PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8 for AIX Enterprise Edition Notes

New functions and features

Cyber Vault Security in SVC Storwize®
Starting with PowerHA® SystemMirror® 7.2.8 or later, a safeguarded snapshot backup feature is available with IBM® SAN Volume Controller (SVC) Storwize firmware version 8.5.0.6 or later, to provide data protection in volumes. Safeguarded snapshots secure data to prevent it from being compromised, either accidentally or deliberately. The C-SPOC function in PowerHA SystemMirror supports configuration of SVC storage, Safeguard policy creation, and enabling safeguard snapshots for a Volume Group through SMIT and cl mgr utility. This feature is available in PowerHA SystemMirrorVersion 7.2.8. For more information, see Enabling Safeguard function for a volume group using C-SPOC - IBM Documentation
Physical volume level encryption for support in PowerHA
Starting with PowerHA SystemMirrorVersion 7.2.8 and IBM AIX®® Version 7.3TL1, the encryption is supported at the physical volume level, which is part of a volume group. This encryption is configured in the PowerHA SystemMirror environment. Currently, only platform keystore (PKS) authentication method is supported to enable the physical volume encryption. For more information, see Physical volumes - IBM Documentation.
ROHA in IBM PowerVS - enhancements
PowerHA SystemMirror supports Resource Optimized High Availability (ROHA) feature in PowerVS Cloud. Starting with PowerHA® SystemMirror® Version 7.2.8, ROHA in IBM PowerVS is enhanced to manage cloud resources, which are part of Cloud Shared processor pool. For more information, see Resource Optimized High Availability in Cloud - IBM Documentation. ROHA for IBM cloud feature is enhanced to support any new data center in any region or zone. Also, the ROHA feature has better compatibility with different Python versions. For more information, see Resource Optimized High Availability in Cloud - IBM Documentation.
GLVM DR Sizing tool
The existing Geographic Logical Volume Manager (GLVM) Disaster recovery (DR) Sizing tool provides the network bandwidth and cache recommendations for the asynchronous volume group. Starting PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8, additional recommendations for network performance and latency are also provided in the GLVM DR Sizing tool through iperf tool. For more information, see GLVM DR Sizing tool - IBM Documentation.
Enhancements for the Disk Tiebreaker solution in PowerHA
By imposing a time delay on the low-priority sites, Reliable Scalable Cluster Technology (RSCT) version 3.3.2.0 or later, provides the concept of prioritizing a cluster site. This feature helps to get a tie breaker during cluster split circumstances. Starting PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8, configuration and operation of site priority, and time delay are enabled during SCSIPR disk tiebreaker and split-merge scenarios. For more information, see Tie breaker option for split and merge policies - IBM Documentation.
HMC Port 443 Support in PowerHA
Starting PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8, or later, support for both the acceptable Hardware Management Console (HMC) ports (443 & 12443) is enabled giving the user the flexibility to choose the port used for the HMC connectivity.
Email notification enhancement for System events like shutdown
The existing email notification function that supports the PowerHA cluster events, is enhanced to support system events like aix_shutdown. For more information, see Defining a remote notification method - IBM Documentation.
PowerHA Integration with Ansible®
Starting PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8, a new Ansible solution is introduced. This feature provides multiple automation playbooks. These play books help in regular and repetitive PowerHA configurations. The ansible playbooks are shipped as a tarball so that they can be deployed on a centralized server. For more information, see Ansible integration with PowerHA System Mirror- IBM Documentation.
Utility for reserving IP in PowerVS
PowerHA SystemMirror version 7.2.8 is providing a new utility clreserveip to avoid duplicate IP addresses in PowerVS environment. The clreserveip utility reserves the IP addresses to be used as Service IP addresses in the PowerVS cluster configuration. For more information, see clreserveip command- IBM Documentation.
PowerHA SystemMirror GUI
The following updates are new in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI:
ROHA on prem
Resource Optimized High Availability (ROHA) is added as a new feature in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI. The ROHA feature automatically and dynamically manages Dynamic Logical Partitions (DLPARs), Enterprise Pool CoD (EPCoD), and on or off CoD resources. Resources can be acquired and released on demand to manage those efficiently. HMC is used to manage resources. HMC communication can be established by using the following two methods.
  • SSH
  • REST

Prerequisites

The Lab administrator must perform the following actions.
  • The HMC and cluster nodes do not require a password to communicate.
  • The HMC details must be updated in the /etc/hosts file of all the cluster nodes.
Email notifications Enhancement for System Based Events and Multiple email Configuration
The PowerHA SystemMirror GUI version 7.2.7, has the email notification feature, which configures a single email notification setting for multiple events for example, events like Admin Op, Site Up, RG Move. All email IDs configured in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI are notified whenever one of the specified events occurs.

