Task Summaries for Creating and Configuring nPartitions

Table 6-1 describes the main nPartition configuration tasks and provides brief summaries and references for detailed procedures.

You can perform the tasks in Table 6-1 “nPartition Configuration Task Summaries” using various tools, including the service processor (MP or GSP), Boot Console Handler (BCH, available only on PA-RISC servers), Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI, available only on HP Integrity servers), nPartition commands, or Partition Manager (/opt/parmgr/bin/parmgr).

See “Tools for Configuring nPartitions” for details.

Table 6-1 nPartition Configuration Task Summaries

Task Summary

“Creating a Genesis Partition”

Creating a Genesis Partition overwrites all nPartition-related complex profile data for the server and establishes one single-cell nPartition.
Service Processor (MP or GSP): CC command.

See “Creating a Genesis Partition”.

“Creating a New nPartition”

nPartition Commands: parcreate command.
Partition Manager:
- Version 1.0 — PartitionCreate Partition action.
- Version 2.0 — nPartitionCreate nPartition action.

See “Creating a New nPartition”.

“Removing (Deleting) an nPartition”




	NOTE: When an inactive nPartition is specified to be removed, its removal occurs immediately. When an active nPartition is specified to be removed, for the nPartition removal (deletion) to occur, the nPartition must be put into a shutdown for reconfig state (HP-UX: shutdown -R -H; Windows: shutdown /s; Linux: shutdown -h `time`; OpenVMS: @SYS$SYSTEM:SHUTDOWN with no automatic system reboot then MP Command menu RR command).

nPartition Commands: parremove -p# command removes the specified nPartition (-p#, where # is the nPartition number).
When removing an active nPartition you must specify the -F option.
Partition Manager:
- Version 1.0 — Select an nPartition, then select the PartitionDelete Partition action.
- Version 2.0 — Select an nPartition, then select the nPartitionDelete nPartition action.

See “Removing (Deleting) an nPartition”.

“Assigning (Adding) Cells to an nPartition”




	NOTE: When a cell is assigned to an inactive nPartition the assignment completes immediately. To complete new cell assignments to an active nPartition, you must perform a reboot for reconfig (HP-UX: shutdown -R; Windows: shutdown /r; Linux: shutdown -r `time`; OpenVMS: @SYS$SYSTEM:SHUTDOWN with an automatic system reboot).

nPartition Commands: parmodify -p# -a#....command, which adds a cell (-a#, where # is the cell number) to the specified nPartition (-p#, where # is the nPartition number).
Partition Manager:
- Version 1.0 — Select an nPartition, and use the PartitionModify Partition action, Add/Remove Cells tab.
- Version 2.0 — Select an nPartition, and use the nPartitionModify nPartition action, Add/Remove Cells tab.

See “Assigning (Adding) Cells to an nPartition”.

“Unassigning (Removing) Cells from an nPartition”




	NOTE: When an inactive cell is specified to be removed from an nPartition the removal occurs immediately. When an active cell is specified to be removed from an nPartition, to complete the cell removal the nPartition must perform a reboot for reconfig (HP-UX: shutdown -R; Windows: shutdown /r; Linux: shutdown -r `time`; OpenVMS: @SYS$SYSTEM:SHUTDOWN with an automatic system reboot).

nPartition Commands: parmodify -p# -d#command, which unassigns the cell (-d#, where # is the cell number) from the specified nPartition (-p#, where # is the nPartition number).
When removing an active cell, you must specify the -B option if you want the nPartition to be active after the reboot for reconfig.
Partition Manager:
- Version 1.0 — Select an nPartition, and use the PartitionModify Partition action, Add/Remove Cells tab.
- Version 2.0 — Select an nPartition, and use the nPartitionModify nPartition action, Add/Remove Cells tab.

See “Unassigning (Removing) Cells from an nPartition”.

“Renaming an nPartition”

BCH Menu: Configuration menu, PD NewName command, where NewName specifies the new name for the nPartition. Quotation marks are not needed, even if the name includes spaces.
nPartition Commands: parmodify -p# -P name command, where -P name specifies the new name for the nPartition (-p#, where # is the nPartition number).
If the nPartition name includes spaces you must specify it in quotation mark (for example: "nPar Name 1").
Partition Manager:
- Version 1.0 — PartitionModify Partition , General tab.
- Version 2.0 — nPartitionModify nPartition , General tab.

See “Renaming an nPartition”.

“Renaming a Server Complex”

nPartition Commands: cplxmodify -N name command.
Only the Enhanced nPartition Commands support the cplxmodify command.
If the complex name includes spaces you must specify it in quotation mark (for example: "Cplx Name 1").
Partition Manager: ComplexSet Complex Name action.

See “Renaming a Server Complex”.

“Setting Cell Attributes”

BCH Menu: Configuration menu, CELLCONFIG command to list or set cell use-on-next-boot values.
EFI Shell: cellconfig command to list or set cell use-on-next-boot values.
nPartition Commands: parmodify -p# -m#... command to modify cell attributes (-m#..., where # is the cell number) for the specified nPartition (-p#, where # is the nPartition number).
- Original nPartition Commands — For the cell modify (-m) option, specify:
  -m#:base:[y|n]:ri
  where: # is the cell number, base always is the cell type, the cell use-on-next-boot value is either y (the default, make active) or n (inactive), and ri always is the cell failure usage.
  For the Original nPartition Commands, all attributes are optional and if not specified the default values (base:y:ri) are assigned.
- Enhanced nPartition Commands — For the -m option:
  -m#:base:[y|n]:ri[:clm]
  where all Original nPartition Commands attributes are supported, and clm is the cell local memory value: the amount of memory on the cell that is not interleaved.
  The clm attribute may be an absolute number of GBytes in 0.5 GByte increments, or a percentage (in 12.5% increments, or in 25% increments for cells with less than 4 GBytes).
Partition Manager:
- Version 1.0 — Select the nPartition to which the cell belongs, select the PartitionModify Partition action, Change Cell Attributes tab, select the cell(s), and click Modify Cell(s).
- Version 2.0 — Select the nPartition to which the cell belongs, select the nPartitionModify nPartition action, and then configure attributes using the Set Cell Options tab and the Configure Memory tab.

