How can you backup and restore VCS configuration?

Problem

VCS configuration has become corrupt, or one node has corrupted operating system

Solution

SECTION 1 - Backup the Cluster Configuration

1. Main Registry Entry

Export the following registry key from one of the nodes:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VCS\Base

2. If Exchange is involved, export the following key as well:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VCS\ExchConfig

3. Locate and back up the following Cluster configuration files:

%VCS_ROOT%\Cluster Server\conf\config\main.cf
%VCS_ROOT%\Cluster Server\conf\config\types.cf
%VCS_ROOT%\comms\llt\llttab.txt
%VCS_ROOT%\comms\llt\llthosts.txt
%VCS_ROOT%\comms\gab\gabtab.txt

NOTE: By default, %VCS_ROOT% is the equivalent of C:\Program Files\VERITAS

4. Veritas Cluster Licences

Back up the "lic" folder under following location:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\VERITAS Shared\vrtslic\lic

SECTION 2 - Restore the Cluster Configuration

1. Run the "VERITAS Cluster Configuration Wizard" on the node where you wish to restore cluster configuration. Do not join this node to the existing cluster yet. Create a new cluster with this server as the only node.

2. From another node that is still in the original cluster (not the rebuilt node) run the following commands:

haconf -dump -makero
hastop -all -force

3. On the new node, run the following command:

hastop -all
net stop llt /y

4. If this is an Exchange cluster, restore the "ExchConfig" registry key to the new node. This key was backed up in "Section 1." The location of this key should be:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VCS\ExchConfig

5. Replace the "main.cf"  file on ALL nodes with the one that was backed up in "Section 1." The location of this file is:

%VCS_ROOT%\Cluster Server\conf\config\main.cf

6. On the new node only, replace the following files that had previously backed up.

%VCS_ROOT%\comms\llt\llthosts.txt
%VCS_ROOT%\comms\llt\llttab.txt
%VCS_ROOT%\comms\gab\gabtab.txt

7. On the new node only, modify the following registry keys to match the other nodes in the cluster:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VCS\Base\ClusterName
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VCS\Base\ClusterID

8. On the new node only, modify the NodeID registry key to match the value contained llthosts.txt:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\VCS\Base\NodeID

9. On any node, run the following command:

hastart -all

10. Run the following command to check the status of the nodes:

  hasys -state

Note: If the cluster engine (had) fails to start, review engine_a.txt to determine the reason for the failure. In most cases, a had failure that occurs directly after rebuiling a node is the result of a minor mismatch between one of the registry keys or comms files that were backed up and restored. If errors are discovered, run net stop llt /y, followed by hastart to refresh the setting after making any changes. By default, engine_a.txt is located under the following path:

  %VCS_ROOT%\log\engine_a.txt

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