2. Installation of a Heterogeneous Cluster

This section describes how to perform the initial installation on with heterogeneous Cluster Nodes (different CPU architecture, different operating systems or different Linux Distribution).

Note

Please note that the SIA installer supports installation on a Linux cluster with different Linux kernel versions as long as the architecture is homogeneous and running the same Linux distribution. To automatically install on a heterogeneous Linux cluster, please use the SIA option --install-all-hetero. More information can be found in Appendix A, Self-Installing Archive (SIA) Reference

Note

This single-node installation mode will not adapt the driver configuration dis_irm.conf to optimally fit your cluster. This might be necessary for clusters with more than 4 Cluster Nodes. Please refer to Appendix C, Configuration Files, Section 3.2, “dis_irm.conf to perform recommended changes, or contact Dolphin support.

  1. Installing the PCI Express hardware

    Power off all Cluster Nodes, and install the PCI Express adapter (see Chapter 4, Initial Installation, Section 2, “Dolphin PX Adapter Card Installation”)). Then, power up all Cluster Nodes again.

  2. Installing the drivers on the Cluster Nodes

    1. On all Cluster Nodes running Linux, run the SIA with the option --install-node. This is a local operation which will build and install the drivers on the local machine only.

      Tip

      You can speed up this Linux Cluster Node installation by re-using binary RPMs that have been build on another Cluster Node with the same kernel version and the same CPU architecture. To do so, proceed as follows:

      1. After the first installation on a Cluster Node, the binary RPMs are located in the directories node_RPMS and frontend_RPMS, located in the directory where you launched the SIA. Copy these sub-directories to a path that is accessible from the other Cluster Nodes.

      2. When installing on another Cluster Node with the same Linux kernel version and CPU architecture, use the --use-rpms option to tell SIA where it can find matching RPMs for this Cluster Node, so it does not have to build them once more.

    2. On all Cluster Nodes running other supported operating systems, please refer to the "install-node instructions in the Dolphin eXpressWare reference and installation guide for that operating system.

    3. The Dolphin PCI Express drivers should load successfully now, although the SuperSockets service will not be configured. Verify this via dis_services:

      # dis_services status
      Dolphin kOSIF 5.5.0 is running
      Dolphin PX 5.5.0 is running
      Dolphin IRM (GX) 5.5.0 ( January 10th 2018 ) is running.
      Dolphin Node Manager is running (pid 3172).
      Dolphin SISCI 5.5.0 ( January 10th 2018 ) is running.
      Dolphin SuperSockets 5.5.0 "Express Train", January 10th 2018 (built January 10th
      2018) loaded, but not configured.
    4. Stop the SuperSockets service:

      # service dis_supersockets stop
      Stopping Dolphin SuperSockets drivers                      [  OK  ]
  3. Creating the cluster configuration files

    If you have a Linux machine with X available which can run GUI applications, run the SIA with the --install-editor option to install the tool dis_netconfig. Ideally, this step is performed on the Cluster Management Node. If this is the case, you should create the directory /etc/dis and make it writable for root:

    # mkdir /etc/dis
    # chmod 755 /etc/dis

    After the SIA has completed the installation, start the tool dis_mkconf (default installation location is /opt/DIS/sbin):

    # /opt/DIS/sbin/dis_mkconf

    or dis_netconfig (default installation location is /opt/DIS/sbin) for GUI-based installation:

    # /opt/DIS/sbin/dis_netconfig

    Information on how to work with this tool can be found in Chapter 4, Initial Installation, Section 3.4, “Working with the Dolphin Network Configurator, dis_netconfig”.

    If the dis_netconfig or dis_mkconf was run as root on the Cluster Management Node, proceed with the next step. Otherwise, copy the configuration files dishosts.conf and networkmanager.conf which you have just created to the Cluster Management Node and place it there under /etc/dis (you may need to create this directory).

  4. Cable Installation

    Using the cabling instructions created by dis_netconfig in the previous step, the interconnect cables should now be connected (see Chapter 4, Initial Installation, Section 3.5, “Cluster Cabling”).

  5. On the Cluster Management Node, run the SIA with the --install-frontend option. This will start the Network Manager, which will then configure the whole cluster according to the configuration files created in the previous steps.

  6. Start all services on all the Cluster Nodes:

    # dis_services start
    Starting Dolphin kOSIF 5.5.0                               [  OK  ]
    Starting Dolphin PX 5.5.0                                  [  OK  ]
    Starting Dolphin IRM 5.5.0 ( January 10th 2018 )           [  OK  ]
    Starting Dolphin Node Manager                              [  OK  ]
    Starting Dolphin SISCI 5.5.0 ( January 10th 2018 )         [  OK  ]
    Starting Dolphin SuperSockets drivers                      [  OK  ]
  7. Verify the functionality and performance according to Chapter 7, Interconnect Maintenance, Section 1, “Verifying Functionality and Performance”.