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Chapter 28

Administering Network Multipathing (Task)

This chapter provides procedures for creating and working with an interface group, configuring test addresses, configuring the hostname file, and configuring the multipathing configuration file.

This chapter contains the following information:

Configuring Multipathing Interface Groups

This section provides procedures for configuring multipathing interface groups. It also describes how to make an interface a hot standby interface.

"Grouping Physical Interfaces" provides additional information.

Configuring Multipathing Interface Groups--Task Map

Table 28-1 Configuring Multipathing Interface Groups--Task Map

Task

Description

For Instructions, Go to ..

Configuring a multipathing interface group with two interfaces

Use the ifconfig command, the group parameter, -failover option, the deprecated option, and the /etc/hostname.interface file

"How to Configure a Multipathing Interface Group With Two Interfaces"

Configuring a multipathing group where one of the interfaces is a standby interface

Use the ifconfig command, the group parameter, standby parameter, -failover option, and the /etc/hostname.interface file

"How to Configure a Multipathing Group With One of the Interfaces a Standby Interface"

Displaying the group to which a physical interface belongs

Use the ifconfig command and the interface name

"How to Display the Group to Which a Physical Interface Belongs"

Adding an interface to a group

Use the ifconfig command and the interface name

"How to Add an Interface To a Group"

Removing an interface from a group

Use the ifconfig command and a null string to disable IP network multipathing

"How to Remove an Interface From a Group"

Moving an interface from an existing group to a different group

Use the ifconfig command and the group parameter

"How to Move an Interface From an Existing Group to a Different Group"

How to Configure a Multipathing Interface Group With Two Interfaces

  1. Become superuser.

  2. Place each physical interface into a multipathing group by typing the following command.

    # ifconfig interface-name group group-name

    For example, to place hme0 and hme1 under group test, you type the following commands:

    # ifconfig hme0 group test
# ifconfig hme1 group test

  3. Configure a test address for all the physical interfaces.

    • For an IPv4 test address, type the following command.

      Note - This step assumes that you have already configured your physical interfaces' addresses. 

      # ifconfig interface-name addif ip-address <parameters> -failover deprecated up

      For example, to configure a test address on hme0 with the following configuration:

      • Address set to 19.16.85.21

      • Netmask and broadcast address set to the default value

      • -failover and deprecated options set

      You type the following command:

      # ifconfig hme0 addif 19.16.85.21 netmask + broadcast + -failover deprecated up

      You can check the configuration by typing the following:

      # ifconfig hme0:1
	hme0:1: flags=9000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,DEPRECATED,IPv4,NOFAILOVER>
    mtu 1500 index 2 inet 19.16.85.21 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 19.16.85.255

      Note - You must mark an IPv4 test address as deprecated to prevent applications from using the test address.

      To configure a test address on hme1 with the following configuration:

      • Address set to 19.16.85.22

      • Netmask and broadcast address set to the default value

      • -failover and deprecated options set

      Type the following command:

      # ifconfig hme1 addif 19.16.85.22 netmask + broadcast + -failover deprecated up

    • For an IPv6 test address, type the following command.

      # ifconfig interface-name inet6 -failover

      Note - Because you have already placed the physical interfaces with IPv4 addresses into a multipathing group, physical interfaces with IPv6 addresses are also implicitly placed in the same multipathing group. You might have placed physical interfaces with IPv6 addresses into a multipathing group first. Then physical interfaces with IPv4 addresses would have been also implicitly placed in the same multipathing group.

      For example, to configure hme0 with an IPv6 test address, you type the following command:

      # ifconfig hme0 inet6 -failover

      You can check the configuration by typing the following:

      # ifconfig hme0 inet6
	hme0: flags=a000841<UP,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv6,NOFAILOVER> mtu 1500 
        	index 2 inet6 fe80::a00:20ff:feb9:17fa/10 
        	groupname test

      Note - You do not need to mark an IPv6 test address as deprecated to prevent applications from using the test address.

      For the second interface, hme1, type the following command:

      # ifconfig hme1 inet6 -failover

  4. (Do this step only if you want to preserve the configuration across reboots.) To preserve the configuration across reboots, do the following substeps.

    • For IPv4, edit the /etc/hostname.interface file and add the following line.

      interface-address <parameters> group group-name up \
	addif logical-interface -failover deprecated <parameters> up

      Note - This test IP address is configured only on the next reboot. If you want the configuration to be invoked in the current session, do steps 1, 2, and 3.

      For example, to create a group test with the following configuration for hme0:

      • Physical interface hme0 with address 19.16.85.19

      • A logical interface address of 19.16.85.21

      • With deprecated and -failover set

      • Sets the netmask and broadcast address to the default value

      You add the following line to the /etc/hostname.hme0 file:

      19.16.85.19 netmask + broadcast + group test up \
	addif 19.16.85.21 deprecated -failover netmask + broadcast + up

      Similarly, to place hme1 under the same group test and configure a test address, type the following command:

      19.16.85.20 netmask + broadcast + group test up \
	addif 19.16.85.22 deprecated -failover netmask + broadcast + up

    • For IPv6, edit the /etc/hostname6.interface file and add the following line.

      -failover group group-name up

      Note - This test IP address is configured only on the next reboot. If you want the configuration to be invoked in the current session, do steps 1, 2, and 3.

      For example, to create a test group for hme0 with an IPv6 address, add the following line to the /etc/hostname6.hme0 file:

      -failover group test up

      Similarly, to place hme1 under the same group test and configure a test address, add the following line to the /etc/hostname6.hme1 file:

      -failover group test up

Note - To add more interfaces to the multipathing group, repeat steps 1 through 3. New interfaces can be added to an existing group on a live system. However, changes are lost across reboots.

 		 
 
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