In addition, use commands to administer the volume manager portion of Sun Cluster. These commands depend on the specific volume manager used in your cluster, either Solstice DiskSuite™, VERITAS Volume Manager, or Solaris Volume Manager™.

Preparing to Administer the Cluster

This section describes what to do to prepare for administering your cluster.

Documenting a Sun Cluster Hardware Configuration

Document the hardware aspects that are unique to your site as your Sun Cluster configuration is scaled. Refer to your hardware documentation when you change or upgrade the cluster to save administration labor. Labeling cables and connections between the various cluster components can also make administration easier.

Reduce the time required by a third-party service provider when servicing your cluster by keeping records of your original cluster configuration, and subsequent changes.

Using an Administrative Console

You can use a dedicated SPARC workstation, known as the administrative console, to administer the active cluster. Typically, you install and run the Cluster Control Panel (CCP) and graphical user interface (GUI) tools on the administrative console. For more information on the CCP, see How to Log In to Sun Cluster Remotely. For instructions on installing the Cluster Control Panel module for Sun Management Center and SunPlex Manager GUI tools, see the Sun Cluster Software Installation Guide for Solaris OS.

The administrative console is not a cluster node. The administrative console is used for remote access to the cluster nodes, either over the public network or through a network-based terminal concentrator.

If your SPARC cluster consists of a Sun Enterprise™ 10000 server, you must log in from the administrative console to the System Service Processor (SSP). Connect using the netcon(1M) command. The default method for netcon to connect with a Sun Enterprise 10000 domain is through the network interface. If the network is inaccessible, you can use netcon in "exclusive" mode by setting the -f option. You can also send ~* during a normal netcon session. Either of the previous solutions give you the option of toggling to the serial interface if the network becomes unreachable.

Sun Cluster does not require a dedicated administrative console, but using a console provides these benefits:

• Enables centralized cluster management by grouping console and management tools on the same machine

• Provides potentially quicker problem resolution by Enterprise Services or your service provider

Backing Up the Cluster

Back up your cluster on a regular basis. Even though Sun Cluster provides an HA environment, with mirrored copies of data on the storage devices, Sun Cluster is not a replacement for regular backups. Sun Cluster can survive multiple failures, but does not protect against user or program error, or catastrophic failure. Therefore, you must have a backup procedure in place to protect against data loss.

The following information should be included as part of your backup.

• All file system partitions

• All database data if you are running DBMS data services

• Disk partition information for all cluster disks

• The md.tab file if you are using Solstice DiskSuite/Solaris Volume Manager as your volume manager

Beginning to Administer the Cluster

Table 1-2 provides a starting point for administering your cluster.

Table 1-2 Sun Cluster 3.1 4/04 Administration Tools

How to Log In to Sun Cluster Remotely

The Cluster Control Panel (CCP) provides a launch pad for cconsole(1M), crlogin(1M), and ctelnet(1M) tools. All three tools start a multiple window connection to a set of specified nodes. The multiple-window connection consists of a host window for each of the specified nodes and a common window. Input to the common window is sent to each of the host windows, allowing you to run commands simultaneously on all nodes of the cluster. See the ccp(1M) and cconsole(1M) man pages for more information.

1. Verify that the following prerequisites are met before starting the CCP.

   • Install the SUNWccon package on the administrative console.

   • Make sure the PATH variable on the administrative console includes the Sun Cluster tools directory, /opt/SUNWcluster/bin, and /usr/cluster/bin. You can specify an alternate location for the tools directory by setting the $CLUSTER_HOME environment variable.

   • Configure the clusters file, the serialports file, and the nsswitch.conf file if using a terminal concentrator. The files can be either /etc files or NIS/NIS+ databases. See clusters(4) and serialports(4) for more information.

2. Determine if you have a Sun Enterprise 10000 server platform.

   • If no, proceed to Step 3.

   • If yes, log into the System Service Processor (SSP) and connect by using the netcon command. After the connection is made, type Shift~@ to unlock the console and gain write access.

3. Start the CCP launch pad.

   From the administrative console, type the following command.

   # ccp clustername

   
   

   The CCP launch pad is displayed.

4. To start a remote session with the cluster, click either the cconsole, crlogin, or ctelnet icon in the CCP launch pad.

Where to Go From Here

You can also start cconsole, crlogin, or ctelnet sessions from the command line.

How to Access the scsetup Utility

The scsetup(1M) utility enables you to interactively configure quorum, resource group, cluster transport, private hostname, device group, and new node options for the cluster.

1. Become superuser on any node in the cluster.

2. Enter the scsetup utility.

   # scsetup

   
   

   The Main Menu is displayed.

3. Make your configuration selection from the menu. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete a task.

   See the scsetup online help for more information.