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Configuring the machine.conf Configuration File

The machine.conf configuration file describes the target cluster in terms of hardware components, disk layout for master-eligible nodes and dataless nodes, and file system configuration. The network interface parameters can be defined in configuration stage 3.

You must configure machine.conf to define the following parameters:

  • Define the cluster hardware

  • Define the disk layout

  • Define the file system definitions

  • Optionally, you can configure the network interfaces


Note - If you configure the network interfaces in stage 1, you must also complete the network.conf file in stage 1. Alternatively, you can configure the network interfaces in the machine.conf and network.conf files in stage 3. For more details, see Adding Cluster-Specific Configuration Data to the machine.conf File and Adding Cluster-Specific Configuration Data to the network.conf File.

In addition, the disk controllers can be changed during stage 3 by modifying the configuration element disk.device.


The following figure shows the components contained in the machine.conf configuration file.

Figure 5-3 Components Contained in the machine.conf Configuration File

Diagram shows the components contained in the machine.conf configuration file

Defining the Cluster Hardware

The cluster hardware definition is a hierarchical description of the cluster hardware. The definition begins with a top level description of the contents of the shelf. The shelf typically contains drawers and switches. The ELEMENT keyword identifies the element that is being defined, the CONTAIN and USE keywords describe the content of the element. For example:

ELEMENT shelf shelf_1 
        CONTAIN drawer NETRA-20-1 
                drawer NETRA-20-2
                switch SWITCH-1
ELEMENT shelf shelf_2 
        CONTAIN drawer N120-1
                drawer N120-2 
                drawer N120-3
                drawer N120-4
                switch SWITCH-2

Each drawer is then described in terms of disks and boards. These disks and boards are referred to by the node defined in the cluster.conf file. The ELEMENT keyword is used to describe each node in terms of disks, boards, and interfaces. The content of each ELEMENT is described by the CONTAIN keyword. For example, the ELEMENT disk is described in terms of slices. The one exception to this is the ELEMENT board that is described in terms of nic interfaces by the USE keyword.

The following program listing is an example of a drawer that contains a master-eligible node:

ELEMENT drawer NETRA-20-1 type NETRA_20
        CONTAIN board mother@peerNode1
                disk disk1@peerNode1
# MEN peerNode1 disk 
ELEMENT disk disk1@peerNode1 device c0t0d0 type SCSI size 36
        CONTAIN slice s0@disk1 
                slice s1@disk1
                slice s3@disk1
                slice d3@disk1
...

Network configuration parameters are added to the machine.conf file in stage 3. For more information, see Adding Cluster-Specific Configuration Data to the machine.conf File.

Defining the Disk Layout

This section describes the disk layout of master-eligible nodes and dataless nodes. You must define your disk partitions as described in Planning Disk Layout and File Systems. Each partition on the disk is described by the ELEMENT keyword in terms of the following parameters:

  • Size of partition

  • File system to be mapped to the partition

  • Whether the partition is replicated or not


Note - If you are using the volume management software, see Planning Disk Layout and File Systems for Master-Eligible Nodes. You must use volume management software if you are using a Netra-20 as a master-eligible node.

Each time you define a physical partition by using volume management software, define a logical partition to be managed by the volume management software.


For examples of disk layout definition sections of the machine.conf file, see Appendix B, Configuration File Examples for the machine.conf File.

For information on the syntax used in the machine.conf file, see the machine.conf(4) man page.

Defining File Systems

The file system definitions specify the file systems on each disk. The file system definitions are associated to the partition definitions through the MAP configuration block.

Each file system is described by the ELEMENT keyword in terms of root directories, read-write permissions, and whether the file system is exported or shared.

For information on defining file systems, see Planning Disk Layout and File Systems.

You must define the following roles in the file system definition section by using the role attribute:

  • root

  • swap

  • shared

  • data

  • services

  • database

  • export

    Only define the export role if diskless nodes are defined in the node group.

  • user

    This role is assigned to user-defined file systems.

Only the following parameters can be modified by the user:

  • In the root, swap, shared, and export file systems:

    size but with values greater than or equal to those in the template.

  • In the partition associated to the root, swap, shared, and export file systems:

    size but with values greater than or equal to those in the template.

  • In the user file system (non-replicated):

    fsck, size, mntPt, mntOpt, mntBt.

  • In the user file system (replicated):

    fsck, size, mntPt.

  • In the slice associated to the user file system:

    size but with values greater or equal to those in the template.

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