Re: The JS12 saga - Battle of the network scars...

Thanks Lukas,

All the documentation is from the Vess Natchev Readme document found here:

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/resources/systems_power_hardware_blades_i_on_blade_readme.pdf

I have used that, even though it starts with installing VIOS and i5/OS, because there isn't any documentation that shows how to "quick start" an express version of the blade (like ours is:VIOS and i5/OS preinstalled). Vess has been pointing me to relevant sections that deal with configuration of each component (AMM, VIOS, i5/OS etc) so I have to jump around the document a bit.

For your other questions. The screen shot of oem_setup_env is here:
http://www.petesworkshop.com/images/vios-oem_setup_env.jpg (sorry it is hard to read)

The ip address there squares with the IP I assigned it: 10.0.10.240. It doesn't show the subnet config but I am guessing that is OK (s/b 255.255.255.0)

So I think that it is OK. When I got my MCSE several years ago the instructor in my TCP class gave me sage advice. He said: "90% of networking problems are physical connection problems" and that has been my experience as well. I read up on the CPM and how it works. I went down to the BCS again and checked all the connections and now I have 4 of the 5 CPM cables lit up so perhaps I have a physical connection problem and I need to double-check the contacts and seating of the CPM. The booklet on the CPM says that blade 1 (our JS12) should have a port using cable A. Turns out that cable "A" is the only cable not lit up. That could be something in the config or it could be a cable or seating issue. So I am going to shut down and double check all the contacts and see it I can get to the bottom of it.

Based on the screen shot I posted, I should be able to get to VIOS at IP address 10.0.10.240, correct?

Thanks for all the help.

Pete



Lukas Beeler wrote:

On Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 5:49 PM, Pete Helgren <Pete@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Still plugging away at this. I got back into town and had a chance to
check out the issue with the CPM (Copper Passthrough Module) and why the
ports on the switch weren't lighting up., It is definitely due to the
fact that I was plugging the cables into a 100/10 switch not a Gbit
switch.

Ha! :)

Having the cable "firmly" attached to the module is also
critical. It doesn't light up until you actually use the attachment
screws (one in a near impossible place to tighten!). Curiously, only

Something similar happened to me when i setup an EXP24.

the "B","C" and "D" cables light up. I am not sure what the cable ID's
on the CPM correspond to. I assume they map to virtual interfaces on
either the chassis or the blade itself but there really isn't a way that
I can "see" what hardware they map to. The CPM has no configuration
options at all.

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/systems/support/system_x_pdf/25r4622.pdf

Page 24.

I would try to help more, but i do not have a CPM, so i can't try anything out.

The following interfaces need to be configured:
AMM
Ethernet I/O module

As far as i can tell, the CPM does *NOT* have a configuration
interface that is reachable by IP.

AMM - This guy was easy. Originally set to 192.168.70.125, I
temporarily set my laptop IP to a static 192.168.70.5 (subnet
255.255.255.0) and then accessed the AMM. I changed that IP address to
10.0.10.230 because that places the AMM on my internal network and then
I restarted the AMM. I then reset by laptop back to a DHCP assigned
reservation on 10.0.10.130.

You could've just plugged the AMM into your network, it retrieves an
IP by DHCP per default.

Ethernet I/O module - This was is a little tougher. Since I have a CPM,
I am not sure where exactly this address IS set (maybe there is no such
animal)

The CPM doesn't have an IP Adress, as far as i can tell.

VIOS/IVM - The readme description says: "An IP address on the external
LAN that will be used to connect to both IVM and the VIOS command line".
Is this where the mktcpip is used? The readme instructions on page 27?
I *think* so, but can't be certain. I set it to 10.0.10.240 using the
VIOS command line mktcpip. Yet the readme says the script sets this to
192.168.1.100 so I am pretty confused on this one.

Which Readme? VIOS does not have an IP when installing it by hand.

IBM i LAN console - This appears to be set by VIOS or IVM. But if I get
the step above wrong, I am stuck (and I am: Although I can access VIOS
using the remote control option from within AMM, I can't figure how to
access VIOS using a browser or access IVM)

Probably because VIOS does not have an IP-Address yet. Run
oem_setup_env and then run ifconfig -a, this should show you the
interface configuration.

The IBM i LAN Console is configured by BOOTP, Client Access acts as a
BOOTP server, from which the i will retrieve the ip adress it should
use.

Later on, you can change this information in SST.

IBM i production interface - If I could just get to the i partition I
*know* how to set this, although the instructions on the LAN console
seems to indicate that the LAN console *assigns* the IP but that doesn't
make sense to me.

that's not true.

PC for LAN console and IVM browser access - Now things really get hairy:
There are instructions that are on page 44 that say "The LAN console PC
must use an IP address in the 192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.254 range, except
192.168.1.100, with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The script will
assign VIOS the default IP address of 192.168.1.100. Consult section 1.4
of this document for an overview of the network configuration necessary
for an IBM i on BladeCenter deployment." Yet, earlier in the document
(page 10) it says "LAN console necessitates having a PC (initially on
the same subnet as IBM i) with the System i Access for Windows
software." The image directly above the quote shows it at 10.10.10.37
and it IS on the same subnet but there is something about the statement
that says the LAN console PC *must* use an IP address in the
192.168.1.1- range that is difficult to reconcile.

I'd be interested in which piece of documentation you're talking about
here, because i never found anything that sounded like that.

QUESTION: Does this mean that once the blade is started (and mine has
been started and restarted many times) that the PC must have an IP
address of say, 192.168.1.5 *regardless* of how the AMM and other
settings that have been configured so far? So I need to set my PC to a
static address of 192.168.1.5 (for example) and then plug it into the
same network that the AMM and BCS and everything else is on, even if
they are on a different subnet? In my case everything is on the
10.0.10.xxx logical network. I need to set my laptop to 192.168.1.5 to
put it on the 192.168.1.xxx logical network?

If your paraphrasing of the documentation above is correct, and the
documentation matches your preload, then yes.
You could also change the IP configuration using the VIOS console.

So, right now I have the BCS up and accessible using AMM at address
10.0.10.230 (subnet 255.255.255.0 like the rest of my network). I can
access VIOS using the remote control option in AMM but cannot access it
any other way. I can't access IVM. I can't figure out how to access the
i5/OS partition to start it (it is, presumably there).

Yes, you need IP connectivity for that.

Physical connections to my network consist of the connection to the
management module at 10.0.10.230 and the three (currently) live
connection through the CPM (IP's unknown).

As said, it doesn't have one.

My goal is to access IVM or anything else that will give me access to
the i5/OS partition to start it and configure it. I have been
unsuccessful in using LAN console connection to access the i5/OS
partition (if it IS running).

It would be very helpful if you could provide me with a screenshot of
a oem_setup_env / ifconfig -a from the VIOS commandline - then i could
tell you what you definitively have to do to get to IVM.

Thoughts. Suggestions. And, yes, today is the day I call IBM support
if I cannot sort this out here or on my own.

It's interesting to see that the preload version takes longer to get
up and running than a blank system :)