Managing HP Serviceguard Extension for SAP for Linux (May 2013)

Upgrading SAP software
SAP rolling kernel switches can be performed in a running SAP cluster exactly as described in the
SAP Netweaver 7.x documentation and support notes.
Upgrading the application version of the clustered SAP application to another supported version
rarely requires changes to the cluster configuration. Usually SGeSAP detects the release of the
application that is packaged automatically and treats it as appropriate.
A list of supported application versions can be taken from the SGeSAP release note document.
The list of currently installed Serviceguard Solution product versions can be created with the
command
rpm -qa |grep -i serviceguard
For a safe upgrade of SAP with modular-style packages, switch all impacted SGeSAP packages
in package maintenance mode and perform a partial package start before the first SGeSAP specific
module becomes executed. Now, you can manually handle the SAP startup or shutdown operations
during the upgrade without interference from the Serviceguard cluster software.
deploysappkgs(1) and cmcheckconf(1) issued on the existing packages after upgrade give
hints on whether cluster configuration changes are required. Perform failover tests for all potential
failure scenarios before putting the system back in production.
Table 2 Summary of methods that allow SAP instance stop operations during package uptime
Usecase exampleEffectHow achieved?GranularityMethod
SAP rolling kernel switchSAP Instance service
monitoring of the
Ensure that package
parameter setting
SAP InstanceSAP stop block
deactivation
package is temporarilysap_stop_blocked is set to
suspended for stoppedno and is applied. Stop
instances; Stoppedthe instance as <sid>adm
instances cause alerts in
Serviceguard Manager
with standard SAP
methods, for example by
calling sapcontrol …
–function Stop
SAP software version
upgrade
All package service
monitoring is suspended;
cmmodpkg –m on
<pkgname>
Serviceguard
Package
Package
maintenance
mode Package cannot fail or
switch nodes while in
maintenance mode
non-production SGeSAP
cluster trouble-shooting
All SGeSAP package
service monitoring is
Create debug flag file
touch
SGeSAP PackageSGeSAP debug
flag
temporarily suspended;debug_<packagename>
SGeSAP modules arein the SG run directory
skipped during package
start
location, which is
/usr/local/cmcluster/run
on Red Hat and
/opt/cmcluster/run
on SUSE)
Serviceguard patch
installation
Package can fail, but
cannot yet failover
cmhaltnode –dSerivceguard NodeLive Application
Detach
Package conversion
The deploysappkgs(1) command of SGeSAP/LX A.06.xx can still be used to create
modular-based cluster configuration files for NFS, database, SAP central and SAP replication
services of existing clusters if there are SGeSAP/LX A.03.00 legacy configurations. Thus, for the
majority of existing clusters, no additional migration tool is required to move from legacy to modular.
For other cases, like liveCache, SAP external instance and SAP infrastructure tool clusters, the
conversion of SGeSAP/LX 3.xx legacy configurations to SGeSAP/LX A.06.xx module configurations
requires manual steps. Preparatory effort lies in the range of 1 hour per package.
28 SAP cluster administration