HP

Partition Manager Help

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Overview

»Table of Contents
»Index
»Assistance
Overview
»Features & Capabilities
»About Partitioning
»Starting & Stopping
»Complex Scope
»Partition Scope
»Cell Scope
»I/O Chassis Scope
»Actions
»Status Indicators
»Messages
»Release Notes
»About Partition Manager
»Glossary
»Using Help
» Introduction to Partition Manager
» Common Components of Partition Manager Views
» Using the Interface
» The Scope Indicator
» Refreshing the Data
» Use Tabs to Change Views
» The Partition Key
» Active Objects
» The Actions Menu
» Selecting Objects

This page provides an introduction to Partition Manager, including a general description of the user interface and an explanation of the concepts and terminology used throughout the program. Click on any of the topics above to go directly to the corresponding section of this page.

For information about the online help system, refer to the using help page. For links to related documentation, product support services, and other online resources, refer to the assistance page. To see the product version number, copyright, and other legal notices, refer to the about partition manager page.

Introduction to Partition Manager

Partition Manager (parmgr) is a Web-based application that allows system administrators to use a convenient graphical user interface (GUI) to configure and manage nPartitions on HP server systems. Partition Manager can also detect several types of configuration problems.

Partition Manager is accessed from a Web browser. For information about starting Partition Manager, refer to the starting & stopping help topic. For more information about Partition Manager features, refer to the features & capabilities help topic.

In order to use Partition Manager, you need a basic understanding of the concepts and terminology associated with HP partitioning products. If you are not familiar with nPartitions, virtual partitions, and the HP server components that support them, please review the about partitioning help topic.

Common Components of Partition Manager Views

Figure 1 shows a typical Partition Manager view. The components of the view are described in more detail in the following sections.

Figure 1 Sample Partition Manager View

partition manager view with callouts

1 The scope indicator shows what portion of the complex you are currently viewing. In this example, the current scope is the entire complex named “Dept Complex”.
2 Tabs are used to move between different views at the same scope.
3 The time of the Last Complex Scan indicates when this session started, or when Partition Manager last cleared its cache of information about the state of the complex components. All data being displayed by Partition Manager is therefore guaranteed to be no older than this time. The cache can be cleared manually, updating the Last Complex Scan time, by clicking the Partition Manager [Refresh] button or selecting ToolsRefresh Data from the actions menu. See Refreshing the Data below for more information.
4 Click the Log off link to end your Partition Manager session and return to the login screen. This link does not appear when Partition Manager is running as a workspace under HP System Management Homepage.
5 The partition key identifies which components belong to each nPartition, and which are available resources.
6 The actions menu provides the actions that can be performed from the current view.
7 Objects with a selection box can be selected for further action. To select an object, click in its selection box, and a check mark will appear there. The Selected Items table is updated whenever you select or deselect objects in the view.
8 An active text object can be clicked to change to the scope of the named object.
9 An active image object can be clicked to change to the scope of the associated object.
10 The hardware status legend shows the meaning of each icon representing the status of an object in the view.

Using the Interface

There are typically four ways to change the current view or perform other actions from a Partition Manager view.

  1. Click on an active text object in the scope indicator to change to a new scope. See the scope indicator section below for more information.

  2. Click on a tab to change to another view in the current scope. See the Use Tabs to Change Views section below for more information.

  3. Click on an active image object or active text object. This will change the scope to show more details about the object. See the Active Objects section below for more information.

  4. Select an action from the actions menu on the right side of the view. See the actions menu section below for more information.

Avoid using your browser's “Back” and “Forward” buttons in Partition Manager (except in the online help). When you use these buttons, Partition Manager cannot tell that you have changed to a different view. This can cause problems, including incorrectly displaying which objects are selected in the current view. Instead, use the links and navigation buttons provided by Partition Manager.

If you do use your browser's “Back” or “Forward” buttons, you can refresh the displayed data by clicking the Partition Manager [Refresh] button at the top right of the window, or by selecting the ToolsRefresh Data action from the actions menu.

The Scope Indicator

Scope refers to the field of view that is being displayed by Partition Manager at one time. A broader scope allows you to see more components of the system, but with less detail than a narrower scope. The scope hierarchy is shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Levels of Scope

» Complex

(broadest scope)

The complex scope encompasses all of the hardware and software components of the server system, including the nPartitions within the complex.

» Partition

The partition scope encompasses all of the resources belonging to a single nPartition.

» Cell
» I/O Chassis

(narrowest scope)

The cell scope encompasses the CPUs and memory within a single cell, and any I/O chassis connected to the cell.

The I/O chassis scope encompasses a single I/O chassis, its I/O card slots, and the I/O cards installed in those slots.

 

The scope indicator is displayed at the upper left of each Partition Manager view (see Figure 1). The scope indicator shows your current location in the hierarchy of scopes. The levels of the hierarchy are shown from top to bottom, starting with the complex scope, down to the current scope. Each level includes the scope identifier followed by the name of the object that the scope refers to.

Figure 2 shows an example of what the scope indicator might look like in an I/O chassis scope view. Note that the scope indicator does not show how you got to this view. For example, you could have reached the I/O chassis view from a cell scope view, but the cell scope will not appear in the scope indicator.

Figure 2 Sample Scope Indicator

example of scope indicator

1 You are currently in the I/O chassis scope, viewing I/O chassis number 1 in cabinet 0, I/O bay 0.
2 This I/O chassis is assigned to nPartition number 0, with partition name “Test”. You can switch to the partition scope hardware view for this nPartition by clicking on the partition name.
3 This nPartition is in the complex named “Dept Complex”. You can switch to the complex scope hardware view by clicking on the complex name.

