPars A.04.01 and later have different product numbers than vPars A.03.xx and earlier: T1335BC T1335AC Software Depot You can order this release of vPars from the HP Software Depot at: http://www.hp.com/go/softwaredepot For licensing and configuration information as well as required firmware, see the HP-UX Virtual Partitions Ordering and Configuration Guide. vPars A.04.01 and later for HP-UX 11i v2 vPars A.03.xx and earlier for HP-UX 11i v1

NOTE

Note: the home of the HP Software Depot has changed from: to: http://software.hp.com http://www.hp.com/go/softwaredepot

The direct links to the vPars products on the HP Software Depot are: vPars A.04.xx: http://h20293.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?product Number=T1335BC vPars A.03.xx and A.02.xx: http://h20293.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?product Number=T1335AC

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Chapter 1

2 Known Problems and Workarounds

This section describes the critical known problems of which you should be aware before installing this version of vPars. For information on specific defects, see the HP ITRC at http://itrc.hp.com.

Chapter 2

13

Known Problems and Workarounds Patches and Patch Bundles

Patches and Patch Bundles

For vPars A.04.01, please make sure to install the following patch bundles and patches: From the HP-UX 11i v2 (11..23) May 2005 Update release or later: FEATURE11i (required patches for vPars install) HWEnable11i (required patches for new hardware) QPKAPPS & QPKBASE (recommended OS patches) OnlineDiag, NPar, iCAP, WBEM (changes for vPars support)

From the HP ITRC or Patch Hub: PHKL_33432

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Chapter 2

Known Problems and Workarounds In Specific Configurations, One Virtual Partition Does Not Load with vparload -all

In Specific Configurations, One Virtual Partition Does Not Load with vparload -all
Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf71303 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity

Description In certain configurations, one virtual partition does not load when you execute the vparload -all command at the MON> prompt. Symptoms No error messages are given, but exactly one virtual partition does not load when executing the MON> vparload -all command. The partition remains in the down state. Workaround You will need to boot the virtual partition that is down using either: vparload -p target_partition from the Monitor prompt, or vparboot -p target_partition from the HP-UX shell prompt.

Chapter 2

15

Known Problems and Workarounds Monitor Assigns All Available ILM Memory to a Virtual Partition rather than Requested Amount

Monitor Assigns All Available ILM Memory to a Virtual Partition rather than Requested Amount
Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf71610 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on PA

Description For a given virtual partition, when the difference between the requested ILM size and the sum of the user-specified ranges is greater than zero yet less than the ILM granularity value, when the partition is booted, all remaining ILM memory ranges are assigned to the virtual partition. This causes the number of available ILM ranges to go to zero and any remaining partitions that are down will not be bootable. Symptoms Below is an example where this occurs: A partition keira1 has requested 1984MB of ILM. That partition also has three user-specified ranges which add up to 1936MB. However, when the partition is booted, the Monitor assigns all remaining ILM ranges to this partition leaving no ILM for remaining partitions.
# vparstatus -p keira1 -v . . . ILM, user-assigned [Base /Range]: (bytes) (MB)

0x4000000/256 0x3000000/16 0x18000000/1664 ILM, monitor-assigned [Base /Range]: 0x14000000/64 (bytes) (MB) 0x80000000/1984 0x100000000/960 0x13c000000/48 ILM Total (MB): 1984 #vparstatus -A . .

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Chapter 2

Known Problems and Workarounds Monitor Assigns All Available ILM Memory to a Virtual Partition rather than Requested Amount
. [Available ILM (Base /Range)]: [Available ILM (MB)]: <none>

(bytes) (MB)

When a boot of any other partition is attempted, the boot fails because it is unable to find any available memory:
keira1# vparboot -p keira2 vparboot: Booting keira2. Please wait... keira1#No memory range to load kernel keira2 Error reading program segments Failed to load (0/0/0/2/0.6.0.0.0.0.0;)/stand/vmunix [MON] keira2 has halted.

