The Zlmmirror Configuration Files; Safeguarding Your System Through Server Configuration; Data Store; Object Store - Novell ZENWORKS LINUX MANAGEMENT 7.2 IR2 - TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE 08-22-2008 Troubleshooting Manual

7.1.4 The zlmmirror Configuration Files

If zlmmirror has been configured, you should back up the zlmmirror configuration files that the
administrator has created. Because the names of the configuration files for zlmmirror and their
locations are determined by the administrator, it is the administrator's responsibility to keep them
backed up. For more information on zlmmirror, see "Mirroring Software" in the Novell ZENworks
7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.
7.2 Safeguarding Your System through Server
Configuration
When ZENworks Linux Management is installed, a Management Zone is created. The Zone is
managed by a group of ZENworks servers; the first server is the ZENworks Primary Server and the
others are ZENworks Secondary Servers. The Management Zone is highly dependent on the
availability of the Data Store and the Object Store to function properly. Thus, it becomes important
to understand how to configure your environment to provide fault tolerance and higher availability.

7.2.1 Data Store

The ZENworks Linux Management software provides an option to install the Data Store locally
onto the ZENworks Primary Server. This option is generally sufficient in an environment where
fault tolerance is not required. However, if the ZENworks Primary Server is lost, all of the data is
lost unless there is a backup of the Data Store prior to the disaster. When the primary server fails,
ZENworks Secondary Servers lose connectivity to the Data Store, which causes much of the data in
the ZENworks Control Center to become unreadable. The ZENworks Linux Management system
continues to function, but no data is recorded.
To provide fault tolerance, we recommend locating the Data Store on a machine that is remote from
the ZENworks Primary and Secondary Servers. The ZENworks Linux Management software
provides an option to install to a remote PostgreSQL or Oracle database. In this case, when the
ZENworks Primary Server is lost, the secondary servers continue to have access to the Data Store.

7.2.2 Object Store

The ZENworks Object Store is Novell eDirectory 8.7.3. The ZENworks Primary Server holds a
master replica of the Object Store and the next two consecutive ZENworks Secondary Servers
installed in the Management Zone hold a read/write replica of the Object Store. The rest of the
secondary servers do not hold a replica of the Object Store.
When the ZENworks Primary Server is disconnected, removed for maintenance, or otherwise lost,
the ZENworks Secondary Servers with the read/write replicas act as a live backup of the ZENworks
Object Store to the other ZENworks Secondary Servers that have no replica. By default, secondary
servers with no replica go through the primary server to obtain Object Store information; as a
temporary solution, eDirectory on those secondary servers might need to be restarted to provide
functionality while the primary server is out. zlmmirror and content replication are functions of the
primary server, so those services remain interrupted until the primary server is brought back up.
If the primary server is lost, the master replica of the Object Store is also lost. This situation is
remedied by converting one of the two secondary servers with a read/write replica of the Object
Store to a primary server, then by creating another read/write replica on another secondary server.
50 Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Troubleshooting Guide