Avoiding problems with Cluster Services

  • 3084136
  • 20-Feb-2008
  • 27-Apr-2012

Environment

Novell NetWare
Novell Open Enterprise Server (NetWare based)

Situation

Node will not join cluster
Node cannot see disk or SAN
Strange or inconsistent behaviour/behavior
Attempting to bring resources online after a full or partial cluster failure results in further issues

Resolution

Always ensure that every node in the cluster can see the same resources. Use the following commands:

List Storage Adapters
List Devices
List Partitions
Pools
Partfix /l (see https://www.novell.com/support/search.do?searchString=partfix)

If there are inconsistencies then use the following command

Cluster Scan For New Devices (Note this is different from Scan For New Devices)

You may need to reboot all nodes in the cluster in order to ensure that there is no cached information.

There may be errors, in which case the nodes should see the same errors; e.g. If partfix on one node sees a disk as free space and on another node sees the same disk as having an "invalid partition stamp" do not attempt to run partfix /r or nss/ PoolRebuild unless all nodes see the same thing.

If all nodes have been rebooted and inconsistencies still exist then other things to check are:
See also TID3750194- Rules For Operating a NetWare Servers on a SAN with or without Clustering Services (https://www.novell.com/support/search.do?searchString=3750194)

Additional Information

It may be necessary to contact the hardware vendor to ensure that the correct versions of their drivers and software is in use and configured correctly.

For example, consider Section 6 from the following IBM document regarding their DS4000: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/systems/support/system_x/ibm_dd_ds4kfc_6.90o_nw65_anycpu.txt

The text is very specific about which versions of the IBM hardware and software is compatible with which versions of NetWare. Many vendors have similarly specific requirements.

Note that this link is provided to illustrate the need to check the compatibility requirements of all third party products ONLY. Novell is not responsible for, and does not endorse in any way, the content of external internet sites.