can not get APA to work

[G. Vrijhoeven]

Hi all,

I can not get APA working, i must be missing something but i am not able to figure it out.

The config files:
hp_apaconf:
HP_APA_INTERFACE_NAME[0]=lan100
HP_APA_LOAD_BALANCE_MODE[0]=LB_MAC
HP_APA_GROUP_CAPABILITY[0]=1
HP_APA_HOT_STANDBY[0]=off
I also tried it with the extra line:
HP_APA_MANUAL_LA[0]=3,4

the hp_apaportconf
HP_APAPORT_INTERFACE_NAME[0]=lan3
HP_APAPORT_GROUP_CAPABILITY[0]=1
HP_APAPORT_PRIORITY[0]=0
HP_APAPORT_KEY[0]=
HP_APAPORT_SYSTEM_PRIORITY[0]=0
HP_APAPORT_COLLECT_MAX_DELAY[0]=
HP_APAPORT_CONFIG_MODE[0]=MANUAL
HP_APAPORT_INTERFACE_NAME[1]=lan4
HP_APAPORT_GROUP_CAPABILITY[1]=1
HP_APAPORT_PRIORITY[1]=0
HP_APAPORT_KEY[1]=
HP_APAPORT_SYSTEM_PRIORITY[1]=0
HP_APAPORT_COLLECT_MAX_DELAY[1]=

In the netconf file:
INTERFACE_NAME[3]="lan100"
IP_ADDRESS[3]="145.78.191.50"
SUBNET_MASK[3]="0xffffffe0"
BROADCAST_ADDRESS[3]="0.0.0.0"
INTERFACE_STATE[3]=up

When i start apa:

DLPI version is 2
./hpapa started.
Please be patient. This may take about 40 seconds.
HP_APA_DEFAULT_PORT_MODE = MANUAL
/usr/sbin/hp_apa_util -S 3 MANUAL
/usr/sbin/lanadmin -X -g 3 1 100
New Group Capability = 1
/usr/sbin/lanadmin -X -t 3 0 100
New Port Priority = 0
/usr/sbin/lanadmin -X -s 3 0 100
New System Priority = 0
/usr/sbin/hp_apa_util -S 4 MANUAL
/usr/sbin/lanadmin -X -g 4 1 100
New Group Capability = 1
/usr/sbin/lanadmin -X -t 4 0 100
New Port Priority = 0
/usr/sbin/lanadmin -X -s 4 0 100
New System Priority = 0
lan100
/usr/sbin/lanadmin -X -l LB_MAC 100
New Load Balancing = 2
/usr/sbin/lanadmin -X -y off 100
New Hot Standby = OFF
/usr/sbin/lanadmin -X -g 100 1 100
New Group Capability = 1
/usr/sbin/lanadmin -X -a 3 4 100
ERROR: Error: Protocol already logged on the port 3
./hpapa Completed successfully.

The lanscan output:
prc03b21:/sbin/init.d # lanscan
Hardware Station Crd Hdw Net-Interface NM MAC HP-DLPI DLPI
Path Address In# State NamePPA ID Type Support Mjr#
0/0/0/0 0x001083F545F7 0 UP lan0 snap0 1 ETHER Yes 119
0/5/0/0/4/0 0x001083F7690B 2 UP lan2 snap2 2 ETHER Yes 119
0/5/0/0/5/0 0x001083F769F9 3 UP lan3 snap3 3 ETHER Yes 119
0/5/0/0/6/0 0x001083F72A8E 4 UP lan4 snap4 4 ETHER Yes 119
0/5/0/0/7/0 0x001083F72AAB 5 UP lan5 snap5 5 ETHER Yes 119
1/12/0/0/4/0 0x001083F76A2A 7 UP lan7 snap7 6 ETHER Yes 119
1/12/0/0/5/0 0x001083F74A15 8 UP lan8 snap8 7 ETHER Yes 119
1/12/0/0/6/0 0x001083F789D1 9 UP lan9 snap9 8 ETHER Yes 119
1/12/0/0/7/0 0x001083F72A69 10 UP lan10 snap10 9 ETHER Yes 119
0/4/0/0 0x00306EF410BE 11 UP lan11 snap11 10 ETHER Yes 119
1/10/0/0 0x00306EF41069 12 UP lan12 snap12 11 ETHER Yes 119
LinkAgg0 0x000000000000 100 DOWN lan100 snap100 13 ETHER Yes 119
LinkAgg1 0x000000000000 101 DOWN lan101 snap101 14 ETHER Yes 119
LinkAgg2 0x000000000000 102 DOWN lan102 snap102 15 ETHER Yes 119
LinkAgg3 0x000000000000 103 DOWN lan103 snap103 16 ETHER Yes 119
LinkAgg4 0x000000000000 104 DOWN lan104 snap104 17 ETHER Yes 119

