SolarWinds Failover Engine v6.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Copyright© 1995-2013 SolarWinds, Inc., all rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its licensors.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide About SolarWinds SolarWinds, Inc develops and markets an array of network management, monitoring, and discovery tools to meet the diverse requirements of today’s network management and consulting professionals. SolarWinds products continue to set benchmarks for quality and performance and have positioned the company as the leader in network management and discovery technology.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine SolarWinds Failover Engine Documentation Library The following documents are included in the SolarWinds Failover Engine documentation library: Document Purpose Administrator Guide Provides detailed configuration and conceptual information. Installation Guides Provides detailed setup information. Page Help Provides help for every window in the SolarWinds Failover Engine user interface.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Contents Chapter 1: Introduction.....................................................................................................7 SolarWinds Failover Engine Concepts..............................................................7 Communications...............................................................................................8 SolarWinds Failover Engine Switchover and Failover Processes..................10 Chapter 2: Implementation..........
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Command Line Installation of SolarWinds Failover Engine Client Tools........31 Command Line Uninstall of SolarWinds Failover Engine ..............................32 Appendix A: Setup Error Messages..................................................................................35 Appendix B: Installation Verification Testing...................................................................41 Testing a SolarWinds Failover Engine Pair.......................
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Chapter 1 Introduction SolarWinds Failover Engine is a Windows based service specifically designed to provide High Availability or Disaster Recovery protection for SolarWinds Server configurations without requiring any specialized hardware. SolarWinds Failover Engine Concepts Architecture SolarWinds Failover Engine software is installed on a Primary (production) server and a Secondary (ready-standby) server.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine • • • • • Server Protection – provides continuous availability to end users through a hardware failure scenario or operating system crash. Additionally, SolarWinds Failover Engine protects the network identity of the production server, ensuring users are provided with a replica server on the failure of the production server.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Figure 1: Communications Between primary and secondary Servers SolarWinds Channel The first component is the SolarWinds Channel which provides communications between the active and passive servers. The SolarWinds Channel is used for control and data transfer from the active server to the passive server and for monitoring of the active server's status by the passive server.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine active server. It must be configured as a static IP address, that is, not DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) enabled. In the figure above, the IP address is configured as 192.168.1.127. The Principal (Public) IP address is shared by the active and passive servers in a LAN and is always available on the currently active server in the cluster.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Chapter 2 Implementation This chapter discusses the deployment options and prerequisites to successfully implement SolarWinds Failover Engine and provides a step-by-step process to assist in selecting options required for installation. Implementation Overview SolarWinds Failover Engine is a versatile solution that provides multiple configurations to suit user requirements. SolarWinds Failover Engine can be deployed as a Pair in either a LAN or WAN.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Important: SolarWinds Failover Engine requires that Microsoft™ .Net Framework 4 be installed prior to running Setup.exe. If .Net Framework 4 is not installed when you attempt to initiate Setup, SolarWinds Failover Engine will prevent installation until .Net Framework 4 is installed. Windows Server 2003 must have Windows Imaging Component (WIC) installed prior to installing Microsoft .Net Framework 4.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide • • • • Plugs-ins on pre-cloned servers must be located with the same path as on the primary server for a successful installation. For example, if the path on the primary server is C:\temp\, then the path to the plug-in on the pre-cloned server(s) also must be C:\temp\.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine or when you prefer to migrate to virtual technologies over a period of time. The secondary virtual machine must meet the following minimum requirements: • The configuration of secondary virtual machine must match the primary physical server: ◦ ◦ • • Similar CPU Similar memory The secondary virtual machine requires sufficient priority in resource management settings so that other virtual machines do not impact its performance.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Software The secondary server in a P2P architecture must meet the following software requirements: • • • • • • The OS version and Service Pack version must match the primary server The OS Updates installed must match the primary Server The OS must be installed to same driver letter and directory as on the primary server The machine name must be different from the primary server prior to installing SolarWinds Failover Engine Set up in a Workgroup prior to ins
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Network Options Networking requirements are contingent upon how SolarWinds Failover Engine is deployed. To deploy as a High Availability (HA) solution, a LAN configuration is required. To deploy SolarWinds Failover Engine for Disaster Recovery (DR), a WAN configuration is required. Each network configuration has specific configuration requirements to ensure proper operation.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Wide Area Network (WAN) SolarWinds Failover Engine supports sites with different subnets. In this scenario, the primary and secondary servers in the SolarWinds Failover Engine Pair will require unique Principal (Public) IP addresses in each subnet and a unique SolarWinds Channel IP address in each subnet for each server .
