Managing Serviceguard Sixteenth Edition, March 2009

NOTE: For design and configuration information about site-aware disaster-tolerant
clusters (which span subnets), see the documents listed under “Cross-Subnet
Configurations” (page 41).
Figure 3-6 After Package Switching
Failover Policy
The Package Manager selects a node for a failover package to run on based on the
priority list included in the package configuration file together with the failover_policy
parameter, also in the configuration file. The failover policy governs how the package
manager selects which node to run a package on when a specific node has not been
identified and the package needs to be started. This applies not only to failovers but
also to startup for the package, including the initial startup. The two failover policies
are configured_node (the default) and min_package_node. The parameter is set
in the package configuration file.
If you use configured_node as the value for the failover policy, the package will
start up on the highest priority node available in the node list. When a failover occurs,
the package will move to the next highest priority node in the list that is available.
If you use min_package_node as the value for the failover policy, the package will
start up on the node that is currently running the fewest other packages. (Note that
72 Understanding Serviceguard Software Components