Modify Virtual Fibre Channel Assignment
Use this page to change the logical partition connection assignments for the selected physical fibre channel port. Assigning a port to a logical partition enables the partition to communicate with storage devices in a storage area network (SAN). Configuring this type of storage resource is available only when the system supports the use of virtual fibre channel adapters and has physical fibre channel adapters installed and connected that support NPIV ports.
You can select logical partitions to use the port for connections to the fibre channel port or you can remove logical partition connections to the port. To change a port connection for a logical partition, the partition must be either in the Not activated or the Running state. If the partition is in the Running state, the partition must also be DLPAR capable. If the partition does not meet these requirements, you cannot select the partition in the table.
The Connections table provides the following information about each client logical partition on the managed system:
- Select
- This column indicates whether the logical partition has a connection to the currently selected port.
- Partition Name
- This column displays the name of the logical partition followed by the partition ID.
- Partition State
- Possible values for the current partition state are as follows:
- Running
- The logical partition is powered on and running.
- Starting
- The logical partition is in the process of powering on.
- Open Firmware
- The logical partition is in System Management Services (SMS) mode. The logical partition is in SMS mode if the server cannot find the boot device, if the logical partition is set to use SMS boot mode or Open Firmware OK prompt boot mode, or if the user presses F1 while starting the logical partition.
- Not Activated
- The logical partition is shut down. If the managed system is powered off, the state of the logical partition is always Off.
- Shutting down
- The logical partition is in the process of powering off.
- Error
- The logical partition is running, but it requires attention. Use the partition reference code to determine the problem.
- Unknown
- The logical partition requires attention. There is no partition reference code that you can use to determine the problem.
- Worldwide Port Names
- This column displays the specific worldwide port names for the connection, if any, that this logical partition has to the physical port. If the physical port is not already assigned to the logical partition, the Hardware Management Console (HMC) generates these names for the partition connection when you specify that the partition connect to the port and click OK. HMC generates the required pair of worldwide port names based on the range of names available for use with the prefix in the vital product data on the managed system. This six digit prefix comes with the purchase of the managed system to enable the generation of a large, but finite, set of worldwide port names for your use. The number of port names initially available on the managed system is 65536. To determine the actual number of port names available on the managed system, use this command:
lshwres -r virtualio --rsubtype fc --level -F num_wwpns_remaining
The command returns the following example result: 65269
- Current Assignment
- Displays the name of the physical port the virtual fibre channel adapter is currently assigned to.
- Physical location code
- Indicates the physical location of the selected physical volume within the managed system.
If you remove the partition connection to the physical port, the worldwide port names are deleted and HMC will not reuse them when generating port names in the future. If you run out of port names, you must obtain a code key to enable an additional prefix and range of port names for use on your system. Consequently, when you remove a partition connection for the port, a message appears on the page to prompt you to confirm the removal of the connection and port names.