Installing Veritas Storage Foundation on Server 2012

This is a step-by-guide on how to install Veritas Storage Foundation 6.0.2 on Windows Server 2012. Veritas Storage Foundation for Windows provides a comprehensive solution to storage management in an integrated graphical view. Veritas SFW lets you configure and manage local and remote storage attached to your system while your system remains online. It is often used in campus/stretch cluster environments where SAN-based mirroring is not utilized.

1. Explanation of Campus Clusters

A campus cluster is a single cluster where the nodes of the cluster are located in different sites. Although two sites are the most common, more than two can be used for additional redundancy. These type of clusters are also known as stretched clusters.

This is how a typical campus cluster configuration might look like

As the figure shows, both nodes are at different sites, but are connected via a single subnet and Fibre Channel SAN. This means that both nodes are connected to the Storage Arrays, and the volumes are mirrored across the storage arrays. You can either utilize SAN-based mirroring, which means you will mirror at the hardware level, or you can utilize host-based mirroring, which means that you will mirror at the software level, by utilizing for example Veritas Storage Foundation for Windows.

Word of caution from Symantec regarding use of Veritas SFW in campus clusters

If a site failure occurs in a two-node campus cluster, the remaining cluster node will not be able to bring the cluster disk groups online because it cannot reserve a majority of disks in the disk groups. To allow for failover to the other site, a procedure forces the import to the other node, allowing a cluster disk group to be brought online on another node when that node has a minority of the cluster disks.

Implementing these force import procedures should be done with care. The primary site may appear to have failed but what really has happened is that both the storage interconnect between sites and the heartbeats have been lost. In that case, cluster disk groups can still be online on the primary node. If a force import is done so that the data can be accessed on the secondary site, the cluster disks will be online on both sites, risking data corruption.

Well, with that out of the way, lets look at how to install Symantec Veritas Storage Foundation for Windows 6.02 on Windows Server 2012.

2. Prerequisites

Before installing Veritas SFW 6.02 on Server 2012, you need to make sure these prerequisites are in place, if you intend to install the Microsoft Failover Cluster option of Veritas SFW, and utilize Veritas Dynamic Disk Groups in a Microsoft Failover Cluster. These prerequisites must of course be in place on all nodes where you intend to install Veritas SFW.

2.1 Install Failover Cluster Command Interface
2.2 Install Hotfix 423185
2.3 Install Hotfix 423304
2.4 Install Hotfix 422673

You can read more about the hotfixes in KB2804526
You install the Failover Cluster Command Interface in Server Manager (Feature Administration Tools → Failover Clustering Tools)
After you have completed these tasks, and rebooted the nodes of your cluster you can start the installation procedure.

3. Installing Veritas SFW 6.02

3.1 Start the installation wizard by double-clicking Setup.exe You only need to do this at one node of the cluster.
3.2 Select Install Server Components

3.3 I am not going to check for Product Updates

3.4 I am also not going to participate in the improvement program

3.5 Now you can choose which computers you want to install the software on, and the installation options for those computers. Since we are installing this on two nodes, we will add both nodes. Start by clicking Add for Localhost

3.6 Then write the name of the second node, and click add again

3.7 Choose the outlined Product options, and then click on Apply Install Options to Multiple Systems

Flashsap – Lets you create independently addressable snapshot volumes that are copies or mirrors of the volumes on your server.
VVR – Enables dynamic volumes to work with Veritas Volume Replicator
Dynamic Multipathing – Make use of multiple paths between a computer and a disk in a storage array

I am not utilizing any of these features, so I have not selected any of them

3.8 Make the following selections, and then click OK

3.9 Click Next

3.10 Click OK

3.11 Click Next

3.12 The installation starts, you can click Show Details to see details of the installation progress. It will show details of the installation progress on both nodes. Click Next, when the installation is finished

3.13 Click Next

3.14 Click Finish

3.15 Click Yes to reboot now

3.16 After both nodes have rebooted, start Veritas Enterprise Administrator, choose Default Profile

3.17 Click Connect to a Host or Domain

3.18 Write Localhost, and then click Connect
3.19 Veritas Enterprise Administrator will start, and you can manage your storage as you see fit