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# Resource testing

Never created a pacemaker cluster configuration before? Please read on.

Ever created a pacemaker configuration without errors? All resources worked from the get go on all your nodes? Really? We want a photo of you!

Seriously, it is so error prone to get a cluster resource definition right that I think I ever only managed to do it with Dummy resources. There are many intricate details that have to be just right, and all of them are stuffed in a single place as simple name-value attributes. Then there are multiple nodes, each node containing a complex system environment inevitably always in flux and changing (entropy anybody?).

Now, once you defined your set of resources and are about to commit the configuration (at that point it usually takes a deep breath to do so), be ready to meet an avalanche of error messages, not all of which are easy to understand or follow. Not to mention that you need to read the logs too. Even though we do have a tool to help with digging through the logs, it is going to be an interesting experience and not quite recommended if you’re just starting with pacemaker clusters. Even the experts can save a lot of time and headaches by following the advice below.

## Basic usage

Enter resource testing. It is a special feature designed to help users find problems in resource configurations.

The usage is very simple:

    crm(live)configure# rsctest web-server
    Probing resources ..
    testing on xen-f: apache web-ip
    testing on xen-g: apache web-ip
    crm(live)configure#

What actually happened above and what is it good for? From the output we can infer that the web-server resource is actually a group comprising one apache web server and one IP address. Indeed:

    crm(live)configure# show web-server
    group web-server apache web-ip \
            meta target-role="Stopped"
    crm(live)configure#

The rsctest command first established that the resources are stopped on all nodes in the cluster. Then it tests the resources in the order defined by the resource group on all nodes. It does this by manually starting the resources, one by one, then running a "monitor" for each resource to make sure that the resources are healthy, and finally stopping the resources in reverse order.

Since there is no additional output, the test passed. It looks like we have a properly defined web server group.

## Reporting problems

Now, the above run was not very interesting so let’s spoil the idyll:

    xen-f:~ # mv /etc/apache2/httpd.conf /tmp

We moved the apache configuration file away on node xen-f. The apache resource should fail now:

    crm(live)configure# rsctest web-server
    Probing resources ..
    testing on xen-f: apache
    host xen-f (exit code 5)
    xen-f stderr:
    2013/10/17_16:51:26 ERROR: Configuration file /etc/apache2/httpd.conf not found!
    2013/10/17_16:51:26 ERROR: environment is invalid, resource considered stopped

    testing on xen-g: apache web-ip
    crm(live)configure#

As expected, apache failed to start on node xen-f. When the cluster resource manager runs an operation on a resource, all messages are logged (there is no terminal attached to the cluster, anyway). All one can see in the resource status is the type of the exit code. In this case, it is an installation problem.

For instance, the output could look like this:

    xen-f:~ # crm status
    Last updated: Thu Oct 17 19:21:44 2013
    Last change: Thu Oct 17 19:21:28 2013 by root via crm_resource on xen-f
    ...
    Failed actions:
        apache_start_0 on xen-f 'not installed' (5): call=2074, status=complete,
    last-rc-change='Thu Oct 17 19:21:31 2013', queued=164ms, exec=0ms

That does not look very informative. With rsctest we can immediately see what the problem is. It saves us prowling the logs looking for messages of the apache resource agent.

Note that the IP address is not tested, because the resource it depends on could not be started.

## What is tested?

The start, monitor, and stop operations, in exactly that order, are tested for every resource specified. Note that normally the two latter operations should never fail if the resource agent is well implemented. The RA should under normal circumstances be able to stop or monitor a started resource. However, this is not a replacement for resource agent testing. If that is what you are looking for, see the RA testing chapter of the RA development guide.

## Protecting resources

The rsctest command goes to great lengths to prevent starting a resource on more than one node at the same time. For some stuff that would actually mean data corruption and we certainly don’t want that to happen.

    xen-f:~ # (echo start web-server; echo show web-server) | crm -w resource
    resource web-server is running on: xen-g
    xen-f:~ # crm configure rsctest web-server
    Probing resources .WARNING: apache:probe: resource running at xen-g
    .WARNING: web-ip:probe: resource running at xen-g

    Stop all resources before testing!
    xen-f:~ # crm configure rsctest web-server xen-f
    Probing resources .WARNING: apache:probe: resource running at xen-g
    .WARNING: web-ip:probe: resource running at xen-g

    Stop all resources before testing!
    xen-f:~ #

As you can see, if rsctest finds any of the resources running on any node it refuses to run any tests.

## Multi-state and clone resources

Apart from groups, the rsctest can also handle the other two special kinds of resources. Let’s take a look at one drbd-based configuration:

    crm(live)configure# show ms_drbd_nfs drbd0-vg
    primitive drbd0-vg ocf:heartbeat:LVM \
            params volgrpname="drbd0-vg"
    primitive p_drbd_nfs ocf:linbit:drbd \
            meta target-role="Stopped" \
            params drbd_resource="nfs" \
            op monitor interval="15" role="Master" \
            op monitor interval="30" role="Slave" \
            op start interval="0" timeout="300" \
            op stop interval="0" timeout="120"
    ms ms_drbd_nfs p_drbd_nfs \
            meta notify="true" clone-max="2"
    crm(live)configure#

The nfs drbd resource contains a volume group drbd0-vg.

    crm(live)configure# rsctest ms_drbd_nfs drbd0-vg
    Probing resources ..
    testing on xen-f: p_drbd_nfs drbd0-vg
    testing on xen-g: p_drbd_nfs drbd0-vg
    crm(live)configure#

For the multi-state (master-slave) resources, the involved resource motions are somewhat more complex: the resource is first started on both nodes and then promoted on the node where the next resource is to be tested (in this case the volume group). Then it gets demoted to slave and promoted on the other node to master so that the depending resources can be tested on that node too.

Note that even though we asked for ms_drbd_nfs to be tested, there is p_drbd_nfs in the output which is the primitive encapsulated in the master-slave resource. You can specify either one.

## Stonith resources

The stonith resources are also special and need special treatment. What is tested is just the device status. Actually fencing nodes was deemed too drastic. Please use node fence to test the fencing device effectiveness. It also does not matter whether the stonith resource is "running" on any node: being started is just something that happens virtually in the stonithd process.

## Summary

- use rsctest to make sure that the resources can be started correctly on all nodes

- rsctest protects resources by making sure beforehand that none of them is currently running on any of the cluster nodes

- rsctest understands groups, master-slave (multi-state), and clone resources, but nothing else of the configuration (constraints or any other placement/order cluster configuration elements)

- it is up to the user to test resources only on nodes which are really supposed to run them and in a proper order (if that order is expressed via constraints)

- rsctest cannot protect resources if they are running on nodes which are not present in the cluster or from bad RA implementations (but neither would a cluster resource manager)

- rsctest was designed as a debugging and configuration aid, and is not intended to provide full Resource Agent test coverage.

## crmsh help and online resources (sic!)

- crm help Testing

- crm configure help rsctest