The shadow master host file, sge-root/cell/common/shadow_masters, contains the following:
The name of the primary master host, which is the machine where the master daemon sge_qmaster initially runs
The names of the shadow master hosts
The format of the shadow master hostname file is as follows:
The first line of the file defines the primary master host
The following lines define the shadow master hosts, one host per line
The order of the shadow master hosts is significant. The primary master host is the first line in the file. If the primary master host fails to proceed, the shadow master defined in the second line takes over. If this shadow master also fails, the shadow master defined in the third line takes over, and so forth.