AIX Administration

VIOS Commands

Basic VIOS commands (user management)

Note: padmin is the only user for most configurations. It is possible to configure additional users such as operational users for monitoring purposes.

List attributes of the padmin user

$ lsuser padmin ⤶

List all users on the system

$ lsuser ⤶

Change the password for the current user

$ passwd ⤶

IOS Version (List the verion of the VIOS oslevel)

$ ioslevel ⤶

Accept all VIOS license agreements

$ license –accept ⤶

List the boot devices for this lpar

$ bootlist -mode normal –ls ⤶

List LPAR name and ID

$ lslparinfo ⤶

Display the MOTD

$ motd ⤶

Restricted shell to root shell

$ oem_setup_env ⤶

Determine the underlying (AIX) oslevel.

$ oem_plateform_level ⤶

To display the current date & time of the VIO server

$ chdate ⤶

VIOS Backup

This creates a nim_resources.tar file which contains the mksysb and spot.

$ backupios -file "/the directory name" ⤶

This creates only the mksysb file.

$ backupios -file "/the directory name" - mksysb ⤶

e.g ( Here is an example of my vios1 mksysb)

$ backupios -file /home/padmin/viobackup/vios1.mksysb -mksysb ⤶

/home/padmin/viobackup/vios1.mksysb doesn't exist.

Creating /home/padmin/viobackup/vios1.mksysb

Creating information file for volume group mksysbvg..

Creating list of files to back up.

Backing up 6 files

6 of 6 files (100%)

0512-038 savevg: Backup Completed Successfully.

Backup in progress. This command can take a considerable amount of time

to complete, please be patient...

Creating information file (/image.data) for rootvg..

Creating list of files to back up......

Backing up 88837 files..............................

461 of 88837 files (0%)..............................

1010 of 88837 files (1%)..............................

1220 of 88837 files (1%)..............................

6651 of 88837 files (7%)..............................

29598 of 88837 files (33%)..............................

51915 of 88837 files (58%)..............................

81689 of 88837 files (91%).......

88837 of 88837 files (100%)

0512-038 savevg: Backup Completed Successfully.

Mirror rootvg in VIOS

Check, does rootvg already mirrored

$ lsvg -lv rootvg ⤶

Check no. of disk in rootvg

$ lsvg –pv rootvg ⤶

Check free disk for mirror (In my case hdisk1 available)

$ lspv –free ⤶

Lets add the hdisk1 in rootvg

$ extendvg rootvg hdisk1 ⤶

Lets start mirroring, must use –defer otherwise, vios will reboot as soon as mirroring finish.

Check ioslevel of your VIOS before start mirroring.

$ mirrorios –defer hdisk1 ⤶

Note: You might required to use –f (force) for mirror.

Check bootlist after mirror

$ bootlist -mode normal –ls ⤶

hdisk0 blv=hd5
hdisk1 blv=hd5

Note: If mirrored rootvg disk are not specified in bootlist run command below$ bootlist -mode normal hdisk0 hdisk1 ⤶

Devices

This command is similar to cfgmgr (to scan/discover for new devices in vios)

$ cfgdev ⤶

List all physical volumes

$ lspv ⤶

List all unmapped disks

$ lspv –free ⤶

List all devies (virtual & phsyical) by their slot addresses

$ lsdev -slots ⤶

List all adapters

$ lsdev -type adapter ⤶

List all virtual adapters

$ lsdev -virtual -type adapter ⤶

A detailed description of hdisk5 (Vital Product Data)

$ lsdev -dev hdisk5 -vpd ⤶

List the parent device of hdisk0

$ lsdev -dev hdisk0 -parent ⤶

List no. of physical volumes(hdisks) in rootvg

$ lsvg -pv rootvg ⤶

Check lv in rootvg

$ lsvg –lv rootvg ⤶

List the size of hdisk0

$ lspv -size hdisk0 ⤶

Create Volume group (datavg) in VIOS

$ mkvg –f –vg datavg hdisk5 ⤶

Create LVs e.g (lpar1lv) in datavg in VIOS (This lv can be assigned to an lpar as an disk).

$ mklv –lv lpar1lv datavg 10G ⤶

List all (vtd) virtual disks mapping devices(created with mkvdev command)

$ lsdev -virtual -type disk ⤶

List all devices (physical and virtual) by their slot address

$ lsdev –slots ⤶

Find the WWN of the fcs0 HBA (Host Bus Adapter)

$ lsdev -dev fcs0 -vpd | grep Network ⤶

Assign a Disk / LV to a Virtual SCSI Host Adapter (vhostX)

$ lspv ⤶

List unmapped disk

$ lspv –free ⤶

List virtual device mapping

$lsmap –all ⤶

To map hdisk22 to vhost1, just type

$ mkvdev -vdev hdisk22 -vadapter vhost1 ⤶

vtscsi1 available

But you can specify your own name for the mapping device by making use of the -- >dev option

$ mkvdev -vdev hdisk22 -vadapter vhost1 –dev lpar1_22 ⤶

lpar1_22 available

Verify

$ lsmap –vadapter vhost1 ⤶

If you use LVs rather than whole disks or LUNs the same rules apply:

$ mkvdev -vdev lpar1_lv03 -vadapter vhost1 ⤶

vtscsi1 available

Custom LV mapping device

$ mkvdev -vdev lpar1_lv03 -vadapter vhost1 -dev lpar1_lv03 ⤶

lpar1_lv03 available

Verify

$ lsmap –vadapter vhost1 ⤶

List only the virtual target devices attached to the vhost1 adapter

$ lsmap –vadapter vhost1 –field vtd ⤶

Unassign a Disk/LV from a Virtual SCSI Host Adapter (Remove mapping)

List mapping on vhost1

$ lsmap –vadapter vhost1 ⤶

Remove specific mapping

$ rmvdev –vtd vtscsiX ⤶

Verify

$ lsmap –vadapter vhost1 ⤶

Check the reserve-policy on hdisk

You might required to change the reserve-policy on a disk, if same disk required from dual VIOS.