The interface in supported for APA. and the switch is configured in FEC.
PS we also tried replacing MANUAL with FEC_AUTO with no succes.


I hope s.o. can help me.

Gideon

[G. Vrijhoeven]

Hi all,

I also added configured the interface in /etc/rc.config.d/hpbtlanconf but this did not work.

I found a resent post that stated that a reboot could help, so we did...
(shame)
This was the sollution. So i am afraid HPUX with APA has Window$ logic, this does not give me a save feeling.

Gideon

[Alzhy]

APA is actually a very robust product... most configuration mistakes if doing it manually is a mismatch in negotiation between the APA members. I alsways make sure my APA members are ALL operating and negotiating normally with the switch in the same fashion.. Do check by:

lanadmin -x

If they don'nt match, then force one or the other to be the same an dmake sure your link partners (switch ports) are configured the same as well... Further rules, 100BT likes 100FD (non-auto negotiate, 100 Full duplex). GigE cards would ALWAYS be AUTO.. so do:

lanadmin -X 100FD for 100BT cards
or
lanadmin -X AUTO_ON for GigE cards..

I always use SAM for APA configuration even if I know how to do it manually.. saves me keystorkes to plumb and up the lanXXX APA interface..

And one more thing, if using 100BT cards, explicitly force all instances of your APA members to 100FD in etc/rc.config.d/hpbtlanconf. So on your system startup and before APA is started.. you're sure ALL members are communicating with the link partners (the switch ports) in the same fashion..


The reason why it is most often suggested to reboot the server is so that all the subsystems dependent on the server's networking will be refreshed..

[G. Vrijhoeven]

Thanks Nelson,

The reboot did do the trick. Becouse it was my first APA experience i started with SAM to configure it, this did not work at all. The SAM log was not giving me enough info. SAM displayed other interface info than was configured in the hp_apaportconf file. At this point i started to read manuals ( shame on me! )on how it should look like in the config files. When that did not work a i started this post. All works fine now.

Regards,

Gideon

[Alzhy]

How are you using APA -- pure trunking/aggregation (for the bandwidth and fault tolerance) or just for the fault tolerance (2 members).. The latter is called MANUAL or LAN_FAILOVER mode.. as we do not have any need for the speed (we use two GigE), we've only been using the MANUAL mode.. I tell you.. APA will make your network folks very happy as they can actually implement a totally redundant network and do maintenance on either "side" of the network infrastructure... We simply call them the A and B sides... Servers can stay UP while network do maintenance on one side of the network (ie, cabling changes, switch reboots, firmware upgrades).. once one side is done, the other side can be worked on with no downtime at all on services...

[G. Vrijhoeven]

Hi Nelson,

Thanks for the insight.
We are using it for trunking/aggregation and, we have MC/SG configured for the fail over. We use PAgP ( FES )mac based. The MANUAL settings in the config file were just to get it to work. Now we have it FES_MANUAL configured.

Regards!

Gideon

[Alzhy]

Coolness!

Are you using GigEther cards? How's the bandwidth? Is it really 2x or .8*2x (80 per cent) or not even 80% of the aggregate?

I hear of sites that could not wait/afford 10g ethernet that are bundling more than 2 GigE's...

[G. Vrijhoeven]

Hi,

Sorry to dissapoint you (and myself) but we are using APA on the 100Mbit interfaces. We have two Gbit interfaces but they are configured in seperate lans.

Gideon