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POWERVM - CD, DVD

CDROM - DVDROM (Virtual Optical Device):

Any optical device equipped on the Virtual I/O Server partition (either CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or DVD-RAM) can be virtualized and assigned at any logical partition, one at a time, using the same virtual SCSI adapter provided to virtual disks. Virtual optical devices can be used to install the operating system and, if DVD-RAM, to make backups.


Creating Virtual Optical Device:

1. On VIO Server create SCSI Server Adapter. This adapter is set to Any client partition can connect.
   This dedicated adapter for the virtual optical device helps to make things easier from a system management point of view.

2. On client LPAR: create SCSI client adapter, mapping the id with the server adapter (above)

3. cfgdev (on vio) will bring up a new vhostX
   cfgmgr (on client) will bring up a new vscsiX

4. On VIO Server create optical device:

    -for using physical CDs and DVDs, create an optical device
        $ mkvdev -vdev cd0 -vadapter vhost4 -dev vcd
        vcd Available
   
        $ lsdev -virtual
        ...
        vcd             Available  Virtual Target Device - Optical Media

    -for file backed (iso images) optical device
        $ mkvdev -fbo -vadapter vhost1
        vtopt0 Available

        $lsdev -virtual
        ...
        vtopt0           Available   Virtual Target Device - File-backed Optical

        (copy the iso image to /var/vio/VMLibrary, 'lsrep' will show media repository content)
        (lssp -> mkrep -sp rootvg -size 4G    <--this will create media repository)
        (creating an iso image: mkvopt -name <filename>.iso -dev cd0 -ro)

        load the image into the vtopt0 device: loadopt -vtd vtopt0 -disk dvd.1022A4_OBETA_710.iso
        (lsmap -all will show it)
       
        or you can check it:
        padmin@vios1 : /home/padmin # lsvopt
        VTD             Media                                   Size(mb)
        vtopt0          AIX_7100-00-01_DVD_1_of_2_102010.iso        3206
           
        if later another disk is needed, you can unload an image with this command: unloadopt -vtd vtopt0
        if we don't need the image anymore at all we can remove it from the repository: rmvopt -name AIX_7100-00-01.iso

5. On client LPAR cfgmgr and create CDROM filesystem
In the AIX client partition run the cfgmgr command to assign the virtual optical drive to it. If the drive is already assigned to another partition you will get an error message and you will have to release the drive from the partition holding it.

    create mount point: mkdir /cdrom

    create cdrom filesystem: smitty fs -> add cdrom filesystems:
        device name: cd0
        mount point: /cdrom
        mount automatically

    mount the filesystem: mount -v cdrfs -r /dev/cd0 /cdrom


removing it:
rmdev -dev vhost1 -recursive

8 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Thank you soo much.... so far i have understood "assigning the cdrom to client" very well.

Now can you please tell me the PROCESS for moving that cd from VIO client 1 to VIO client 2.

Thank you in advance...

aix said...

Hi, I would first remove the connection between a physical device and its associated virtual SCSI adapter (rmvdev). Then I would do the "Creating Virtual Optical Device" section, from point #2.

Unknown said...

nice article

ra said...

nice post Sir .. thanks!

Anonymous said...

have you ever used physical DVD drive which using the same SAS adapter as disk between two vio servers without DLPAR option?

Anonymous said...

very good information...Thank you Buddy

Keith Koene said...

Very helpful!! Thank you!