Edit: With flash USB drives this is even easier now.
Originally posted March 17, 2015 on AIXchange
Perhaps I wasn’t clear when I explained why NIM is my VIO server installation option of choice. In any event, this reader’s response got me thinking further about the topic:
“I prefer (to) install from the virtual media repository. It is faster with no network issue. Because when you start install always network is not ready yet. And when you are updating if your NIM is not up to date (lpp_source, spot, mksysb, …) you take much time. With Virtual media repository you need just iso image to start install.”
To me, using the virtual media repository in the original scenario (installing a VIO server) presents a chicken-and-egg dilemma. If I could use a virtual media library, the VIO server would already be installed. But because one VIO server can’t be a client of another VIO server, I can’t use a virtual media repository to build a VIO server.
I absolutely agree that a virtual media repository is a great way to go when installing client LPARs. It just doesn’t help with the initial VIO server install.
Another reader shared a different scenario: He was installing IBM i and VIOS. Because he didn’t know how to build a NIM server (and he didn’t have access to AIX media anyway), installing from one was out of the equation. He tried using the HMC to install a second VIO server, but it wasn’t working. It would start to boot, but then the install would blow up. He had IBM Support specialists look at the logs, but they couldn’t find the problem.
Eventually, he arrived at an inelegant solution. He had a split backplane on his server, and was able to install VIOS1 from physical media with no issues. The DVD was attached to controller 1, with no way to swing it over to controller 2. So he added controller 2 from VIOS2 to his VIOS1 profile, and then restarted the VIOS1 profile. When he booted from the DVD, he opted to install VIOS to a disk that was on controller 2. Once the installation completed, he shut everything down, put controller 2 back into the VIOS2 profile, and booted both VIO servers. VIOS2 would have a few extra logical device definitions that were no longer available, but otherwise, everything worked.
While I don’t expect to run into these issues myself, it is nice to know that different installation options exist. You never know when someone else’s solution might get you out of your own jam.