Creating an NFS Resource Hierarchy

To create a resource instance from the primary server, you should complete the following steps:

1. From the LifeKeeper GUI menu, select Edit, then Server. From the drop-down menu, select Create Resource Hierarchy.

To change a selection already entered or if an error message is encountered during any step in the creation of your NFS resource hierarchy, use the Back button to change your selection or make corrections (assuming the Back button is enabled).

A dialog box will appear with a drop-down menu listing all recognized Recovery Kits installed within the cluster. Select NFS from the drop-down menu

Click Next to proceed to the next dialog box.

Note: If you click the Cancel button at any time during the sequence of creating your hierarchy, LifeKeeper will cancel the entire creation process.

2. Select the Switchback Type. This dictates how the NFS instance will be switched back to the primary server when it comes back into service after a failover to the backup server. Choose either Intelligent or Automatic. Intelligent switchback requires administrative intervention to switch the instance back to the primary/original server. Automatic switchback means the switchback will occur as soon as the primary server comes back on line and is under LifeKeeper protection

The switchback type can be changed later, if desired, from the General tab of the Resource Properties dialog box.

3. Select the Server where you want to create the NFS resource (typically this is referred to as the primary or template server). All the servers in your cluster are included in the drop-down men

Click Next to proceed to the next dialog box.

4. The Export Point dialog displays a drop-down list of export points for NFS file systems that meet the following criteria:

• The export point has been exported by NFS.
• The export point is on a shared drive.
• If the underlying file system is LifeKeeper-protected, it must be in service and have the highest priority on the server selected on the Server dialog.

• NFSv4 criteria:
  
  • 
    º If an
  NFS v4 root export is already being protected, no choices will be provided (there should only be one v4 and a mixture of V2/v3 with v4 cannot be protected).

• 
  º If an

NFS v2/v3 is already being protected, no NFS v4 will be listed in the choices.

• 
  º If nothing is protected, then the list could contain both v2/v3 and v4.

Select the NFS export point to be protected from the drop-down list.

Click Next to proceed to the next dialog box.

5. The IP Tag dialog displays a drop-down list of tags corresponding to virtual IP addresses currently under LifeKeeper protection and in service on the server where the NFS resource is being created. Select the tag for the virtual IP address used by clients to access the protected NFS file system.

Note: At this point, LifeKeeper will check to ensure that there is a protected IP resource available. It will also validate that you have provided valid data to create your NFS resource hierarchy. If LifeKeeper detects a problem with either of these validations, an ERROR box will appear on the screen. If the directory paths are valid but there are errors with the NFS configuration itself, you may pause to correct these errors and continue with the hierarchy creation. You may even pause to create any LifeKeeper IP resources that are required.

Note: If you are using other LifeKeeper Recovery Kits that have virtual IP address dependencies, you should create a different virtual IP address for the NFS resource. Otherwise, if the virtual IP resource fails over to a backup server, all of the resources that depend on that IP resource will fail over at the same time.

Click Next to proceed to the next dialog box

6. Select or enter the NFS Tag. This is a tag name given to the NFS hierarchy. You can select the default or enter your own tag name.

When you click the Create button, the Create Resource Wizard will create your NFS resource.

When you click Next, LifeKeeper will launch the Pre-Extend Wizard that is discussed in Extending Your Hierarchy. Note: The NFS resource hierarchy should be created successfully at this point. However, error messages may be encountered indicating that the new NFS instance has failed to start correctly. Note that the new NFS hierarchy must be started (In Service) before it can be extended to another system.

A failure to start may remove the hierarchy, but if not, you may pause at this point and correct the problem based on the error message displayed. If the errors are not correctable, you will only be given the choice to cancel which cancels the resource create.

Bring the new hierarchy In Service before proceeding with extending your hierarchy.

*** Repeat the steps above to create additional resource hierarchy for each NFS share.

Notes: Disable automatic startup of nfs-server.service after creating NFS resources on RHEL 7.1 or later and SLES12 SP1 or later. Since it is necessary for rpcbind.service to be running at the startup of NFS resources, configure rpcbind.service to start automatically.

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