Specifications

Package Installation and Configuration

The Quorum/Witness Server Support Package for LifeKeeper will need to be installed on each server

in the quorum/witness mode cluster, including any witness-only servers. The only configuration

requirement for the witness node is to create appropriate comm paths.

The general process for adding a witness server(s) will involve the following steps:

l Set up the server(s) for the witness node(s) and ensure network communications are available

to the other nodes.

l Install the LifeKeeper core on the witness node(s) and properly license/activate it.

l Install the quorum/witness support package on all nodes in the cluster.

l Create appropriate communication paths between the nodes including the witness node.

Once this is complete, the cluster should behave in quorum/witness mode, and failovers will consult

other nodes including the witness node prior to a failover being allowed. The default configuration after

installing the package will enable majority-based quorum and witness checks.

Note: Due to majority-based quorum, it is recommended that the clusters always be configured with

an odd number of nodes.

See the Configurable Components section below for additional configuration options.

Note: Any node with the witness package installed can participate in witness functionality. The

witness-only nodes will simply have a compatible version of the LifeKeeper core, the witness

package installed and will not host any protected resources.

Configurable Components

The quorum/witness package contains two configurable modes: quorum and witness. By default,

installing the quorum/witness package will enable both quorum and witness modes suitable for most

environments that need witness features.

The behavior of these modes can be customized via the /etc/default/LifeKeeper

configuration file, and the quorum and witness modes can be individually adjusted. The package

installs default settings into the configuration file when it is installed, majority being the default

quorum mode and remote_verify being the default witness mode. An example is shown below:

QUORUM_MODE=majority

WITNESS_MODE=remote_verify

Note: Although each cluster node can have an entirely different witness/quorum configuration, it is

recommended that all nodes have the same configuration to avoid unexpected, and difficult to

diagnose, situations.

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