4.1 Requirements for BCC 1.1 SP2 for NetWare

The requirements in this section must be met prior to installing Novell Business Continuity Clustering software.

4.1.1 Business Continuity Clustering Licensing

Novell Business Continuity Clustering software requires a license agreement for each business continuity cluster. For purchasing information, see Novell Business Continuity Clustering.

4.1.2 Business Continuity Cluster Component Locations

Figure 4-1 illustrates where the various components needed for a business continuity cluster are installed.

Figure 4-1 Business Continuity Cluster Component Locations

Figure 4-1 uses the following abbreviations:

4.1.3 NetWare 6.5 SP8

NetWare® 6.5 Support Pack 8 must be installed and running on every node in each peer cluster that will be part of the business continuity cluster.

See the NW65 SP8: Installation Guide for information on installing and configuring NetWare 6.5 SP8.

4.1.4 Novell Cluster Services 1.8.5 for NetWare

You need two to four clusters with Novell Cluster Services™ 1.8.5 (the version that ships with NetWare 6.5 SP8 installed and running on each node in the cluster.

See the NW6.5 SP8: Novell Cluster Services 1.8.5 Administration Guide for information on installing, configuring, and managing Novell Cluster Services.

Consider the following when preparing your clusters for the business continuity cluster:

Cluster Names

Each cluster must have a unique name, even if the clusters reside in different Novell eDirectory™ trees. Clusters must not have the same name as any of the eDirectory trees in the business continuity cluster.

Storage

The storage requirements for Novell Business Continuity Clustering software are the same as for Novell Cluster Services. For more information, see the following in the NW6.5 SP8: Novell Cluster Services 1.8.5 Administration Guide:

Some storage vendors require you to purchase or license their CLI (Command Line Interface) separately. The CLI for the storage system might not initially be included with your hardware.

Also, some storage hardware may not be SMI-S compliant and cannot be managed by using SMI-S commands.

eDirectory

The recommended configuration is to have each cluster in the same eDirectory tree but in different OUs (Organizational Units). This guide focuses on the single-tree setup.

BCC 1.1 SP2 for NetWare also supports a business continuity cluster with clusters in two eDirectory trees. See Section B.0, Implementing a Multiple-Tree BCC for more information.

Peer Cluster Credentials

To add or change peer cluster credentials, you must access iManager on a server that is in the same eDirectory tree as the cluster where you are adding or changing peer credentials.

4.1.5 Novell eDirectory 8.8

Novell eDirectory 8.8 is supported with Business Continuity Clustering 1.1 Support Pack 1. See the eDirectory 8.8 documentation for more information.

Rights Need for Installing BCC

The first time that you install the Business Continuity Clustering engine software in an eDirectory tree, the eDirectory schema is automatically extended with BCC objects.

IMPORTANT:The user who installs BCC must have the eDirectory credentials necessary to extend the schema.

If the eDirectory administrator username or password contains special characters (such as $, #, and so on), make sure to escape each special character by preceding it with a backslash (\) when you enter credentials.

Rights Needed for Individual Cluster Management

The BCC Administrator user is not automatically assigned the rights necessary to manage all aspects of each peer cluster. When managing individual clusters, you must log in as the Cluster Administrator user. You can manually assign the Cluster Administrator rights to the BCC Administrator user for each of the peer clusters if you want the BCC Administrator user to have all rights.

Rights Needed for BCC Management

Before you install BCC, create the BCC Administrator user and group identities in eDirectory to use when you manage the BCC. For information, see Section 4.3, Configuring a BCC Administrator User.

Rights Needed for Identity Manager

The node where Identity Manager is installed must have an eDirectory full replica with at least read/write access to all eDirectory objects that will be synchronized between clusters. You can also have the eDirectory master running on the node instead of the replica.

The replica does not need to contain all eDirectory objects in the tree. The eDirectory full replica must have at least read/write access to the following containers in order for the cluster resource synchronization and user object synchronization to work properly:

  • The Identity Manager driver set container.

  • The container where the Cluster object resides.

  • The container where the Server objects reside.

    If Server objects reside in multiple containers, this must be a container high enough in the tree to be above all containers that contain Server objects.

    The best practice is to have all Server objects in one container.

