Overview of Administering Quorum

You can use the clquorum(1CL) command to perform all quorum administrative procedures. In addition, you can accomplish some procedures by using the clsetup(1CL) interactive utility or the Sun Cluster Manager GUI. Whenever possible, quorum procedures are described in this chapter by using the clsetup utility. The Sun Cluster Manager online help describes how to perform quorum procedures by using the GUI. When you work with quorum devices, keep in mind the following guidelines:

• If you are running the Solaris 10 OS, then all quorum commands must be run in the global zone.

• If the clquorum command is interrupted or fails, the quorum configuration information can become inconsistent in the cluster configuration database. If this inconsistency occurs, either rerun the command or run the clquorum reset command to reset the quorum configuration.

• For highest availability of the cluster, ensure that the total number of votes that are contributed by quorum devices is less than the total number of votes that are contributed by nodes. Otherwise, the nodes cannot form a cluster if all quorum devices are unavailable, even if all nodes are functioning.

• Do not add a disk that is currently configured as a quorum device to a Solaris ZFS storage pool. If a configured quorum device is added to a Solaris ZFS storage pool, the disk is relabeled as an EFI disk and quorum configuration information is lost and the disk no longer provides a quorum vote to the cluster. Once a disk is in a storage pool, that disk can then be configured as a quorum device. Or, you can unconfigure the disk, add it to the storage pool, then reconfigure the disk as a quorum device.

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Note –

The clsetup command is an interactive interface to the other Sun Cluster commands. When clsetup runs, the command generates the appropriate specific commands, in this case clquorum commands. These generated commands are shown in the examples at the end of the procedures.

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To view the quorum configuration, use clquorum show. The clquorum list command displays the names of quorum devices in the cluster. The clquorum status command provides status and vote count information.

Table 6–1 Task List: Administering Quorum

Task	For Instructions
Add a quorum device to a cluster by using clsetup(1CL)	Adding a Quorum Device
Remove a quorum device from a cluster by using clsetup (to generate clquorum)	How to Remove a Quorum Device
Remove the last quorum device from a cluster by using clsetup (to generate clquorum)	How to Remove the Last Quorum Device From a Cluster
Replace a quorum device in a cluster by using the add and remove procedures	How to Replace a Quorum Device
Modify a quorum device list by using the add and remove procedures	How to Modify a Quorum Device Node List
Put a quorum device into maintenance state by using clsetup (to generate clquorum) (While in maintenance state, the quorum device does not participate in voting to establish the quorum.)	How to Put a Quorum Device Into Maintenance State
Reset the quorum configuration to its default state by using clsetup (to generate clquorum)	How to Bring a Quorum Device Out of Maintenance State
List the quorum devices and vote counts by using the clquorum(1CL) command	How to List the Quorum Configuration

Dynamic Reconfiguration With Quorum Devices

You must consider a few issues when completing dynamic reconfiguration (DR) operations on quorum devices in a cluster.

• All of the requirements, procedures, and restrictions that are documented for the Solaris DR feature also apply to Sun Cluster DR support, except for the operating system quiescence operation. Therefore, review the documentation for the Solaris DR feature before using the DR feature with Sun Cluster software. You should review in particular the issues that affect nonnetwork IO devices during a DR detach operation.

• Sun Cluster rejects DR remove-board operations that are performed when an interface is present that is configured for a quorum device.

• If the DR operation would pertain to an active device, Sun Cluster rejects the operation and identifies the devices that would be affected by the operation.

To remove a quorum device, you must complete the following steps, in the order indicated.

Table 6–2 Task Map: Dynamic Reconfiguration With Quorum Devices

Task	For Instructions
1. Enable a new quorum device to replace the one being removed.	Adding a Quorum Device
2. Disable the quorum device to be removed.	How to Remove a Quorum Device
3. Perform the DR remove operation on the device being removed.	Sun Enterprise 10000 DR Configuration Guide and the Sun Enterprise 10000 Dynamic Reconfiguration Reference Manual (from the Solaris 9 on Sun Hardware, and Solaris 10 on Sun Hardware collections.)