4.2 Clustering the VLDB Service

Use the procedure in this section to configure the DFS management context’s VLDB service in a cluster with Novell Cluster Services™.

To cluster an instance of the VLDB service:

  1. Install and configure Novell Cluster Services on the server where you want to host the VLDB service.

    For information, see the OES 2 SP2: Novell Cluster Services 1.8.7 for Linux Administration Guide or the NW6.5 SP8: Novell Cluster Services 1.8.5 Administration Guide.

  2. Create a clustered NSS pool on the server.

    This creates a clustered resource that is called a cluster virtual server based on the IP address you specify. For information, see Creating a Pool in the NW 6.5 SP8: NSS File System Administration Guide.

  3. Create a shared NSS volume on the clustered pool.

    For information, see Creating Unencrypted NSS Volumes in the NW 6.5 SP8: NSS File System Administration Guide.

  4. Configure a DFS management context with the following settings:

    Parameter

    Description

    Replica site

    Specify the cluster virtual server that you created in Step 2 as the replica site.

    VLDB path

    Specify the location of the VLDB file as a path on the clustered pool’s volume that you created in Step 3.

    The default path is /var/opt/novell/dfs, which is on the node and not in the clustered resource. In order to be able to be failed over, the path must be changed to a volume on the clustered resource.

    For OES 2 Linux clusters, specify the path in either the Linux format (/media/nss/clus_volname/vldbpath) or NetWare format (clus_volname:\vldbpath).

    For NetWare clusters, specify the path in the NetWare format (clus_volname:\vldbpath).

    For example, for a clustered volume named dfsvol and a path of /dfs, the Linux format is

    /media/nss/dfsvol/dfs

    and the NetWare format is

    dfsvol:\dfs

    VLDB startup

    Deselect (disable) the Run VLDB service when the server restarts option.

  5. Edit the cluster load script.

    1. Make sure that the script mounts the volume that contains the VLDB file before you issue the vldb command.

    2. Add the vldb command at the end.

      For Linux clusters, use the Linux form of the switch:

      vldb -dir /vldbpath

      For NetWare clusters, use the NetWare form of the switch:

      vldb /dir=vldbpath

      This command starts the VLDB service for the cluster. Replace vldbpath with the path to the VLDB file that you entered for the DFS management context in Step 4. The path much match exactly with what you entered for the DFS management context.

      IMPORTANT:If you ever modify the VLDB file location, you must also modify the path in the cluster load script. For information, see Section 4.3, Modifying VLDB Settings in the Cluster Load Script.

  6. Edit the cluster unload script.

    1. Add vldb exit command before ncpcon unbind line.

      Example: Cluster Unload Script

      #!/bin/bash
. /opt/novell/ncs/lib/ncsfuncs
vldb exit
ignore_error ncpcon unbind --ncpservername=CLUSTER_POOL1_SERVER --ipaddress=192.168.100.71
ignore_error del_secondary_ipaddress 192.168.100.71
ignore_error nss /pooldeact=POOL1
exit 0