A.2 XML Cluster Management Functionality

When the CMA.NLM is loaded, the following Cluster Services management access points (NSS virtual files) are created on each server’s _ADMIN: volume, _ADMIN:\Novell\Cluster.

A.2.1 Cluster Management Virtual File Types

The files that are created in the _ADMIN:\Novell\Cluster directory enable management of the cluster using any of the physical servers (nodes) configured in the cluster through the cluster’s virtual Novell Core Protocol™ (NCP) server (which is dynamically instantiated on the current cluster master node). This cluster-wide virtual NCP server enables cluster management, regardless of which physical servers are available at the time. By accessing files through this virtual server, tools are always able to manage the cluster—as long as any server is running.

The following table list the two kinds of virtual files in the _ADMIN:\Novell\Cluster directory:

Virtual File Type

Corresponding XML Schema

.xml

Read-only files that return cluster configuration or current cluster state information:

  • config.xml

  • state.xml

.cmd

Command files used to issue commands to the cluster and retrieve the resulting status. These files respond only to writes on a virtual file datastream named “command” (following NSS’ Manage_NSS\manage.cmd convention). For example, every time a .cmd file is opened (and before doing anything else), the following XML must be written to the file: 

 <virtualIO><datastream name=”command”></virtualIO>

Afterwards, other write or read commands can be issued.