HP XC System Software Administration Guide Version 2.1

7
Distributing Software Throughout the System
This chapter includes the following topics:
• A general overview on the image replicati
on and distribution envir onment (Section 7.1 )
• A discussion on managing software changes (Section 7.2)
• Information on updatin g the HP XC system’s golden image (Section 7.3)
• A description of the methods for propag
ating software updates to all nodes of the HP
XC system (Section 7.4)
• Information o n maintaining global service configuration t hroughout the HP XC system
(Section 7.5)
7.1 Overview of Image Replication And Distribution
Environment
The image replication and distrib
ution environment is resp onsible for keeping the softwa re o n
all client nodes synchronized wit
h the go lden client. The image replication and distribution
environment is automatically co
nfigured on the HP XC system during the initial cluster
configuration step, which is des
cribed in th e HP XC System Software Installation Guide.
System distribution involves the follo wing concepts:
Golden client The nod e from which a standard file system image is created.
The golden client represents
the c on figuration from which all other
nodes are replicated. In term
s of hardware, the golden client should
be representative (ideally
, identical) of all nodes in the system.
The head no de is the golden client in the HP XC system.
Golden image A collection of files, created from the golden client file system, to
be distributed to one o r m ore client systems. Specific files on the
golden client may be excluded from the golden image if they are not
appropriate for replication. Th e golden image is a rep lication of the
golden client’s local file systems, starting from the root directory (/).
_______________ Note _______________
The golden imag e should contain only those f iles
and directories that are appropriate for distribution
to all client nod es. The golden image should be
free of n ode-specific content, such as node-specific
subdirectories of /var.
Exclusion files li
st files and directories to ex clud e
from the golden ima
ge; t hese files are discussed in
Section 7.3.3.
Image server
Thenodespecifi
cally designated t o hold the imag e s t o be distributed
to clien t system
s. The image server distributes th e golden image.
TheheadnodeistheimageserverintheHPXCsystem.
Distributing Software Throughout the System 7-1