Live Partition Mobility (LPM) enables the relocation of an active logical partition (LPAR), including its operating system and running applications, from one physical server to another without service disruption.

A migrating partition can be configured with multiple virtual storage and virtual network adapters, such as virtual SCSI (vSCSI) , virtual networks (vNIC) and virtual Fibre Channel (vFC) adapters. These adapters are commonly configured in redundant pairs to satisfy availability and multipathing (MPIO) requirements. On the target managed system, multiple pairs of Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) partitions may be capable of hosting a given pair of redundant virtual storage adapters.

If the user does not explicitly specify the target VIOS mappings during a partition migration operation, the Hardware Management Console (HMC) automatically selects a valid pair of target VIOS partitions that satisfies MPIO rules. Although this selection ensures functional correctness, the chosen VIOS pair may not align with the customer’s preferred configuration or operational policies.

Currently, users can manually define virtual storage adapter mappings at the time of migration using either the HMC command-line interface (CLI) or the LPM graphical user interface (GUI). However, this approach requires significant user involvement and becomes increasingly complex and inefficient when migrating a large number of partitions.

VIOS Group Label–Based Mapping

One of the primary objectives of this support is to allow customers to assign a group label to each VIOS partition across multiple managed systems. During a partition migration operation, the HMC uses these group labels when selecting target VIOS partitions. Specifically, the HMC attempts to map the migrating partition’s virtual storage adapters to target VIOS partitions that have the same group label as the source hosting VIOS partitions.

By using VIOS group labels, customers can preserve a consistent and desired virtual storage adapter mapping pattern after migration, while minimizing manual intervention.

MSP Group Label–Based Mapping

Another key objective of this support is to maintain a desired Mover Service Partition (MSP) mapping pattern during active partition migration operations between managed systems. Similar to VIOS group labels, users can assign an MSP group label to each MSP on a managed system.

If the user does not explicitly specify MSP mappings when initiating a migration, the HMC attempts to select MSP pairs on the source and target systems that share the same MSP group label. This ensures predictable and policy-aligned MSP selection during migration. The MSP mapping selection algorithm based on preset MSP group labels is described in detail in subsequent sections.

labelvios  & lslabelvios:  

“labelvios” HMC cli command is used to configure Virtual  I/O  Server (VIOS) Fibre Channel (FC) port labels or VIOS group labels, or change the default VIOS label override settings on a managed system.

1.     Create a VIOS group label on a managed system

Users can use a CLI command as shown in below to create a VIOS group label on a managed system:

labelvios -m <cecName> -o a -l <labelName> -i "resource=<resource>, type=<type> vios_names=<VIOS names> or vios_ids=<VIOS IDs>"

where the possible values for the input attribute resource will be msp, vscsi, vnic and vfc, and possible values for the input attribute type will be include and exclude. The exclude type value can only be used for the resource type value msp.

The  input attributes vios_names and vios_ids will be mutually exclusive. For the group resource type msp, each vios name or vios id value can be followed with an optional string for the user specified list of MSP IP addresses.

Here are some of the examples:

The following two CLI commands will create a VIOS group label of the group label name prod.grp.scsi.01 and the group resource vscsi on the managed systems b44a and b45a with the participants VIOS partitions of the name [b44a-vios1,b44a-vios2] and [b45a-vios1,b45a-vios2].

labelvios -m b44a-o a -l prod.grp,scsi.01 -i "resource=vscsi,\"vios_names=b44a-vios1,b44a-vios2\""

labelvios -m b45a-o a -l prod.grp,scsi.01 -i "resource=vscsi,\"vios_names=b45a-vios1,b45a-vios2\""

The following two CLI commands will create a VIOS group label of the group label name prod.grp.msp.0A and the group resource msp on the managed systems b44a and b45a with the participants VIOS partitions of the name [b44a-vios1,b44a-vios2] and [b45a-vios1,b45a-vios2].

labelvios -m b44a-o a -l prod.grp,msp.0A -i "resource=msp,\"vios_names=b44a-vios1/x.x.x.26\""

labelvios -m b45a-o a -l prod.grp,msp.0A -i "resource=msp,\"vios_names=\"\"b45a-vios1/x.x.x.27\"\",b45a-vios2/x.x.x.28\""

where an optional MSP IP address value x.x.x.26 was assigned to the participant b44a-vios1, and an optional MSP IP address value x.x.x.27 was assigned to the participant b45a-vios1.

