LifeKeeper for Linux
7.4
Linux Configuration

January 2012

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Table of ContentsLinux Configuration Version 7.4

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Table of ContentsiLinux Configuration Version 7.4
OperatingSystem

The default operating system must be installed to ensure that all required packages areinstalled. The minimal operating system install does not contain all of the required
packages, and therefore, cannot be used with LifeKeeper.

KernelUpdates

In order to provide the highest level of availability for a LifeKeeper cluster, the kernel
version used on a system is very important. The table below lists each supported distribution and version with the kernel that has passed LifeKeeper certification testing.
Distribution/VersionSupported Kernels

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4for x86 and AMD64/EM64T (AS and ES)

2.6.9-5.EL (default kernel)
2.6.9-5.0.3.EL
2.6.9-11.EL (Update 1)
2.6.9-22.EL (Update 2)
2.6.9-34.EL (Update 3)
2.6.9-42.EL (Update 4)
2.6.9-55.EL (Update 5)
2.6.9-67.EL (Update 6)
2.6.9-78.EL (Update 7)
2.6.9-89.EL (Update 8)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and Red Hat EnterpriseLinux 5 Advanced Platform for x86 andAMD64/EM64T

2.6.18-8.el5
2.6.18-8.1.1.el5 (defaultkernel)
2.6.18-53.el5 (Update 1)
2.6.18-92.el5 (Update 2)
2.6.18-128.el5 (Update 3)
2.6.18-164.el5 (Update 4)
2.6.18-194.el5 (Update 5)
2.6.18-238.el5 (Update 6)
2.6.18-274.el5 (Update 7)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 for x86 andAMD64/EM64T

2.6.32-71.el6

SUSE SLES 10 for x86 and x86_64

2.6.16.21-0.8 (default kernel)
2.6.16.46-0.12 (SP1)
2.6.16.60-0.21 (SP2)
2.6.16.60-0.23
2.6.16.60-0.54 (SP3)SUSE SLES 11 for x86 and x86_64

2.6.27.19-5
2.6.32.12-0.7 (SP1)

Asianux 2.0 for x86 and x86_64

2.6.9-11.19AX

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Linux Configuration Version 7.4

Oracle Enterprise Linux 4 for x86 and x86_64

2.6.9-55.0.0.0.2.EL (Update 5)
2.6.9-67.0.0.0.1.EL (Update6) 2.6.9-78.0.0.0.1.EL (Update7) 2.6.9-89.0.0.0.1.EL (Update8)
2.6.18-8.el5

Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 for x86 and x86_64

2.6.18-53.0.0.0.1.el5 (Update1) 2.6.18-92.0.0.0.1.el5(Update 2) 2.6.18128.0.0.0.1.el5 (Update 3)
2.6.18-164.0.0.0.1.el5 (Update4)

The Community ENTerprise Operating System (CentOS) 4.0 for x86 and x86_64

2.6.9-55.EL (Update 5)
2.6.9-67.EL (Update 6)
2.6.9-78.EL (Update 7)
2.6.9-89.EL (Update 8)

The Community ENTerprise Operating System (CentOS) 5.0 for x86 and x86_64

2.6.18-8.el5
2.6.18-53.el5 (Update 1)
2.6.18-92.1.10.el5 (Update 2)
2.6.18-128.el5 (Update 3)
2.6.18-164.2.1.el5 (Update 4)

Note: This list of supported distributions and kernels is for LifeKeeper only. You should
also determine and adhere to the supported distributions and kernels for your serverand storage hardware, as specified by the manufacturer.
Dynamicdevice addition

Prior to LifeKeeper startup, Linux must configure all devices. If a LifeKeeper protected
device is configured after LifeKeeper is started, LifeKeeper must be stopped on eachserver that shares the device and then be restarted. This will enable the device detection and validation to confirm the configuration and enable LifeKeeper to access thedevice.
The Linux SCSI driver has several parameters that control which devices will beprobed for Logical Units (LUNs):

List of devices that do not support LUNs – this list of devices are known to NOT
support LUNs, so the SCSI driver will not allow the probing of these devices forLUNs.
l List of devices that do support LUNs – this list of devices is known to support
LUNs well, so always probe for LUNs.
l Probe all LUNs on each SCSI device – if a device is not found on either list,
LUN support
whether to probe or not. This parameter is configured by make config in theSCSI module section.
While most distributions (including SUSE) have the Probe all LUNs setting enabled bydefault, Red Hat has the setting disabled by default. External RAID controllers that are
typically used in LifeKeeper configurations to protect data are frequently configured
with multiple LUNs (Logical Units). To enable LUN support, this field must be selected
and the kernel remade.
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Linux Configuration Version 7.4

To enable Probe all LUNs without rebuilding the kernel or modules, set the variable
max_scsi_luns to 255 (which will cause the scan for up to 255 LUNs). To set the max_scsi_luns on a kernel where the scsi driver is a module (e.g. Red Hat), add thefollowing entry to /etc/modules.conf, rebuild the initial ramdisk and reboot loading thatramdisk:
options scsi_mod max_scsi_luns=255
To set the max_scsi_luns on a kernel where the scsi driver is compiled into the kernel(e.g. SUSE), add the following entry to /etc/lilo.conf:
append="max_scsi_luns=255"
Note: For some devices, scanning for 255 LUNs can have an adverse effect on bootperformance (in particular devices with the BLIST_SPARSELUN defined). The Dell
PV650F is an array where this has been experienced. To avoid this performance
problem, set the max_scsi_luns to the maximum number of LUNs you have configured
on your arrays such as 16 or 32. For example,
append="max_scsi_luns=16"

libstdc++
libraryrequirement

While running the LifeKeeper Installation Support CD setup script, you may encountera message regarding a failed dependency requirement for a libstdc++ library. Thislibrary is provided in one of several compat-libstdc++ rpm packages, depending on thehardware platform and Linux distribution you are running. Even on 64-bit systems,
LifeKeeper requires the use of the 32-bit architecture package rather than the 64-bit
version (x86_64) and will fail to start due to a missing required library if the 64-bit
architecture version is installed.
To avoid (or resolve) this problem, install the 32-bit architecture version of the compatlibstdc++ package found on the OS installation media and run (or re-run) the I/S CD
setup script. Note that some distributions also carry more than one 32-bit version ofthis package (e.g. compat-libstdc++-296-2.96-132.7.2 and compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.347.3). In this situation, simply install both versions to ensure that the required library isinstalled.

Similar to the item above, you may also encounter installation messages regarding
libXp andfailed dependency requirements for the libXp and libXt libraries. LifeKeeper requires thelibXt library
32-bit versions of these libraries, even on 64-bit platforms. On RHEL 4.0, the 32-bit
requirements libXp can be found in xorg-x11-deprecated-libs and the32-bit libXt can be found in xorgx11-libs.
Running
yum updateafter LifeKeeper isinstalled

When running yum update, you may encounter an error: ksh conflicts with pdksh. To
resolve this problem, remove the pdksh rpm, run yum update and then re-install pdkshfrom the LifeKeeper Installation Support CD image.

LifeKeeper for Linux3