Preparing the Cluster for GroupWise

After you have installed Novell® Cluster ServicesTM, as described in Novell Cluster Services Overview and Installation, complete the following tasks to prepare the cluster for your GroupWise system:


Ensuring Required Software Versions

Double-check each node in the cluster to make sure it meets the requirements described in Meeting Software Version Requirements.


Cluster-Enabling Shared Volumes for Use with GroupWise

To cluster-enable a shared volume for use with GroupWise:

  1. Select a System Clustering Worksheet item (6, 7, or 8) where you selected Yes under Cluster Enabled?.

  2. Complete the steps in the applicable section of Novell Cluster Services Overview and Installation for your version of NetWare®:

    The System Clustering Worksheet provides the volume to cluster-enable for use the GroupWise, the cluster-enabled volume IP address, and the failover path for the GroupWise volume.

    For a review of the new Novell eDirectoryTM objects that are created when you cluster-enable a shared volume, see Deciding Whether to Cluster-Enable the Shared Volumes Used by GroupWise.

    If you have installed the latest version of ConsoleOne® and the Novell Cluster Services snap-in, as described in Updating to the Latest ConsoleOne Snap-In, you will be able to rename the cluster-related objects in case your DNS name server cannot resolve object names that include the underscore (_) character.

  3. Repeat Step 1 and Step 2 above for the other shared volumes on your System Clustering Worksheet that need to be cluster-enabled.

  4. Continue with Configuring Short Name Resolution.


Configuring Short Name Resolution

To ensure that GroupWise volumes are always locatable, configure the short name resolution methods that you want to rely on for GroupWise (System Clustering Worksheet item 9):

After configuring your selected short name resolution methods, continue with the task you need to perform:


eDirectory

Most commonly, you will use eDirectory to resolve the UNC path of a volume into its network address. For example, on the workstation where you run ConsoleOne, you would need to map a drive to the location of a domain directory so that ConsoleOne can access the domain database. You could use a map command as shown in the example below:

Syntax:
map drive: = .cluster_volume.context

Example:
map m: = .GWCLUSTER_GWVOL1.GWServers

When specifying the map commands, use System Clustering Worksheet item 3 for cluster. Use System Clustering Worksheet item 7 or 8 for each volume where a domain or post office resides. Use System Clustering Worksheet item 4 for context.


Hosts Files

Because each GroupWise volume where you plan to create a domain or post office has been associated with a virtual server, you should add lines for the new virtual servers to one or more of the following files as needed:

  • NetWare:
    sys:\etc\hosts
    (on all nodes in the cluster; recommended)

  • Windows NT/2000:
    \winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
    (on the administrator's workstation only; optional)

  • Windows 9.x:
    \novell\client32\nwhosts
    (on the administrator's workstation only; optional)

The lines you add to a hosts file could look similar to the following example (all on one line, of course):

Syntax:
IP_address cluster_volume_SERVER.context
                              cluster_volume_SERVER

Remember that cluster_volume_SERVER represents the name of the virtual server created when you cluster-enabled the volume.

Example:
123.45.67.81
   gwcluster_gwvol1_SERVER.gwcluster.com
                         gwcluster_gwvol1_SERVER

When specifying the lines in the hosts files, use System Clustering Worksheet item 7 or 8 for each IP_address and volume where a domain or post office resides. Use System Clustering Worksheet item 3 for cluster. Use System Clustering Worksheet item 4 for context.


DNS

Because each GroupWise volume where you plan to create a domain or post office has been associated with a virtual server, you should add all your new virtual servers to DNS. Then you could use a map command as shown in the example below (all on one line, of course):

Syntax:
map drive: =
     \\volume_SERVER.cluster.com\volume

Remember that volume_SERVER represents the name of the Volume Resource object created when you cluster-enabled the volume. A cluster-enabled volume can function like a server, as these commands illustrate.

Example:
map m: =
     \\gwvol1_SERVER.gwcluster.com\gwvol1

Or, if the ConsoleOne workstation is in the same DNS domain as the GroupWise volume:

Syntax:
map drive: = \\volume_SERVER\volume

Example:
map m: = \\gwvol1_SERVER\gwvol1

When specifying the map commands you will need, use System Clustering Worksheet item 7 or 8 for each volume where a domain or post office resides. Use System Clustering Worksheet item 3 for cluster.


SLP

On NetWare 6.x, Novell Cluster Services automatically propagates virtual server information into SLP and provides the most reliable name resolution.

On NetWare 5.1, Novell Cluster Services does not propagate virtual server information into SLP by default. If you want to use SLP for name resolution on NetWare 5.1, you must download the (unsupported) CVSBIND utility from the Technical Information Document NWCS Bindery Tool. Install CVSBIND according to the instructions included with the download, then determine the server-specific commands you will need to use with CVSBIND.

Syntax:
cvsbind add cluster_volume_SERVER ip_address
cvsbind del cluster_volume_SERVER ip_address

Remember that cluster_volume_SERVER represents the name of the virtual server created when you cluster-enabled the volume.

Example:
cvsbind add gwcluster_gwvol1_SERVER 123.45.67.81
cvsbind del gwcluster_gwvol1_SERVER 123.45.67.81

Later, in Modifying the Volume Resource Load Script for the Agents and Modifying the Volume Resource Unload Script for the Agents, you will need to add the cvsbind commands to the load and unload scripts for GroupWise volume resources.