Instructions to use VCS Simulator
Please read the step by step instructions below to gain understanding on how to use VCS simulator to
simulate customer environments. Please read the notes mentioned in “red” color especially in some of
the steps.
1. Download & install the Veritas cluster simulator software. A copy of software will be uploaded
to the community. Alternatively it can be downloaded from Symantec portal directly however
an account will need to be created with Symantec portal
https://www4.symantec.com/Vrt/offer?a_id=89446
2. Start the Veritas Cluster Simulator from Programs – “Run as administrator”
Start  All Programs  Symantec  Veritas VCS Simulator – Java Console
3. Below screen should appear
All the cluster names visible in above screen (like AIX_NFS, HP_NFS etc.) are test clusters in built in
simulator which can be used to practice the VCS behavior. All these clusters have test configurations
which will be copied to the desktop/ laptop where you installed the software.
4. Using /practicing the Simulator
A. With built in test clusters :
Verify the configuration of any cluster you want to play with using “Verify Configuration”
button in above screen. An e.g. screenshot is pasted below
4A1. Once the configuration is found valid, click on “Start Cluster” to start a virtual cluster. It will take
few minutes before the cluster is started, once the cluster is started, a green check would appear
indicating that cluster has started successfully & a new button should appear called “Launch Console” .
An e.g. screenshot is pasted below
4A2. Now the cluster is ready to play, click on “Launch Console” button to launch the cluster java
console for the test cluster you selected. An authentication window would appear, the default
username for the test cluster is “admin” & the password is “password”
4A3. You should see the Java console for your test cluster now, for e.g.
Expand to see the resources
configured in service group
Click to see service group
dependency
Service group status
4A4. Right click on the service group (ORA_PROD_Group in this example) in the left panel & you can see
series of group level operations you can perform, one of them being failover test. Failover can be
initiated by button “switch to”, an e.g. screenshot is pasted below
4A5. Once you initiate the switch by selecting the right system (sys2 in above example), immediately
click the “Resources” tab in the top center, an e.g. screenshot below while service group got offline. You
can see that color of all the resources is grayed out which indicates that resources are offline. A small
dotted arrow highlighted in above screenshot indicates that resource is being brought up on another
system. In the bottom of the screenshot, it can be seen that “sys2” is highlighted in blue color because
group is now attempted to be online on sys2.
4A6. Once the group is switched successfully, you can see that all the resources become online &
indicated in “blue” color.
It is important to note that all resources are dependent to each other so they will come online or go
offline in an order. For e.g. in above screenshot, DG_oraprod is the bottom most resource & hence will
come online first or will be the last resource to go offline if the group is offlined. Similarly
LSNR_oraprod_lsnr is the top most resource of the resource tree which means that it will be the last
resource to come online if the group is onlined, or will be the first resource to go offline when the group
is offlined.
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B. Using the simulator for new cluster or you want to test your actual cluster in simulator
4B1. Download the cluster configuration files from the server where VCS is running. The configuration
files have an extension of “*.cf “ .For e.g. main.cf or types.cf. These *.cf files can be located in
“/etc/VRTSvcs/conf/config/ “directory in any unix (AIX/ HP-UX/ Linux / Solaris) machine. In a windows
machine, this should be under “c:\program files\Veritas\conf\config” directory. Please note, all the *.cf
files which are in use by cluster needs to be downloaded in order to simulate the environment. If a
main.cf file is opened, we can see which *.cf files are being used by cluster. An e.g. of main.cf file is
pasted below:
Please note, all customers may not allow/approve to download the cluster configuration files to your
desktop / laptop because of data regulation policies. Seek appropriate permissions from stakeholders
before downloading the files.
4B2. As explained in Step 3 above, launch the VCS simulator & click on “Add Cluster” button
4B3. An “Add Cluster” menu will appear,
You can take the cluster name from main.cf file (for e.g. in the main.cf example in 4B1 step, cluster
name is “SOL_ORA_SRDF_C1”. Once you enter the Cluster Name, the System Name will automatically be
updated (let it be as it is). Port can be given from a range 15550 to 15599. Though further port range is
also open & can be used. Platform can be selected from drop down, select the right platform to which
the cluster really belongs (solaris, Linux ,AIX , windows etc), Press OK in the last. For e.g
The cluster should now appear in the main simulator window.