$ lspv ⤶

$ lspv -free ⤶

List attributes of hdisk22

$ lsdev -dev hdisk22 -attr ⤶

Change Reserve policy from no_resove to single_path or vice versa

$ chdev -dev hdisk22 -attr reserve_policy=no_reserve ⤶

$ chdev -dev hdisk22 -attr reserve policy=single_path ⤶

Verify

$ lsdev -dev hdisk22 -attr ⤶

List the parent device of hdisk0

$ lsdev -dev hdisk0 -parent ⤶

List all the child devices of scsi1

$ lsdev -dev scsi1 -child ⤶

Network

List Shared Ethernet Adapters

$ lsmap -all –net

$ lsdev |grep ent ⤶

$ lsdev -dev ent0 -vpd ⤶

Create a Shared Ethernet Adapter

To create a Shared Ethernet Adapter (SEA) you need:

1 Physical Ethernet Adapter + 1 Virtual Ethernet Adapter = 1 Shared Ethernet Adapter

ent0/ent1 ent2 ent3

Syntax

$ mkvdev -sea <PHYS> -vadapter <VIRT> -default <VIRT> -defaultid <VLAN>

To make SEA ent3 on physical ent0 and virtual ent2

$ mkvdev -sea ent0 -vadapter ent2 -default ent2 -defaultid 199 ⤶

Shared Ethernet Adapter Failover:

$ mkvdev -sea <PHYS> -vadapter <VIRT> -default <VIRT> -defaultid <VLAN> -attr ha_mode=auto ctl_chan=<CONT>

Example: To create a Shared Ethernet Adapter(SEA) on top of an virtual adapter ent11 using VLAN 20, the physical adapter ent2 as backend, and the virtual adapter ent13 for the control channel type:

$ mkvdev -sea ent2 -vadapter ent11 -default ent11 -defaultid 20 -attr ha_mode=auto ctl_chan=ent13

Check attributes of SEA in more organize format or check status of virutal ethernet adapters

$ lsmap -net –all ⤶

Check the attributes of SEA. Also tells which is physical , virtual and sea adapter.

$ lsdev -dev ent4 -attr ⤶

Find virtual adapters associated with SEA ent4.

$ lsdev -dev ent4 -attr virt_adapters ⤶

Find physical (backing) adapter for SEA ent4.

$ lsdev -dev ent4 -attr real_adapter ⤶

List all (virtual and physical) ethernet adapters in the VIOS

$ lstcpip -adapters ⤶

To check the ip address assinged to VIOS

$ lstcpip –interfaces ⤶

Setup IP Address

To configure an local IP 192.168.3.30 address to en3 use

$ mktcpip -hostname VIOS1 \

-inetaddr 192.168.3.30 \

-interface en3 -start \

-netmask 255.255.255.0 \

-gateway 192.168.3.1 ⤶

Change the default gateway address 192.168.9.1 with 192.168.1.1

$ chtcpip –interface en0 \

-gateway –add 192.168.1.1 –remove 192.168.9.1 ⤶

Change the IP address on en0 from 192.168.3.30 to 192.168.1.30

$ chtcpip –interface en0 \

-inetaddr 192.168.1.30 –netmask 255.255.255.0 ⤶

You can also use root shell to change the IP

$ oem_setup_env ⤶

# smitty mktcpip ⤶

Remove an IP Address

$ rmtcpip -interface en3 ⤶

Find Active VIOS

To check which VIO is active for SEA (where ent3 is SEA)

entstat -all sea_adapter |grep -i active

$ entstat -all ent3 |grep -i active ⤶

Check Network Link Status

To check network link (where ent3 is SEA)

entstat -all sea_adapter |grep -i link

$ entstat -all ent3 |grep -i link ⤶

Default gateway and routing table

$ netstat –routtable ⤶

To check network duplexing

entstat -all sea_adapter |grep -i media

$ entstat -all ent4 |grep -i media ⤶

List the port speed of the (physical) ethernet adapter eth0

$ lsdev -dev ent0 -attr media_speed ⤶

List all the possible settings for media speed on ent0

$ lsdev -dev ent0 -range media_speed ⤶

Set the media speed to auto negotiate on ent0

$ chdev -dev ent0 -attr media speed=Auto_Negotiation ⤶

Set the media speed to auto negotiate on ent0 on next boot

$ chdev -dev ent0 -attr media speed=Auto_Negotiation –perm ⤶

Enable jumbo frames on the ent0 device

$ chdev -dev ent0 -attr jumbo frames=yes ⤶

View settings on ent0 device

$ lsdev -dev ent0 –attr ⤶

List open (TCP) ports on the VIOS IP stack

$ lstcpip -sockets | grep LISTEN ⤶

List TCP and UDP sockets listening and in use

$ lstcpip -sockets -family inet ⤶

Tell which vios is primary

$ entstat -all ent4 |grep -i PRIMARY ⤶

Tells which vios is backup

$ entstat -all ent4 |grep -i BACKUP ⤶