  • The container where the cluster Pool objects and Volume objects are placed when they are synchronized to this cluster. This container is referred to as the landing zone. The NCP™ Server objects for the virtual server of a BCC-enabled resource are also placed in the landing zone.

  • The container where the User objects reside that need to be synchronized. Typically, the User objects container is in the same partition as the cluster objects.

IMPORTANT:Full eDirectory replicas are required. Filtered eDirectory replicas are not supported with this version of Business Continuity Clustering software.

4.1.6 SLP

You must have SLP (Server Location Protocol) set up and configured properly on each server node in every cluster. Typically, SLP is installed as part of the eDirectory installation and setup when you install the server operating system for the server. For information, see Implementing the Service Location Protocol in the Novell eDirectory 8.8 Administration Guide.

4.1.7 Identity Manager 3.5.1 Bundle Edition

The Identity Manager 3.5.1 Bundle Edition is required for synchronizing the configuration of the peer clusters in your business continuity cluster. It is not involved in other BCC management operations such as migrating cluster resources within or across peer clussters.

Before you install Business Continuity Clustering on the cluster nodes, make sure that Identity Manager and the Identity Manager driver for eDirectory are installed on one node in each peer cluster that you want to be part of the business continuity cluster.

The same Identity Manager installation program that is used to install the Identity Manager engine is also used to install the Identity Manager eDirectory driver and management utilities. See Business Continuity Cluster Component Locations for information on where to install Identity Manager components.

Downloading the Bundle Edition

The bundle edition is a limited release of Novell Identity Manager 3.5.1 for NetWare 6.5 SP8 that allows you to use the Identity Manager software, the eDirectory driver, and the Identity Manager management tools for Novell iManager 2.7.2. BCC driver templates are applied to the eDirectory driver to create BCC-specific drivers that automatically synchronize BCC configuration information between the Identity Manager nodes in peer clusters. To download the Bundle Edition, go to to the Identity Manager 3.5.1 Bundle Edition download site.

Credential for Drivers

The Bundle Edition requires a credential that allows you to use drivers beyond an evaluation period. The credential can be found in the BCC license. In the Identity Manager interface in iManager, enter the credential for each driver that you create for BCC. You must also enter the credential for the matching driver that is installed in a peer cluster. You can enter the credential, or put the credential in a file that you point to.

Identity Manager Engine and eDirectory Driver

BCC requires Identity Manager 3.5.1 or later to run on one node in each of the clusters that belong to the business continuity cluster. (Identity Manager was formerly called DirXML®.) Identity Manager should not be set up as clustered resource.

For information about installing and configuring Identity Manager 3.5.1, see the Identity Manager 3.5.1 documentation Web site.

The node where the Identity Manager engine and the eDirectory driver are installed must have an eDirectory full replica with at least read/write access to all eDirectory objects that will be synchronized between clusters. This does not apply to all eDirectory objects in the tree. For information about the eDirectory full replica requirements, see Section 4.1.5, Novell eDirectory 8.8.

Identity Manager Driver for eDirectory

On the same node where you install the Identity Manager engine, install the following:

  • Single Tree: One instance of the Identity Manager driver for eDirectory.

  • Two Trees: Two instances of the Identity Manager driver for eDirectory. The eDirectory driver must be installed twice on each node—once for Tree A and once for Tree B.

For information about installing the Identity Manager driver for eDirectory, see Identity Manager 3.5.1 Driver for eDirectory: Implementation Guide.

Identity Manager Management Utilities

The Identity Manager management utilities must be installed on the same server as Novell iManager. The Identity Manager utilities and iManager can be installed on a cluster node, but installing them on a non-cluster node is the recommended configuration. For information about iManager requirements for BCC, see Section 4.1.8, Novell iManager 2.7.2.

IMPORTANT:Identity Manager plug-ins for iManager require that eDirectory is running and working properly in the tree. If the plug-in does not appear in iManager, make sure that the eDirectory daemon (ndsd) is running on the server that contains the eDirectory master replica.

