4.5. Configuring a Watchdog

Procedure 4.9. Adding Watchdog Cards to Virtual Machines

1. Click the Virtual Machines tab and select a virtual machine.
2. Click Edit.
3. Click the High Availability tab.
4. Select the watchdog model to use from the Watchdog Model drop-down list.
5. Select an action from the Watchdog Action drop-down list. This is the action that the virtual machine takes when the watchdog is triggered.
6. Click OK.

Procedure 4.10. Installing Watchdogs

1. Log in to the virtual machine on which the watchdog card is attached.
2. Install the watchdog package and dependencies:

   # yum install watchdog

3. Edit the /etc/watchdog.conf file and uncomment the following line:

   watchdog-device = /dev/watchdog

4. Save the changes.
5. Start the watchdog service and ensure this service starts on boot:
   • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6:

     # service watchdog start
     # chkconfig watchdog on

   • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7:

     # systemctl start watchdog.service
     # systemctl enable watchdog.service

Procedure 4.11. Confirming Watchdog Functionality

1. Log in to the virtual machine on which the watchdog card is attached.
2. Confirm that the watchdog card has been identified by the virtual machine:

   # lspci | grep watchdog -i

3. Run one of the following commands to confirm that the watchdog is active:
   • Trigger a kernel panic:

     # echo c > /proc/sysrq-trigger

   • Terminate the watchdog service:

     # kill -9 `pgrep watchdog`