standalone to cluster migration

[tkrjukoff]

Hi

I'm looking for a good documentation (best practices/how to avoid common problems) on how to migrate an existing SA-3000 PCS to an active/passive cluster. 

Existing PCS is on production and we do not have the possibility to stage the cluster setup.


Cheers

Timo Krjukoff

[zanyterp]

the admin guide should have information on making the change. the biggest gotcha will be related to when you move the connections (DNS, firewall, etc) to the cluster VIP rather than the current existing node. you can have a cluster up and still connect to the existing node (without the benefits of failover; but it will still host users)

at a high level, the following should be done:

upgrade the new device to the same release
export the user.cfg from the existing system and import to the new
create the cluster on the existing node
set the type to active/passive & provide the VIP address(es)
add the second node
join the cluster from the second node

[tkrjukoff]

Thanks.

One thing I haven't figured out is the VIP address. Can I use the existing standalone Int & Ext IP addresses as the VIP addresses or do I have to set new VIPs?

/timo

[zanyterp]

it is up to you; for ease, i would recommend having an additional IP for the cluster VIP rather than needing to replace the existing IPs with new ones

[tkrjukoff]

Does a new VIP IP address be automatically distributed to all existing PCS Clients or does every Client need to redefine its connections to the new Cluster VIP? That's what I am worried about thus more eager to keep the existing addresses (Int/Ext) as VIP addresses.

[zanyterp]

no, the new VIP is not automatically distributed. if you are using IP-based connection sets, users will need to manually adjust to the new IP.
if you are using hostname-based connections, no, there should not be a need to change (as long as the dns entry you publish matches the name used by your users)