To restart ndsd on the master replica server, enter the following command at its terminal console prompt as the root user:

rcndsd restart

4.1.8 Novell iManager 2.7.2

Novell iManager 2.7.2 (the version released with NetWare 6.5 SP8, or later version) must be installed and running on a server in the eDirectory tree where you are installing Business Continuity Clustering software. You need to install the BCC plug-in, the Clusters plug-in, and the Storage Management plug-in in order to manage the BCC in iManager. As part of the install process, you must also install plug-ins for the Identity Manager role that are management templates for configuring a business continuity cluster.

For information about installing and using iManager, see the Novell iManager 2.7 documentation Web site.

The Identity Manager management utilities must be installed on the same server as iManager. You can install iManager and the Identity Manager utilities on a cluster node, but installing them on a non-cluster node is the recommended configuration. For information about Identity Manager requirements for BCC, see Section 4.1.7, Identity Manager 3.5.1 Bundle Edition.

See Business Continuity Cluster Component Locations for specific information on where to install Identity Manager components.

4.1.9 Storage-Related Plug-Ins for iManager 2.7.2

The Clusters plug-in (ncsmgmt.npm) has been updated from the release in NetWare 6.5 SP8 to provide support for this release of Business Continuity Clustering. You must install the Clusters plug-in and the Storage Management plug-in (storagemgmt.npm). Other storage-related plug-ins are Novell Storage Services™ (NSS) (nssmgmt.npm), Novell AFP (afpmgmt.npm), Novell CIFS (cifsmgmt.npm), Novell Distributed File Services (dfsmgmt.npm), and Novell Archive and Version Services (avmgmt.npm). NSS is required in order to use shared NSS pools as cluster resources. The other services are optional.

IMPORTANT:The Storage Management plug-in module (storagemgmt.npm) contains common code required by all of the other storage-related plug-ins. Make sure that you include storagemgmt.npm when installing any of the others. If you use more than one of these plug-ins, you should install, update, or remove them all at the same time to make sure the common code works for all plug-ins.

The storage-related plug-ins are available as a zipped download on the Novell Downloads Web site.

  1. On the iManager server, if the OES 2 version of the storage-related plug-ins are installed, or if you upgraded this server from OES 2 Linux or NetWare 6.5 SP7, log in to iManager, then uninstall all of the storage-related plug-ins that are currently installed, including storagemgmt.npm.

    This step is necessary for upgrades only if you did not uninstall and reinstall the storage-related plug-ins as part of the upgrade process.

  2. Copy the new .npm files into the iManager plug-ins location, manually overwriting the older version of the plug-in in the packages folder with the newer version of the plug-in.

  3. In iManager, install all of the storage-related plug-ins, or install the plug-ins you need, plus the common code.

  4. Restart Tomcat by entering the following commands at a system console prompt:

    tc4stop
tomcat4

  5. Restart Apache by entering the following command at a system console prompt:

    ap2webrs

4.1.10 Windows Workstation

The Business Continuity Clustering installation program is run from a Windows* workstation. Prior to running the installation program:

  • The Windows workstation must have the latest Novell Client™ software installed.

  • You must be authenticated to the eDirectory tree where the cluster resides.

4.1.11 OpenWBEM

OpenWBEM must be configured to start in autoexec.ncf, and be running when you manage the cluster with Novell iManager. For information on setup and configuration, see the NW 6.5 SP8: OpenWBEM Services Administration Guide.

Port 5989 is the default setting for secure HTTP (HTTPS) communications. If you are using a firewall, the port must be opened for CIMOM communications.

Beginning in NetWare 6.5 SP7, the Clusters plug-in (and all other storage-related plug-ins) for iManager require CIMOM connections for tasks that transmit sensitive information (such as a username and password) between iManager and the _admin volume on the server that you are managing. Typically, CIMOM is running, so this should be the normal condition when using the server. CIMOM connections use Secure HTTP (HTTPS) for transferring data, and this ensures that sensitive data is not exposed.

If CIMOM is not currently running when you click OK or Finish for the task that sends the sensitive information, you get an error message explaining that the connection is not secure and that CIMOM must be running before you can perform the task.

IMPORTANT:If you receive file protocol errors, it might be because WBEM is not running.

