The witness server provides an arbitration mechanism, determining which device should take over the service in an event of a disaster. To set up the witness server, you must install the witness server software on the witness server host. The installation procedures are different between Windows/macOS and Linux host.

For the Windows/macOS Host

1. Log in to the root account or as an administrator of the host.
2. Start the Witness Server Setup Wizard and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
3.  When the installation is completed, you can verify if the witness server is installed successfully.
   • Windows: Open Task Manager. On the processes list, “Witness” will be displayed.

     

   • macOS: Open Activity Monitor. On the search bar, search witness. On the processes list, “Witness” will be displayed.

     

For the Linux Host

1. Log in to the root account of the witness server Linux host.
2. If the installation package is a zip file, decompress it. If not, skip to step 3. You can do one of the following to decompress the package:
   • Right-click the zip file, and select Extract Here to decompress the installation package.
   • Run the unzip command to decompress the installation package:

     XXX@Linux:~ # unzip Witness_1.x.x.x_xxxxxxxx_xxxx.zip -d Witness_1.x.x.x_xxxxxxxx_xxxx

3. Run the cd package command to go to its directory, and run the sh linux.sh command to install the witness server software.

   XXX@Linux:~ # cd Witness_1.x.x.x_xxxxxxxx_xxxx
XXX@Linux:~/ Witness_1.x.x.x_xxxxxxxx_xxxx # sh linux.sh

4. The installation will begin. There will be three sections during the process. In the first section, install JDK (Java runtime environment) to ensure successful installation. Enter yes to proceed.
5. Go to the second section to install Java Plug-in. Enter yes to proceed.
6. The Java Plug-in license agreement will be displayed. Scroll down to review it, and enter yes to proceed.
7. Go to the last section for the installation of Java-based GUI RAID Manager. Enter yes to proceed.
8. The witness server setup wizard will be displayed. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish the installation.
9. When the installation is completed, you can do one of the following to verify if the witness server is installed successfully:
   • Run the command systemctl status Witness.service. The status will be displayed as active (running).

     XXX@Linux:~/Witness_1.x.x.x_xxxxxxxx_xxxx # systemctl status Witness.service

   • Search system monitor on the host. On the search bar, search Witness. In the process list, “Witness” will be displayed.