The following CLI command will create a VIOS group label of the label name prod.grp.msp.exc and the group resource msp with the type exclude on the managed system b46a:

labelvios -m ever49bmc -o a -l prod.grp,msp.exc -i "resource=msp,type=exclude,\"vios_names=\"\"vios1/x.x.x.1\"\",vios2/x.x.x.2\"

The following CLI command will create a VIOS group label of the label name prod.group.vnic and the group resource vnic with the type include on the managed system ever49bmc:

labelvios -m ever49bmc -o a -l prod.group.vnic -i "resource=vnic,\"vios_names=ever49bmc-vios1,ever49bmc-vios2\""

2.    Add a list of VIOS partitions to an existing VIOS group label on a managed system

Users can use a CLI command as shown in below to add a list of VIOS partitions to an existing  VIOS group label on a managed system:

labelvios -m <cecName> -o s -l <labelName> -i "vios_names+=<VIOS names> or vios_ids+=<VIOS IDs>"

where the input attributes vios_names and vios_ids will be mutually exclusive. For the group resource msp, each vios name or vios id value can be followed with an optional string for the user specified list of MSP IP addresses.

Here are some of the examples:

The following CLI command will add two VIOS partitions [b44a-vios3, b44a-vios4] to the existing VIOS group label prod.grp.scsi.01 on the managed system b44a.

labelvios -m b44a-o s -l prod.grp,scsi.01 -i \"vios_names+=b44a-vios3,b44a-vios4\"

The following CLI command will add two VIOS partitions [b45a-vios3, b45a-vios4] to the existing VIOS group label prod.grp.msp.0A on the managed system b45a.

labelvios -m b45a -o s -l prod.grp.msp.0A -i \“vios_names+= b45a-vios3/x.x.x.28,b45a-vios4/x.x.x.29\”

where an optional MSP IP address value x.x.x.28 was assigned to the participant b45a-vios3.

3.    Remove a list of VIOS partitions from an existing VIOS group label on a managed system

Users can use a CLI command as shown in below to remove a list of VIOS partitions from an existing VIOS group label on a managed system:

labelvios -m <cecName> -o s -l <labelName> -i "vios_names-=<VIOS names> or vios_ids-=<VIOS IDs>"

where the input attributes vios_names and vios_ids will be mutually exclusive.

Here are some of the examples:

The following CLI command will remove two VIOS partitions [b44a-vios2, b44a-vios3] from the existing VIOS group label prod.grp.scsi.01 on the managed system b44a.

labelvios -m b44a -o s -l prod.grp.scsi.01 -i \“vios_names-= b44a-vios2, b44a-vios3\”

The following CLI command will remove two VIOS partitions [b45a-vios2, b45a-vio3] from the existing VIOS group label prod.grp.msp.0A on the managed system b45a.

labelvios -m b5a -o s -l prod.grp.msp.0A -i \“vios_names-= b45a-vios2, b45a-vios3\”

notice that for remove participants from a VIOS group label of the resource  type msp, no msp IP address needs be specified.

4.    Change the group label name of an existing VIOS group label on a managed system

Users can use a CLI command as shown in below to change the label name of an existing VIOS group label on a managed system:

labelvios -m <cecName> -o s -l <labelName> -i "new_name=<newLabelName>"

The following is an example of changing the name of an existing VIOS group label from the old value prod.grp.scsi.01 to the new value prod.grp.scsi.02 on the managed system b44a:

labelvios -m ever49bmc -o s -l  prod.grp.scsi.01 -i "new_name=prod.grp.scsi.02"

5.    Remove one or multiple or all configured VIOS group labels on a managed system

Users can use a CLI command as shown in below to remove one existing VIOS group label or multiple existing VIOS group labels, or all existing VIOS group labels on a managed system:

labelvios -m <cecName> -o r -l <labelName> -i "resource=<resourceType>"

where the -l parameter and input attribute resource are mutually exclusive.

The following is an example of remove one existing VIOS group label of the name prod.grp.scsi.01 on a managed system b44a.

labelvios -m b44a -o r -l prod.grp.scsi.01

The following is an example of remove all existing VIOS group labels of the label resource msp on the managed system b44a:

labelvios -m b44a -o r -i “resource=msp”

The following is an example of remove all existing VIOS group labels on the managed system b44a:

labelvios -m b44a -o r -i “resource=all”

6.    Query all existing VIOS group labels on a managed system

Users can use a CLI command as shown in below to query all the configured VIOS group labels on a managed system:

lslabelvios -m <cecName> -r label [--filter “resources=<resourceTypes>,type=<type>”]

where the resources filter will allow multiple types of VIOS group labels to be displayed. In the cases when the –filter parameter is not specified, all the VIOS group labels configured on the managed system will be displayed.

The following is an example of the result of query all existing VIOS group labels of the types vscsi , vnic, and vfc on the managed system b44a:

lslabelvios -m ever49bmc –r group --filter \"resources=vscsi,vfc,vnic\"

name=prod.grp.scsi.01,resource=vscsi,type=include,vios=b44a-vios1/1,b44-vios2/2

name=prod.grp.fc.01,resource=vfc,type=include,vios=b44a-vios1/1,b44a-vios2/2

name=prod.grp.fc.02,resource=vfc,type=include,vios=b44a-vios3/3,b44a-vios4/4

The following is an example of the result of query all the existing VIOS group labels on the managed system b44a:

lslabelvios -m b44a -r group

name=prod.grp.msp.inc,resource=msp,type=include,vios=b44a-vios1/1/x.x.x.26,b44a-vios2/2