To check the status of WBEM:

  1. As the Admin user or equivalent, enter the following at the server console:

    modules owcimomd

To start WBEM:

  1. As the Admin user or equivalent, enter the following at the server console:

    openwbem

4.1.12 Shared Disk Systems

For Business Continuity Clustering, a shared disk system is required for each peer cluster in the business continuity cluster. See Shared Disk System Requirements in the NW6.5 SP8: Novell Cluster Services 1.8.5 Administration Guide.

In addition to the shared disks in an original cluster, you need additional shared disk storage in the other peer clusters to mirror the data between sites as described in Section 4.1.13, Mirroring Shared Disk Systems Between Peer Clusters.

4.1.13 Mirroring Shared Disk Systems Between Peer Clusters

The Business Continuity Clustering software does not perform data mirroring. You must separately configure either storage-based mirroring or host-based file system mirroring for the shared disks that you want to fail over between peer clusters. Storage-based synchronized mirroring is the preferred solution.

IMPORTANT:Use whatever method is available to implement storage-based mirroring or host-based file system mirroring between the peer clusters for each of the shared disks that you plan to fail over between peer clusters.

For information about how to configure host-based file system mirroring for Novell Storage Services pool resources, see Section D.0, Configuring Host-Based File System Mirroring for NSS Pools.

For information about storage-based mirroring, consult the vendor for your storage system or see the vendor documentation.

4.1.14 LUN Masking for Shared Devices

LUN masking is the ability to exclusively assign each LUN to one or more host connections. With it, you can assign appropriately sized pieces of storage from a common storage pool to various servers. See your storage system vendor documentation for more information on configuring LUN masking.

When you create a Novell Cluster Services system that uses a shared storage system, it is important to remember that all of the servers that you grant access to the shared device, whether in the cluster or not, have access to all of the volumes on the shared storage space unless you specifically prevent such access. Novell Cluster Services arbitrates access to shared volumes for all cluster nodes, but cannot protect shared volumes from being corrupted by non-cluster servers.

Software included with your storage system can be used to mask LUNs or to provide zoning configuration of the SAN fabric to prevent shared volumes from being corrupted by non-cluster servers.

IMPORTANT:We recommend that you implement LUN masking in your business continuity cluster for data protection. LUN masking is provided by your storage system vendor.

4.1.15 Link Speeds

For real-time mirroring, link speeds should be 1 GB or better, the Fibre Channel cable length between sites should be less than 200 kilometers, and the links should be dedicated.

Many factors should be considered for distances greater than 200 kilometers, some of which include:

  • The amount of data being transferred

  • The bandwidth of the link

  • Whether or not snapshot technology is being used

4.1.16 Ports

If you are using a firewall, the ports must be opened for OpenWBEM and the Identity Manager drivers.

Table 4-1 Default Ports for the BCC Setup

Product

Default Port

OpenWBEM

5989

eDirectory driver

8196

Cluster Resources Synchronization driver

2002 (plus the ports for additional instances)

User Object Synchronization driver

2001 (plus the ports for additional instances)

4.1.17 Web Browser

When using iManager, make sure your Web browser settings meet the requirements in this section.

Web Browser Language Setting

The iManager plug-in might not operate properly if the highest priority Language setting for your Web browser is set to a language other than one of iManager's supported languages. To avoid problems, in your Web browser, click Tools > Options > Languages, then set the first language preference in the list to a supported language.

Refer to the Novell iManager documentation for information about supported languages.

Web Browser Character Encoding Setting

Supported language codes are Unicode (UTF-8) compliant. To avoid display problems, make sure the Character Encoding setting for the browser is set to Unicode (UTF-8) or ISO 8859-1 (Western, Western European, West European).

In a Mozilla browser, click View > Character Encoding, then select the supported character encoding setting.

In an Internet Explorer browser, click View > Encoding, then select the supported character encoding setting.

4.1.18 BASH

BASH must be installed on all nodes that participate in the business continuity cluster. The BASH shell does not need to be running, only installed.

4.1.19 LIBC

You must have the latest LIBC patch installed. This is currently libcsp6X. See LIBC Update NetWare 6.5 SP6 9.00.05 (Technical Information Document # 5003460).

4.1.20 autoexec.ncf File

The sys:\system\autoexec.ncf file must be modified so that the call to sys:/bin/unixenv.ncf is before the calls to openwbem.ncf and ldbcc.ncf.