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Applies to:

Goal

The Sun Fire[TM] System Controller (SSC) provides management functionality and clock to the Sun Fire platform.

If the master SSC (usually SSC0) fails and the system includes two SSCs, clock and management functionality have to fail over to the spare SSC.

This document explains the commands added to firmware 5.13.X and above which allow manual control over failover between the main and spare SSC.

Solution

Starting with 5.13.X Sun Fire[TM] 6800/4810/4800/3800 and 5.16.X on Sun Fire[TM] E4900/E6900 systems can be configured with two system controllers for high availability. In a high-availability System Controller* (SC) configuration, one SC serves as the main SC, which manages all the system resources, while the other SC serves as a spare.

When certain conditions cause the main SC to fail, a switch over or failover from the main SC to the spare is triggered automatically, without operator intervention. The spare SC assumes the role of the main and takes over all system controller responsibilities.

*Note:   The Sun Fire[TM] System Controller (SSC) is also  refered to  as  a System Controller (SC).

New commands have been added to manage this functionality: setfailover and showfailover.

setfailover -- set automatic/manual SC failover 

Usage: setfailover [-y|-n] off|on|force 

       setfailover -h 

off         This option prevents a failover until the failover feature is reenabled. 
on          Enables failover for systems that previously had failover disabled due to a failover or an operator request. 
force       Causes a forced failover to the spare SC. 

-y          Do not prompt for confirmation 
-n          Do not execute command if confirmation is requested 
-h          Display the help message for this command 

This command enables you to control automatic or manual SC failover. Be aware that if you force a failover using this command, SC failover is disabled after the manual failover occurs and must be re-enabled manually using the command setfailover on.

showfailover -- Enables you to monitor the state of the SC and clock failover. 

Usage: showfailover [-v] 

       showfailover -h 

-v          Verbose mode. Displays all available command information, which includes both SC and clock failover status. 
-h          Display this help message 

The SC failover state can be one of the following:  

The clock failover state can be one of the following:

Example of how to force a manual failover:

1. Connect to the System Controller (failover can be initiated from either SC).

System Controller 'sunfire12-sc1': 

    Type  0  for Platform Shell 

    Input:  <strong>0</strong>  

Platform Shell - Spare System Controlle 

sunfire12-sc1:sc> 

2. Verify that failover is enabled and active.

sunfire12-sc1:sc>  <strong>showfailover -v</strong>  

SC: SSC1  

Spare System Controller 

SC Failover: disabled <---failover is disabled, so we must enable it. 

sunfire12-sc1:sc>  <strong>setfailover on</strong>  

Dec 12 16:06:51 sunfire12-sc1 Platform.SC: SC Failover: enabled but not active. 

SC Failover: enabled but not active. 

sunfire12-sc1:sc> Dec 12 16:07:09 sunfire12-sc1 Platform.SC: SC Failover: enabled and active. 

sunfire12-sc1:sc>  <strong>showfailover</strong>  

SC Failover: enabled and active. <---now failover is enabled and active. 

3. Manually force the Spare System Controller to become the Main System Controller.

sunfire12-sc1:sc>  <strong>setfailover force</strong>  

SC: SSC1 

Spare System Controller 

SC Failover: enabled and active. 

Clock failover enabled. 

This will abruptly interrupt operations on the other System Controller. 

This System Controller will become the main System Controller. 

Do you want to continue  [no]  <strong>yes</strong>  

Dec 12 16:10:18 sunfire12-sc1 Platform.SC: SC Failover: becoming main SC 

sunfire12-sc1:sc> Dec 12 16:10:19 sunfire12-sc1 Platform.SC: SC Failover: disabled 

Dec 12 16:10:26 sunfire12-sc1 Platform.SC: Chassis is in single partition mode. 

4. Verify the status of the system controller and re-enable failover.

sunfire12-sc1:SC>  <strong>showfailover</strong>  

SC Failover: disabled  <---failover will be disabled after a failover has occured and must be re-enabled. 

sunfire12-sc1:SC>  <strong>setfailover on</strong>  

Dec 12 16:14:14 sunfire12-sc1 Platform.SC: SC Failover: enabled but not active. 

SC Failover: enabled but not active. 

sunfire12-sc1:SC> Dec 12 16:14:18 sunfire12-sc1 Platform.SC: SC Failover: enabled and active. 

For Firmware 5.15.X and above

Starting with 5.15.X Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems cannot execute a manual failover if the date difference between the System Controllers is more than 1 minute.

For more information about System Controller Failover with 5.13.X firmware check the following resources:

Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 Systems Platform Administration Manual

Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 System Controller Command Reference Manual

Sun Fire[tm] Serengeti Servers: Troubleshooting System Controller Failover Issues (Doc ID 1002394.1)

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