In addition to Section 3.1, System Requirements for Novell Cluster Services, consider the requirements and guidelines described in the following sections when converting clusters from NetWare to OES 2 Linux:
Section 6.1.2, SBD Devices Must Be Marked as Shareable for Clustering
Section 6.1.3, Syntax Translation Issues for Load and Unload Scripts
Section 6.1.5, Adding New NetWare Nodes to a Mixed-Node Cluster
Section 6.1.6, Converting Multiple NetWare Cluster Nodes to OES 2 Linux
Section 6.1.7, Converting Nodes that Contain the eDirectory Master Replica
Section 6.1.8, Failing Over Cluster Resources on Mixed-Node Clusters
Section 6.1.10, Using Novell iManager in Mixed-Node Clusters
Section 6.1.11, Using Novell Remote Manager Is Not Supported in Mixed-Node Clusters
Section 6.1.12, Using ConsoleOne Is Not Supported for Mixed-Node Clusters
Section 6.1.13, Using the Monitor Function in Mixed-Node Clusters Is Not Supported
Mixed NetWare and OES 2 Linux nodes in the same cluster are supported as a temporary configuration while you are migrating a cluster from NetWare to Linux.
All NetWare servers must be either version 6.5 or 6.0 in order to exist in a mixed NetWare and OES 2 Linux cluster.
Mixed NetWare 6.5 and OES 2 Linux clusters are supported so that you can convert a NetWare 6.5 cluster to OES 2 Linux.
Mixed NetWare 6.0 and OES 2 Linux clusters are also supported so that you can convert a NetWare 6.0 cluster to OES 2 Linux.
Mixed clusters consisting of NetWare 6.0 servers, NetWare 6.5 servers, and OES 2 Linux servers are not supported.
Before converting NetWare 6.5 clusters or NetWare 6.0 clusters to OES 2 Linux, you must apply all of the latest service packs and patches for that version. For information, see Upgrading NetWare Clusters
in the NW6.5 SP8: Novell Cluster Services 1.8.5 Administration Guide.
If you have a NetWare 5.1 cluster, you must upgrade all nodes to a NetWare 6.5 cluster (with the latest service packs and patches) before adding new Linux cluster nodes to the cluster. For information, see Upgrading NetWare Clusters
in the NW6.5 SP8: Novell Cluster Services 1.8.5 Administration Guide.
Novell Cluster Services for Linux requires that the devices used for the SBD partition be explicitly marked as Shareable for Clustering. When converting a NetWare cluster, make sure that the SBD device, or both devices for a mirrored SBD, are marked as Shareable for Clustering before you add the first Linux node to the cluster.
When cluster migrating resources in a mixed-platform cluster from a NetWare cluster node to a OES 2 Linux cluster node, each cluster resource’s Load script and Unload script needs to be translated in-memory while the cluster contains mixed-platform nodes, and when the cluster is finally converted from NetWare to Linux. Executing a script that is valid for the NetWare platform is not necessarily recognized on the OES 2 Linux platform. This translation is done by the Cluster Translation Library script (/opt/novell/ncs/bin/clstrlib.py). If the commands in cluster resource’s load or unload scripts are not part of the normal translation library, the cluster resource can end up in a comatose state.
Beginning in OES 2 SP2, Novell Cluster Services allows you to customize the translation syntax that is used for load and unload scripts in mixed-platform situations by defining them in the /var/opt/novell/ncs/customized_translation_syntax file that you create. The clstrlib.py script reads the additional translation syntax from the syntax file. For information, see Section 6.7, Customizing the Translation Syntax for Converting Load and Unload Scripts.
When adding a Linux node to the existing NetWare cluster, there are two areas where case sensitivity might be an issue:
Node name: After you install the Linux node into the NetWare cluster, the Linux node is unable to join the cluster. To resolve this problem, edit the /etc/opt/novell/ncs/nodename file to modify the hostname of the node from lowercase (clusnode1) to all uppercase characters (CLUSNODE1), reboot the server, then run the rcnovell-ncs start command. This allows the cluster node to start and join the cluster.
NOTE:This case sensitivity issue has been resolved for OES 2 SP2 and later.
Cluster object name: The Cluster object name (such as cn=Clustername,ou=context,o=org) is also present on the SBD partition. The SBD name (Clustername.sbd) matches the case of the object name in eDirectory. Running the sbdutil -f command displays the SBD name. If the case used when you enter the Cluster object name and SBD name during the Linux cluster install do not match the case used in eDirectory, the cluster install fails to detect the SBD partition.