Workaround You can perform either one of the following workarounds: Bring down the partition that is causing this problem (in the above example, this is keira1) and reduce the user-specified ranges such that the difference between the requested ILM size and the sum of the user-specified ranges is greater than or equal to the ILM granularity value. Taking the above example, vparstatus -p keira1 -v shows the memory portion as:
[Memory Details] ILM, user-assigned [Base /Range]: (bytes) (MB) 0x4000000/256 0x3000000/16 0x18000000/1664 ILM, monitor-assigned [Base /Range]: ILM Total (MB): 1984

(bytes) (MB)

The requested ILM size is 1984MB and sum of the user-specified ranges is 1936MB. The difference is 48MB. This is less than the granularity value of 64MB. If we reduce one of the memory ranges, for example 0x4000000/256 to 0x4000000/192, this makes the difference to be 112MB, which is more than 64MB. This eliminates the problem, and we can boot both keira1 and keira2. Add another memory range to the partition that is causing the problem, such that the difference between the requested ILM size and the sum of the user-specified ranges becomes zero. In the above example, adding the range 0x13c000000/48 to the partition keira1 makes the difference to be zero and eliminates the problem.

Chapter 2

17

Known Problems and Workarounds IPMI Messages Do Not Get Logged During Boot or Shutdown of a Virtual Partition

IPMI Messages Do Not Get Logged During Boot or Shutdown of a Virtual Partition
Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf63872, PHKL_33433 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity

Description When there is high IPMI traffic, the contention for the IPMI lock can cause boot or shutdown messages of a virtual partition to time out too early while trying to get the lock Symptoms The forward progress logs (FPL or SEL) may not be complete. In other words, messages that would indicate forward progress may be missing from the log files. Workaround Install PHKL_33433, available in December 2005 or later.

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Chapter 2

Known Problems and Workarounds Virtual Partition Hangs When IPMI Fails to Get a Lock

Virtual Partition Hangs When IPMI Fails to Get a Lock

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf64706, PHKL_33433 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity

Description When multiple virtual partitions are shutting down or rebooting at the same time, one virtual partition hangs attempting to get an IPMI response due to a stuck bit. This causes IPMI messages from the other virtual partitions to fail. Symptoms When multiple virtual partitions are shutting down or rebooting at the same time, one virtual partitions appears to hang in the early stages of shutdown or boot and IPMI calls fail in the other virtual partitions. The IPMI is used by the nPar Provider and Diagnostic tools. Workaround Install PHKL_33433, available in December 2005 or later.

Chapter 2

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Known Problems and Workarounds Booting of Monitor Fails After a Lan Boot is Attempted

Booting of Monitor Fails After a Lan Boot is Attempted

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf62265 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity

Description Booting of the vPars Monitor fails after a lan boot is attempted. Symptoms If a boot of the Monitor is attempted after a failed lanboot, the Monitor boot fails with the an error message similar to the following:
HPUX> boot vpmon > System Memory = 223 MB Could not allocate enough memory for Kernel. kernel loading failed

Workaround Perform a reboot of the nPartition using the command parconfig reset

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Chapter 2

Known Problems and Workarounds Unmounted Disks May Remain in Open State

Unmounted Disks May Remain in Open State

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf61957, PHKL_33432 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity

Description Unmounted disks will remain in an open state if a virtual partition is booted. Symptoms Unused (unmounted) disks remain in an open state. Commands such as pvcreate may later fail on those disks. Workaround Install PHKL_33432.

Chapter 2

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Known Problems and Workarounds Deletion by a Combination of CLP and Total CPU Count on the Same Command Line May Fail Occasionally

Deletion by a Combination of CLP and Total CPU Count on the Same Command Line May Fail Occasionally
Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf66559 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity vPars A.04.01 on PA

Description Deletion by a combination of 1. CLP (cell local processor) (-d cell:cell_ID:cpu::number) and then 2. CPU count (-d cpu::number) in the same command line (for example, # vparmodify -p keira2 -d cell:1:cpu::3 -d cpu::4) may cause a failure occasionally due to a pending CPU migration. Symptoms If you attempt to delete CPUs using a combination of CLP and then total CPU count in a single command invocation, the operation may cause a failure, displaying an error message similar to the following: vparmodify: Error: "-d 3.120": A conflicting CPU migration is in progress on this vPar. This problem occurs only when the target partition is the local partition. NOTE: The error message only affects the deletion by total CPU count; the deletion by CLP will be in progress and completed. Workaround The desired number of processors can be deleted by using either of the following workarounds: Use only the total CPU count syntax (-d cpu::number).

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Chapter 2

Known Problems and Workarounds Deletion by a Combination of CLP and Total CPU Count on the Same Command Line May Fail Occasionally Change the order of the command line options, using the CPU count syntax before the CLP syntax (-d cell:cell_ID:cpu::number) on the command line.