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine ◦ ◦ At least one Domain Controller at the DR site Refer to the following articles in the SolarWinds Knowledge Base: Knowledge base article SWREFID-1937 – Configuring DNS with SolarWinds Failover Engine in a WAN Environment Knowledge base article SWREFID-1938 – Configuring SolarWinds Failover Engine to Update BIND9 DNS Servers Deployed in a WAN Bandwidth SolarWinds Failover Engine includes automatic bandwidth optimization in WAN environments.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide • • • A Principal (Public) network connection configured with a static Principal (Public) IP address, network mask, gateway address, preferred DNS server address, and secondary (if applicable) DNS server address. SolarWinds Channel connection(s) configured with a static IP address in a different subnet than the Principal (Public) IP address, and with a different IP address than the secondary server channel NIC, and network mask.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine • • A SolarWinds Channel IP address - configured on the same NIC as the Principal (Public) IP address configured with a static IP address in a different subnet than the Principal (Public) IP address, and a network mask. No gateway address or DNS server address is configured. NetBIOS will be disabled during the installation process to prevent server name conflicts.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide The firewall rules must be recreated to allow traffic to pass through for the Client Connection port and the Default Channel port. SolarWinds recommends that the firewall be configured to allow the Client to connect to the Client Connection port by process, nfgui.exe, rather than by a specific port.
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SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Chapter 3 Command Line Installation The following provides the procedures to install SolarWinds Failover Engine from the command line including all available parameter file elements. Command Line Usage To perform an unattended installation, you must run the start /wait Setup command with the appropriate parameters from the command line. Additionally, you must create a .
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Parameter Description -se Suppress Errors (Only for Non- interactive) -sw Suppress Warnings (Only for Non- interactive) -di Display Info (Only for Non- interactive) -DNSPassword: The password used for DNSUpdate -BACKUPPassword: The password used for WBADMIN -uninstall Do not use unless instructed to do so -ADMINPassword: The password to use for Administrator -drvInstall Do not use unless instructed to do so -seco
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Table 3: Parameter File Elements Tag Values Comments FORMATVERSION: V1_0 (Default) Used to indicate the Format of the tags listed after this line. This can be used multiple times.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Tag Values Comments different for different servers (usually for a DR topology) Used when the Principal (Public) IP addresses are different for different servers (usually for a DR topology) NETWORKTASKUSER: LEAVEONNETWORK: True False COMPUTERNAMEPOSTUNINSTALL: Must be a string CLIENTCONNECTIONPORT: Must be an integer SECONDARYCLONETYPE: Full Merge Note: The Full and Merge clone types are not supported for Command Line Installation Pre clone BACKU
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide PRIMARYPRINCIPLEPADDESS:<192.168.99.111> SECONDARYPRINCIPLEPADDESS:<192.168.98.104> NETWORKTASKDOMAIN:dnstest.com NETWORKTASKUSER:administrator CLIENTCONNECTIONPORT:52267 FEATUREFORINSTALLATION:SolarWinds Failover Engine BACKUPDESTINATIONPATH:\\<10.0.1.1\nf backup> BACKUPUSER:Administrator INCLUDEPROTECTEDDATAINBACKUP:true //AMXPATH: PLUGINPATH:"C:\nfsql\SqlServerNFPlugin.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine 2. Download the SolarWinds Failover Engine .exe to a suitable location on the secondary server and change the file extension from .exe to .zip . 3. Extract the contents of the SolarWinds Failover Engine .zip file into a temporary folder. 4. Navigate to Start > Run and type CMD to open a command window. 5. Navigate to the to the location of the temporary folder. 6.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Note: If FIPS is enabled, activation of the SolarWinds Failover Engine license may fail. To activate your license on a FIPS enabled server pair, see SWREFID-2255. Figure 2: SolarWinds Failover Engine Activation 2. Ensure that the SolarWinds Failover Engine is shut down. 3. Verify that the date, time, and time zone on the secondary server are identical to the same on the primary server. 4. Start the SolarWinds Failover Engine on the primary server. 5.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Important: For dependent services, failure actions must match the failure actions for any protected service on which those services depend, in both type and order.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide When Additional Pollers (AP)s are not installed, create an Exclusion Filter To prevent needless replication of temporary files created when Additional Pollers are not used, create an Exclusion Filter. 1. Launch SolarWinds Failover Manger. 2. Navigate to the Data: File Filters pane, and click Add Exclusion Filter to open the Add Exclusion Filter dialog. 3.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine 1. Create a .txt file containing the following configuration parameters: Important: The following is an example of a parameter file (it must be modified before you use it). The content within the characters < and > indicate example text and the actual < and > characters should not be present in the edited file. INSTALLTYPE:"Install Client Tools Only" ACCEPT EULA:true DESTINATIONPATH: 2. Download the SolarWinds Failover Engine .
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide 5. Navigate to Start > Run and type CMD to open a DOS window. 6. Navigate to the to the location of the temporary folder. 7. Run the command: start /wait setup –f: -ni After the uninstall process completes, you will be notified of any files that could not be removed and advised to delete them manually. Note: The SupportLogs directory is also left behind.
