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Howto: Setup Powervm Shared Ethernet Adapter (Sea) : Contributed by Michael Felt

This document provides instructions for setting up a PowerVM shared ethernet adapter (SEA) on an IBM POWER system using the classic configuration method. It describes creating a physical adapter port and virtual adapter port in the VIO partition to provide SEA services. The instructions explain how to delete any existing IP configurations, create the shared ethernet interface using the mkvdev command, and verify it was created successfully. The document notes that this classic method is no longer considered a best practice and provides an alternative approach.

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Serge Palla
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102 views

Howto: Setup Powervm Shared Ethernet Adapter (Sea) : Contributed by Michael Felt

This document provides instructions for setting up a PowerVM shared ethernet adapter (SEA) on an IBM POWER system using the classic configuration method. It describes creating a physical adapter port and virtual adapter port in the VIO partition to provide SEA services. The instructions explain how to delete any existing IP configurations, create the shared ethernet interface using the mkvdev command, and verify it was created successfully. The document notes that this classic method is no longer considered a best practice and provides an alternative approach.

Uploaded by

Serge Palla
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ROOTVG - AIX, LinuxOnPower & POWER Systems Portal

HOWTO: Setup PowerVM Shared Ethernet Adapter (SEA)


Contributed by Michael Felt

In this article I describe the classic configuration for a PowerVM shared ethernet adapter (SEA) on an IBM POWER
system.

Note: this method is no longer consider the best practice. Best practice for a simple SEA includes an additional virtual
ethernet adapter that takes the VIOS IP address and uses the SEA - as compared to assigning the IP address to the
SEA interface as described below.

This article assumes you already have VIO software installed and are familiar with the concept virtual ethernet as
provided by the POWER Hypervisor (PHYP).

The classic setup has one physical adapter (port) and one virtual adapter port in the VIO partition that will provide the
SEA services. This is also the minimal configuration.

Although the PHYP can support the complete IEEE 802.1Q protocol we shall only work with default port VLAN id's
(default PVID VLAN id is 1).

On the HMC make sure that the value entered for port VLAN id is the same number on all partitions that will use this SEA.

Assumption: all host to host connectivity is VLAN unaware - between partitions as well as for communication with hosts
outside the managed system.

Detail: The physical ethernet for the VIO server is a single port PCI card (Note: integrated ethernet adapter is a dual port
device). When activated this will be seen by VIO (AIX) as the device ent0.

The virtual adapter is positioned in virtual slot position 10. The partition id for the VIO partition is 20. Thus, the location
code for the virtual ethernet adapter includes the string V20-C10 in it's location code. As this adapter is to be used for
SEA services the attribute "Access External Network" is selected, and the trunk priority is set to 1. When activated, the
VIO (AIX) software will detect this device as ent1.

Basic Instructions
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Login to VIO server using the virtual console interface. First any IP configuration on the primary or virtual interfaces must
be deleted. The easiest way to be sure is to remove the IP interfaces on ent0 and ent1. Switch to root access using
oem_setup_env and execute:

# rmdev -R -dl ent0

# rmdev -R -dl ent1

# cfgmgr

# exit

As padmin we verify no other virtual ethernet devices exist.

$ lsdev -virtual

Output should only show the ent1 interface. If you see any others, remove them.

Now, as padmin, we can create the shared ethernet interface.

$ mkvdev -sea ent0 -vadapter ent1 -default ent1 -defaultid 1

This should create the device ent2. The lsdev command should verify that it is a Shared Ethernet Adapter. repeat:

$ lsdev -virtual

If you have an error message probably you do not have the attribute "Access External Network" checked. If so, I
recommend stopping the partition, updating the profile, and then activating the partition again. Do not assume that
changing the profile and reboot will work. That will not change the current settings.

Note: with this error no IP address is active so DLPAR operations cannot be used. So reactivate!

In closing, if you follow this procedure and still are having problems, comment in the forums for assistance. There are
many qualified people besides myself who can help you here.

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