You cannot add additional NetWare nodes to your cluster after adding a new Linux node or changing an existing NetWare cluster node to a Linux cluster node. If you want to add NetWare cluster nodes after converting part of your cluster to Linux, you must first remove the Linux nodes from the cluster.
If you attempt to concurrently convert multiple NetWare cluster servers to OES 2 Linux, we strongly recommend that you use the old NetWare node IP addresses for your Linux cluster servers. You should record the NetWare node IP addresses before converting them to Linux.
If you must assign new node IP addresses, we recommend that you only convert one node at a time.
Another option if new cluster node IP addresses are required and new server hardware is being used is to shut down the NetWare nodes that are to be removed and then add the new Linux cluster nodes. After adding the new Linux cluster nodes, you can remove the NetWare cluster node-related objects as described in Step 5 of Section 6.4, Converting NetWare Cluster Nodes to OES 2 Linux (Rolling Cluster Conversion).
IMPORTANT:Failure to follow these recommendations might result in NetWare server abends and Linux server restarts.
When converting NetWare cluster servers to Linux, do not convert the server that has the master eDirectory replica first. If the server with the eDirectory master replica is a cluster node, convert it at the end of the rolling cluster conversion.
Cluster resources that were created on NetWare cluster nodes and migrated or failed over to Linux cluster nodes can be migrated or failed back to NetWare cluster nodes.
Cluster resources that were originally created on Linux cluster nodes cannot be migrated or failed over to NetWare cluster nodes.
If you cluster migrate an NSS pool from a NetWare cluster server to a Linux cluster server, it could take several minutes for volume trustee assignments to synchronize after the migration. Users might have limited access to the migrated volumes until after the synchronization process is complete.
In a mixed cluster of NetWare and OES 2 Linux nodes, Linux POSIX file systems as cluster resources cannot be created until the entire cluster had been successfully converted to OES 2 Linux. Linux POSIX file systems as cluster resources cannot be migrated or failed over to NetWare cluster nodes.
Only NSS pool cluster resources that are created on a NetWare cluster node can be failed over between Linux and NetWare nodes of a mixed-node cluster.
NetWare-to-Linux (and vice versa) failover of NSS pool cluster resources requires that the Linux node be configured for NSS and that the version of NSS supports the NSS media format and features that are currently being used by the NSS pool cluster resource on NetWare.
No storage management functions should be executed while a cluster is in a mixed-cluster mode. Do not attempt to create, delete, expand, or modify the properties for partitions, pools, or volumes for any shared resources in the cluster.
WARNING:Attempting to reconfigure shared storage in a mixed cluster can cause data loss.
If you need to configure (or reconfigure) existing shared NSS pools and volumes in a mixed-node cluster, you must temporarily bring down all Linux cluster nodes prior to making changes, then make the configuration changes on a NetWare node. Make sure the resources are working properly on NetWare before having the Linux cluster nodes rejoin the cluster.
Use Novell iManager 2.7.2 or later for all cluster administration in the mixed-node cluster. Using the Clusters plug-in to iManager is required to manage the cluster after the first OES 2 Linux node is added to the cluster.
The display of node IDs from the NetWare master node might be incomplete if you use other tools like ConsoleOne and Novell Remote Manager in a mixed-node cluster. However, you can use cat /admin/Novell/Cluster/NodeConfig.xml on any cluster node to get the node IDs.
Do not use Novell Remote Manager when managing mixed-node clusters. Novell Remote Manager is not supported for cluster management on OES 2 Linux.
Because different time formats are used in the NCS Event log for NetWare and Linux, Novell Remote Manager might have difficulty displaying the time of logged events. To avoid this problem in a mixed-node cluster, use iManager to access the NCS Event log.
To reduce any confusion you might have when using Novell Remote Manager, you can unload module pcluster.nlm and delete its references in ldncs and uldncs. This removes the tab in Novell Remote Manager.
Do not use ConsoleOne when managing mixed-node clusters. ConsoleOne is not supported for cluster management on OES 2 Linux.
In mixed-node clusters, the Monitor function in Novell Cluster Services for Linux is not available. You cannot enable the Monitor function or modify the Monitor script for cluster resources on the Linux nodes until the conversion is finalized and all nodes in the cluster are running OES 2 Linux.