iCOD Compatibility with Virtual Partitions

Overview

The iCOD version B.05.x software co-exists with virtual partitions (vPars) version A.02.00 or greater.

To co-exist with vPars, the iCOD software modifies processor capacity using the vparmodify command. Assigning a processor to a vPar is equivalent to activation and removing a processor from a vPar is equivalent to deactivation.

The iCOD software must be installed on all vPars with iCOD processors. In addition, all vPars with iCOD processors must be configured to send e-mail to HP.

Once one vPar or hard partition is licensed, all other vPars, or hard partitions, are automatically licensed. This is similar to licensing on hard partitions.

Only unbound processors can be added or removed from a vPar.

	NOTE: See the Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions manual for details of vPars. This manual can be found on the HP web site: docs.hp.com

iCOD Software Compatibility with vPars — Supported Hardware Platforms

iCOD Compatibility with vPars — Supported Hardware Platforms. The iCOD B.05.x software is compatible with vPars (version A.02.00 or greater) and is supported on the following HP servers:

Activation and Deactivation of Processors in a vPar

The iCOD software uses the vparmodify command to instantly activate and deactivate processors. The activations and deactivations are accomplished by adding and removing unbound processors from a vPar.

	NOTE: Deferred activations and deactivations are not supported in a vPar environment.

When you execute the icod_modify command to deactivate a processor, it determines how many processors in the local vPar are unbound. If enough unbound processors exist to satisfy the request, the appropriate vparmodify command is executed, and the proper number of unbound processors are removed from the local vPar.

When you execute the icod_modify command to activate a processor, it determines how many processors are available for activation. If enough processors are available to meet the request, the appropriate vparmodify command is executed, and the proper number of unbound processors are added to the local vPar.

Whether you are activating or deactivating processors, the (appropriate) vparmodify command adjusts only the number of unbound processors, and it does not explicitly specify certain processors, or affect the number of bound processors. Any error messages that are output by the vparmodify command are displayed by the icod_modify command.

Activation or deactivation of processors in a vPar may take one or more minutes to complete, but is usually no slower than in a non-vPar. See “Processor Activation or Deactivation Delay with vPars” for details.

icod_stat Output Differences in a vPar

The following table outlines the differences between a vPar environment and a non-vPar environment for the icod_stat command’s output:

	NOTE: In a vPar environment, the usage log information displayed by the icod_stat -u command reflects the status of the entire hard partition, rather than the status of the local vPar. Also, the Requested active processors are the total number of processors assigned to all vPars.

Example Output of icod_stat -p on a Partitionable System Containing vPars

/usr/sbin/icod_stat -p

Version:           5.0
Contract type:     iCOD-purchase
License applied:   yes
 
Hostname:          zooVpar0
DNS domain name:   zooVpar0.com
IP address:        11.22.33.55
NIS domain name:   .
System model:      9000/800/N4000-44
Serial number:     1234567890
Software ID:       abcdef
 
Contact name:      Mary Jones
Contact e-mail:    mjones@corp.com
Contact phone:     970-888-9999
From e-mail:       mjones@corp.com
 
Processor Information for Local Virtual Partition
-------------------------------------------------
Assigned processors:                           4
Active assigned processors:                    3
Inactive assigned processors:                  1
Unassigned processors that can be assigned:    1
Unassigned processors that cannot be assigned: 2
 
Virtual Partition Information for Hard Partition: zooVpar0
-------------------------------------------------
 
Assigned       Virtual
Processors     Partition
==========     =========
4              zooVpar0     (local)
1              zooVpar1
3              Unassigned processors

Licensing and vPars

Once any vPar or hard partition is valid and licensed, the following are valid and automatically licensed (assuming the iCOD software is installed):

Static vPars

If a vPar is static (that is, the resources cannot be migrated, added, deleted, or modified) and you attempt to activate or deactivate processors, the iCOD software displays a message indicating that the configuration of the processor resources cannot be modified.

	NOTE: The icod_stat command’s output indicates that the number of unassigned processors that can be assigned (to the local vPar) is zero if the static resource attribute for the local vPar is set.

LPMC Deactivations in vPars

In a vPar environment, if the Low Priority Machine Check (LPMC) monitor deactivates a processor, it does not automatically replace the failing processor with an iCOD processor. The processor replacement must be performed manually by using the icod_modify command to assign a replacement processor, if one exists. The failing processor remains in the vPar until the vPar is rebooted.

LPMC and icod_stat Reporting

In a vPar environment, the icod_stat command does not report the correct number of “Unassigned processors that can be assigned” if the following conditions occur:

If the above two conditions occur, the failed processor is erroneously included in the count of “Unassigned processors that can be assigned” as reported by the icod_stat command.

Removal of the iCOD Software

In a vPar environment, you cannot remove the iCOD software, unless the following conditions are true: