L Class serial heartbeat setup

[Richard Crump]

Is it possible to use the remote modem or ups serial connection on an L Class (RP5430) for a serial heartbeat connection in the absence of a standard serial port??

[melvyn burnard]

I am unsure whether this can be used, but what I will say is do not use the serial heartbeat if you have multiple lans set up.
If you read hte Release Notes for hte later versions of SG, you will see a note:

The use of a serial (RS232) heartbeat line is supported only in a two-node cluster configuration. A serial heartbeat line is required in a two-node cluster that has only one heartbeat LAN. If you have at least two heartbeat LANs, or one heartbeat LAN and one standby LAN, a serial (RS232) heartbeat should not be used.

[Heinz Gaertner]

Hi,

as far as i know, it is not possible to use modem or ups port for a serial heartbeat connection (because pin-mapping differs and so i think it cannot be the normal handshake which ServiceGuard will use here, but this could also only be a thing of using the correct cable), after all it's surely not supported. Why do you want to use it in that way - hearbeat over lan is much better in my opinion.

[John McKiernan]

I have a similar need : I need to build a serial heartbeat solution for two rp54xx (L-class) systems. These mimick a pair of N4000 systems at another location. At that location, a switch in the path between
the two nodes failed. Even with failover interfaces configured, heartbeat was lost, so one node paniced to take itself out of the cluster.

I've verified the ports via "getty" , then disabled "getty" on the ports, then setup the MC/SG serial heartbeat. But when I attmept to apply the configuratin, I get errors :

root@rqa-db1 : cmapplyconf -v -C /etc/cmcluster/rubik-qa01.config

Checking cluster file: /etc/cmcluster/rubik-qa01.config
Checking nodes ... Done
Checking existing configuration ... Done
Gathering configuration information ... Done
Gathering configuration information ... Done
Gathering configuration information .............. Done

Protocol failure talking with cmclconfd on rqa-db1 (1) : Connection timed out
Error: Unable to configure cluster. Unable to open serial device file on node rqa-db1.
Check the syslog file for more information
Error: node rqa-db2 failed to establish serial connection to remote nodes
rqa-db1cmapplyconf : Unable to reconcile configuration file /etc/cmcluster/rubik-qa01.config
with discovered configuration information.
root@rqa-db1 :

I tried various cables (HP, non-HP; serial/null-modem) but it always fails. My workaround is to ask the remote location to recable the switches and add redundant redundant heartbeat interfaces (4 total) .

[Kent Ostby]

I agree with melvyn that I dont believe that this can be done due to pins and such.

The definitive document for this type of issue seems to be: UMCSGKBRC00009511 which can be found in the ITRC and it mentions various combinations of port types.

It might provide an answer.

[Saurav_1]

Hi,

Remote port on L Class are to be configurred in GSP. but UPS port doesn't. I think we can use this port for serial communication for Heartbeat on both the servers. We have to prepare a serial cable where the pins 2,3 of this port connect pins 3,2 of other server respectively. Pin no 5 to connect pin 5 of the other server. now to test communication check the device files of both the UPS ports.suppose it is /dev/tty0p0. now from a terminal on node 1 give # cat < /dev/tty0p0 & on other node give # cat /etc/hosts > /dev/tty0p0. the contents should appear on other node. Now we can configure heartbeat as per manual.

Regards

saurav

[Michael Roeder]

I built it yesterday on a D-Class.

I used a patch cable with HP adapters ???HEWLETT PACKARD RS-232??? (blue) und ???HEWLETT PACKARD RS-232/RJ??? (violett).

You can build a cable, take the document UMCSGKBRC00009511 and search for UPS port

Search your tty:
ioscan -fnC tty
(tty1p0 was my UPS connector)

Then do "cat .." as Sauray said.

Pin-outs for 9 Pin connector
----------------------------
Pin Number Signal Description
---------- ------ -------------------
1 DCD Data Carrier Detect
2 RXD Receive Data
3 TXD Transmit Data
4 DTR Data Terminal Ready
5 GND Ground
6 DSR Data Set Ready
7 RTS Request To Send
8 CTS Clear to Send
9 RI Ring Indicator

Having done
node1 # cat < /dev/tty1p0
and node2 # cat something > /dev/tty1p0

ServiceGuard has got it (9600 baud).

Good luck.