Managing Serviceguard A.11.20, March 2013

1. Edit the /etc/hosts file on all nodes in the cluster. Add name resolution for all heartbeat
IP addresses, and other IP addresses from all the cluster nodes; see “Configuring Name
Resolution” (page 173) for discussion and examples.
NOTE: For each cluster node, the public-network IP address must be the first address listed.
This enables other applications to talk to other nodes on public networks.
2. If you are using DNS, make sure your name servers are configured in /etc/resolv.conf,
for example:
domain cup.hp.com
search cup.hp.com hp.com
nameserver 15.243.128.51
nameserver 15.243.160.51
3. Edit or create the /etc/nsswitch.conf file on all nodes and add the following text, if it
does not already exist:
• for DNS, enter (two lines):
hosts: files [NOTFOUND=continue UNAVAIL=continue] dns [NOTFOUND=return UNAVAIL=return]
ipnodes: files [NOTFOUND=continue UNAVAIL=continue] dns [NOTFOUND=return
UNAVAIL=return]
• for NIS, enter (two lines):
hosts: files [NOTFOUND=continue UNAVAIL=continue] nis [NOTFOUND=return UNAVAIL=return]
ipnodes: files [NOTFOUND=continue UNAVAIL=continue] nis [NOTFOUND=return
UNAVAIL=return]
If a line beginning with the string hosts: or ipnodes: already exists, then make sure that
the text immediately to the right of this string is (on one line):
files [NOTFOUND=continue UNAVAIL=continue] dns [NOTFOUND=return UNAVAIL=return]
or
files [NOTFOUND=continue UNAVAIL=continue] nis [NOTFOUND=return UNAVAIL=return]
This step is critical, allowing the cluster nodes to resolve hostnames to IP addresses while DNS,
NIS, or the primary LAN is down.
4. Create a $SGCONF/cmclnodelist file on all nodes that you intend to configure into the
cluster, and allow access by all cluster nodes. See “Allowing Root Access to an Unconfigured
Node” (page 171).
NOTE: HP recommends that you also make the name service itself highly available, either by
using multiple name servers or by configuring the name service into a Serviceguard package.
Ensuring Consistency of Kernel Configuration
Make sure that the HP-UX kernel configurations of all cluster nodes are consistent with the expected
behavior of the cluster during failover. In particular, if you change any kernel parameters on one
cluster node, they may also need to be changed on other cluster nodes that can run the same
packages.
Enabling the Network Time Protocol
HP strongly recommends that you enable network time protocol (NTP) services on each node in
the cluster. The use of NTP, which runs as a daemon process on each system, ensures that the
system time on all nodes is consistent, resulting in consistent timestamps in log files and consistent
behavior of message services. This ensures that applications running in the cluster are correctly
synchronized. The NTP services daemon, xntpd, should be running on all nodes before you begin
cluster configuration. The NTP configuration file is /etc/ntp.conf.
Preparing Your Systems 175