Configuration Restrictions

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The configuration restrictions in the subsections that follow apply only to HA for Solaris Zones.

Caution - Your data service configuration might not be supported if you do not observe these restrictions.

Restrictions for Zone Network Addresses

The configuration of a zone's network addresses depends on the level of high availability (HA) you require for it and the configured ip-type option. You can choose between no HA, HA through the use of only IPMP, or HA through the use of IPMP and SUNW.LogicalHostName (ip-type=shared only).

Your choice of a zone's network addresses configuration affects some configuration parameters for the zone boot resource. For more information, see Registering and Configuring HA for Solaris Zones.

The following restrictions apply if ip-type is set to shared:

If HA for the zone's addresses is not required, then configure the zone's addresses by using the zonecfg utility.
If only HA through IPMP protection in the global zone is required, then configure the zone's addresses by using the zonecfg utility and place the zone's addresses on an adapter within an IPMP group.
If HA through IPMP protection in the global zone and protection against the failure of all physical interfaces by triggering a failover is required, choose one option from the following list:
- If you require the SUNW.LogicalHostName resource type to manage one or a subset of the zone's addresses, configure a SUNW.LogicalHostName resource for those zone's addresses and not by using the zonecfg utility. Use the zonecfg utility only to configure the zone's addresses that are not required to be under the control of the SUNW.LogicalHostName resource.
- If you require the SUNW.LogicalHostName resource type to manage all the zone's addresses, configure a SUNW.LogicalHostName resource with a list of the zone's addresses and do not configure them by using the zonecfg utility.
- Otherwise, configure the zone's addresses by using the zonecfg utility and configure a separate redundant IP address in the same subnet for use by a SUNW.LogicalHostName resource, which must not be configured using the zonecfg utility.

The following restrictions apply if ip-type is set to exclusive:

The SC_NETWORK variable in the sczbt_config file must be set to false to successfully register the sczbt resource.
Do not configure a resource dependency on a SUNW.LogicalHostname resource from the sczbt resource.
A linkname is required for anet resources within zonecfg. Set the linkname value explicitly instead of using the auto option.

The zone network addresses that are managed by a SUNW.LogicalHostname resource get configured for the zone and unconfigured from the zone asynchronously during the boot and shutdown of the zone. An application that uses these network addresses has to be managed by either the sczsh component or the sczsmf component, to ensure correct order of start and stop of the application with the corresponding network addresses. If the application is started by runlevel or SMF services within the zone, without using the sczsh or sczsmf component, then the network addresses used by that application must be configured using the zonecfg utility and must not be managed by a SUNW.LogicalHostname resource.

Restrictions for an HA Zone

The zone path of a non-global zone in an HA zone configuration must reside on a highly available local file system. The zone must be configured on each cluster node where the zone can reside.

The zone is active on only one node at a time, and the zone's address is plumbed on only one node at a time. Application clients can then reach the zone through the zone's address, wherever that zone resides within the cluster.

Ensure that the zone's autoboot property is set to false. Setting a zone's autoboot property to false prevents the zone from being booted when the host global zone is booted. The HA for Solaris Zones data service can manage a zone only if the zone is booted under the control of the data service.

Ensure that the zone configuration defines a generic attribute with name osc-ha-zone of type boolean and value true. This attribute is used by the svc:/system/cluster/osc-ha-zone-state-cleanup SMF service on each node to identify a zone controlled by the sczbt component. The svc:/system/cluster/osc-ha-zone-state-cleanup SMF service must be enabled.

For a solaris brand zone, ensure that the universally unique ID (UUID) of each node's boot-environment (BE) root dataset is the same value.

For a solaris-kz brand zone:

You cannot specify the Mounts variable within the sczbt configuration file.
You cannot set the SC_NETWORK variable to true within the sczbt configuration file.

Restrictions for a Multiple-Masters Zone

The zone path of a zone in a multiple-masters configuration must reside on the local disks of each node. The zone must be configured with the same name on each node that can master the zone.

Each zone that is configured to run within a multiple-masters configuration must also have a zone-specific address. Load balancing for applications in these configurations is typically provided by an external load balancer. You must configure this load balancer for the address of each zone. Application clients can then reach the zone through the load balancer's address.

Ensure that the zone's autoboot property is set to false. Setting a zone's autoboot property to false prevents the zone from being booted when the global zone is booted. The HA for Solaris Zones data service can manage a zone only if the zone is booted under the control of the data service.

Restrictions for the Zone Path of a Zone

The zone path of a zone that HA for Solaris Zones manages cannot reside on a global file system.

If the non-global zone is in a failover configuration, the zone path must reside on a highly available local file system.
For an Oracle Solaris Kernel Zone, the boot storage is specified as described in the suri (5) man page. If the storage URI points to a zvol, then the corresponding zpool must be managed by a SUNW.HAStoragePlus resource. If the storage URI points to a logical unit or iSCSI device, then the SUNW.HAStoragePlus resource can be used to monitor the corresponding did device.
If the zone is in a multiple-masters configuration, the zone path must reside on the local disks of each node.
The sczbt component cannot manage a non-global zone that is using the rootzpool attribute within the zone configuration. Instead, the zpool must be managed through a SUNW.HAStoragePlus resource and the zone configuration must specify the zonepath attribute only. Unset the rootzpool attribute.

Restrictions on Major Device Numbers in `/etc/name_to_major`

For shared devices, Oracle Solaris Cluster requires that the major and minor device numbers are identical on all nodes in the cluster. If the device is required for a zone, ensure that the major device number is the same in /etc/name_to_major on all nodes in the cluster that will host the zone.