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Known Problems and Workarounds Panic Caused by Unequal Amounts of Allocated ILM

Panic Caused by Unequal Amounts of Allocated ILM

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf64296 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on PA

Description Unequal amounts of ILM allocated from cells may cause a system panic. Symptoms The system panics when unequal amounts of ILM are allocated from the cells to the nPartition. In other words, each cell is not providing an equal amount of ILM to the nPartition. During the booting of the kernel, you may see the following error message: Can't allocate mem for pfdats. Workaround You can either Install a patch that should be available later this year. For updates on patch availability, please check the IT Resource Center Web site at http://itrc.hp.com and search the technical knowledge base using the keyword JAGaf64296. or Insure that each cell in the nPartition contributes an equal amount of ILM to the nPartition. You can compute the amount of ILM by performing the following: 1. In nPars mode, determine the total amount of memory on each cell. For example, if there are 4 cells, use parstatus to show the amount of memory on each cell. # parstatus -c 0 -c 1 -c 2 -c 3 -c 4 2. Using the equation

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Chapter 2

Known Problems and Workarounds Panic Caused by Unequal Amounts of Allocated ILM
Total Cell Memory - cell configured CLM = cell ILM contribution

determine how much CLM memory to configure for each cell such that all cells have an the same amount of cell ILM contribution. 3. Configure the corresponding CLM on each cell using parmodify. For example, # parmodify -p <partition_number> -m 0::::W -m 1::::X -m 2::::Y -m 3::::Z where W, X, Y, and Z are the corresponding CLM values found in Step 2.

Chapter 2

25

Known Problems and Workarounds vparstatus Displays the Same Memory Range Multiple Times

vparstatus Displays the Same Memory Range Multiple Times

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf66570 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity

Description vparstatus displays invalid memory ranges multiple times. Symptoms vparstatus -v, vparstatus -M, vparstatus -A, or vparstatus -A -M display an invalid memory range multiple times. You can determine that it is an invalid range by the huge value displayed in the size part of the range. In addition, the virtual partition's valid memory ranges or valid available memory ranges might also not be shown. Workaround When this happens, ignore the values displayed in ranges. Only use size information to determine how much memory is available or how much memory each partition has. Also, do not issue the vparinfo command.

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Chapter 2

Known Problems and Workarounds setboot Extraneous Output in stdout and stderr

setboot Extraneous Output in stdout and stderr

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf41706 and JAGaf47668, PHCO_33044 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity vPars A.04.01 on PA

Description In a vPars environment, setboot may display extraneous output. Symptoms setboot may display this extraneous mpctl error message:
winona1# setboot mpctl: Invalid argument ...

or the extraneous note:

winona1# setboot ... Note: The interpretation of Autoboot and Autosearch has changed for systems that support hardware partitions. Please refer to the manpage.

Workaround In a vPars environment, you may ignore both the mpctl error message as well as the note. Later this year, PHCO_33044 will be released to correct the output.

Chapter 2

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Known Problems and Workarounds System Activity Events Reported Through IPMI by EMS

System Activity Events Reported Through IPMI by EMS

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf62654 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity vPars A.04.01 on PA

Description In a vPars environment, system activity events are decoded and reported on all virtual partitions. When examining any single virtual partition, this can be misleading, such that it may appear the events occurred on the virtual partition that reported the problem. Symptoms A virtual partition reports an event, similar to the following:
>------------ Event Monitoring Service Event Notification ------------< Notification Time: Wed May 4 15:29:44 2005 winona2 sent Event Monitor notification information: /system/events/ipmi_fpl/ipmi_fpl is >= 3. Its current value is CRITICAL(5). Event data from monitor: Event Time..........: Severity............: Monitor.............: Event #.............: System..............: Summary: INIT initiated Wed May 4 15:29:44 2005 CRITICAL fpl_em 267 winona2

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Known Problems and Workarounds System Activity Events Reported Through IPMI by EMS Workaround Note that in a vPars environment, when system events are reported via EMS either from system firmware or an OS instance, the system events are decoded and reported on all virtual partitions. The OS instance that is shown as sending the event is not necessarily indicative of the actual virtual partition that encountered the problem. The Reporting Entity ID is the only clue to which virtual partition reported the problem. The output will be similar to the following:
Reporting entity ID: 6 ( Cab 0 Cell 0 CPU 6 ) (possibly from one vPar)

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Known Problems and Workarounds Virtual Partition Does Not Boot After Root Mirror is Created

Virtual Partition Does Not Boot After Root Mirror is Created

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf54464 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on Integrity