Starting PowerHA SystemMirror GUI 7.2.8, the user can create multiple email groups by using the Set email ID option. A user can also set up multiple email profiles for a single cluster.

A new system-specific AIX Shutdown event is added to the list of events. Prior to configuring the email notification, the user can also test the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) configuration by sending a test email.

Prerequisite

The lab administrator must perform the following actions.
  • SMTP configuration on the cluster nodes.
MFA with Voice call, TOTP, and Signature authentication methods
The IBM Security Verify feature supports two-factor authentication. The first authentication factor is the username and password. The second authentication factor is a system-generated numeric or alphanumeric code that the user must provide to prove their identity.

In the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI 7.2.6 version, Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) was introduced with the provision of sending One Time Password (OTP) to the user’s phone number or to email address. An OTP is valid for a specific time. It becomes invalid after a successful user login or when it expires.

Starting PowerHA SystemMirror GUI 7.2.8 version, the GUI supports MFA with the following features.

  • Voice Call: The user receives OTP through a phone call.
  • Time-Based One-Time Password (TOTP): TOTP authentication is supported by any authenticator application, for example: Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator.
  • Signature Authentication: Signature authentication uses IBM Verify application.
File Collection
Starting PowerHA SystemMirror GUI 7.2.8 version, the user has provision to create, view, modify, and delete a file collection by using the PowerHA SystemMirror File Collection GUI feature. Two default file collections are available.
  • Configuration_files
  • HACMP_files
Fix Central Installation support for the Service Pack (SP)
In the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI version 7.2.7, users might download Service pack (SP) packages directly from the GUI to discovered clusters with one click, instead of downloading from Fix Central. However, after installation the user had to manually install the SP filesets.
With the introduction of PowerHA SystemMirror GUI version 7.2.8, the GUI allows users to install downloaded files directly from the user interface. Users select the cluster from the drop-down menu and select their preferred installation for the available downloads. With these enhancements, the PowerHA simplifies the update process by using the following upgrade options.
  • NDU (Non-Disruptive Update)
  • Offline Update
Orphan Resources (Service IP and Application controller)
In PowerHA GUI version 7.2.7 and prior releases, users could create the resources only from the Resource Group page, which was associated with that Resource Group. But starting PowerHA SystemMirror GUI version 7.2.8, the GUI allows users to create independent resources, such as Service IP and Application controller that are not associated with any Resource Groups (RGs). This feature is now available in the Service IP and Application controller GUI. Users can create, edit, delete, and view these resources. Also, users have the flexibility to add these newly created or existing Orphan Resources to a specific RG. Users can either use the Cluster (Resource Page) or the Resource Group (Resource Page).
GLVM Sizing Tool Enhancement for Network Latency
In the previous releases, the Geographic Logical Volume Manager (GLVM) Sizing tool provided the network bandwidth and cache recommendations for the Asynchronous Volume Group(VG).

The GLVM sizing tool in PowerHA version 7.2.8 enhancement provides network latency information and recommendation in the GUI.

Following are some of the additional minor enhancements that are added to the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI 7.2.8 version:

  • User can select multiple hostname for Cloud Backup Restoration (CBR). The multiple selection allows the user to initiate the restoration process for the cloud images on multiple nodes (hostname) by selecting the check boxes.
  • Delete function for storage devices (part of CBM) is now supported which helps the user to remove the storage devices from the GUI itself.
  • Node version is upgraded from Node 16 to Node 18.3.

Software requirements

Before you install PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8, you must install all available service packs for AIX and PowerHA SystemMirror from the IBM Fix Central website.

PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8 is supported on the following versions of the AIX operating system:
  • IBM AIX 7.3 with Technology Level 2 with Service Pack 0, or later
  • IBM AIX 7.3 with Technology Level 1 with Service Pack 2, or later
  • IBM AIX 7.3 with Technology Level 0 with Service Pack 4, or later
  • IBM AIX 7.2 with Technology Level 5 with Service Pack 6, or later
  • IBM AIX 7.2 with Technology Level 4 with Service Pack 6, or later
  • IBM AIX 7.1 with Technology Level 5 with Service Pack 12, or later
PowerHA SystemMirror GUI
PowerHA SystemMirror GUI is supported only on the following web browsers:
  • Google Chrome Version 57, or later
  • Firefox Version 54 or later

The PowerHA SystemMirror GUI requires that OpenSSL is installed on the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server to generate a unique set of security files (keys and certificates). Secure Shell (SSH) is required for certain features, like backup communication, cluster creation (via wizard and snapshot), and terminal usage in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI. To run these tasks from the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI as a non-root user, you must configure the sudo command on cluster nodes. For more information, see Logging in as a non-root user. After a cluster is successfully added to the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI, the root access or sudo access is no longer required to manage the cluster through the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI.

