Software requirements for logical partitions

Learn what release levels are supported and how you can partition your system to support new functions.

Only Version 4 Release 4 (V4R4) and later releases of the i5/OS™ (R) operating system support logical partitions. (All releases of the i5/OS(TM) operating system support logical partitions.) V4R4 is the earliest release that is supported in any logical partition.

You can install up to four different releases on a single server. The releases that you can install on a particular server depend upon which releases are supported on the server model and upon which release you choose to install on the primary partition.

If the primary partition is running V4R5 or earlier, you can install and run the following releases on the secondary partitions, provided that each release is supported by the server model:

The release before the release on the primary partition
The release on the primary partition
The release after the release on the primary partition

The only exception to this rule is when the primary partition of 6xx, 7xx, or Sx0 servers runs V4R4. In this case, you can install V5R1 on a secondary partition of those servers.

If the primary partition is running V5R1 or later, you can install and run the following releases on the secondary partitions, provided that each release is supported by the server model:

The release before the release on the primary partition
The release on the primary partition
The release after the release on the primary partition
The second release after the release on the primary partition

The 6xx and Sx0 servers support all releases from V4R4 through V5R2. The 7xx servers support all releases from V4R4 through V5R3. The 6xx, 7xx, and Sx0 servers do not support the shared processor pool. Because of this, you can partition these models only if the server has 2 or more processors.

The 820, 830, 840, and 270 servers with a single processor support V5R1 and later releases on all logical partitions. The 820, 830, and 840 servers with 2 or more processors support V4R5 and later releases on all logical partitions. The 270 servers with 2 processors support V5R1 and later releases on the primary partition and V4R5 and later releases on secondary partitions.

The 810, 825, 870, and 890 servers only support V5R2 or later releases in the primary and secondary partitions.

Read more information about release support in Logical partition concepts.