LifeKeeper for Linux can be used in the following virtualization environments.

The operating systems available for use on virtual machines depend on the descriptions provided in the Operating System section of the Certification Information.
For details on environment-specific restrictions and considerations, refer to the section “Restrictions and Considerations for the Operating Environment” below.

Restrictions and Considerations for the Operating Environment

VMware vSphere

vSAN is available with the following VMware vSphere versions:

• VMware vSphere 8.x and 9.x

Raw Device Mapping (RDM) is not supported in vSAN environments.

VMware vMotion and Storage vMotion are available, but with the following limitations:

• vMotion is supported when using RDM as shared storage. If LifeKeeper uses SCSI Reservation on the RDM, the environment must be configured so that the RDM is accessible from separate hosts and paths. vMotion is also supported on other storage configurations.
• In configurations using the Recovery Kit for VMDK as Shared Storage, disks protected by LifeKeeper cannot be moved using Storage vMotion.

vSAN Datastore Configuration

This section explains the main considerations when configuring LifeKeeper on a vSAN Datastore.

Prerequisite for vSAN environment

When operating LifeKeeper for Linux on a vSAN Datastore, it is assumed that the VMware vSAN environment meets the following requirements.

• vSAN Cluster Health Monitoring
  The vSAN cluster is configured according to VMware best practices and is operating normally.

• Network Redundancy
  vSAN network is redundant with teaming, etc.

Considerations for Operations

• When configuring LifeKeeper resources on VMDK on a vSAN Datastore, basic failover operations follow the general shared disk configuration.

• Monitoring the health of vSAN clusters and troubleshooting regarding the vSAN Datastore should be performed in accordance with VMware’s official documentation.

Support Scope and Restriction

Failover operations in a vSAN cluster during an APD (All Paths Down) event (*) are not covered by this product’s support scope.

*An APD event refers to a situation where the vSAN network path is completely disconnected and VMware vSphere determines the All Paths Down.

VMware Cloud on AWS

vSAN configuration is supported only on VMware Cloud on AWS.
VMware Cloud on AWS can be used with shared disks that do not use reservations and it can also be used with DataKeeper. If you want to use it, IO fencing configuration is required separately.

KVM

Configuration Requirements

Shared data areas can use shared storage or DataKeeper. However, the following requirements must be met.

Storage Requirements

• Virtual Device Configuration
  • Use scsi for the bus interface and virtio-scsi for the controller
    • Example of libvirt XML domain definition:
      • <target dev='sdd' bus='scsi'/>
      • <controller type='scsi' index='0' model='virtio-scsi'/>

• LifeKeeper Configuration
  • Disable LifeKeeper’s SCSI Reservation.

Network Requirements

Networks used for LifeKeeper communication paths and IP resources must meet the following requirements.

• It is a Linux bridge network
• The network interface controller model is virtio
  

Restrictions

Supports RHEL and RHEL-compatible distributions (e.g., Oracle Linux, Rocky Linux) as guest operating systems. However, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) is not supported.

Hyper-V

Shared storage and DataKeeper can be used as shared data storage.
SCSI reservation is not supported for shared storage. Please use QWK. Configure guest OS and shared storage to be connected with the Hyper-V virtual fiber channel. Refer to Hyper-V virtual fiber channel.

Live ｍigration and Quick migration features of Hyper-V in Windows Server are supported.

Additionally, using LifeKeeper on Hyper-V virtual machines configured for Hyper-V Failover Clustering is not supported.
To enhance availability, do not run all LifeKeeper clusters on a single Hyper-V node except during maintenance.

When LifeKeeper is installed in a Hyper-V environment, it recognizes its own node is in an Azure environment. For details and workarounds, see Troubleshooting > Known Issues / Restrictions > Installation.

Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization

Available OpenShift Virtualization Features

• Live migration
• Snapshot
  • Precautions when taking snapshots
    • When using DataKeeper, snapshots must be taken in a manner that prevents data inconsistencies between the source and target nodes. To ensure this, stop all target nodes before taking snapshots, and make sure to take snapshots on all nodes at the same point in time.
  • Precautions when restoring
    • Stop all LifeKeeper cluster nodes before restoring.
    • When restoring from a snapshot, the PVC is replaced by a different PVC. If a shared disk is attached, you need to manually specify the same PVC for all virtual machines except the first one restored, as their PVCs will either remain as the old PVC or be left unspecified.

Configuration Requirements

Storage Requirements

The requirements for disks on which LifeKeeper is installed and those protected by LifeKeeper are as follows:

• Storage class is ocs-storagecluster-ceph-rbd-virtualization
• Type is Disk
• When protecting a shared disk with LifeKeeper, use the same Disk name on both nodes
• Interface is virtio
  • However, the interface should be set to SCSI only when using a shared disk.
• Disable SCSI Reservation for LifeKeeper

Network Requirements

Networks used for LifeKeeper communication paths and IP resources must meet the following requirements.

• It is a Linux bridge network
• The network interface controller model is virtio

Client Requirements

• The intended clients are VMs and containers on the same OpenShift Virtualization.

Restrictions

• The following ARKs are not available for use.
  • LB Health Check Kit
  • ARKs for platforms
    • Recovery Kit for EC2
    • Recovery Kit for Route 53
    • Recovery Kit for Oracle® Cloud Infrastructure
    • VMDK as Shared Storage Recovery Kit
  • ARKs for SAP products
    • SAP Recovery Kit
    • SAP HANA Recovery Kit
    • SAP MaxDB Recovery Kit
    • SAP ASE Recovery Kit
    • WebSphere MQ Recovery Kit
  • Multipath Recovery Kits
• The tcp_remote mode and the block type of storage mode for Quorum/Witness are not available.
• Migration of a virtual machine with LifeKeeper installed between other virtualization platforms and OpenShift Virtualization is not supported.
• In the event of a failure related to OpenShift Data Foundation, LifeKeeper may not function as expected. We recommend implementing sufficient redundancy and preparing a solution other than LifeKeeper.