Migrating vPar Systems to Integrity VM

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Introduction
In some consolidation scenarios, it makes sense to transition an existing, physical Integrity Server or
hard partition (nPar) from running HP Virtual Partitions to hosting Integrity Virtual Machines. Due to
the flexibility of these products, this can be done without reconfiguring the operating system
installation and reinstalling all of the software. In fact, the same mass storage can be used by the
new technology. This white paper provides step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish this.
More general consolidation planning, e.g. transitioning multiple physical systems to a virtual system
or moving systems running in vPars to Integrity VM on a different physical system is beyond the scope
of this white paper.
Planning the Migration
It’s critical that you spend some time up front to plan your migration. In doing so, you should
familiarize yourself with the Integrity Virtual Machines (Integrity VM) software and its architecture. For
more details, consult the latest version of the HP Integrity Virtual Machines Installation, Configuration, and
Administration manual.
In addition to the following steps, it is highly recommended that you create a system backup for each
vPar. This should include at least one copy of the vPar database (in /stand on any vPar).
Planning the VM Host
The Integrity VM software requires a ‘host system,’ also known as the VM Host, which is a physical
Integrity server running HP-UX 11i v2, update 2. More important for this migration effort is the fact
that the VM Host cannot run ‘user applications.’ Hence, none of the virtual partitions or their system
disks may be suitable for use as a VM Host. That is, system disks formerly belonging to vPars will
typically only be used for VM Guests. Exceptions are certainly possible, for example, a virtual
partition (vPars) used as a ‘management partition.’
Assuming none of the virtual partitions may be used as the VM Host, you will need the following
• Local storage that can be used for an HP-UX installation which will become the VM Host,
• Network configuration for the new system, including hostname and IP address
Storage for the VM Host
There are two main considerations in determining the mass storage needs of the VM Host. First you
will need sufficient space to install the HP-UX Foundation Operating Environment (Foundation OE);
typically this is approximately 12 GB. In addition to this storage, swap space equivalent to 150% of
physical memory is also required.
For example, suppose your Integrity server has 64 GB of physical memory. Then the VM Host alone
will require disk space totaling
12 GB + 1.5 × 64 GB = 108 GB
The VM Host also requires physical memory for its operation, so that should be planned for as well.
The amount of memory used by the VM Host is approximately 750MB of the first gigabyte of physical
memory plus 7.5% of each additional gigabyte.
For example, the same Integrity server (with 64 GB of physical memory) will require a total of
750 MB + 0.075 × 63 GB ≈ 5.5 GB
physical memory for the VM Host.
In light of these storage requirements, (especially memory), note that some of the new virtual machines
may have less memory than the virtual partitions they are being migrated from.