Managing vios failover in a single storage adapter environment

A computer system for virtual input output server (VIOS) failover in an environment with a physical storage adapter, comprising:

• one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangible storage medium, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more tangible storage medium for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, wherein the computer system is capable of performing a method comprising:
• assigning the physical storage adapter to a first VIOS, wherein the physical storage adapter has input output (I/O) connectivity to at least one storage device;
• configuring a first I/O path between the first VIOS and a second VIOS, wherein the second VIOS has access to the at least one storage device through the first VIOS;
• configuring a second I/O path from a client partition to the first VIOS and the at least one storage device through the physical storage adapter assigned to the first VIOS, wherein the second I/O path is set as a primary I/O path for an I/O request sent by the client partition;
• configuring a third I/O path from the client partition to the second VIOS, wherein the client partition is enabled to access the at least one storage device through a combination of the third I/O path and the first I/O path;
• determining the first VIOS is inaccessible;
• unassigning the physical storage adapter from the first VIOS based on the determining the first VIOS is inaccessible;
• and
• assigning the physical storage adapter to the second VIOS based on the unassigning of the physical adapter from the first VIOS.

A computer program product for virtual input output server (VIOS) failover in an environment with a physical storage adapter, comprising:

• one or more computer-readable storage medium and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more tangible storage medium, the program instructions executable by a processor, the program instructions comprising:
• program instructions to assign the physical storage adapter to a first VIOS, wherein the physical storage adapter has input output (I/O) connectivity to at least one storage device;
• program instructions to configure a first I/O path between the first VIOS and a second VIOS, wherein the second VIOS has access to the at least one storage device through the first VIOS;
• program instructions to configure a second I/O path from a client partition to the first VIOS and the at least one storage device through the physical storage adapter assigned to the first VIOS, wherein the second I/O path is set as a primary I/O path for an I/O request sent by the client partition;
• program instructions to configure a third I/O path from the client partition to the second VIOS, wherein the client partition is enabled to access the at least one storage device through a combination of the third I/O path and the first I/O path;
• program instructions to determine the first VIOS is inaccessible;
• program instructions to unassign the physical storage adapter from the first VIOS based on the determining the first VIOS is inaccessible;
• and
• program instructions to assign the physical storage adapter to the second VIOS based on the unassigning of the physical adapter from the first VIOS.