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LifeKeeper for Linux FAQs
What system resources does LifeKeeper for Linux protect?
LifeKeeper for Linux provides switchover protection for a range of system resources. Automatic recovery is supported for the following resource types:
- Processes and Applications
- Shared Storage Devices
- Network Attached Storage Devices
- LVM Volume Groups and Logical Volumes
- File Systems (ext2, ext3, reiserfs, vxfs, xfs and nfs)
- Communication Resources (IP addresses)
- Database Applications (Oracle, Informix Dynamic Server, MySQL, DB2, SAP DB/MaxDB, PostgreSQL, EnterpriseDB Postgres Plus Advanced Server, EnterpriseDB Postgres Plus Standard Server, Sybase)
- Web Server Resources (Apache, Apache SSL)
- Mail Server Resources (Postfix)
- Samba Resources (file shares)
- Data Replication (SDR, DRBD)
- SAP Application Environment Resources
- Software RAID (md) Resources
- WebSphere MQ Resources
LifeKeeper for Linux provides Disaster Recovery protection for the following resource types:
- Citrix XenServer Storage Repository
- Linux Multi-Site Cluster configurations in which data from a shared storage cluster is replicated to a disaster recovery site
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What are the software requirements for installing LifeKeeper for Linux?
LifeKeeper for Linux is currently targeted for any platform that satisfies
the minimum requirements included in the table below.
| LifeKeeper Core |
|
| Description | | Requirement |
|
| Linux Operating System | | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (AS and ES),
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Advanced Platform,
SUSE SLES 10 and SLES 11,
Asianux 2.0,
Citrix XenServer v5.0 or 5.5,
Oracle Enterprise Linux 4 and 5,
The Community ENTerprise Operating System
(CentOS) 4 and 5
|
|
|
| Korn Shell | | pdksh-5.2.14 (or later) |
|
| Memory | | The minimum memory requirement for a system supporting LifeKeeper is 128 MB. Additional memory (beyond that required for LifeKeeper) is required to run user applications. |
|
| Disk Space | | The LifeKeeper Core Package Cluster requires the following disk space:
/opt Approximately 22000 (1024-byte) disk blocks on 32-bit systems and approximately 64100 (1024-byte) disk blocks on 64-bit systems.
/ Approximately 94300 (1024-byte) disk blocks on 32-bit and 64-bit systems. |
| LifeKeeper Optional Recovery Software |
|
| Description |
|
Requirement(s) |
|
Disk Space Required |
|
| Apache Web Server |
|
Apache Web Server 1.3.14 or 2.x
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 215 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| DB2 |
|
IBM DB2 Universal Database v8.1 or later, Enterprise Server Edition (ESE), or Workgroup Server Edition (WSE)
IBM DB2 Express v8.1 or later or v9
IBM DB2 Universal Database v9, Enterprise Server Edition (ESE), or Workgroup Server Edition (WSE)
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later
LifeKeeper NFS Server Recovery Kit v5.1.0 or later (for DB2 ESE with multiple partitions and DB2 EEE only) |
|
Approximately 215 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt. |
|
| Oracle |
|
Oracle 9i Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition
Oracle 10g Standard Edition, Standard Edition One or Enterprise Edition
Oracle 11g Standard Edition, Standard Edition One or Enterprise Edition
LifeKeeper v6.2.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 525 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| Informix |
|
Informix Dynamic Server 9.2, 9.3, 9.4 or Informix Dynamic Server 10
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 200 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| MySQL |
|
MySQL 3.23.x, 4.x, 5.x or MySQL Enterprise
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 140 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| PostgreSQL |
|
PostgreSQL v7.x or v8.x
EnterpriseDB Postgres Plus Advanced Server v8.3.x
EnterpriseDB Postgres Plus Standard Server v8.4.x
LifeKeeper v6.2.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
| Approximately 144 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| Sybase ASE |
|
Sybase ASE 12.5.x or 15.x
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
| Approximately 200 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| Postfix |
|
Postfix software provided with supported Linux distributions
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 150 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| Samba |
|
Standard Samba file services provided with supported Linux distributions
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 265 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| NFS Server |
|
Linux kernel version 2.6 or later
LifeKeeper v7.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 160 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| Network Attached Storage |
|
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 125 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| Logical Volume Manager (LVM) |
|
Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM) version 1 or 2
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 130 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| SteelEye Data Replication |
|
LifeKeeper v7.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later
Linux kernel version 2.6 (2.6.16 or later for intent logging and asynchronous write support) |
|
Approximately 1800 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| Software RAID (md) |
|
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 204 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| PowerPath |
|
A 2.6 based Linux kernel and distribution
PowerPath Kit v6.4.0-2: PowerPath for Linux v5.3 or later
Prior to the PowerPath Kit v6.4.0-2: PowerPath for Linux v4.4.x, v4.5.x, 5.0.x, or 5.1.x
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 168 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| IBM Subsystem Device Driver (SDD) |
|
A 2.6 based Linux kernel and distribution
IBM SDD driver v1.6.0.1-8 or later
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 164 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| Device Mapper Multipath (DMMP) |
|
A 2.6 based Linux kernel and distribution
multipath tools 0.4.5 or later
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 176 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager (HDLM) |
|
RHEL 4 (AS/ES) Update 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7; RHEL 5 Update 1, 2, or 3 (x86 or EM64T/AMD64, where EM64T/AMD64 indicates an environment where an EM64T/AMD64 kernel is installed on a system that uses an Intel CPU or AMD64 CPU (Single Core and Dual Core)
Hitachi HDLM for Linux 5.8, 5.8.1, 5.9, 5.9.1, 5.9.2, 5.9.3 (except RHEL4 Update2), 5.9.4, 6.0.0, 6.0.1, 6.1.0, 6.1.1, 6.1.2, or 6.2.0
LifeKeeper v6.0.1 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 168 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| NEC iStorage StoragePathSavior(SPS) |
|
RHEL 4 or RHEL 5 SPS Driver package sps-L, sps-S, sps-E
NEC iStorage StoragePathSavior Enterprise for Linux Version 3.3 or later
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 190 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| DRBD |
|
DRBD version 0.7.5 or 0.8
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 70 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| WebSphere MQ |
|
WebSphere MQ versions 5.3, 5.3 Express Edition, 6.0, or 7.0
LifeKeeper v6.3.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 415 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| Extender |
|
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 185 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| SAP |
|
SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.7 (Web AS 6.20), SAP NetWeaver 04 (Web AS 6.40), or SAP NetWeaver 2004s (Web AS 7.00)
Refer to the LifeKeeper for Linux Release Notes for detailed distribution, kernel, and database requirements.
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later
LifeKeeper NFS Server Recovery Kit v5.1.0 or later
LifeKeeper Network Attached Storage Recovery Kit v5.0.0 or later |
| Approximately 170 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| SAP DB/MaxDB |
|
SAP DB 7.3.0 Build 21 or later for standalone use
SAP DB 7.3.0 Build 35 or later for use with SAP
MaxDB 7.5.x or MaxDB 7.6.x
LifeKeeper v6.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
| Approximately 205 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| LifeKeeper Optional Support Software |
|
| Description |
|
Requirement(s) |
|
Disk Space Required |
|
| Citrix XenServer Support Package |
|
Citrix XenServer v5.0 or v5.5
LifeKeeper SDR v7.1.0 or later
LifeKeeper Citrix XenServer Support Package v7.1.0 or later |
|
Approximately 140 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt |
|
| LifeKeeper Multi-Site |
|
LifeKeeper v7.0.0 Core Package Cluster or later |
|
Approximately 1800 (1024-byte) disk blocks in /opt
This software requires a special license to enable this feature. Contact SteelEye Technology, Inc. to purchase this license. |
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On what Linux distributions and kernel versions is LifeKeeper supported?
LifeKeeper for Linux has been certified for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (AS and ES), Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Advanced Platform, SUSE SLES 10, and SLES 11, Asianux 2.0, Citrix XenServer v5.0 or v5.5, Oracle Enterprise Linux 4 and 5, The Community ENTerprise Operating System (CentOS) 4 and 5.
The latest version of LifeKeeper is certified on the following Linux kernels:
- Red Hat
- 2.6.9-5.EL
- 2.6.9-5.0.3.EL
- 2.6.9-11.EL
- 2.6.9-22.EL
- 2.6.9-34.EL
- 2.6.9-42.EL
- 2.6.9-55.EL
- 2.6.9-67.EL
- 2.6.9-78.EL
- 2.6.9-89.EL
- 2.6.18-8.EL5
- 2.6.18-8.1.1.EL5
- 2.6.18-53.EL5
- 2.6.18-92.EL5
- 2.6.18-128.EL5
- 2.6.18-164.EL5
- SUSE
- 2.6.16.21-0.8
- 2.6.16.46-0.12
- 2.6.16.60-0.21
- 2.6.16.60-0.23
- 2.6.27.19-5
- Asianux
- 2.6.9-11.19AX
- Oracle Enterprise Linux
- 2.6.9-55.0.0.0.2.EL
- 2.6.9-67.0.0.0.1.EL
- 2.6.9-78.0.0.0.1.EL
- 2.6.9-89.0.0.0.1.EL
- 2.6.18-8.el5
- 2.6.18-53.0.0.0.1.el5
- 2.6.18-92.0.0.0.1.el5
- 2.6.18-128.0.0.0.1.el5
- 2.6.18-164.0.0.0.1.el5
- The Community ENTerprise Operating System (CentOS)
- 2.6.9-55.EL
- 2.6.9-67.EL
- 2.6.9-78.EL
- 2.6.9-89.EL
- 2.6.18-8.el5
- 2.6.18-53.el5
- 2.6.18-92.1.10.el5
- 2.6.18-128.el5
- 2.6.18-164.2.1.el5
LifeKeeper-specific changes have been incorporated into these kernels by their vendors.
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Does LifeKeeper for Linux replace any of the standard Linux kernel components?
LifeKeeper resides in non-kernel space, and communicates with the
standard kernel via published APIs. However, in developing and
testing the LifeKeeper product, SteelEye has identified core
kernel, module, and driver changes that are essential to meeting
the high availability requirements of the LifeKeeper product.
These core kernel changes have all been picked up by the
Operating System vendors whom we support, and are already
included in the supported kernels listed above.
For some specific high availability configurations and kernels,
LifeKeeper may also require changes that affect the loadable modules
within the kernel (e.g. nfs, raid1). These changes
have also been picked up by the Operating System vendors and are already
included with the supported kernels listed above.
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What application recovery kits are available for LifeKeeper for Linux?
| Package |
|
Protected Applications |
|
| LifeKeeper DB2 Recovery Kit |
|
IBM DB2 Universal Database v8.1 or later, Enterprise Server Edition (ESE), Workgroup Server Edition (WSE), or Express
IBM DB2 Universal Database v9, Enterprise Server Edition (ESE), Workgroup Server Edition (WSE) or Express |
|
| LifeKeeper Oracle Recovery Kit |
|
Oracle 9i Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition; Oracle 10g Standard Edition, Standard Edition One or Enterprise Edition; or Oracle 11g Standard Edition, Standard Edition One or Enterprise Edition |
|
| LifeKeeper Informix Database Recovery Kit |
|
Informix Dynamic Server 9.2, 9.3, 9.4 or Informix Dynamic Server 10 |
|
| LifeKeeper MySQL Recovery Kit |
|
MySQL 3.23.x, 4.x, 5.x or MySQL Enterprise |
|
| LifeKeeper PostgreSQL Recovery Kit |
|
PostgreSQL v7.x, v8.x, EnterpriseDB Postgres Plus Advanced Server v8.3.x, or EnterpriseDB Postgres Plus Standard Server v8.4.x |
|
| LifeKeeper Sybase ASE Recovery Kit |
|
Sybase ASE 12.5.x or 15.x |
|
| LifeKeeper Apache Web Server Recovery Kit |
|
Apache Web Server 1.3 or 2.x |
|
| LifeKeeper Postfix Recovery Kit |
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Postfix provided with supported Linux distributions |
|
| LifeKeeper Samba Recovery Kit |
|
Samba file shares |
|
| LifeKeeper NFS Server Recovery Kit |
|
NFS exported file systems on Linux distributions with a kernel version of 2.6 or later |
|
| LifeKeeper Network Attached Storage Recovery Kit |
|
Mounted NFS filesystems from an NFS server or Network Attached Storage (NAS) device |
|
| LifeKeeper Logical Volume Manager (LVM) Recovery Kit |
|
LVM volume groups and logical volumes |
|
| LifeKeeper DRBD Recovery Kit |
|
DRBD (Distributed Remote Block Device) data replication software |
|
| LifeKeeper Software RAID (md) Recovery Kit |
|
Software RAID devices based on md |
|
| LifeKeeper PowerPath Recovery Kit |
|
EMC PowerPath multipath I/O devices |
|
| LifeKeeper IBM Subsystem Device Driver (SDD) Recovery Kit |
|
IBM SDD multipath I/O devices |
|
| LifeKeeper Device Mapper Multipath (DMMP) Recovery Kit |
|
Linux dm-multipath I/O devices |
|
| LifeKeeper Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager (HDLM) Recovery Kit |
|
Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager devices |
|
| LifeKeeper NEC iStorage StoragePathSavior (SPS) Recovery Kit |
|
NEC iStorage StoragePathSavior multipath I/O devices |
|
| SteelEye Data Replication |
|
Network RAID devices (synchronous or asynchronous mirrors, with intent logging)
Version 6.4 and later supports Linux Multi-Site Cluster configurations |
|
| LifeKeeper WebSphere MQ Recovery Kit |
|
WebSphere MQ queue managers including the command server, the listener and the persistent queue manager data |
|
| LifeKeeper Extender |
|
Provides sample code and tool for creating a basic application Recovery Kit. Documentation includes an overview of the Recovery Kit architecture, and a detailed description of Recovery Kit components and APIs. |
|
| LifeKeeper SAP Recovery Kit |
|
SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.7 (Web AS 6.20), SAP NetWeaver 04 (Web AS 6.40), or SAP NetWeaver 2004s (Web AS 7.00) |
|
| LifeKeeper SAP DB / MaxDB Recovery Kit |
|
SAP DB 7.3.0 Build 21 or higher (requires Build 35 or higher for use with SAP)
MaxDB 7.5.x or MaxDB 7.6.x |
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What optional support software packages are available for LifeKeeper for Linux?
| Package |
|
Protected Applications |
|
|
| Citrix XenServer Support Package |
|
Citrix XenServer storage repositories to provide Disaster Recovery protection |
|
| LifeKeeper Multi-Site |
|
Shared storage clusters to provide Disaster Recovery protection |
|
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Does LifeKeeper require special hardware to provide its fault resilience?