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SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Appendix A Setup Error Messages The following table provides a listing of the most common error messages displayed during setup. Table 4: Setup Error Messages Message Pri Sec Level Test 10 – ‘The pre install check data file does not have the correct format. Setup cannot continue’. No Yes Critical Stop Check that the file adheres to the correct formatting and structure for use in analysis on the secondary.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Message Pri Sec Level Test 175 – SolarWinds Failover Engine requires Windows 2003 Standard Edition SP1 or later if '/3GB' switch is on. Yes Yes Critical Stop 103 - SolarWinds Failover Engine does not support #1#. The following are supported Windows 2000 Server SP4 or greater; Windows Server 2003 SP1 or greater. Yes Yes Warning 200 - Your #1# server uses the Intel ICH7 chipset and Windows 2000 has been detected.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Message Pri Sec Level Test 111 - The system folders on primary and secondary system must be the same. Setup has detected that the secondary system folder is #2# and the primary was #1#. – Yes Critical Stop Compatibility check on secondary. 113 - You do not have enough total memory to install SolarWinds Failover Engine on your #1# server. You must have at least 1GB. Yes Yes Critical Stop SolarWinds recommends a minimum of 2GB.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Message Pri Sec Level 204 - Your operating system on your #1# server is #2# and you are running with a Windows 2000 driver for your NC77xx NIC(s). In order to prevent system crashes you must upgrade to a Windows 2003 driver; the name for those drivers ends with '57XP32.sys' and not with '57W2K.sys' Yes Yes Critical Stop 212 - The number of Free System Page Table Entries on this server has dropped to #1#. This is too low.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Message Pri Sec Level Test server. To avoid compatibility problems please uninstall Double-Take before re-running setup.
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SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Appendix B Installation Verification Testing Installation Verification testing is a procedure performed to validate the configuration of the server Cluster and its performance after installation. Testing a SolarWinds Failover Engine Pair Important: The following procedure provides information about performing Installation Verification testing on a SolarWinds Failover Engine pair to ensure proper installation and configuration.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine • • If installed in a LAN environment, verify that Failover from Primary server to Secondary server if channel heartbeat is lost for failover timeout is selected from the Server: Monitoring > Configure Failover dialog (default setting). If installed in a WAN environment, you must manually select Failover from Primary server to Secondary server if channel heartbeat is lost for failover timeout in the Server: Monitoring > Configure Failover dialog.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Machine Activity ID Verify data is present. Results Data is present. Successful completion of this procedure leaves the SolarWinds Failover Engine pair in the state necessary to perform the second part of the Installation Verification process, detailed in Exercise 2 - Data Verification. Back-out Procedure (Auto-switchover) Important: Do not perform this back-out procedure if you intend to continue the Installation Verification process.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Starting Configuration SolarWinds Failover Engine is running on the secondary active server. Using the System Tray icon, verify that the server status displays S/A. SolarWinds Failover Engine is not running on the primary server which is set to passive. Using the System Tray icon, verify that the server status displays -/- to indicate that SolarWinds Failover Engine is not running.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Starting Configuration SolarWinds Failover Engine is running on the secondary active server. Using the System Tray icon, verify that the server status displays S/A. SolarWinds Failover Engine is running on the primary server which is set to passive.
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SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Glossary Active The functional state or role of a server when it is visible to clients through the network, running protected applications, and servicing client requests. Alert A notification provided by SolarWinds Failover Engine sent to a user or entered into the system log indicating an exceeded threshold.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Channel Drop An event in which the dedicated communications link between servers fails, often resulting in the passive server becoming active and consequently creating a split-brain syndrome. Channel NIC (Network Interface Card) A dedicated subnet used by the SolarWinds Channel. Checked The status reported for user account credential (username/password) validation.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Degraded The status reported for an application or service that has experienced an issue that triggered a Rule. Device Driver A program that controls a hardware device and links it to the operating system. Disaster Recovery (DR) A term indicating how you maintain and recover data with SolarWinds Failover Engine in event of a disaster such as a hurricane or fire.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Global Catalog A global catalog is a domain controller that stores a copy of all Active Directory objects in a forest. The global catalog stores a full copy of all objects in the directory for its host domain and a partial copy of all objects for all other domains in the forest.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Machine Name The Windows or NETBIOS name of a computer. Management IP Address An additionally assigned unfiltered IP address used for server management purposes only. Many-to-One The ability of one physical server (hosting more than one virtual server) to protect multiple physical servers.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine Pre-Installation Checks A set of system and environmental checks performed as a prerequisite to the installation of SolarWinds Failover Engine. Primary An identity assigned to a server during the SolarWinds Failover Engine installation process that normally does not change during the life of the server and usually represents the production server prior to installation of SolarWinds Failover Engine.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide Role The functional state of a server in the SolarWinds Failover Engine Cluster: active or passive. Rule A set of actions performed by SolarWinds Failover Engine when defined conditions are met. Secondary An identity assigned to a server during the SolarWinds Failover Engine installation process that normally does not change during the life of the server and usually represents the standby server prior to installation of SolarWinds Failover Engine.
Installation Guide - SolarWinds Failover Engine SolarWinds Failover Engine Diagnostics The umbrella name for the SolarWinds Failover Engine process and tools used to verify the production servers health and suitability for the implementation of a SolarWinds Failover Engine solution. SolarWinds Failover Engine Heartbeat Packet Filter The network component, installed on all servers, that controls network visibility.
SolarWinds Failover Engine - Installation Guide passive server or from the first passive server to the second passive server to ensure the data on the passive server is a mirror image of the protected data on the active server. System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) System Center Operations Manager is a cross-platform data center management server for operating systems and hypervisors.
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