Deploying a system plan by using the Integrated Virtualization Manager

You can deploy a system plan by using the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) to create logical partitions on the managed system according to the specifications in the system plan.

Requirements for deploying a system plan

When you deploy a system plan with Integrated Virtualization Manager version 1.5.2.0, or later, you can deploy a system plan to a system that is not new or that is not in the manufacturer default configuration. You can deploy a system plan to a system that already has a configured IVM management partition or that has configured client logical partitions.

Also, the target system can have Virtual I/O Server items, such as virtual disks or virtual Ethernet adapters, already configured. However, if the system plan that you intend to deploy contains information about any items that are already configured on the system, the configured items on the target system must exactly match those same items in the system plan. If they do not match exactly, then the system plan either cannot pass validation or the item in the system plan cannot be deployed.

I/O resources do not have to be assigned to the IVM management partition. Also, you can partially deploy a system plan on the target system by selecting which logical partitions in the plan to deploy. You then can run the Deploy System Plan Wizard again to deploy the remainder of the logical partitions in the system plan at another time.

In addition to meeting the above requirements, you must meet the following prerequisite conditions:

The system-plan file exists on the IVM. If the system-plan file does not exist on the IVM, you must import the system-plan file into the IVM.
The physical hardware is connected and is reporting to the server. If you are deploying a system plan that you created in the System Planning Tool (SPT), verify that all hardware is in the proper location, and that internal drive bays and external SCSI cables are cabled according to SPT instructions. If you are deploying a system plan that you created by using the IVM, verify that the hardware and cabling on the target system is identical to that on the source system.
The physical hardware on the managed system must match exactly to any of the same hardware in the system plan.
The Integrated Virtualization Manager is not performing any other operations on the managed system.
You are the prime administrator (padmin). For more information about user roles, refer to User roles.

Note: If you want to deploy a system plan that has operating environment installation information, you cannot use the IVM to do so. Instead, you must use the IVM CLI to install operating environments as part of system plan deployment. See Installing operating environments from a system plan with IVM for more information about how to deploy such as system plan.

Deploying a system plan

To deploy a system plan on a managed system by using the IVM Web user interface, complete the following steps:

In the navigation area of the IVM, select Manage System Plans. The Manage System Plans page opens.
In the System Plans table, select the system plan that you want to deploy.
Select More Tasks > Deploy from the toolbar at the top of the System Plans table to start the Deploy System Plan Wizard. The System Deployment: Deployment Overview page of the wizard opens.
If prompted, choose the managed system to which you want to deploy the system plan and click Next. The prompt only occurs if the system plan file contains more than one system. If the system plan does not match the hardware on the managed system to which you want to deploy the plan, the wizard displays a window that informs you of this. Click OK to continue or Cancel to select a different system plan.
Wait for the wizard to validate the managed system and its hardware against the system plan. The validation process can take several minutes.
If the validation process completes successfully, click Next. If the validation process does not complete successfully, correct the issues indicated by the error messages, click Cancel to exit the wizard, and restart this procedure from the beginning. To help you to correct validation issues, you might want to create a system plan that is based on the current configuration of the managed system. Such a system plan can help you to compare the system plan that you want to deploy with the current configuration of the managed system. You can do this by using the Create System Plan task in the IVM, or you can run the following command on the system:
```
mksysplan -f name_of_new_system_plan.sysplan
```
Review the Deployable Plan Items page, select the logical partitions in the system plan that you want to deploy, and click Next. This page indicates the deployable status of the logical partitions that the system plan contains. If a logical partition has a status of partially deployed, the logical partition is selected for deployment automatically, and you cannot change the selection. If a logical partition is deselected for deployment, the wizard does not deploy any dependent entities for that partition, such as backing devices on the Virtual I/O Server.
Review the list of deployment plan items on the Deployment page, and click Finish to begin deploying the system plan. The IVM creates the specified logical partitions and deploys the specified entities as listed. The deployment process can take several minutes depending on the number of logical partitions and entities to be deployed.

After you finish the deployment of the system plan, complete the following tasks:

Locate the physical disk I/O adapters that belong to each logical partition and verify that the disk drives that are attached to these physical I/O adapters will support your desired configuration for each logical partition.
Install operating systems and software on the logical partitions.