Description A virtual partition does not boot from its mirror root disk because there is no longer a valid EFI to hardware path mapping in the vPars database. Symptoms After creating a mirror root disk, the virtual partition fails to boot from this disk. You may see messages similar to the following: Load of 1/0/8/1/0.22.31.0.0.0.1 failed: Not Found Workaround After the mirror is created, use the vparefiutil -u command to add the new hardware path to EFI path mapping to the vPars database. Note that on Integrity systems running vPars, whenever the EFI path of a boot disk changes (for example, if an OS is re-installed on the disk), the new hardware to EFI path mapping has to be updated in the vPars database. This can be done by running the vparefiutil -u command. For more information on EFI and vPars, see the EFI and Integrity Notes section in the document Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions.

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Known Problems and Workarounds Virtual Partition Appears to Hang After Typing control-s

Virtual Partition Appears to Hang After Typing control-s

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGae98555 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on PA vPars A.03.xx on PA

Description While a virtual partition is shutting down, panicking, or booting, typing control-s to suspend its console output may cause the virtual partition to stop making forward progress. The virtual partition may appear to hang. Symptoms If a control-s is typed at the system keyboard while the virtual partition currently writing to the console is shutting down, panicking, or booting, that virtual partition may appear to hang. Workaround Type control-q to resume console output.

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Known Problems and Workarounds TC Command of the GSP

TC Command of the GSP

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGae41558 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on PA vPars A.03.xx on PA

Description Initiating a TC (Transfer of Control) at the GSP (Guardian Service Processor) while the vPars Monitor is booted may cause the hard partition/system to hang. Symptoms If the vPars Monitor is booted and if a TC is issued via the GSP, the hard partition/system may hang. Workaround If the hard partition or system hangs, issue a RS (hard reset) at the GSP.

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Known Problems and Workarounds Configuring an Ultra2 or Ultra160 Card with vparutil

Configuring an Ultra2 or Ultra160 Card with vparutil

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf00411 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on PA vPars A.03.xx on PA

Description On the nPartition-able servers, using the vparutil command to configure an Ultra2 or Ultra160 SCSI card can cause the virtual partition that owns the SCSI card to fail to boot. Symptoms On the nPartition-able servers, the virtual partition connected to an Ultra2 or Ultra160 SCSI boot device fails to boot after the SCSI card was configured using the vparutil command. Workaround For vPars A.03, bring down all the virtual partitions and configure the card at BCH using the SCSI command to set the desired parameters. Then, boot the vPars Monitor. For vPars A.04, please use the mptutil command. For information on mptutil, see the Ultra320 SCSI Support Guide or the support guide for your card.

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Known Problems and Workarounds Autoboot Fails from Fibre Channel Device via Brocade 3800 Switch

Autoboot Fails from Fibre Channel Device via Brocade 3800 Switch
Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGae78109 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on PA vPars A.03.xx on PA

Description Using a fibre channel mass storage device via a Brocade 3800 switch with firmware version 3.1.1 within a rp5405, L3000/rp5470, or N4000/rp7400 server running PDC 43.22, autobooting of the virtual partitions fails Symptoms Autoboot fails. Workaround Boot the virtual partitions manually from the vPars Monitor or HP-UX shell prompt. For example: MON> vparload -p vpar2 or vpar1# vparboot -p vpar2 For more information on using vPars with fibre channel devices, see the HP-UX Virtual Partitions Ordering and Configuration Guide.

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Known Problems and Workarounds Virtual Partition Fails to Load after a Reboot

Virtual Partition Fails to Load after a Reboot

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGae88150 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on PA vPars A.03.xx on PA

Description When using an rp7405, rp7410, or rp8400 with firmware version 6, which includes PDC 17.005, the virtual partitions will not boot to the up state after a reboot. Symptoms The virtual partitions will not boot after a reboot. One or more of the following errors may appear in the vPars Monitor event log: iodc_perror: dev_open/Boot device init (0x42) iodc_perror: reinit_bootdev/Read ENTRY IO (0x44) iodc_perror: dev_reopen/Read ENTRY IO (0x47) iodc_perror: iodc_io_init/init module and device (0x4b) Could not read IODC firmware for HPA <hpa> Unknown filesystem for path <hardware path> Workaround Manually boot the virtual partitions with the vparboot or vparload command.

