6.0 Configuring QuickFinder Server for Novell Cluster Services

The QuickFinder Server Synchronization feature provides fault tolerance and load balancing. To include failover capabilities, you can enable QuickFinder for clustering.

To configure QuickFinder Server to work with Novell Cluster Services, you should install QuickFinder Server on each server in your cluster. This allows the installation program to correctly register QuickFinder Server with each of your server’s Web and application servers.

Before you begin, on one Linux node in the Novell Cluster Services cluster, create a Linux POSIX volume cluster resource where all of the indexes and virtual search server settings will be located. For instructions, see Configuring and Managing Cluster Resources for Shared Linux POSIX Volumes in the OES 2 SP3: Novell Cluster Services 1.8.8 Administration Guide for Linux.

You can use virtual search servers to enable QuickFinder Server to work in a cluster.

  1. Make the Linux POSIX volume cluster resource active on an OES 2 Linux node in the cluster.

  2. If it is not already installed, install QuickFinder on that server.

  3. In the QuickFinder Server Manager, click the Global Settings icon, then click Add New Virtual Search Server.

    1. In the Name field, specify the DNS name of the cluster server.

    2. In the Location field, specify the volume and path on the shared cluster volume where all the indexes and virtual search server settings will be located.

    3. Click Add.

  4. Set up and create any indexes that you want clustered in that virtual search server.

    For more information, see Creating Indexes.

  5. Move the Linux POSIX volume cluster resource to the other server and install QuickFinder Server on that server.

  6. Add a new virtual search server and give it the same name and location as the virtual search server you created in Step 3.

    The settings already created on the shared volume are displayed.

  7. Repeat Step 5 and Step 6 for each of the remaining nodes in the cluster where you want to fail over the Linux POSIX volume cluster resource.

To do a search on the cluster volume, enter http://DNS_CLUSTER/qfsearch/search. QuickFinder Server sees the DNS and knows which virtual search server to send the request to.

IMPORTANT:All scheduling information is stored in /var/lib/qfsearch, so you must set up scheduling on each server. When the cluster node is not active on one of the servers, the scheduled indexes on that server fail. However, the server that has the Linux POSIX volume cluster resource generates the indexes.