PowerHA SystemMirror GUI can also manage clusters that are running earlier versions of PowerHA SystemMirror. When you manage older clusters in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI, you can use only the capabilities that are associated with the PowerHA SystemMirror version of the cluster. For example, with PowerHA SystemMirror GUI version 7.2.5 GUI server, if you select a cluster in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI and that cluster is running PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.3, some of the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI version 7.2.5 capabilities might not be available for the selected cluster.

Hardware requirements

PowerHA SystemMirror graphical user interface (GUI) requires IBM POWER7® or later technology-based servers.

Installation and migration

Support matrix for PowerHA SystemMirror Smart Assists

The following table describes the versions of middleware that can be configured and managed with PowerHA SystemMirror Smart Assists. For information about supported PowerHA SystemMirror version, see PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX Reference Information.
start of change
Table 1. Support matrix for PowerHA SystemMirror Smart Assists. The table describes the middleware application versions that are supported on PowerHA SystemMirror with different versions of the AIX operating system.
Middleware application AIX 7.2 AIX Version 7.3
AIX print subsystem, DHCP, and DNS 7.2 7.3
Oracle Database Server 19C 19C
SAP Netweaver 7.52 7.52
Db2® 11.5 11.5
WebSphere® MQSeries® 9.3 9.3
IBM Tivoli® Directory Server 6.4 6.4
IBM Lotus® Domino® Server
Note: Support is withdrawn for this product from PowerHA SystemMirror 7.2.8 or later.
 NA NA
SAP liveCache Hot Standby
Note: Support is withdrawn for this product from PowerHA SystemMirror 7.2.8 or later.
 NA NA
MaxDB 7.9.08 7.9.08
IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
Note: The product is now known as IBM Spectrum® Protect™.
 8.1.8 8.1.8
end of change

PowerHA SystemMirror GUI

You do not need to install the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server in a PowerHA SystemMirror cluster in an integrated configuration, but the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI agent must be installed in a cluster. When you migrate a PowerHA SystemMirror GUI agent, an attempt is made to restart the agent service when the migration completes. When you migrate a PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server, an attempt is made to maintain the original state of the agent service. If the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server is active when the server migration begins, an attempt is made to restart the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server when the migration completes.

After you install file sets that are available on the PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8 for AIX media, or migrate to 7.2.8 from 7.2.7 or prior, you must run the /usr/es/sbin/cluster/ui/server/bin/smuiinst.ksh command. This action completes the server installation process. The smuiinst.ksh command automatically downloads and installs the remaining files that are required to complete the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI Server installation process. These downloaded files are not included in the PowerHA SystemMirror file sets because the files are licensed under the General Public license (GPL).

You must migrate the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server before you migrate any cluster that is managed by the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server. Clusters(on higher PHA versions) cannot be managed by an older version of the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server. If the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server is configured for high availability, you must disable high availability of the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server before you migrate the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server. You can enable the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server for high availability after the migration process is complete.

For more information, see Configuring the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server to be highly available.

For more information about migration, see the Upgrading a PowerHA SystemMirror cluster and Installing PowerHA SystemMirror GUI

