Cluster_config_file

Note: this is an xCAT design document, not an xCAT user document. If you are an xCAT user, you are welcome to glean information from this design, but be aware that it may not have complete or up to date procedures.

Intro

The cluster config file provides a convenient way for the user to give xcat (and potentially other software) high level info about the cluster. Using the xcatsetup cmd, xcat will read the file and prime the db so that it is ready for the discovery process. The contents of the cluster config file is organized into stanzas. Several of the stanzas contain xcat info (see below), but other stanzas can be added for other cluster software. These stanzas will be ignored by xcat. The other cluster software components should each read this file too and process only the stanzas they recognize. In this way, the user can specify all the high level info about the cluster in a single file, but we don't need one monolithic piece of software to process it all.

Note: for more specific info about the actual implementation, see the xcatsetup man page.

The general format of the config file is: 

xcat-site:
  domain = cluster.com

xcat-service-lan:
  dhcp-dynamic-range = 10.200.100.1-10.200.100.254
  # this is a comment
  hostname-range = service-switch[1-3]
  starting-ip = 10.200.0.1
...

The xcat command that will read and process this file for all of the xcat-specific stanzas is:

xcatsetup -v|--version -?|-h|--help cluster-config-file

Other cluster software components should have their own command that the admin can run to have it read the config file.

For reference for some of the other aspects of cluster set up, see:

Context

The overall cluster set up process is:

  1. Follow chapters 1 & 2 of xCAT Top Cookbook
  2. Create cluster config file
  3. Run xcatsetup, passing it the cluster config file
  4. Put the necessary passwords into the db
  5. Pick up in chapter 2 of xCAT2pHWManagement Cookbook, except that most of the db tables have already been filled in.
  6. Configure and start the services using makehosts, makedns, makedhcp, mkconserver.cf, etc.
  7. Run mkvm commands to create the LPARs
  8. Run commands from other software components to read the cluster config file
  9. Follow the xCAT IBM HPC stack set up wiki page to load the HPC software and postscripts
  10. Continue with the platform-specific cookbook to do node deployment

Cluster Config File Contents

The config file is organized into stanzas. What follows below is each stanza name, what attributes are specified by the user in that stanza, and what xcatsetup will do with it.

Note: some of these keywords and the resulting actions have changed. See the xcatsetup man page for more accurate info about the keywords supported and the database attributes that are filled in.

xcat-site

xcat-site:
 domain = cluster.com

xcatsetup actions:

  1. write domain in site.domain
  2. set site.nameservers to the MN IP

xcat-service-lan

This section will be implemented in a later phase. 

xcat-service-lan:
 dhcp-dynamic-range = 10.200.100.1-10.200.100.254
 # The rest of the attributes in this stanza are optional.  If you do not
 # specify them, then you must specify the vpd-file attribute in the
 # xcat-frames stanza.
 hostname-range = service-switch[1-3]
 starting-ip = 10.200.0.1
 num-ports-per-switch = 40
 switch-port-prefix = Gi6/
 switch-port-sequence = hmc:*, bpa:*, fsp:*

xcatsetup actions:

  1. using hostname-range, write: nodelist.node, nodelist.groups, switches.switch
  2. using hostname-range and starting-ip, write regex for: hosts.node, hosts.ip
  3. using num-ports-per-switch, switch-port-prefix, switch-port-sequence, write: switch.node, switch.switch, switch.port
  4. using dhcp-dynamic-range, write: networks.dynamicrange for the service network.
    • Note: for AIX the permanent IPs for HMCs/FSPs/BPAs (specified in later stanzas) should be within this dynamic range, at the high end. For linux the permanent IPs should be outside this dynamic range.
    • use the first IP in the specified dynamic range to locate the service network in the networks table
  5. on aix stop bootp - see section 2.2.1.1 of p hw mgmt doc
  6. run makedhcp -n

xcat-hmcs

xcat-hmcs:
 hostname-range = hmc01-hmc15
 starting-ip = 10.201.0.1

xcatsetup actions:

  1. using hostname-range, write: nodelist.node, nodelist.groups
  2. using hostname-range and starting-ip, write regex for: hosts.node, hosts.ip
  3. using hostname-range, write regex for: ppc.node, nodetype.nodetype

xcat-frames

xcat-frames:
 # these are the connections to the BPCs
 hostname-range = bpc01-bpc15
 starting-ip = 10.202.0.1
 num-frames-per-hmc = 3
 # The vpd-file should be in stanza format accepted by the chdef cmd, and contain the following vpd table attributes:
 #   node
 #   serial
 #   mtm
 #   side
 vpd-file = /tmp/frame-vpd-order.stanza

Example vpd-file: 

bpc01:
  objtype=node
  serial=99200G1
  mtm=9A00-100
  side=A

bpc02:
  objtype=node
  serial=99200D1
  mtm=9A00-100
  side=A

xcatsetup actions:

  1. using hostname-range, write: nodelist.node, nodelist.groups
  2. using hostname-range and starting-ip, write regex for: hosts.node, hosts.ip
  3. using hostname-range, num-frames-per-hmc, hmc hostname-range, write regex for: ppc.node, ppc.hcp, ppc.id, nodetype.nodetype, nodehm.mgt
  4. using vpd-file, write vpd table

xcat-cecs

xcat-cecs:
 # these are the connections to the FSPs
 hostname-range = cec01-cec60
 starting-ip = 10.203.0.1
 supernode-list = /tmp/supernodelist.txt

The supernode-list file that can be optionally specified should have the format: 

bpc01: 0, 1, 16
bpc02: 17, 32
bpc03: 33, 48, 49
bpc04: 64 , 65, 80
bpc05: 81, 96
bpc06: 97(1), 112(1), 113(1)

xcatsetup actions:

