What Should I do When Vertica Host is Down?

Posted June 14, 2018 by Soniya Shah, Information Developer

Each member of a Vertica cluster is referred to as a host throughout this checklist. The Vertica process communicates to other Vertica nodes in a cluster. Node refers to the Vertica database software. If your host is down, follow this checklist:
Step Task Results
1 The Vertica host is physically powered off. No status lights are on the front of the server. Is there a power problem? Check:
  • Server power supply failure
  • UPS battery
  • Site power outage
  • Rack power supply failure
If yes, the host powered off due to component failure. Continue to Step 2 to identify and resolve the source of the power outage.
2 Did any of the following hardware cause the host to crash?
  • Disk or disk controller
  • CPU
  • Memory
  • Network adapter
If yes, resolve the problem. Then continue to Step 6. If not, continue to Step 3.
3 Is there a temperature overheating problem because of one of the following?
  • Lack of sufficient cooling, resulting in thermal condition and shutdown
  • Data center cooling issue
  • Lack of air flow inside rack
  • Ventilation obstructed
If yes, resolve the problem. Then continue to Step 6. If no, continue to Step 4.
4 Record the time of the known crash or failure. You use the recorded time of the failure in Step 5 to pinpoint the root cause of the crash.
5 Using the failure time from Step 4, verify the failure and its cause in the following log files:
  • Boot log: /var/log/boot.log
  • Linux logs (normal shutdown, power off, and hardware failures): /var/log/messages
  • Hardware console log. Review the log from the console manager.
The information in these log files helps you identify the cause of the failure. Take steps to fix the problem to prevent future failures. Please contact Vertica Support if you need help fixing the issues.
6 After the problem is fixed, reboot the host. The host should boot without errors:
  • All devices should be available.
  • File systems should be mounted.
  • Network connections should work properly.

Learn More

Learn more about Hosts in Vertica Documentation.