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Known Problems and Workarounds System Resets During a Crash Dump Due to Watchdog Timer

System Resets During a Crash Dump Due to Watchdog Timer

Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGae79790 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on PA vPars A.03.xx on PA

Description During a crash dump of a virtual partition, hardware heartbeats are delayed long enough such that the watchdog timer is triggered. If the watchdog timer has been configured to reset, then the entire system is reset (TOC). Symptoms A system (or nPartition) is reset when a virtual partition is performing a crash dump. Workaround From the GSP, use the AR command to set the watchdog timer to not automatically restart the system (or nPartition). Examples are below. On non-nPartition-able servers, use the following procedure: GSP> ar Current System restart settings: Automatic System restart: Enabled ASR Alert Level Triggers: 13 Do you want to modify this configuration? (Y/[N]) y Current Automatic System restart: Enabled Do you want to modify it? (Y/[N]) y New Automatic System restart (Enabled / Disabled): disabled New Automatic System restart: Disabled Confirm? (Y/[N]): y

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Known Problems and Workarounds System Resets During a Crash Dump Due to Watchdog Timer -> Automatic System restart will be updated. Current Triggering alert levels are: 13 Do you want to modify them? (Y/[N]): n Automatic System Restart configuration has been updated GSP Host Name: keira GSP> On nPartition-able servers, use the following procedure: GSP> cm Enter HE to get a list of available commands GSP:CM> ar This command modifies the automatic system restart configuration of the selected partition. # --0) 1) 2) Name ---vpar8cell vpar4cell vpar3cell

Select a partition number: 2 Automatic system restart for partition 2 is currently enabled. Do you want to disable automatic system restart? (Y/[N]) y -> Automatic system restart is disabled. GSP:CM>

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Known Problems and Workarounds Topology of A5158A Changes from Fabric to Public Loop After the Virtual Partition Reboots

Topology of A5158A Changes from Fabric to Public Loop After the Virtual Partition Reboots
Related JAG or Patch ID Number JAGaf15533 Applicable on vPars A.04.01 on PA vPars A.03.xx on PA

Description When the A5158A is connected to the Brocade 2800 or 12000 switch, the topology of the A5158A changes after the virtual partition reboots. Symptoms Before a reboot, the topology shows PTTOPT_FABRIC: vpar1# tdutil /dev/td0 Vendor ID is = 0x00103c Device ID is = 0x001028 TL Chip Revision No is = 2.3 PCI Sub-system Vendor ID is = 0x00103c PCI Sub-system ID is = 0x000006 Topology = PTTOPT_FABRIC ... After a reboot, the topology shows PUBLIC_LOOP: vpar1# tdutil /dev/td0 Vendor ID is Device ID is TL Chip Revision No is PCI Sub-system Vendor ID is PCI Sub-system ID is Topology = 0x00103c = 0x001028 = 2.3 = 0x00103c = 0x000006 = PUBLIC_LOOP ...

Logging into the switch, the switch information before the reboot shows:

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Known Problems and Workarounds Topology of A5158A Changes from Fabric to Public Loop After the Virtual Partition Reboots brocade01:admin> switchshow switchName: brocade01 switchType: 2.4 switchState: Online switchMode: Native ... port 0: -- No_Module port 1: -- No_Module port 2: -- No_Module port 3: sw Online F-Port 50:06:0b:00:00:10:23:fa port 4: sw Online F-Port 50:06:0b:00:00:00:f4:28 ... The switch information after the reboot shows: brocade01:admin> switchshow switchName: brocade01 switchType: 2.4 switchState: Online switchMode: Native ... port 0: -- No_Module port 1: -- No_Module port 2: -- No_Module port 3: sw Online F-Port 50:06:0b:00:00:10:23:fa port 4: sw Online L-Port 1 public ... Workaround To permanently set the device to fabric, set the setting on the switch. For example, switch> portcfggport port_#,1 where port_# is the port number of the switch that is connected to the A5158A card and 1 represents true To temporarily set this device (the setting will not remain after an OS reboot), reset the device from the HP-UX system: vpar1# tdutil /dev/td0 reset Reset Done vpar1# tdutil /dev/td0 Vendor ID is = 0x00103c Device ID is = 0x001028 Chapter 2 39

Known Problems and Workarounds Topology of A5158A Changes from Fabric to Public Loop After the Virtual Partition Reboots TL Chip Revision No is PCI Sub-system Vendor ID is PCI Sub-system ID is Topology = = = = 2.3 0x00103c 0x000006 PTTOPT_FABRIC

...

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