  1. using hostname-range, write: nodelist.node, nodelist.groups
  2. using hostname-range and starting-ip, write regex for: hosts.node, hosts.ip
  3. using hostname-range, write regex for: ppc.node, ppc.hcp??, ppc.id (cage id)??, ppc.parent??, nodetype.nodetype, nodehm.mgt
  4. using supernode-list, write ppc.supernode

xcat-building-blocks

xcat-building-blocks:
 num-frames-per-bb = 3

xcatsetup actions:

  1. set site.sharedtftp=1
  2. using num-frames-per-bb, write regex for ppc.parent for bpas

xcat-lpars

xcat-lpars:
 # This is for the ethernet NIC on each SN
 service-node-hostname-range-facing-mn = sn01-sn20
 service-node-starting-ip-facing-mn = 10.200.1.1
 service-node-hostname-range-facing-cn = sn[01-20]-hfi
 service-node-starting-ip-facing-cn = 10.201.1.1
 storage-node-hostname-range = stor01-stor40
 storage-node-starting-ip = 10.202.1.1
 # do we need a login-node range???
 # This is the application network.  For each CN, the hostname will be combined with each interface name.
 compute-node-hostname-range = n001-n800
 compute-node-interface-names = hf0, hf1, hf2, hf3, ml0 (or bond0 for linux)
 compute-node-starting-ips = 10.10.1.1, 10.11.1.1, 10.12.1.1, 10.13.1.1, 10.14.1.1
 num-lpars-per-cec = 8
 #todo: do we need any other info to create the lpars, e.g. pprofile?

xcatsetup actions:

  1. using service-node-hostname-range, write: nodelist.node, nodelist.groups
  2. using storage-node-hostname-range, write: nodelist.node, nodelist.groups
  3. using compute-node-hostname-range, write: nodelist.node, nodelist.groups
  4. using service-node-hostname-range, write regex for: nodetype.nodetype, nodetype.arch, nodehm.mgt, nodehm.cons, noderes.netboot
  5. using storage-node-hostname-range, write regex for: nodetype.nodetype, nodetype.arch, nodehm.mgt, nodehm.cons, noderes.netboot
  6. using compute-node-hostname-range, write regex for: nodetype.nodetype, nodetype.arch, nodehm.mgt, nodehm.cons, noderes.netboot
  7. using service-node-hostname-range, and num-lpars-per-cec, write regex for: ppc.node, ppc.id, ppc.parent, ppc.pprofile?
  8. using storage-node-hostname-range, and num-lpars-per-cec, write regex for: ppc.node, ppc.id, ppc.parent, ppc.pprofile?
  9. using compute-node-hostname-range, and num-lpars-per-cec, write regex for: ppc.node, ppc.id, ppc.parent, ppc.pprofile?
  10. using service-node-hostname-range, num-lpars-per-cec, num-cecs-per-frame, num-frames-per-hmc, write regex for: ppc.hcp
  11. using storage-node-hostname-range, num-lpars-per-cec, num-cecs-per-frame, num-frames-per-hmc, write regex for: ppc.hcp
  12. using compute-node-hostname-range, num-lpars-per-cec, num-cecs-per-frame, num-frames-per-hmc, write regex for: ppc.hcp
  13. using storage-node-hostname-range, num-lpars-per-cec, num-cecs-per-frame, num-frames-per-bb, service-node-hostname-range, write regex for: noderes.xcatmaster, noderes.servicenode
  14. using compute-node-hostname-range, num-lpars-per-cec, num-cecs-per-frame, num-frames-per-bb, service-node-hostname-range, write regex for: noderes.xcatmaster, noderes.servicenode
  15. using service-node-hostname-range, write regex for: servicenode table
  16. using service-node-hostname-range, num-lpars-per-cec, num-cecs-per-frame, num-frames-per-bb, starting-subnet-ip, write regex for: hosts.node, hosts.ip
  17. using storage-node-hostname-range, num-lpars-per-cec, num-cecs-per-frame, num-frames-per-bb, starting-subnet-ip, application-nic-hostname-range, application-nic-starting-ip, write regex for: hosts.node, hosts.ip, hosts.otherinterfaces
  18. using compute-node-hostname-range, num-lpars-per-cec, num-cecs-per-frame, num-frames-per-bb, starting-subnet-ip, application-nic-hostname-range, application-nic-starting-ip, write regex for: hosts.node, hosts.ip, hosts.otherinterfaces

ll-config

ll-config:
 central_manager_list = hmc01 hmc02
 resource_mgr_list = hmc01 hmc02
 loadl_admin = loadl root loadladmin
 schedd_list = sn01 sn02 sn03 sn04
 LOG = /tmp/$(HOST)/log
 EXECUTE = /tmp/$(HOST)/execute
 SPOOL = /tmp/$(HOST)/spool

xcatsetup actions:

  1. xcat will set up the following groups in support of rolling updates:
    1. nodes in cec (e.g. cec01nodes), nodes in sn (e.g. sn01nodes), storage nodes in bb (e.g. bb01storage), sn in bb (e.g. bb01service)
  2. xcat will fill in the postscripts table: llserver.sh in service row, llcompute.sh in compute row

llconfig -i actions:

  1. The ll-config section of the cluster configuration file will be used as a small LoadL_config file for setting up LoadLeveler configuration.

Related

Wiki: CRHS-like_function_enhancements
Wiki: Energy_Management
Wiki: XCAT_2_Mini_Designs_for_New_Features

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