Installing Cassatt Active Response and Control Node Setup: Dual Control Nodes

Intended for use with Cassatt Active Response Standard Edition V5.1.

A control node is a server that you dedicate for exclusive use by Cassatt Active Response. This article describes how to set up two control nodes and install the Cassatt Active Response software.

Step 1: Gather required components

Use the following table to gather required hardware and software.

Procedures in this article assume you are using new hardware; if you are repurposing hardware, be sure to perform all of the steps, including reinstalling Red Hat ELAS, to be certain that all configuration options are properly set.

Step 2: Review Cassatt Active Response installation options

There are a few options in the installation program that require special preparation. Review the following prompts from the installation script and complete the associated tasks.

• Do you want automatic discovery turned on so Cassatt discovers power controllers configured for DHCP?
  Always select "No" during Cassatt Active Response installation. Automatic discovery is not supported for Standard Edition.
• Host name and port number for SMTP server
  Setting up an email server is recommended for sending email notification to users of events in the Active Response Controller.
• Will the system include Dell RAC or DRAC nodes?
  Will the system include Sun nodes with ILOM power controllers?
  If you will be using either type of nodes in your Cassatt implementation, now or in the future, you must install the appropriate packages prior to installing Cassatt Active Response; the installation program halts if you answer "yes" and these tools are not present. For Dell, install the Dell Linux Remote Access Utilities (which includes the Remote Access Control Administration program (RACADM)); for Sun ILOM nodes, install the IPMI package that comes with the OS.
  

Step 3: Calculate storage requirements

Allocate 10 Gbytes for the base file system (system software, log files, and reporting) and 10 Gbytes for the database file system.

Step 4: Determine your network strategy

One of the most important steps prior to installation is to determine your network strategy. During installation, you will be prompted for the IP address range for the Cassatt network; upon completion of installation, Cassatt immediately starts using those IP addresses for node management. Review Network Addresses: Calculating Requirements and make sure you have the following information ready for installation:

• Control node IP address/CIDR prefix
• Gateway IP address
• Network VLAN number (if not using a single flat network)
• IP address range for the Cassatt Active Response network
• DNS server IP address

Step 5: Configure gateways

Configure the gateway(s) using the static IP address allocated from the Cassatt Active Response network.

Step 6: Configure boot order and network connectivity

Using the appropriate instructions (Dell or HP), follow these steps to configure the control nodes for Cassatt Active Response.

Dell configuration

1. Plug in the control node.
2. Connect the console, keyboard, and mouse to the control node.
3. Power on the control node with the power button on the front panel.
4. During the boot cycle, press the appropriate key sequence to access the RAC configuration screens.
5. Configure the RAC:
   
   

   Setting	Enter
   Ethernet Configuration	Enabled
   NIC TCP/IP Configuration	The RAC's NIC to its predefined static IP address The predefined static IP for the gateway The netmask

   
   
6. Save the changes and exit.
7. Press the appropriate key sequence to start the BIOS configuration configure these settings:
   
   

   Setting	Enter
   Integrated Devices	Ensure that both Ethernet interfaces are enabled.
   Boot Sequence	CD-ROM Floppy Hard Drive C: Network

   
   The remaining BIOS settings can be set as required by your site as long as there is no adverse impact on the Integrated Devices and Boot Sequence settings.
8. Save the changes and exit.
9. Power off the node with the power button on the front panel.
10. Repeat steps 1-9 for the second control node.
11. When you have completed configuring the second control node, power off the control nodes.

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HP configuration

1. Plug in the control node.
2. Connect the console, keyboard, and mouse to the control node.
3. Power on the control node with the power button on the front panel.
4. As the node boots, access the BIOS setup program and configure as follows:
   
   

   Settings	Enter
   Boot Sequence	CD-ROM Floppy Hard Drive C: Network

   
   The remaining BIOS settings can be set as required by your site as long as there is no adverse impact on the Boot Sequence settings.
5. Save the changes and exit.
6. As the node boots, press F8 to access the firmware setup program.
7. Configure as follows.
   1. Go to: Settings > Global iLO Settings:
      
      

      Setting	Enter
      Lights-Out Functionality	Enabled
      iLO ROM-Based Setup Utility	Enabled
      Require iLO RBSU Login	Disabled
      Show iLO IP during POST	Enabled
      Two-Factor Authentication	Disabled

   2. Go to: Network > NIC and TCP/IP:
      
      

      Setting	Enter
      Lights-Out Functionality	Enabled
      iLO ROM-Based Setup Utility	Enabled
      Require iLO RBSU Login	Enabled
      Network Interface Adapter	On
      Transceiver Speed Autoselect	On

   3. Go to: User menu > Add and edit the Login ID and Password:
      
      

      Setting	Enter
      Login name	cassatt (default)
      Password	pcontrol (default)

   4. Go to: Network > DNS/DHCP:
      
      

      Setting	Enter
      DHCP Enable	Off
      F1 Advanced menu	Set everything to Enabled.

