Managing Serviceguard 12th Edition, March 2006

Understanding Serviceguard Software Components
How the Package Manager Works
Chapter 3 75
Configuring Failover Packages Each package is separately
configured. You create a failover package by using Serviceguard
Manager or by editing a package ASCII configuration file template.
(Detailed instructions are given in “Configuring Packages and Their
Services” on page 269).
Then you use the cmapplyconf command to check and apply the package
to the cluster configuration database.
You also create the package control script, which manages the
execution of the package’s services. See “Creating the Package Control
Script” on page 288 for detailed information.
Then the package is ready to run.
Deciding When and Where to Run and Halt Failover Packages
The package configuration file assigns a name to the package and
includes a list of the nodes on which the package can run.
Failover packages list the nodes in order of priority (i.e., the first node in
the list is the highest priority node). In addition, failover packages’ files
contain three parameters that determine failover behavior. These are
the AUTO_RUN parameter, the FAILOVER_POLICY parameter, and the
FAILBACK_POLICY parameter.
Failover Packages’ Switching Behavior The AUTO_RUN parameter
(known in earlier versions of Serviceguard as the
PKG_SWITCHING_ENABLED parameter) defines the default global
switching attribute for a failover package at cluster startup: that is,
whether Serviceguard can automatically start the package when the
cluster is started, and whether Serviceguard should automatically
restart the package on a new node in response to a failure. Once the
cluster is running, the package switching attribute of each package can
be temporarily set with the cmmodpkg command; at reboot, the
configured value will be restored.
The parameter is coded in the package ASCII configuration file:
# The default for AUTO_RUN is YES. In the event of a
# failure, this permits the cluster software to transfer the
package to an adoptive node. Adjust as necessary.
AUTO_RUN YES