Upgrade your IBM Power9 or your LPARs may not start up.

We often overlook the need to perform preventive updates not only of the operating system (AIX, Linux, IBM i) but also of the FW of IBM Power servers. IBM publishes fixes for problems that other customers have experienced and it is usually not necessary for you to do so as well. In doing so, we keep our systems secure from all types of external and internal threats and vulnerabilities.

The problem we talked about in this short article is a bug that prevented LPARs from booting on Power9 servers if they had been running for more than 814 days. It sounds a bit like the printers of a few years ago that failed to print several hundred thousand pages, we never know if on purpose or by mistake. In the case of IBM it is a recognized firmware bug that is fixed with the update VH950_045_045 / FW950.00 available from November 23, 2020. So if you are an IBM customer where in the last two years, your aging Power9 systems have not been upgraded, you are likely to have this problem for the remainder of the year.

We give you a hint, the error is CA000040 which prevents the LPAR from booting and whose temporary solution could be to use the Power8 compatibility mode from the HMC or ASMI while you install the pending updates.

At Sixe Ingeniería we have been preventively maintaining our clients’ IBM Power systems for more than 15 years.
We can help you monitor, update and preventively maintain your entire infrastructure.
IBM and Lenovo server and storage systems. We also help you minimize licensing costs and offer the best prices on upgrades to new generations of IBM Power servers. Contact us for more information.