CXFS™ Administration Guide for SGI® InfiniteStorage

Document Number: 007 -4016-020

Front Matter

| List of Figures | List of Tables |


Table of Contents

New Features in This Guide

About This Guide
Related Publications
Obtaining Publications
Conventions
Reader Comments

1. Introduction to CXFS
What is CXFS?
Comparison of XFS and CXFS
Comparison of Network and CXFS Filesystems
Cluster Environment
Hardware and Software Support
Overview of FailSafe Coexecution
Cluster Manager Tools Overview
Overview of the Installation and Configuration Steps

2. SGI RAID Firmware
Supported SGI RAID Hardware
Required SGI RAID Firmware
RAID Firmware Verification

3. Brocade Fibre Channel Switch Verification
Required Brocade Fibre Channel Switch Firmware and License
Verifying the Brocade License
Verifying the Brocade Switch Firmware Version
Configuring the Brocade Silkworm 3900
Configuring the Brocade Silkworm 12000
Changing the Brocade FC Cable Connections

4. Obtaining CXFS and XVM FLEXlm Licenses
Obtaining the Host Information Required for the License
Obtaining and Installing the Licenses
License Verification
For More Information

5. Preinstallation Steps
Hostname Resolution and Network Configuration Rules
Configuring Network Interfaces
Verifying the Private and Public Networks
Configuring the Serial Ports for IRIX Administration Nodes

6. IRIX CXFS Installation
IRIX Administration Software Installation
IRIX Client-only Software Installation
IRIX Modifications Required for CXFS Connectivity Diagnostics

7. Linux 64-bit CXFS Installation
Linux 64-bit Limitations and Considerations
Linux 64-bit Administration Software Installation
Linux 64-bit Client-only Software Installation
Linux 64-bit Modifications Required for CXFS Connectivity Diagnostics

8. Postinstallation Steps
Configuring System Files
Rebooting the System
Testing the System
Manual CXFS Startup/Shutdown
Rolling Upgrades
IRIX: Configuring for Automatic Restart
IRIX: Converting Filesystem Definitions for Upgrades

9. Initial Configuration of the Cluster
Initial Configuration Requirements and Recommendations
Preliminary Cluster Configuration Steps
Configuring with the GUI
Configuring with the cmgr Command
Configuring a Large Cluster

10. Reference to GUI Tasks for CXFS
GUI Overview
Guided Configuration Tasks
Node Tasks with the GUI
Cluster Tasks with the GUI
Cluster Services Tasks with the GUI
Switches and I/O Fencing Tasks with the GUI
Filesystem Tasks with the GUI
Privileges Tasks with the GUI

11. Reference to cmgr Tasks for CXFS
cmgr Overview
Set Configuration Defaults with cmgr
Node Tasks with cmgr
Cluster Tasks with cmgr
Cluster Services Tasks with cmgr
CXFS Filesystem Tasks with cmgr
Switches and I/O Fencing Tasks with cmgr
Script Example
Creating a cmgr Script Automatically

12. Administration and Maintenance
Configuring Real-Time Filesystems For IRIX Nodes
Granting Task Execution Privileges to Users
Transforming an Existing Node into a Client-Only Node
NFS Export Scripts
Using telnet and I/O Fencing
Using fsr and xfs_fsr
Using cron in a CXFS Cluster
Using Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) Products
Discovering the Active Metadata Server for a Filesystem
Metadata Server Recovery
Shutdown of the Database and CXFS
Avoiding a CXFS Restart at Reboot
Log File Management
Volume Management
Disk Management
Filesystem Maintenance
Dump and Restore
chkconfig Settings
System Tunable Parameters
Redirecting the Console for Origin 300, Origin 3200C, Onyx 300, and Onyx 3200C
Hardware Changes and I/O Fencing

13. Cluster Database Management
Performing Cluster Database Backup and Restoration
Checking the Cluster Configuration with cxfs-config

14. Coexecution with FailSafe
Why Run CXFS and FailSafe Together?
Coexecution Release Levels
Size of the Coexecution Cluster
Cluster Type
Metadata Server Node Types
Separate GUIs
Conversion
Network Interfaces
CXFS Tie-Breaker Node and Coexecution
Metadata Servers and Failover Domain
CXFS Resource Type for FailSafe

15. Trusted IRIX and CXFS
Installation Tips for CXFS and Trusted IRIX
Mandatory Access Controls

16. Monitoring Status
Status in Log Files
Cluster Status
Node Status
XVM Statistics
I/O Fencing Status
Heartbeat Timeout Status

17. Migration from an IRIX Cluster to a Linux 64-bit Cluster

18. Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting Strategy
Common Problems
Understanding Error Messages
Corrective Actions
Reporting Problems to SGI

A. CXFS Software Architecture
Daemons
Communication Paths
Communication Paths in a Coexecution Cluster
Flow of Metadata for Reads and Writes

B. Memberships and Quorums
Membership Types
Cluster Database Membership Logs
Quorum and Tiebreaker Examples
Heartbeat Considerations
CXFS Recovery Issues in a Cluster with Only Two Server-Capable Nodes

C. IP Filtering Example for the CXFS Private Network

D. Operating System Path Differences

E. Filesystem Specifications

F. Initial Configuration Checklist

G. Summary of New Features from Previous Releases
CXFS Version 1: Original Implementation
CXFS Version 2: MultiOS Cluster
CXFS Version 3: IRIX or Linux 64-bit Servers

Glossary

Index