      
      You should assign a static IP address to this device during the Cassatt Active Response installation.
8. Save the changes and exit the iLO firmware setup program.
9. Power off the node.
10. Repeat steps 1-9 for the second control node.
11. When you have completed configuring the second control node, power off the control nodes.

Step 7: Cable and configure components

Using the following diagram as a guideline, cable and configure the hardware components.

1. Cable the control nodes to the network switch(es).
2. Cable the storage to the control node.

Step 8: Install the operating system

Follow these steps to install the operating system on each control node. If you are using an existing server with Red Hat ELAS installed, you must reinstall Red Hat ELAS and format the devices for Cassatt Active Response.

1. Install the Red Hat ELAS operating system on the control nodes using the instructions in Control Node: Installing Red Hat ELAS. When you get to the section, Disk Partitioning Setup, use the following guidelines.
   
   

   Local disk partitions	Minimum size	Type
   /	32,000 Mbytes	ext3
   /boot	100 Mbytes	ext3
   swap	As a general guideline, set swap to approximately 3 times the control node's physical memory.	swap

2. Repeat the steps for the second control node with the following caveat:
   

When installing Red Hat ELAS on the second control node, do not format the shared storage device; this will overwrite necessary configuration information from the installation of the first control node.

Step 9: Configure access to storage

Configure access to the storage subsystem, which stores Cassatt Active Response system data, the system database, and software images; during Cassatt Active Response installation, you'll prompted to specify the mount points for filesystems. Review Control Node: Configuring Storage Access.

Step 10: Configure failover storage

In preparation for control node failover, you must set up each control node to access two small disk partitions. Follow the steps in this article: Control Node: Configuring Failover Storage.

Step 11: Optional: configure user authentication

Refer to User Authentication and Management.

Step 12: Install Cassatt Active Response software

The Cassatt Active Response installation program installs files on the local disk of the control nodes, and on the Cassatt Active Response shared storage device; you can edit all inputs prior to starting the installation.

The ccinstall program uses ssh as the root user to access the second control node and install Cassatt Active Response. If your site policy prohibits root user logins via ssh, you must manually install Cassatt Active Response on each control node. Follow these steps: 1) on the first control node, run ccinstall -a 2) on the second control node, run ccinstall -b 3) on both control nodes, run cccoreservice start.

Follow these steps to install Cassatt Active Response on both control nodes.

The following steps should only be done on one of the control nodes (which results in both control nodes being installed with Cassatt Active Response). The exception is if root-level ssh is dissallowed; in this case, you must complete the following steps on both control nodes.

1. Insert the Cassatt Active Response CD into the control node.
2. Log into the control node as the root user and open a shell window.
3. Mount the /cassatt file system.
   mount /cassatt
4. If the CD-ROM is not already mounted, enter the following command:
   mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
5. Navigate to the installation program.
   cd /mnt/cdrom
6. Start the installation program.
   ./ccinstall

If you want to reinstall Cassatt Active Response after an initial installation, run ccuninstall (which uninstalls Cassatt Active Response on both control nodes), then run ccinstall.

Step 13: Logging into the Cassatt Active Response Controller

After installing Cassatt Active Response, you can access the Cassatt Active Response Controller and Policy Manager from any computer with network access to the control node.

Make sure that you've set up user accounts for both control nodes; if you neglect this step, users may not be able to log into the Cassatt Active Response Controller if a failover occurs. See User Authentication and Management.

Step 14: Verify control node failover

Follow these steps to verify that the control node failover service is working.

After Cassatt Active Response is installed, do not install the General Public Licensed (GPL) cluster manager utility (clumanager), or Red Hat Cluster Manager (based on clumanager)from another source. Installing these utilities will overwrite Cassatt Active Response failover information and failover will not work. Also, do not modify any of the Cassatt Active Response services that are already being monitored by clumanager; this can also invalidate the control node failover configuration.

1. Run the following command to verify that one of the control nodes is running.
   /opt/cassatt/bin/cccoreservice status
   
   You should see the following message:
   "server is up and running...collage-core is running"
   
2. Force a failover to the second control node by running the following command:
   /opt/cassatt/bin/cccoreservice failover
   
   You should see the following message:
   "Service collage-core is now running on <IP_address_of_other_node>"

 

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