Creating a DRBD Resource Hierarchy

Perform the following on your primary server:

1. Select Edit > Server > Create Resource Hierarchy or right-click on the server you intend to be the primary server and select Create Resource Hierarchy.

The Create Resource Wizard dialog will appear.

*When the Back button is active in any of the dialog boxes, you can go back to the previous dialog box. This is helpful should you encounter an error requiring you to correct the previously entered information. You may click Cancel at any time to cancel the entire creation process.

2. Select the DRBD option from the dropdown list and click Next to continue.

3. The Switchback Type dialog will appear.

Select either intelligent or automatic. This dictates how the DRBD resource will be switched back to this server when the server comes back up after a failover. The switchback type can be changed later from the General tab of the Resource Properties dialog box. An intelligent switchback (recommended) means that after a failover to the backup server, an administrator must manually switch the DRBD resource back to the primary server. An automatic switchback means that after a failover to the backup server the DRBD resource will automatically switch back to the primary server.

!CAUTION: An automatic switchback may move the resource to the primary server while a resync is occurring. While the resync is occurring some data may be directly accessed from the backup server causing reduced performance until the resync completes.

Click Next to continue.

4. The Server dialog will appear if you initiate the Create from the Edit menu.

Select the name of the server where the DRBD resource will be created (typically this is your primary server). All servers in your cluster are included in the dropdown list.

Click Next to continue.

5. The Source Disk dialog will appear.

Select from the list of disks, partitions or logical volumes in the dropdown list that are not:

• Currently mounted

• LifeKeeper-protected

• Special disks or partitions, for example, swap, root (/), boot (/boot), /proc, and cdrom

The selected disk or partition is required to have a unique ID (GUID) found in /dev/disk/by-partuuid, /dev/disk/by-id or /dev/disk/by-uuid.

!CAUTION: The selected disk or partition will be formatted and all existing data will be deleted.

*A full resync will NOT be necessary as only new data will be written to the device. If the verify feature of DRBD is used this can lead to a mismatch of unused data. To avoid false mismatches, zero out the disk before creating the resource. LifeKeeper does not use the DRBD verify feature. See the LINBIT DRBD User’s Guide for more information on using verify with the DRBD utilities.

Click Next to continue.

6. The New Mount Point dialog will appear.

Enter the New Mount Point of the new file system. This should be the mount point where the replicated disk or partition will be located. If the mount point does not already exist it will be created.

*If there are files already in the mount point directory the following error will occur. Select OK and either select a different mount point or move/remove the files in the mount point directory.

Click Next to continue.

7. A confirmation dialog will appear if the mount point will be created

or if the mount point already exists

Select Back to enter a different mount point or Continue to use this mount point.

8. The New Filesystem Type dialog will appear.

Select the File System Type from the list of LifeKeeper supported file system types provided in the drop down menu.

Click Next to continue.

9. The DRBD Resource Tag dialog will appear.

Select or enter a unique DRBD Resource Tag name for the DRBD resource instance.

Click Next to continue.

10. The File System Resource Tag dialog will appear.

Select or enter a File System Resource Tag name for the file system resource instance.

Click Next to continue to the Confirmation Screen.

11. A confirmation screen noting the location where the new file system will be created and a warning indicating the pending format of the local disk or partition will be displayed.

Click Create to begin Resource Creation.

LifeKeeper will verify that you have provided valid data to create your resource on a new file system. If LifeKeeper detects a problem, an ERROR will appear in the information box. If the validation is successful, your resource will be created. Note that the creation of the file system may take several minutes depending on the disk or partition size.

The hierarchy is configured on a single server:

Click Next to continue to Extend the hierarchy to the next server.

12. This will take you to the Pre-Extend dialog. Refer to Extending Your DRBD Hierarchy for instructions on extending the hierarchy.

13. To extend the hierarchy at later time click Cancel on the Pre-Extend screen. The hierarchy will be checked for consistency.

Select Done.