Adding locations to deployment subdomains

You can add locations to deployment subdomains.

Before you begin

  • You can add up to four locations to a subdomain in your management domain configuration. The locations in each subdomain share deployment workloads in your multisystem environment.
  • You must have already created one or more deployment subdomains in your management domain configuration, and added one or more locations to your management domain. You must also create an iSCSI target for use as a tiebreaker, that has a minimum size of 1GB of available storage. Note that CHAP authentication and iSCSI multipath are supported.
  • For iSCSI servers using the initiator source IP address as part of their access control authorization, the following addresses must be configured for the iSCSI tiebreaker target:
    • Floating IPv4 address
    • Primary IPv4 address
    • Secondary IPv4 address

    These addresses are specified on the System > Network Configuration page of the console.

About this task

From the available list of local and remote locations in your management domain, you can add up to four locations to a deployment subdomain:
  • You can add a location to only one deployment subdomain. Once the location is part of a deployment subdomain, it is no longer available to be added to another deployment subdomain.
  • You can add a location only of type system. A location of type software is not supported.
  • You can add a location to a subdomain when it is in one of these states:
    • Available
    • Defined
    • Degraded
    • Unavailable
  • You cannot remove a location from the deployment subdomain once the location has reached the Available state. In this case, you must delete the entire deployment subdomain.
  • When you add a second mirror location to a deployment subdomain, you are prompted for additional tiebreaker information to help manage the multisystem deployment environment.
  • Data that flows between subdomain locations is encrypted.

Procedure

  1. Click System > Management Domain Configuration.
    The Management Domain Configuration page is displayed.

    The management domain should already be defined for the system. The current configuration details are displayed, showing locations that have been added to the management domain and at least one previously created deployment subdomain.

  2. Add a location to a deployment subdomain using either of the following methods:
    • In the management domain canvas, drag an available location and drop it into the deployment subdomain. The location icon is moved from the management domain canvas into the selected deployment subdomain. When complete, the state changes to Available.
    • In the deployment subdomain, click the Plus icon. The Add Location to Deployment Subdomain dialog is displayed.
  3. In the Add Location to Deployment Subdomain dialog, provide the following information:
    1. In the Location IP address field, select a location from the available list of locations that have been added to the management domain.
    2. Decide if this location will be a mirror location or a client location by selecting Client or Mirror.
      Keep in mind the following considerations when making this decision:
      • A mirror location owns the physical disk that is shared across all locations in the subdomain.
      • A client location does not own any of the physical resources shared in the subdomain.
      • There can only be two mirror locations in a subdomain.
      • All locations added to a subdomain can be initially added as a client location.
      • A location can be changed to a mirror location after it is in the subdomain.

      If you decide this location will be a mirror location by selecting Mirror, the Mirror Eligibility Check option is displayed. Click Check to determine whether there are enough physical disk resources needed for the mirror subdomain disk.

      A location can only be added as a client after there are two locations in the subdomain with a mirror storage connection type.

  4. Click OK.
    You can also click Cancel to cancel the storage connection request.
    The location is created and displayed in the deployment subdomain area of the management domain. The following information is displayed in the location:
    • The name of the location is displayed.
    • The location status is displayed.
    • The storage connection type is displayed.
    • The Remove icon (the red X) is displayed to remove the location from the deployment subdomain.
  5. When you add a second location to the deployment subdomain or a locations storage connection is changed to a mirror and it is the second location to be a mirror, the Deployment Subdomain Configuration dialog prompts you for additional information regarding a third externally managed tiebreaker system that must be specified to help manage replication and recovery operations between the two locations in the deployment subdomain.
    Specify the following information:
    Tiebreaker iSCSI IP Address
    The IP address for the tiebreaker system.

    When you enter a valid IP address, the system searches for a list of available tiebreaker iSCSI Qualified Names (IQNs) and displays them in a selection box.

    If the search fails, an error message is displayed, similar to the following example:
    CWZIP5521E Discovery of the iSCSI targets for host <tiebreaker_ip_address> failed with error: <err_num>

    An explanation of the return code is given. For more information, refer to publicly available documentation on the iSCSI command line utility iscsiadm, and take the appropriate recovery action.

    Tiebreaker iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN)
    The iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) of the tiebreaker system. The dialog shows examples of the IQNs used for the two mirror locations in the deployment subdomain. Specify the valid IQN for the tiebreaker system.

    This field is displayed as a selection box containing the list of available IQNs discovered for the specified iSCSI IP address. If only one IQN is returned, it is displayed for you in this field. If more than one IQN is available, select one from this list.

    User
    A valid user authorized for the specified tiebreaker system.
    Password
    A valid password for the specified user.
    Note: Though the User and Password fields are displayed as optional parameters, they might be required depending on your security requirements for the iSCSI target. Examine your iSCSI setup and provide these parameters if needed, to avoid potential errors later.
  6. Click Test Connection to test the iSCSI connection for the Tiebreaker and the mirror location.
  7. Click OK after the test connection is successful to generate the subdomain infrastructure.
    You can also click Cancel to cancel the add location request.

    The location is added to the deployment subdomain. Mirror locations are located in a shaded box so you can easily recognize them and distinguish them from a client location that is not shaded.

    An additional Tiebreaker state icon is displayed in the deployment subdomain, representing the state of the tiebreaker system as it is added to the deployment subdomain configuration.

    Click the Tiebreaker state icon to display the following information:
    Tiebreaker state
    The Tiebreaker state is set to Pending while the location is initialized in the system. When complete, the state is changed to Available.
    Tiebreaker iSCSI IP
    The IP address of the iSCSI tiebreaker system.
    Tiebreaker iSCSI IQN
    The iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) for the tiebreaker system.
    Tiebreaker connection user ID
    The authorized user ID used to connect to the tiebreaker system.

    The overall State icon for the deployment subdomain is also initialized, then set to Pending and Available states as processing proceeds. When the deployment subdomain is in a Degraded, Failed, or Unavailable state, click the State icon to display a message that explains the cause of the subdomain state.

    After you add four locations to the deployment subdomain, the Plus icon in the deployment subdomain is no longer available to add more locations. If you attempt to drag a fifth location into the deployment subdomain, the job fails with an error.

    Be sure to refresh the display periodically to update the changes in the management domain configuration canvas and the state of each deployment subdomain. Use the job related links to view operation status and help diagnose problems that might arise.

What to do next

You can continue to add locations and deployment subdomains as needed to populate the management domain.