Sun Fire[TM] 12K/15K/E20K/E25K: Changing the IP address for the C (Community) Network

Asset ID:	1-71-1009048.1
Update Date:	2011-05-02
Keywords:

Solution Type Technical Instruction Sure

Solution 1009048.1 : Sun Fire[TM] 12K/15K/E20K/E25K: Changing the IP address for the C (Community) Network

Applies to:

Sun Fire E20K Server
Sun Fire 15K Server
Sun Fire E25K Server
Sun Fire 12K Server
All Platforms

Goal

A customer is changing the network configuration within his/her data center and wishes to change the System Controller (SC) Community (C) Network to be able to use different IP addresses. How would he/she change the network configuration to allow for the new IP addresses?

The Sun Fire[TM] 12K/15K/E20K/E25K platform has 3 MAN networks (Management Networks). They are the C, the I1, and the I2. For a complete description of the MAN network, see "Sun Fire[TM] 12K/15K/E20K/E25K: Management Networks (MAN)".

For the purpose of this document, we will focus on the C network only. The C network consists of two interfaces on each SC that are externally connected to the "world" via ethernet cables.

On the CP1500 (Nordica) SC, the C network interfaces are hme0 and eri1.
On the CP2140 (Othello+) SC, the C network interfaces are eri0 and eri3.

Solution

The process of changing the C network configuration on Sun Fire[TM] 12K/15K/E20K/E25K is rather straightforward, the smsconfig command should be used to perform most of the changes.

Using the smsconfig command on both SCs allows for you to change the network configuration. See the man page for all the details of the command usage and options of modifications which you can make. Note that the man page does not provide an example to changing only the C network.

The following is an example of the process on a Sun Fire[TM] 15K platform called "mc15k", with a CP1500 SC. Note that the same hostname must be used when configuring the C network.

If your configuration is a CP2140, the only difference will be the interfaces used. Remember, CP1500 has hme0 and eri1, while CP2140 has eri0 and eri3.

In this example we are changing the subnet configuration from 192.x.x.x to 190.x.x.x (Comments within /*...*/):

1) As root on the main SC:

    # /opt/SUNWSMS/bin/smsconfig -m L

      /*Displays current configuration*/

    Configuring External Network for Community C1.
Hostname                IP Address      (Platform = mc15k)
--------                ----------
mc15k-sc-C1             192.168.66.170
mc15k-sc1-hme0          192.168.66.180
mc15k-sc1-eri1          192.168.66.181

    Do you want to:
1) Accept these network settings.
2) Edit these network settings.
3) Delete these network settings and go onto the next community.

      > 2

      /*Answer the questions below to modify the configuration*/

    Two network interface controllers (NICs) are required for IPMP network failover.
Enter NICs associated with community C1 [hme0 eri1]:

    Enter hostname for hme0 [mc15k-sc1-hme0]: hme0
Enter IP address for hme0: 190.168.66.180

    Enter hostname for eri1 [mc15k-sc1-eri1]: eri1
Enter IP address for eri1: 190.168.66.181

    The Logical/Floating IP hostname and address will "float" over to whichever system controller
(SC0 or SC1) is acting as the main SC.
Enter Logical/Floating IP hostname for community C1 [mc15k-sc-C1]: float
Enter IP address for float [192.168.45.71]: 190.168.66.170
Enter netmask for community C1 [255.255.255.0]:

    Enter hostname for community C1 failover [192.168.66.149]: failover
Enter IP address for 192.168.66.149 [192.168.66.149]: 190.168.66.149

      /*Displays the changes you have made*/

    Hostname                IP Address      (Platform = mc15k)
--------                ----------
float                   190.168.66.170
failover                190.168.66.149
hme0                    190.168.66.180
eri1                    190.168.66.181

    Do you want to accept these network settings? [y,n] y

      /*Answering yes will show you what files will be changed, updates the configuration and prepare the system for file propagation by editing /etc/inet/hosts for you. Do not edit these files by hand. Answering no means the original network configuration remains as was. When the smsconfig operation is complete if the netmask was altered then the /etc/netmasks will need to be updated manually.*/

2) Then run smsconfig -m L on the spare and make the changes there as well. The smsconfig command must be run on both SCs because the network changes are not propagated between SCs, and if not run on both, the network configurations would be different following reboots and thus would break SMS.

3) On the main SC as UID sms-svc disable failover to prevent SC failover:

    sms-svc> setfailover off

4) Reboot the main SC. Then reboot the spare SC. Only after the reboots do the network changes take effect.

5) Once the SCs come back up, the changes should be made and the new IP addresses are active. Note that if you were connected to the SCs as the old IP address, your connection no longer works. You have to be able to log back in with the new IP addresses.

6) Re-enable failover once all is working just fine to make the SCs redundant once again:

    sms-svc> setfailover on

Now the IP addresses are changed, and you should be able to access the SCs via their new subnet.

References:

- smsconfig man page
- System Management Services (SMS) 1.6 Administrator Guide

Internal Comments
The following is strictly for the use of Sun employees:

@

Note that smsconfig -m, and smsconfig -m L for that matter, does not update the /etc/inet/netmask file, as mentioned by the smsconfig manpage.

You need to enter the required netmask by hand in either /etc/inet/netmasks or in the file your naming service uses for netmasks.

smsconfig, SC, C, Community, MAN, network, IP, change, NIC, interface, netmask, netmasks
Previously Published As
72598

Change History
Date: 24 Nov 2009
User: 71349
Actions: Removed CR from internal section.
Added update netmask info to Steps setion.

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