Netra™ High Availability Suite 3.0 1/08 Foundation Services Installation GuideTable Of Contents Previous ChapterNext ChapterBook Index


C H A P T E R  3

Installing the Software by Using the nhinstall Tool

The nhinstall tool installs the operating system and the Foundation Services on the cluster according to the options that are set in the configuration files.

To use nhinstall to install the software, see the following sections:

Stages of the Installation Process

You can configure the nhinstall tool to install both the operating system and the Foundation Services on the cluster. You can also install the operating system manually and then configure the nhinstall tool to install only the Foundation Services on the cluster. For more information, see Configuring the nhinstall Tool.

After you have configured the installation server, you are ready to install the software on the nodes of the cluster. TABLE 3-1 describes the stages of the installation process in an example scenario. In this scenario, the nhinstall tool is configured with the following parameters defined in the env_installation.conf file:

The following parameter is defined in the cluster_definition.conf file:

Diskless and dataless nodes are specified in the NODE parameter or by the DISKLESS and DATALESS parameters.

For information about installation parameters, see the env_installation.conf(4) and cluster_definition.conf(4) man pages.

The following table lists the stages of an automatic installation using the nhinstall tool. The times quoted are guidelines only.


TABLE 3-1   Stages of the Installation Process
  Stage Action Carried Out By Related Section
1. Launch the nhinstall tool. You To Launch the nhinstall Tool
2. Configure the network interfaces. nhinstall  
3. Configure TFTP, DHCP, Solaris JumpStarttrademark, or MontaVista target distribution package to enable master-eligible nhinstall nodes and the dataless nodes (5 minutes). nhinstall  
4. Boot the master-eligible nodes and the dataless nodes to install the operating system (30 minutes–1 hour). You To Boot the Master-Eligible Nodes and Dataless Nodes to Install the Operating System
5. Install Netra HA Suite software and CGTP patches on the master-eligible nodes (20 minutes). nhinstall  
6. Reboot the master-eligible nodes. nhinstall To Boot the Master-Eligible Nodes and Dataless Nodes to Install the Operating System
7. Configure the Solaris services for diskless nodes on the master-eligible nodes (20–45 minutes). nhinstall  
8. Install the Solaris packages, Netra HA Suite packages, and the CGTP patches for diskless nodes (5 minutes) and Netra HA Suite packages, and the CGTP patches for dataless nodes. nhinstall  
9. Reboot the master-eligible and dataless nodes. You To Boot the Master-Eligible Nodes and Dataless Nodes to Install the Operating System
10. Boot the diskless nodes. You To Boot the Diskless Nodes
11. Run the nhadm tool on the master-eligible nodes to ensure that installation was successful. You Verifying the Installation


Note - The time guidelines are estimates only. The actual times that are required depend on the type of installation server, your configuration options, and the number of nodes in your cluster.


Launching the nhinstall Tool

Before running the nhinstall tool, make sure that you have configured the nhinstall tool and prepared the installation environment as described in Chapter 2.

The following procedures are based on Stages of the Installation Process. These procedures must be carried out in the documented sequence.


Note - The steps in the following processes describe the operating system installation of SPARC boards from an OpenBoot PROM (OBP). If your board does not have an OBP, see the corresponding board documentation on http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html to see how to perform a network installation or modifications to the BIOS setup. Some of the steps also reference the auto-boot-retry variable. If this variable exists on your system, it must be set to true; if it does not exist on your system, disregard references to it.


procedure icon  To Launch the nhinstall Tool

  1. Log in to the installation server as superuser.

  2. Start the nhinstall tool on the installation server.

    On the Solaris OS:


    # cd /opt/SUNWcgha/sbin
# ./nhinstall -r config-file-directory -l logfile

    On Linux OS:


    # cd /opt/sun/sbin
# ./nhinstall -r config-file-directory -l logfile

    For details, see the nhinstall(1M) man page.

    The nhinstall tool configures the network interfaces and prepares the environment to set up the server as an installation server for the master-eligible and dataless nodes. This process takes approximately five minutes.


    Note - On the Solaris OS, if the Solaris JumpStart procedure stops, the utility might not restart because the /tmp/.install_client.lck file prevents two Solaris JumpStart commands from being executed simultaneously. If Solaris JumpStart stops, ensure that there are no other Solaris JumpStart processes running. Then delete the lock file.


    After the installation environment has been prepared, the nhinstall tool displays instructions. Follow these instructions by performing the following procedure.

procedure icon  To Boot the Master-Eligible Nodes and Dataless Nodes to Install the Operating System

Perform the following steps on both master eligible nodes and on each dataless node listed in the nhinstall output.

  1. At the console window of the node, get the ok prompt.

    1. Press Control-]to get the telnet prompt.

    2. Type send brk at the telnet prompt to get the ok prompt.


      # Control-]
telnet> send brk
Type  'go' to resume
ok>

    The first master eligible-node is the first master-eligible node that is defined in the cluster_definition.conf file with the NODE definition or with the MEN parameter. For details, see Configuring the nhinstall Tool.

