Installation guide

Chapter 2. Hardware Installation and Operating System Configuration 23
3. When using a terminal server, configure Red Hat Enterprise Linux to send console
messages to the console port.
4. Edit the /etc/hosts file on each cluster node and include the IP addresses
used in the cluster or ensure that the addresses are in DNS. Refer to
Section 2.4.1 Editing the /etc/hosts File for more information about performing
this task.
5. Decrease the alternate kernel boot timeout limit to reduce boot time for nodes. Re-
fer to Section 2.4.2 Decreasing the Kernel Boot Timeout Limit for more information
about performing this task.
6. Ensure that no login (or getty) programs are associated with the serial ports that
are being used for the remote power switch connection (if applicable). To perform
this task, edit the /etc/inittab file and use a hash symbol (#) to comment out the
entries that correspond to the serial ports used for the remote power switch. Then,
invoke the init q command.
7. Verify that all systems detect all the installed hardware:
• Use the dmesg command to display the console startup messages. Refer to
Section 2.4.3 Displaying Console Startup Messages for more information about
performing this task.
• Use the cat /proc/devices command to display the devices configured in
the kernel. Refer to Section 2.4.4 Displaying Devices Configured in the Kernel for
more information about performing this task.
8. Verify that the nodes can communicate over all the network interfaces by using the
ping command to send test packets from one node to another.
9. If intending to configure Samba services, verify that the required RPM packages for
Samba services are installed.
2.4.1. Editing the /etc/hosts File
The /etc/hosts file contains the IP address-to-hostname translation table. The
/etc/hosts file on each node must contain entries for IP addresses and associated
hostnames for all cluster nodes.
As an alternative to the /etc/hosts file, name services such as DNS or NIS can be used
to define the host names used by a cluster. However, to limit the number of dependencies
and optimize availability, it is strongly recommended to use the /etc/hosts file to define
IP addresses for cluster network interfaces.