Managing Serviceguard Eighteenth Edition, September 2010

NOTE: This is a new process for configuring packages, as of Serviceguard A.11.18.
This manual refers to packages created by this method as modular packages, and
assumes that you will use it to create new packages; it is simpler and more efficient
than the older method, allowing you to build packages from smaller modules, and
eliminating the separate package control script and the need to distribute it manually.
Packages created using Serviceguard A.11.17 or earlier are referred to as legacy
packages. If you need to reconfigure a legacy package (rather than create a new package),
see “Configuring a Legacy Package” (page 375).
It is also still possible to create new legacy packages by the method described in
“Configuring a Legacy Package”. If you are using a Serviceguard Toolkit such as
Serviceguard NFS Toolkit, consult the documentation for that product.
If you decide to convert a legacy package to a modular package, see “Migrating a
Legacy Package to a Modular Package” (page 386). Do not attempt to convert
Serviceguard Toolkit packages.
(Parameters that are in the package control script for legacy packages, but in the package
configuration file instead for modular packages, are indicated by (S) in the tables later
in this section (page 284).)
Choosing Package Modules
IMPORTANT: Before you start, you need to do the package-planning tasks described
under “Package Configuration Planning ” (page 168).
To choose the right package modules, you need to decide the following things about
the package you are creating:
• What type of package it is; see “Types of Package: Failover, Multi-Node, System
Multi-Node” (page 280).
• Which parameters need to be specified for the package (beyond those included in
the base type, which is normally failover, multi-node, or system-multi-node).
See “Package Modules and Parameters” (page 283).
When you have made these decisions, you are ready to generate the package
configuration file; see “Generating the Package Configuration File” (page 311).
Types of Package: Failover, Multi-Node, System Multi-Node
There are three types of packages:
• Failover packages. This is the most common type of package. Failover packages
run on one node at a time. If there is a failure, Serviceguard (or a user) can halt
280 Configuring Packages and Their Services