name=prod.grp.msp.exc,resource=msp,type=exclude,vios=b44a-vios3/3/x.x.x.28,b44a-vios4/4//x.x.x.29

name=prod.grp.scsi.01,resource=vscsi,type=include,vios=b44a-vios1/1,b44-vios2/2

name=prod.grp.fc.01,resource=vfc,type=include,vios=b44a-vios1/1,b44a-vios2/2

name=prod.grp.fc.02,resource=vfc,type=include,vios=b44a-vios3/3,b44a-vios4/4

Basically, for a VIOS group label of the type msp, HMC will display the IP address of an MSP after the MSP ID if there is an MSP IP address defined. Otherwise, no IP address value will be displayed after the MSP ID.

7.    Set default VIOS group labels override setting on a managed system

Users can use a CLI command as shown in below to set default VIOS group labels override setting on a managed system:

labelvios -m <cecName> -r default [ “storage_label_override=<value>, msp_label_override=<value>”]

where the possible values for the input attributes storage_label_override, fc_port_label_override, vnic_label_override and msp_label_override are:

1 – must use 

2 – if possible.

The following is an example of setting the default VIOS group label override setting on the managed system b44a to 1 (must use) for storage label and 2 (if possible) for msp labels

labelvios -m d44a -o s -i "storage_label_override=1,msp_label_override=2"

8.    Query default VIOS group labels override setting on a managed system

Users can use a CLI command as shown in below to query the default VIOS group labels override setting on a managed system:

lslabelvios -m <cecName> -r default

The following is an example of query the default VIOS group label override setting on the managed system b44a

lslabelvios -m b44a-r default

storage_label_override=2,msp_label_override=2,fc_port_label_override=2,vnic_label_override=1

9.    Override parameters for Live Partition Mobility, Simplified Remote Restart

9.1.        Usage of both SRIOV physical port  and VIOS vNIC labels as part of LPM :

9.2.          Usage of group labels scsi,vfc,msp viso labels as part of LPM :

U

When launching an LPM, SRR operations, user can specify VIOS label override settings. For CLI commands, two new user override parameters will be supported:

--viosstoragelabel:   the override value to be used for VIOS group labels of the resource type vscsi and vfc.

--viosmsplabel:    the override value to be used for VIOS group labels of the resource type msp.

--viosvniclabel: the override value to be used for VIOS group labels of the resource type vnic.

The possible values for those two new override parameters are:

1 – Must use VIOS group labels if we have matching labels configured on two systems.

2 – Use VIOS group labels if possible.

The default value of that override parameter will be 2. In other words, user must specify a value 1 for the parameter --viosvniclabel --viosstoragelabel  or --viosmsplabel in order to force HMC to apply “must use VIOS group labels” policy. The new override parameter --viosstoragelabel , --viosvniclabel will apply to all LPM, RR operations. The new override parameter –viosmsplabel will only apply to active LPM operations.

For active partition migration operations, a user can use a new optional input attribute msp_label to force HMC to only select MSPs with the matching group label value on the source and target managed systems. If no MSPs with the matching group label value were found on source or target managed system, HMC will fail the migration operation with a proper error message. The following is an example of an LPM CLI command with a user specified msp_label attribute value:

migrlpar -o m/v -m b44a -t b45a -p b115lp01 -I “msp_label=prod.grp.msp.0A,prod.grp.msp.0B”

For the cases of must use msp label override policy, if  on both the source and the target managed systems, we already have some VIOS group labels of the label resource type msp configured. But HMC was not able to find required pairs of MSPs with the matching group label. HMC will fail the migration operation indicating user may not have proper group labels configured on the two involved managed systems. In this case, user can either fix the group label configuration errors or use the –viosmsplabel 2 override parameter to force HMC not to apply the “must use” the MSP group labels policy on the two involved managed systems.

For group partition migration operations or CEC evacuation operations, user can use the new input parameter msp_label to specify a collection of msp labels to be used for a group partition migration operation or a CEC evacuation operation.

The new user override parameter --viosstoragelabel  will also be supported for the CLI command “lslparmigr -r virtualio” and the new override parameter --viosmsplabel will also be supported for the CLI command “lslparmigr -r msp”, in case when user does not have proper vios storage labels or msp labels configured on the two involved managed systems, an error message may get returned.

The user override parameter --viosstoragelabell in case when user does not have proper vios storage labels configured on the two involved managed systems, an error message may get returned.

Summary

Live Partition Mobility simplifies workload movement across systems, but selecting the right VIOS and MSP resources can be challenging at scale. VIOS and MSP group labels enable consistent, policy‑driven resource selection during migrations, preserving redundancy and preferred mapping patterns with minimal manual effort. With flexible CLI management and override policies such as must use or if possible, administrators gain greater control, predictability, and efficiency across LPM and related operations.

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Authors

Malapati Raghavendra

Devesh Kumar Singh