  2. Set the following boot variables by using the setenv command, if they exist on your system.

    1. Configure the processors to use local Ethernet (MAC) addresses:


      ok> setenv local-mac-address? true

    2. Configure the processors to retry booting when autoboot fails:


      ok> setenv auto-boot-retry? true

  3. Make a note of the network device aliases:


    ok> devalias

    Note the device alias of the network adapter of the master-eligible node that is connected to the same switch as the installation server's network interface. If there is no device alias, define one using the nvalias command. In the case of Netra 20 servers, the network adapter used is not the native adapter. In this case, you need to define the device alias.

    For more information, see the OpenBoot 4.x Command Reference Manual.

  4. Start the installation of the operating system on the node:


    ok> boot net - install

    where net is the device alias.

  5. When you have started the installation of the operating system on the node, continue the installation by typing y at this prompt:


    Answer 'y' after the command has been entered on all nodes: y

    The installation takes between 30 minutes and one hour for the master-eligible nodes and dataless nodes, depending on the operating system. The progress of the installation and the packages that are being installed are displayed on the console window of each master-eligible node.

    When the operating system has been installed, each node is automatically rebooted. Several status messages are displayed regarding service startup and connectivity.

    The nhinstall tool checks which version of the operating system has been installed. The nhinstall tool also checks whether the Foundation Services are already installed on the master-eligible nodes. If the Foundation Services are already installed, the nhinstall tool exits and displays an error message. If you want to upgrade to the new version of the Foundation Services, see more detailed instructions in the Netra High Availability Suite 3.0 1/08 Foundation Services Manual Installation Guide for the Solaris OS. Otherwise, remove the existing Foundation Services packages and restart the installation as described in Resetting the nhinstall Tool for a New Installation.

    The nhinstall tool then installs the Foundation Services and the CGTP patches on the master-eligible nodes.

    Wait 15 to 20 minutes while the Foundation Services packages and the CGTP patches are installed on all nodes. After installing packages and patches on the master-eligible and dataless nodes, these nodes are rebooted and nhinstall waits for the data to be ready.

procedure icon  To Boot the Diskless Nodes

After installation, the nhinstall tool displays the following instructions:


The software installation is complete.
Setup the eeprom boot parameters on your diskless nodes:
At the ok prompt, type:
ok> setenv local-mac-address? true
ok> setenv auto-boot-retry? true
ok> setenv boot-device net:dhcp,,,,,5 net2:dhcp,,,,,5
ok> setenv diag-switch? false
You can now boot your diskless nodes.

Perform the following procedure to configure the boot parameters.

  1. Get the ok prompt on each diskless node.

  2. Execute the following commands at the ok prompt on each diskless node for those parameters that exist on your system:


    ok> setenv local-mac-address? true
ok> setenv auto-boot-retry? true
ok> setenv boot-device net:dhcp,,,,,5 net2:dhcp,,,,,5
ok> setenv diag-switch? false

  3. Boot each diskless node:


    ok> reset

Verifying the Installation

After you have completed the installation and configuration, check that the cluster nodes have connectivity.

procedure icon  To Verify the Installation

  1. Become superuser on all nodes.

  2. Run the nhadm tool:

    On the Solaris OS: 


    # /opt/SUNWcgha/sbin/nhadm check

    On Linux: 


    # /opt/sun/sbin/nhadm check

    If all checks pass the validation, the installation of Netra HA Suite on the nodes of your cluster has been successful. For more information, see the nhadm(1M) and the cluster_nodes_table(4) man pages.

Troubleshooting and Restarting the nhinstall Tool

Most warnings displayed by the nhinstall tool do not require you to take any action.

When the nhinstall tool is launched, the tool parses the configuration files. If the nhinstall tool encounters errors in the files, it exits and provides a list of error messages. A progress indicator monitors the progress of the installation so you can continue the installation from the point of failure when you restart the nhinstall tool.

If an error occurs during the installation process, fix the error and then restart the nhinstall tool.

On the Solaris OS:


# cd /opt/SUNWcgha/sbin
# ./nhinstall -r config_file_directory -l logfile

On Linux:


# cd /opt/sun/sbin
# ./nhinstall -r config_file_directory -l logfile


Note - If you modify the configuration files to correct an error, the nhinstall tool displays a warning that the configuration has changed. The tool then prompts you to reset the installation. For information, see Resetting the nhinstall Tool for a New Installation.


Resetting the nhinstall Tool for a New Installation

If you are installing a new version of the software on the cluster or a new cluster configuration, you must start the installation from the beginning. You can reset the nhinstall tool in one of two ways:

procedure icon  To Remove the Progress Indicator and Reset the nhinstall Tool

  1. Log in to the installation server as superuser.

  2. Reset the nhinstall tool and remove the progress indicator.

    On the Solaris OS:


    # cd /opt/SUNWcgha/sbin
# ./nhinstall -r config_file_directory reset

    On Linux:


    # cd /opt/sun/sbin
# ./nhinstall -r config_file_directory reset

    The next time that you launch the nhinstall tool, the installation starts from the beginning.



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