At the Linux server console of one server, type yast2 heartbeat to start the Heartbeat 2 installation program.

You must be logged in as root to access the cluster configuration screen.

On the Node Configuration screen, add a node to the cluster by specifying the node name of the node you want to add, then click Add. Repeat this process for each node you want to add to the cluster, then click Next.

You can find node names for servers by entering uname -n on each node.

If after adding a node to the cluster, you need to specify a different node name for that node, double click the node you want to edit, change the node name, and then click Edit.

On the Authentication Keys screen, specify the authentication method the cluster will use for communication between cluster nodes, and if necessary an authentication key (password). Then click Next.

Both the MD5 and SHA1 methods require a shared secret, which is used to protect and authenticate messages. The CRC method does not perform message authentication, and only protects against corruption, not against attacks.

The SHA1 method is recommended, because it provides the strongest authentication scheme available. The authentication key (password) you specify will be used on all nodes in the cluster.

On the Media Configuration screen, specify the method Heartbeat 2 will use for internal communication between cluster nodes.

This provides a way for cluster nodes to signal that they are alive to other nodes in the cluster. For proper redundancy, you should specify at least two heartbeat mediums if possible.

Choose at least one Heartbeat Medium, and if possible, more than one.

If you choose Broadcast, select one of the available network devices in the device list.

For multicast, choose a network device, multicast group to join (class D multicast address 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255) and the ttl value (1-255).

UDP Port sets the UDP port that is used for the broadcast media. Leave this set to the default value (694) unless you are running multiple Heartbeat clusters on the same network segment, in which case you need to run each cluster on a different port number.

After specifying a heartbeat medium, click Add to add that medium type to Heartbeat.

On the STONITH Configuration screen, enter or select the name of the node in the Host from field, choose the STONITH T ype, specify any necessary parameters, then click Add. Repeat this process for each desired node.

To protect shared data, STONITH must be configured. Heartbeat is capable of controlling a number of serial and network power switches, and can prevent a potentially faulty node from corrupting shared data by cutting the power to that node.

The node names you specify in the Host from field are the nodes that can access the network power switch. For a serial power switch, this is a specific node name. For a network power switch you should typically type an asterisk * to indicate that it is accessible from all nodes.

The STONITH Type is the name of the module that is used to control the power switch. Parameters are specific to the module specified. See the stonith -h command line tool for a list of supported modules and the parameters they accept.

On the Start-up Configuration screen, choose whether you want to start the Heartbeat software on this cluster server each time it is booted.

If you select Off, you must start Heartbeat manually each time this cluster server is booted. You can start the heartbeat server manually using the /etc/init.d/heartbeat start command.

To start the Heartbeat server immediately, click Start Heartbeat Server Now.

To start Heartbeat on the other servers in the cluster when they are booted, enter chkconfig heartbeat on at the server console of each of those servers. You can also enter chkconfig heartbeat off at the server console to have Heartbeat not start automatically when the server is rebooted.