HP XC System Software Installation Guide Version 4.0

Table 1-1 Improved Availability Summary (continued)
Appropriate Task Details
Are Provided HereTask
“Deciding on the
Method to Achieve
Quorum for HP
Serviceguard Clusters”
(page 86)
6. If you are using HP Serviceguard as the availability tool, decide whether to use a quorum
server or a lock LUN to achieve quorum. You must create the lock LUN before running
the cluster_config utility.
Section 6.3 (page 101)
7. Initiate the cluster_config utility to configure the HP XC system. You are prompted
to associate nodes into availability sets.
Section 6.4 (page 103)
8. Use the [M]odify Nodes option of the cluster_config utility to assign the
appropriate roles (and thus, the appropriate services) to the nodes in the availability
sets. Typically, both nodes in the availability set must be assigned with the same roles.
Section 7.4 (page 125)
9. Start the availability tool with the transfer_to_avail command when
cluster_config processing is complete and the HP XC system is booted.
1.9.3 Choosing an Availability Tool
The first step in planning your service availability strategy is to decide on the availability tool
or tools you want to use to manage services that have been configured with improved availability.
Many different availability tools are on the market, and they all provide the same basic
functionality. The availability infrastructure of the HP XC System Software enables you to install
more than one availability tool.
Regardless of the tool you choose, you install the availability tool software on the HP XC system
after you install the HP XC System Software on the head node. This document is designed
sequentially, and you are instructed to install the availability tool software at the appropriate
time (“Installing Additional HP Software Products (Optional)” (page 79)).
HP Serviceguard
In this release, HP Serviceguard is the recommended availability tool, and it is the only availability
tool that has been tested and verified. HP Serviceguard enables system services to continue if a
hardware or software failure occurs. You must purchase and license Serviceguard separately
from the HP XC System Software product.
After purchasing HP Serviceguard, you install it from the Serviceguard distribution media. This
document instructs you to install a specific HP XC Serviceguard RPM® from the HP XC System
Software distribution DVD. This RPM enables Serviceguard to operate on an HP XC system.
Availability Tools from Other Vendors
If you prefer to use another availability tool, you must obtain the tool and configure it for use
on your own. Third-party vendors are responsible for providing customer support for their tools.
Installation and configuration instructions for any third-party availability tools you decide to
use are outside the scope of this document. See the vendor documentation for instructions.
1.9.4 Writing Translator and Other Supporting Scripts
Translator scripts parse the HP XC configuration and management database (CMDB), the database
that stores HP XC configuration data. The translator scripts use the information in the database
to create the files necessary for the availability tool to function properly on an HP XC system.
Specifically, a translator script is responsible for gathering IP alias and daemon information and
creating the necessary files to ensure that a node that serves a service advertises the IP alias and
starts the daemon.
28 Preparing for a New Installation