Shared Storage Pool (SSP) configuration over IPv6 networks on VIOS
Configuration and verification of IPv6 SSP cluster
Introduction
A Shared Storage Pool (SSP) is a pool of storage area network (SAN) devices that can span across multiple Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) instances. SSPs can be configured with Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) or Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) networks.
This tutorial provides:
- Detailed steps to configure an SSP cluster with IPv6 networks.
- Verification of IPv6 over the SSP cluster network.
Prerequisites
This tutorial includes the step-by-step procedure for configuring SSP over IPv6 networks. Users should have basic knowledge of SSP and IPv6 (static and stateless IP configurations). Setting up an IPv6 SSP cluster requires the following prerequisites
- IBM® POWER6® system or later
- Dual VIOS – VIOS Version 2.2.2.0, or later, clusters support Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addresses.
Estimated time
The IPv6 cluster creation might take approximately 30 minutes with a preinstalled VIOS.
Steps
Configure the network interface with IPv6
Configure each node which is planned to be added to the SSP IPv6 cluster with the IPv6 network.
In the following example, note that the interface en6 has only IPv4 IP configured.
$ lstcpip -interfaces
Name Address Netmask State MAC
en1 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02
en2 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02
en3 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02
et1 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02
et2 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02
et3 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02
en6 10.33.0.234 255.255.0.0 up 6c:ae:8b:02:00:60
et6 - - detach 6c:ae:8b:02:00:60
Configure the IPv6 network over en6.
$ oem_setup_env # autoconf6Check and verify if the en6 interface has been configured with IPv6 IP.
$ lstcpip -interfaces Name Address Netmask State MAC en1 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02 en2 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02 en3 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02 et1 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02 et2 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02 et3 - - detach 00:00:6c:ae:8b:02 en6 10.33.0.234 255.255.0.0 up 6c:ae:8b:02:00:60 en6 fe80::6eae:8bff:fe02:60 64 up 6c:ae:8b:02:00:60 et6 - - detach 6c:ae:8b:02:00:60
In the case of stateless autoconfiguration, edit the /etc/rc.tcpip file to retain the network interface changes after every reboot.
n(0) root @ alev5: /home/padmin
# cat /etc/rc.tcpip | grep autoconf
# Start up autoconf6 process
start /usr/sbin/autoconf6 "" <<< uncomment this line
Resolve the hostnames of the nodes
The hostnames of the nodes must resolve to the IPv6 IP addresses with both forward and reverse lookup. Perform the following two steps:
Update the /etc/netsvc.conf file and add or update the following entry in it.
# tail -f /etc/netsvc.conf hosts=local4,local6,bind4,bind6Add entries in the /etc/hosts file of all that nodes that will be part of cluster.
# tail -f /etc/hosts # Internet Address Hostname # Comments # 192.9.200.1 net0sample # ethernet name/address # 128.100.0.1 token0sample # token ring name/address # 10.2.0.2 x25sample # x.25 name/address # 2000:1:1:1:209:6bff:feee:2b7f ipv6sample # ipv6 name/address 127.0.0.1 loopback localhost # loopback (lo0) name/address #10.33.0.234 alev5.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com #9.3.113.86 isstnim01.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com fe80::200:c9ff:fed1:c43e alev6.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com alev6 fe80::6eae:8bff:fe02:60 alev5.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com alev5
Now the host should resolve to the IPv6 address. It is good to check both forward and reverse lookup and make sure that they resolve to same hostname.
Repeat the above steps on the other nodes that need to be added to the cluster.