Clicking on the complex name in the scope indicator is the quickest way to return from any other scope to the broadest view of the entire complex. If you are already in the complex scope, the complex name will not be clickable.

The scope indicator does not show any scope narrower than the current scope. In the partition scope, only the first two lines would be shown. In the complex scope, only the first line would be shown.

Refreshing the Data

The Last Complex Scan time is displayed at the top right of each view (see Figure 1). This is the time when this session started, or when Partition Manager last cleared its cache of information about the state of the complex components. All data being displayed by Partition Manager is therefore guaranteed to be no older than this time.

Partition Manager clears some of its cached information when performing actions that change the complex state. To clear the entire cache, updating the Last Complex Scan time, click the Partition Manager [Refresh] button or select ToolsRefresh Data from the actions menu.

This section refers to the Partition Manager [Refresh] button shown in Figure 1. Clicking your Web browser's refresh button does not clear Partition Manager's cache or update the displayed data.

The state of the complex can be changed by actions that Partition Manager is unaware of, for example through partition(1) commands, or by another instance of Partition Manager acting on this complex. Refreshing the data will update the display.

Refreshing the data will also clear up problems caused by using your browser's “Back” and “Forward” buttons. If you use these buttons, Partition Manager cannot tell that you have changed to a different view. This can cause problems, including incorrectly displaying which objects are selected in the current view (see Important note about the Back and Forward buttons above).

Use Tabs to Change Views

A view is a single page displayed by Partition Manager. Each view shows a subset of the components in the complex. You can select any view within the same scope by clicking that view's tab near the top of the page (see Figure 1).

Each scope presents its own set of views. For information about the views available for each scope, click the links in Table 1 above.

The Partition Key

The partition key appears near the top of most views (see Figure 1). The partition key lists the name of each nPartition in the complex. Each nPartition has its own color code and its own partition number, which is shown inside a small circle icon, like this: (1). The color code and the partition number icon are used to associate each nPartition with its displayed resources. If the complex contains cells and I/O chassis that are not assigned to any nPartition, the partition key will also include an entry named Available, with a white background and the icon (A).

You can click on any nPartition name to see details on that nPartition. This will take you to the partition scope hardware view for that nPartition.

You can click on the Available entry to see the available resources details. This will take you to the partition scope hardware view for available resources.

To perform an action on a specific nPartition, select it by clicking the selection box in front of the partition name. You will then be able to choose actions from the actions menu that operate on the selected nPartition.

Active Objects

Active objects can be clicked on to change the current view. The active objects available will vary depending on the type of view (see Figure 1 for some examples). Active text objects are preceded by the symbol » and are shown in a bold blue font. Active images are indicated in a browser-dependent manner. Typically, the cursor will change to a pointing finger or other icon. With most browsers, a pop-up tool tip box will appear when the mouse cursor hovers over an active image. The tool tip will contain brief text that identifies the object under the mouse cursor.

The Actions Menu

At the right side of each view is a menu of actions that Partition Manager can perform (see Figure 1). These actions are grouped into six submenus. To expand a submenu, click on the [+] icon to the left of the submenu name. The actions under that submenu will be shown, and the icon will change to [-]. Click on that icon to collapse the submenu. The actions under the submenu will be hidden, and the icon will change back to [+].

When Partition Manager begins, each submenu is collapsed. When you change views, submenus that you have expanded will remain expanded, and submenus that are collapsed will remain collapsed.

Not all actions are available from each view. Actions that are disabled are dimmed in the menu and cannot be clicked. If you position the mouse cursor over the name of an action, a pop-up tool tip will appear. If the action is currently enabled, the text will explain what the action does. If the action is currently disabled, the text will explain why it is disabled. Actions are enabled or disabled based on the current state of the system, including which view you are in, and which objects in that view are currently selected.

For more information about selecting objects, see Selecting Objects below.

For more information about the actions menu, refer to the actions help page.

Selecting Objects

Some actions are disabled unless you select one or more objects first. Disabled actions are dimmed in the actions menu, and cannot be clicked.

To select an object that is displayed in the view, click on the checkbox attached to the object. A check mark will appear inside the checkbox when the object is selected. To clear the check mark and cancel the selection, click the box again. You can select multiple objects in the view, but some actions will be disabled when multiple objects are selected.

Objects can also be implicitly selected in the current scope. In an nPartition scope the displayed nPartition is implicitly selected. In a cell or I/O chassis scope the displayed cell and attached I/O chassis are implicitly selected, and so is the nPartition containing the cell and I/O chassis. Implicitly selected objects do not have a check mark, and are not counted in the selected items table, but they do enable the actions that require those objects to be selected.

Below the actions menu is a table containing a summary of all the items currently selected. This table is automatically updated as you select and deselect objects. Some selected objects may not be visible in the current view, or they may have scrolled off the bottom of the page. If you want to cancel all selections, or start over selecting objects, click the [Deselect All] button at the bottom of the table.

If any items are selected, the title of the selected items table becomes an active link. Clicking this link will bring up a page listing each selected item. You can click on any item in this list to see additional details about the selected item.

Table 2 Selected Items Table

nPartitions

The number of nPartitions that are selected.

Cells

The number of cells that are selected.

I/O Chassis

The number of I/O chassis that are selected.

I/O Slots

The number of I/O card slots that are selected.

[Deselect All]

Cancel all selections, removing the checkmark from each object's checkbox, and resetting all of the selected object values to zero.