About this document, Intended audience

About this document

This white paper describes the procedure for installing Ignite-UX on an HP Serviceguard cluster running HP-UX 11i v3. It is assumed you have a cluster up and running, there is shared storage available for recovery archives, Serviceguard NFS Toolkit is installed, and Ignite-UX is not installed. This paper covers configuring Ignite-UX to use an LVM shared volume and was written using the September, 2008 DCOE, which contains Serviceguard A.11.18.00 (T1905CA) and Serviceguard NFS Toolkit A.11.31.03 (B5140BA).

Intended audience

This document is intended for system and network administrators responsible for installing, configuring, and managing HP-UX systems. Familiarity with Ignite-UX and HP Serviceguard is assumed. Administrators are expected to have knowledge of operating system concepts, commands, and configuration.

Advantage of running Ignite-UX under Serviceguard

Serviceguard clusters are made up of HP Integrity or HP 9000 servers configured with software and hardware redundancies so your environment continues to run even when there is a failure. Each server in a cluster is called a node.

Serviceguard allows Ignite-UX to run in a clustered environment. One advantage of this is the creation of a highly available recovery server. This setup allows Serviceguard to monitor cluster nodes, networks, and processes, and handle moving the Ignite-UX recovery service to another node in the case of failure.

Setting up Ignite-UX to run under Serviceguard

HP Serviceguard is available as a recommended product in the HP-UX 11i v3 High Availability OE (HA-OE) and the Data Center OE (DC-OE). The Ignite-UX product is included as an optional product on all the HP-UX 11i v3 OEs or can be downloaded via the Ignite-UX product website at: http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/w1/en/os/hpux11i-system-management-ignite-ux.html?jumpid=ex_r1533_us/en/large/tsg/go_ignite-ux.

For information on how to configure a Serviceguard cluster, see the Serviceguard documentation available at: http://www.hp.com/go/hpux-serviceguard-docs

Serviceguard packages and scripts

Serviceguard packages group together applications and the services they depend on. A package and a set of scripts must be created for Ignite. The scripts configure Serviceguard for:

∙Processes to monitor - for example, NFS is used by Ignite

∙Networks to monitor - this provides failover if a network interface goes down

∙Storage to manage – for example, Ignite recovery archives on a RAID array

∙IP addresses to manage - Ignite "service" has a static IP regardless of the node it is running on

Ignite-UX specifications

HP Ignite-UX is a sophisticated system recovery tool developed for the HP-UX operating system. It plays a vital role in ensuring that HP-UX environments can be efficiently restored to a known good state in the event of a system failure, corruption, or mishap. The tool provides administrators with a user-friendly interface and comprehensive features that enable them to quickly deploy, recover, and maintain HP-UX systems.

One of the defining features of HP Ignite-UX is its ability to create system recovery archives. These archives can encapsulate a fully configured HP-UX system, including both the operating system and installed applications. This allows for quick restoration of systems to their exact configurations when necessary, saving both time and resources. Additionally, Ignite-UX supports network-based installations, making it possible to deploy systems remotely, which is particularly advantageous for organizations with multiple servers spread out across different locations.

Another significant aspect of Ignite-UX is its integration with the HP-UX Model. The tool leverages the underlying technologies of HP-UX, such as LVM (Logical Volume Management) and filesystem structures, to ensure that recovery processes are both efficient and reliable. By working closely with these features, Ignite-UX can handle complex restoration tasks with minimal user intervention. This ability to interact seamlessly with other HP-UX components reinforces its reputation as a critical utility for system administrators.

Ignite-UX is designed to be flexible and adaptable, catering to a variety of use cases. It supports creation of bootable recovery media on different formats, including DVD, USB, and network images, enabling easy access during disaster recovery scenarios. Furthermore, the tool includes a set of advanced diagnostics to help troubleshoot issues, providing detailed logs and reports to assist administrators in identifying root causes of system failures.

Security is also a top priority for HP Ignite-UX. The tool ensures that backups are securely encrypted, safeguarding sensitive data against unauthorized access during the restore process.

In conclusion, HP Ignite-UX stands out as a robust solution for system recovery and management within HP-UX environments. With its comprehensive features, including system recovery archives, network-based installations, seamless integration with HP-UX technologies, flexible media options, and strong security measures, Ignite-UX is an invaluable asset for organizations looking to enhance their system reliability and minimize downtime.