See “Setting Cell Attributes”.

“Setting nPartition Core Cell Choices”

BCH Menu: Configuration menu, COC command.
COC choice cell, where choice is 0-3 (with 0 being the highest-priority choice) and where cell is the cell number.
EFI Shell: rootcell command.
rootcell clear to clear the list of preferred core cells.
rootcell c0 c1... to specify up to four choices, with c0 being the highest-priority choice and c0-c3 being the cell numbers.
nPartition Commands: parmodify -p# -r# -r#... command to specify up to four core cell choices (-r#, where # is the cell number) in priority order for the specified nPartition (-p#, where # is the nPartition number)
Partition Manager:
- Version 1.0 — Select the nPartition to configure, select the PartitionModify Partition action, Core Cell Choices tab.
- Version 2.0 — Select the nPartition to configure, select the nPartitionModify nPartition action, Set Cell Options tab, and use the Core Cell Choice column to set priorities.

See “Setting nPartition Core Cell Choices”.

Setting nPartition Boot Paths

NOTE: On HP Integrity servers, nPartition boot paths can be listed and configured only from the local nPartition.
See Chapter 5 for detailed nPartition boot configuration tasks and related information.
BCH Menu: BCH Main menu, PATH command.
EFI Boot Manager: Boot Option Maintenance menu.
EFI Shell: bcfg command.
HP-UX: setboot command, or parmodify -p# -b... -s... -t... command.

Setting the Date and Time




	NOTE: The Service Processor (MP or GSP) date and time is stored and managed separately from nPartition times, and each nPartition has independently stored and managed date and time settings. Changes to the date and time for an nPartition do not affect other nPartitions or the MP.

Service Processor (MP or GSP): DATE command configures the MP date and time.
BCH Menu: Configuration menu, TIME command configures the local nPartitions date and time. The BCH time is set and presented in GMT (Greenwich mean time).
EFI Shell: date command and time command configure the local nPartition date and time. The EFI time is set and presented in GMT (Greenwich mean time).
HP-UX: date command configures the local nPartition date and time. Use set_parms timezone to set the HP-UX system time zone.

Restricting nPartition Configuration Privilege

NOTE: nPartition Configuration Privilege is supported on servers based on the HP sx1000 chipset or HP sx2000 chipset.
When the nPartition Configuration Privilege for a complex is restricted the following nPartition configuration actions are prohibited (except when using the MP IMPI LAN access):
- Changes to the complex name, cell assignments, and cell local memory parameters.
- Powering on/off non-local cells.
- Changes to Partition Configuration Data for non-local nPartitions.
When nPartition Configuration Privilege is unrestricted the above actions are permitted.
Service Processor (MP or GSP): the PARPERM command restricts and unrestricts nPartition Configuration Privilege.

Configuring Remote Administration

NOTE: This coverage of remote nPartition administration addresses features of HP Integrity Superdome, rx8620, and rx7620 servers.
Service Processor (MP or GSP): Remote security features.
- SO command — Set MP security, including IPMI password.
- SA command — Set MP network access, including IMPI LAN.
- PARPERM command — Set nPartition Configuration Privilege.
HP-UX B.11.23 and HP-UX B.11.31: Features affecting remote administration.
- The /opt/wbem/sbin/cimconfig command lists and sets CIM Server configuration properties, which determine the types of users and connections permitted. To list the current properties: cimconfig -l -c command.
- The /opt/wbem/sbin/cimserver command starts and stops the CIM Server. To stop the CIM Server: cimserver -s command; to start the CIM Server: cimserver command.
- The /opt/wbem/bin/cimprovider command lists, enables, disables, or removes CIM provider modules, such as HP_NParProviderModule. To list CIM provider modules: cimprovider -l -s command.
- The WBEM Services SSL certificates files (client.pem, server.pem) determine whether a client is trusted to connect to a server.
  /var/opt/wbem/client.pem file — The Trust Store file on the local system, which contains a CERTIFICATE entry from every server to which it is trusted to connect.
  /var/opt/wbem/server.pem file — Contains the PRIVATE KEY and CERTIFICATE entry for the local system.
- The /opt/parmgr/bin/parmgr command starts or stops the HP-UX Tomcat-based Servlet Engine, in which Partition Manager runs. To start: parmgr -s start; to stop: parmgr -s stop; to check status: parmgr -s status; to restart: parmgr -s restart.

“Unlocking Complex Profile Entries”

CAUTION: These commands should only be used when recovering from a hung complex reconfiguration.
Service Processor (MP or GSP): RL command.
HP-UX: parunlock command.

See “Unlocking Complex Profile Entries”.

“Canceling Pending Changes to the Complex Profile”

Only changes involving the unassignment (deletion) of an active cell from an nPartition can practically be canceled.

Service Processor (MP or GSP): RL command.
HP-UX: parunlock command.

See “Canceling Pending Changes to the Complex Profile”.

Restoring the Prior Complex Profile

NOTE: All nPartitions in the complex must be inactive (put in a shutdown for reconfig state) before restoring a prior complex profile.
Service Processor (MP or GSP): CC command, L option.

Task Summaries for Creating and Configuring nPartitions

Technical documentation

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