Additional information

PowerHA SystemMirror GUI

  • If you cannot add a cluster to the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI, or create a new cluster from the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI, consider the following points:
    • Verify that the nodes in the cluster have a boot IP or persistent IP that can be routed to the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server. You cannot use a service IP to manage a cluster.
    • Verify that SSH connection from the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server to the remote system that you are trying to connect is working. For example:
      # ssh 172.19.67.49 /bin/hostname
The authenticity of host '172.19.67.49 (172.19.67.49)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is 41:19:ea:f6:4f:46:91:29:f5:a0:fd:89:91:f7:28:97.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?
      In the current version of PowerHA SystemMirror GUI, you must also respond to the prompt to establish the SSH connection. You must respond by entering yes to add the host to the ~/.ssh/known_hosts file of the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server. After adding the host name to the hosts files the prompt is not displayed again.
    • Only a root user can create or add a cluster. After the cluster is added in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI, a non-root user can also manage clusters through the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI. If you do not have root credentials, a root user must configure the sudo command such that it can be run on one of the nodes in the cluster. For more information, see Logging in as a non-root user. If you have root credentials, Secure Shell (SSH) service must be configured on the cluster to allow root access. The value of the PermitRootLogin parameter must be set to yes in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file. You must restart the SSH service after you modify the sshd_config file.
    • The SSH service can be used with a key or with a password. For a key, the key must not have a passphrase. The configPasswordAuthentication parameter must be set to yes in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file. You must restart the SSH service after you modify the sshd_config file.
  • If the status of a cluster is incorrect in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI, consider the following points:
    • The PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server does not interacts with the cluster nodes for status. The PowerHA SystemMirror GUI responds based on status change notifications from each node as indicated in the following actions:
      • Core PowerHA SystemMirror GUI events are notified to the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server immediately after they occur.
      • When the clmgr command is used to modify the configuration of a cluster, a notification is sent to the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server.
    • Verify that the network and firewall settings are allowing traffic between the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server and PowerHA SystemMirror GUI agents by checking the following:
      • The default port for the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server is 8080. You can specify a different value for the port in the /usr/es/sbin/cluster/ui/server/configuration-server.json file.
      • The default port for the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI agent is 8081. You can specify a different value for the port in the /usr/es/sbin/cluster/ui/agent/configuration-agent.json file.

      For more information about changing the values for the ports, see the Changing ports.

    • Synchronize the cluster by running the following command: 
      clmgr synchronize cluster

      After you synchronize the cluster, if the sync PASSED event does not appear in the event viewer for that cluster or if the cluster status in the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI is not correct, the problem might require IBM Support assistance.

      See Troubleshooting the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI for more assistance.

  • In the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI, you must avoid changing the host name of the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server. If you must modify the host name of the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server, clusters that are managed by the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI might not be able to communicate status updates to the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server. You can avoid this issue in one of the following ways:
    • Remove the cluster from the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server before you modify the host name, and add the cluster after you modify the host name.
    • Modify the host name of the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server, and manually update the /usr/es/sbin/cluster/ui/agent/configuration-agent.json file on each cluster node. Replace the old server IP address with the new IP address in the serverURI property. Restart the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI agent after you modify the file.
  • The option to authenticate by specifying an SSH key is not available from the open terminal feature. SSH authentication is supported only though a password.
  • You do not need to install the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server in a PowerHA SystemMirror cluster, but the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI agent must be installed in a cluster. If the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server is installed within a PowerHA SystemMirror cluster, the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI can be used to keep the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server highly available.
  • The PowerHA SystemMirror GUI can manage AIX clusters concurrently, and with full multi-tenancy support. For more information, see Cluster zones.
  • If you install the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server within a cluster, you must install it on only one of the nodes in the cluster unless you are configuring the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI for high availability. For more information, see Configuring the GUI to be highly available.
  • By default, the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server uses the IP address that is associated with the default host name of the system on which it is running. The PowerHA SystemMirror GUI agents use the IP address of the server's host name to communicate the cluster status to the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server. If you want to use an alternative IP address for the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI communication, specify the IP address in the serverAddress property in the /usr/es/sbin/cluster/ui/server/configuration-server.json file. For more information, see Configuring the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI.

Due to expiration of the Bulls freeware, you must use the IBM AIX Toolbox to download dependencies of the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server. If the PowerHA SystemMirror cluster and the PowerHA SystemMirror GUI server are on PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.3, dependencies remain same.

For 7.2.8 and later versions of PHA, following dependencies have changed:
  • libgcc-8.1.0-2.aix7.2.ppc.rpm to libgcc-8.3.0-3.aix7.2.ppc.rpm
  • libstdcplusplus-8.1.0-2.aix7.2.ppc.rpm to libstdcplusplus-8.3.0-3.aix7.2.ppc.rpm
  • For More information , refer Installing PowerHA SystemMirror GUI

Documentation

To view the latest updates to the documentation, see the What's new in PowerHA SystemMirror Version 7.2.8 for AIX topic.

To view the documentation in PDF files, see the PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX PDFs topic.

Man pages

The man pages for the PowerHA SystemMirror commands are provided in the cluster.man.en_US.es.data fileset. To view the man pages, from the command line, enter man command_name (where command_name is the name of the command). You can also view the man pages in the IBM Knowledge Center, PowerHA SystemMirror commands.

You can use the clmgr command to perform most of the PowerHA SystemMirror operations. For more information about the operations that you can perform by using the clmgr command, see the clmgr command: Quick reference topic.