LifeKeeper does not require any customized fault-tolerant hardware. The basis for the fault resilience provided by LifeKeeper is the clustering of computer nodes with shared data and communication paths. The bullets below talk about these in more detail:
- Clustered Nodes: Nodes can be any LifeKeeper compatible server systems. LifeKeeper gives
you the flexibility to configure nodes in multiple overlapping groups. For any given recoverable resource, however, the critical factor is the linking of a group of designated nodes
with defined roles or priorities for that resource. The priority of a node for a given resource is used to determine which node will recover that resource in the event of a failure on the node where it is currently running. The node with the highest priority value for a given resource is typically referred to as the primary node for that resource, the node with
the second highest priority is referred to as the secondary node, etc.
- Communication Paths: The LifeKeeper heartbeat, a periodic message between paired nodes, is a key fault detection facility. SteelEye recommends configuration of redundant heartbeat communications paths using different protocols and communications media (LAN and TTY) to
avoid system panics due to a simple communications failure. A LAN-based communications path can also be used for other system communications.
- Shared Data: Storage devices connected to multiple nodes in the LifeKeeper cluster provide mechanisms that allow grouped nodes to share access to the same set of disks. In the case of a failure of the primary node, LifeKeeper automatically manages the unlocking of the disks from the failed system and the locking of the disks to the next available backup system
- Shared Communication: LifeKeeper can automatically manage switching of TCP/IP communication resources. This allows users to connect to an application regardless of which of the grouped nodes is currently active.
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How do I know if my specific servers and storage devices
will work with LifeKeeper?
Here are some useful guidelines:
- LifeKeeper runs on Intel x86, Intel Xeon EM64T, and AMD64 based platforms. SteelEye has certified LifeKeeper with servers from Compaq, IBM, HP, Dell, Unisys, and NCR. However, most servers based on these processor architectures should be compatible.
- If you are using a disk array with shared SCSI, then the disk array must have a smart controller within it and the array must support SCSI 2 reservations. We have certified Compaq, Consan, Baydel, Winchester, and Jetstor disk arrays that meet this requirement.
- LifeKeeper is supported on Fibre Channel (FC) hardware. This can be used as an alternative to shared SCSI. SteelEye has certified Compaq, Dell, and IBM
fibre channel disk arrays using QLogic and Compaq host adapters. Note: The SCSI requirements mentioned in the previous bullet apply here as well.
- SteelEye Data Replication (SDR) replicates and protects data from one internal drive of a system to another internal drive on the backup system. This eliminates the need
for a shared storage device.
- The Network Attached Storage Recovery Kit provides support for NAS devices.
- Please see the Release Notes in the latest
LifeKeeper for Linux documentation for the list of
supported storage and adapter models.
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I can't run the LifeKeeper GUI from my client. What do I need to do?
The LifeKeeper Planning and Installation Guide documents all of the steps to run the GUI as an application or an applet. The important things to remember when running the GUI as an applet are:
- You must set your browser security permissions to low.
- If the Java plug-in is not already installed on your client, you will automatically be
taken to a web site to download the necessary plug-in.
- You open the GUI web page by accessing the URL http://servername:81 where servername is the name of the LifeKeeper server.
- It is important that all of the networking configuration is correct and complete. All
DNS and/or /etc/hosts entries must also be correct.
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How can I use LifeKeeper to protect my own application?
LifeKeeper Extender provides documentation and sample scripts for you to create your own recovery kit for your application. LifeKeeper Extender is a separately orderable product.
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What are the options for Data Replication on Linux?
There are three options for obtaining Data Replication Solutions for Linux from SteelEye:
- If you have an existing LifeKeeper for Linux cluster and you want to add data replication to the solution, purchase the SteelEye Data Replication Application Recovery Kit.
- If you want to build a new cluster that uses data replication with LifeKeeper in a high availability cluster, purchase the SteelEye Protection Suite for Linux. This includes both a full working version of LifeKeeper and the data replication recovery kit.
- If you want only data replication for Linux, and you do not need high availability, purchase the SteelEye Data Replication for Linux. This solution includes a license for LifeKeeper that disables all of the high availability functions and only allows data replication resources to be created.
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