Verify hostname resolution of the nodes
From node 1 (alev5):
(0) root @ alev5: /home/padmin # host alev5 alev5.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com is fe80::6eae:8bff:fe02:60, Aliases: alev5 (0) root @ alev5: /home/padmin # host alev6 alev6.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com is fe80::200:c9ff:fed1:c43e, Aliases: alev6From node 2 (alev6):
(0) root @ alev6: /home/padmin # host alev5 alev5.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com is fe80::6eae:8bff:fe02:60, Aliases: alev5 (0) root @ alev6: /home/padmin # host alev6 alev6.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com is fe80::200:c9ff:fed1:c43e, Aliases: alev6
Create and verify the cluster
Create the cluster on one of the nodes using the
clustercommand.$ cluster -create -clustername alev5_v6 -repopvs hdisk95 -sp c_pool -sppvs hdisk96 -hostname alev5Verify that the state of the cluster and the pool are
OKusing thecluster -status command.$ cluster -status Cluster Name State alev5_v6 OK Node Name MTM Partition Num State Pool State alev5 9117-MMD021057C77 5 OK OKVerify that the SSP cluster is using the IPv6 network for communication using
lsclustercommand. In the following example, you can see that IPv6 is the primary address.$ lscluster -c Cluster Name: alev5_v6 Cluster UUID: b5c0b74a-d5ea-11e8-8002-00006cae8b02 Number of nodes in cluster = 1 Cluster ID for node alev5.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com: 1 Primary IP address for node alev5.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com: fe80::6eae:8bff:fe02:60 Number of disks in cluster = 2 Disk = hdisk96 UUID = e7bb52db-7f9d-d3d7-61cf-1fa6d33c5c12 cluster_major = 0 cluster_minor = 1 Disk = hdisk95 UUID = 7b835ba7-4c6b-6e48-c389-2cb367ec4a94 cluster_major = 0 cluster_minor = 1 Multicast for site LOCAL: IPv4 228.2.0.96 IPv6 ff05::e402:60 Communication Mode: unicast Local node maximum capabilities: HNAME_CHG, UNICAST, IPV6, SITE Effective cluster-wide capabilities: HNAME_CHG, UNICAST, IPV6, SITE
Add other IPv6 nodes to the cluster
Add the other nodes to the cluster using the
addnodecommand.$ cluster -addnode -hostname alev6 Partition alev6 has been added to the alev5_v6 cluster.Verify that state of the cluster and pool are OK for all the nodes using the
cluster -statuscommand.(0) padmin @ alev5: /home/padmin $ cluster -status Cluster Name State alev5_v6 OK Node Name MTM Partition Num State Pool State alev5 9117-MMD021057C77 5 OK OK alev6 9117-MMD021057C77 6 OK OKVerify if IPv6 is being used for network communication over the SSP cluster.
(0) padmin @ alev5: /home/padmin $ lscluster -c Cluster Name: alev5_v6 Cluster UUID: b5c0b74a-d5ea-11e8-8002-00006cae8b02 Number of nodes in cluster = 2 Cluster ID for node alev5.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com: 1 Primary IP address for node alev5.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com: fe80::6eae:8bff:fe02:60 Cluster ID for node alev6.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com: 2 Primary IP address for node alev6.isst.aus.stglabs.ibm.com: fe80::200:c9ff:fed1:c43e Number of disks in cluster = 2 Disk = hdisk96 UUID = e7bb52db-7f9d-d3d7-61cf-1fa6d33c5c12 cluster_major = 0 cluster_minor = 1 Disk = hdisk95 UUID = 7b835ba7-4c6b-6e48-c389-2cb367ec4a94 cluster_major = 0 cluster_minor = 1 Multicast for site LOCAL: IPv4 228.2.0.96 IPv6 ff05::e402:60 Communication Mode: unicast Local node maximum capabilities: HNAME_CHG, UNICAST, IPV6, SITE Effective cluster-wide capabilities: HNAME_CHG, UNICAST, IPV6, SITE
The lscluster -c result above, certifies that the primary IP address for cluster communication is the IPv6 address (hexadecimal IP representation).
Summary
Setting up an IPv6 cluster is complex because it involves multiple changes in the network configuration files which users might oversee at certain times. The procedure mentioned in this tutorial describes each step in-detail for users to easily configure the IPv6 SSP cluster. This procedure can also be applied to a cluster with any number of maximum possible nodes.