Cluster Server 7.4.2 Configuration Guide for Custom Applications - Windows

Last Published:
Product(s): InfoScale & Storage Foundation (7.4.2)
Platform: Windows
  1. Introducing the Veritas High Availability solution for VMware
    1. How does the Veritas High Availability solution work
      1.  
        How the VMwareDisks agent communicates with the vCenter Server instead of the ESX/ESXi host
      2.  
        Typical VCS cluster configuration in a virtual environment
      3.  
        How does the Veritas High Availability solution integrate with vSphere Web Client
    2.  
      Supported VMware versions
    3.  
      Managing storage
  2. Configuring application monitoring using the Veritas High Availability solution
    1.  
      Deploying the Veritas High Availability solution for configuring application monitoring
    2. Notes and recommendations
      1. Assigning privileges for non-administrator ESX/ESXi user account
        1.  
          Creating a role
        2.  
          Integrating with Active Directory or local authentication
        3.  
          Creating a new user
        4.  
          Adding a user to the role
    3. Configuring application monitoring
      1.  
        Configuring the VCS cluster
      2.  
        Configuring the application
    4.  
      Modifying the ESXDetails attribute
  3. Administering application monitoring
    1.  
      About the various interfaces available for performing application monitoring tasks
    2. Administering application monitoring using the Veritas High Availability tab
      1. Understanding the Veritas High Availability tab work area
        1.  
          To view the status of configured applications
      2.  
        To configure or unconfigure application monitoring
      3.  
        To start or stop applications
      4.  
        To switch an application to another system
      5.  
        To add or remove a failover system
      6.  
        To suspend or resume application monitoring
      7.  
        To clear Fault state
      8.  
        To resolve a held-up operation
      9.  
        To determine application state
      10.  
        To remove all monitoring configurations
      11.  
        To remove VCS cluster configurations
    3.  
      Administering application monitoring settings
    4. Administering application availability using Veritas High Availability dashboard
      1. Understanding the dashboard work area
        1.  
          Aggregate status bar
        2.  
          ESX cluster/host table
        3.  
          Taskbar
        4.  
          Filters menu
        5.  
          Application table
      2.  
        Monitoring applications across a data center
      3.  
        Monitoring applications across an ESX cluster
      4.  
        Searching for application instances by using filters
      5.  
        Selecting multiple applications for batch operations
      6.  
        Starting an application using the dashboard
      7.  
        Stopping an application by using the dashboard
      8.  
        Entering an application into maintenance mode
      9.  
        Bringing an application out of maintenance mode
      10.  
        Switching an application
      11.  
        Resolving dashboard alerts
  4. Appendix A. Troubleshooting
    1. Troubleshooting application monitoring configuration issues
      1.  
        Veritas High Availability Configuration Wizard displays the "hadiscover is not recognized as an internal or external command" error
      2.  
        Running the 'hastop - all' command detaches virtual disks
      3.  
        Validation may fail when you add a failover system
      4.  
        Adding a failover system may fail if you configure a cluster with communication links over UDP
    2. Troubleshooting Veritas High Availability view issues
      1.  
        Veritas High Availability tab not visible from a cluster node
      2.  
        Veritas High Availability tab does not display the application monitoring status
      3.  
        Veritas High Availabilitytab may freeze due to special characters in application display name
      4.  
        Veritas High Availability view may fail to load or refresh
      5.  
        Operating system commands to unmount resource may fail

Typical VCS cluster configuration in a virtual environment

A typical VCS cluster configuration in a VMware virtual environment involves two or more virtual machines. The virtual machine on which the application is active, accesses a non-shared VMware VMDK or RDM disk that resides on a VMware datastore.

The virtual machines involved in the VCS cluster configuration may belong to a single ESX host or could reside on separate ESX hosts. If the virtual machines reside on separate ESX hosts, the datastore on which the VMware VMDK or RDM disks (on which the application data is stored) reside must be accessible to each of these ESX hosts.

The application binaries are installed on the virtual machines and the data files are installed on the VMware disk drive. The VCS agents monitor the application components and services, and the storage and network components that the application uses.

During a failover, the VCS storage agents (MountV-VMNSDg-VMwareDisks in case of SFW storage, Mount-NativeDisks-VMwareDisks in case of LDM storage) move the VMware disks to the new system. The VCS network agents bring the network components online, and the application-specific agents then start the application services on the new system.

In a site recovery environment, Veritas High Availability solution additionally provides script files for the following tasks. These files are invoked when the SRM recovery plan is executed.

  • Set up communication between the vCenter Server and the SRM Server at the recovery site and the virtual machines at the protected site.

  • Assign a SiteID to both the sites.

  • Specify attribute values for the application components at the respective site.

  • Retrieve the application status in the SRM recovery report, after the virtual machine is started at the recovery site.

Figure: Typical cluster configuration in a VMware virtual environment

os_winTypical cluster configuration in a VMware virtual environment