4B4. Once the cluster is created, browse the C drive for cluster directories in “C:\Program Files
(x86)\VERITAS\VCS Simulator”, you should see a directory created with the cluster name you entered, in
this e.g.
In the directory, automatically the conf/config folder will be created. Inside the config folder, you will
find automatically populated main.cf & types.cf file. In this e.g.
4B5. Replace the main.cf & types.cf file with all the *.cf files you have downloaded from cluster you
want to simulate. So the config folder above should contain main.cf , types.cf & any other *.cf file which
your cluster uses.
4B6. Important to note that, the main.cf file which you downloaded will have encrypted password which
you will not know & hence you will not be able to login to this configuration. To work around it, you will
need to replace below highlighted line of the downloaded main.cf with any main.cf of test cluster built
in simulator.
Please note, only replace the highlighted line & do not modify any other line else the configuration will
become invalid.
4B7. Once you have replaced the above line, now you can login to this cluster with default username &
password as explained in step 4A2 above.
4B8. Proceed with rest of 4Ax steps to play around the cluster configuration you have just built.
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Administering VCS Simulator from Command Line
Start VCS Simulator from the command line (Windows)
VCS Simulator installs platform-specific types.cf files at the path %VCS_SIMULATOR_HOME%\types\.
The variable %VCS_SIMULATOR_HOME% represents the Simulator installation directory, typically
C:\Program Files\Veritas\VCS Simulator\.
1. To simulate a cluster running a particular operating system, copy the types.cf. file for the
operating system from the types directory to
%VCS_SIMULATOR_HOME%\default_clus\conf\config\.
For example, if the cluster to be simulated runs on the AIX platform, copy the file types.cf.aix.
2. Add custom type definitions to the file, if required, and rename the file to types.cf.
3. If you have a main.cf file to run in the simulated cluster, copy it to
%VCS_SIMULATOR_HOME%\default_clus\conf\config\.
4. Start VCS Simulator:
%VCS_SIMULATOR_HOME%\bin> hasim -start system_name
The variable system_name represents a system name, as defined in the configuration file
main.cf.
This command starts Simulator on port 14153.
5. Add systems to the configuration, if desired:
%VCS_SIMULATOR_HOME%\bin> hasim -sys -add system_name
%VCS_SIMULATOR_HOME%\bin> hasim -up system_name
6. Verify the state of each node in the cluster:
%VCS_SIMULATOR_HOME%\bin> hasim -sys -state
VCS Simulator Command Line Reference
hasim -start system_name
Starts VCS Simulator. The variable system_name represents
the system that will transition from the LOCAL_BUILD state
to the RUNNING state.
hasim -setupclus
clustername -simport
port_no [-wacport port_no]
[-sys systemname]
Creates a simulated cluster and associates the specified ports
with the cluster.
Deletes the specified cluster. Deleting the cluster removes all
files and directories associated with the cluster.
hasim -deleteclus <clus>
Before deleting a cluster, make sure the cluster is not
configured as a global cluster.
Starts VCS Simulator on the cluster specified by clustername.
hasim -start
clustername_sys1 [-clus
clustername] [-disablel10n]
If you start VCS Simulator with the -disablel10n option, the
simulated cluster does not accept localized values for
attributes. Use this option when simulating a UNIX
configuration on a Windows system to prevent potential
corruption when importing the simulated configuration to a
UNIX cluster.
hasim -stop
Stops the simulation process.
hasim -poweroff
system_name
Gracefully shuts down the system.
hasim -up system_name
Brings the system up.
hasim -fault system_name
resource_name
Faults the specified resource on the specified system.
hasim -faultcluster
clustername
Simulates a cluster fault.
hasim -clearcluster
clustername
Clears a simulated cluster fault.
hasim -getsimconfig
cluster_name
Retrieves information about VCS Simulator ports.
hasim -hb [..]
Equivalent to standard hahb command.
hasim -disablel10n
Disables localized inputs for attribute values. Use this option
when simulating UNIX configurations on Windows systems.
hasim -clus [...]
Equivalent to standard haclus command.
hasim -sys [...]
Equivalent to standard hasys command.
hasim -grp [...]
Equivalent to standard hagrp command.
hasim -res [...]
Equivalent to standard hares command.
hasim -type [...]
Equivalent to standard hatype command.
hasim -conf [...]
Equivalent to standard haconf command.
hasim -attr [...]
Equivalent to standard haattr command.
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