Creating an xHA pair - BlueCat Integrity - 9.3.0

Address Manager Administration Guide

Locale
English
Product name
BlueCat Integrity
Version
9.3.0

You can create an xHA pair on Dedicated Management-enabled or disabled servers with IPv4 only, or with both IPv4 and IPv6.

Before creating an xHA pair, make sure you have completed the following from the DNS/DHCP Server Administration Console of each DNS/DHCP Server as needed for your configuration:

  IPv4 only IPv4 and IPv6
Dedicated Management enabled
The following settings apply to with IPv4 only and with Dedicated Management enabled:
  • eth0 interface—configured an IPv4 address and netmask.
  • Gateway—set an IPv4 network gateway.
  • Dedicated Managementenabled on each DNS/DHCP Server.
The following settings apply to servers with IPv4 and IPv6 and with Dedicated Management enabled:
  • Service interface (eth0)—configured one IPv6 address and netmask. OPTIONAL: you can configure an IPv4 address and netmask on the Service interface, or you configure these when adding the server to Address Manager.
  • Management interface (eth2)—configured an IPv4 address and netmask.
  • Gateway—set both an IPv4 and IPv6 network gateway.
  • Dedicated Managementenabled on each DNS/DHCP Server.
Dedicated Management disabled
The following settings apply to servers with IPv4 and with Dedicated Management disabled:
  • eth0 interface—configured an IPv4 address and netmask.
  • Gateway—set an IPv4 network gateway.
  • Dedicated Managementdisabled on each DNS/DHCP Server.
The following settings apply to servers with IPv4 and IPv6 and with Dedicated Management disabled:
  • Service interface (eth0)—configured one IPv6 address and netmask. OPTIONAL: you can configure an IPv4 address and netmask on the Service interface, or you configure these when adding the server to Address Manager.
  • Management interface (eth2)—configured an IPv4 address and netmask.
  • Gateway—set both an IPv4 and IPv6 network gateway.
  • Dedicated Managementdisabled on each DNS/DHCP Server.
Attention: Make sure to configure the IP addresses of the xHA interfaces (eth1) on a different subnet than any other interfaces. This is the recommended best practice for direct xHA backbone connections and connections over switches or wide area networks (WAN), but is not mandatory if you're using a direct connection to the eth1 interface on each DNS/DHCP Server. In addition, if the DNS/DHCP Servers are not connected by a direct ethernet xHA backbone connection, the xHA interfaces should be separated onto a different LAN segment to prevent the xHA interfaces from receiving layer-2 broadcast traffic intended for other interfaces. This can be achieved by separate VLANs for each interface, private networks (for virtual appliances), or separate physical switches. For information and help on running xHA with switches, contact BlueCat Customer Care. For details on creating an xHA pair in Address Manager, refer to Managing xHA.
Attention: When running xHA with IPv4 only, you must ensure that there are NO IPv6 addresses on either the Active or Passive nodes.
Attention:

When running xHA with IPv4 and IPv6, both the Active and Passive Nodes must be configured with only one IPv6 address. Configuring multiple IPv6 addresses may prevent the successful creation of the xHA pair.

  • When adding each DNS/DHCP Server to Address Manager, the IPv4 and IPv6 configurations of the Service interface (eth0) is detected when you click the Detect Server Settings button.
  • DO NOT modify the detected IPv6 configuration. Modifying the detected IPv6 configuration may prevent the successful creation of the xHA pair.

To create an xHA pair:

  1. Select the Servers tab. Tabs remember the page you last worked on, so select the tab again to ensure you're on the Configuration information page.
  2. From the configuration drop-down menu, select a configuration.
  3. Under Servers, click New and select xHA.
    Note: DNS/DHCP Servers selected for an xHA pair must share the same server profile. For example, both servers must be DNS/DHCP Server 60 units.
  4. Under Servers, specify the active and passive servers:
    1. Beside Active Server, click Add, select a server from the list and click Select.
    2. In the Password field, type the default server password. For more information on default login credential, refer to BlueCat default login credentials (you must be authenticated to view this topic).
    3. Repeat these steps for the Passive Server.
    4. To remove a server, click Remove.
    Note: Deployment is required after successful xHA creation to ensure the correct operation of all services.
  5. Under xHA IP Address Settings, complete the following:
    • Dedicated Management interface
      • Active Server New IPv4 Address(only for DNS/DHCP Servers with Dedicated Management enabled) enter a new IPv4 address for the Management interface (eth2) for the active server. This is the physical management interface of the active server used during creation of the pair. The original IP address of the active server is assigned to the virtual management interface.
        Note: Address Manager detects whether you are adding DNS/DHCP Servers with Dedicated Management enabled or disabled.
    • Service interface
      • Active Server New IPv4 Address—enter a new IPv4 address of the Service interface (eth0) for the active server. This is the physical Service interface of the active server used during creation of the pair. The original IP address of the active server is assigned to the virtual Service interface.
    • Ping Node
      • Require Ping Address—select to use a ping IPv4 address for the xHA pair. When selected, the Ping Address field appears.
        • Ping Address—this field appears only when Require Ping Address is selected. Enter an IPv4 address that's accessible to both servers in the xHA pair.
    Note: Address Manager will create an xHA cluster using the IP addresses of the Active server as the virtual IP addresses (VIP).
  6. To enable backbone communication, follow these steps:
    1. Under xHA Communication Interface, select the Enable xHA Backbone Communication check box. If you previously configured the xHA backbone when adding the DNS/DHCP Server or creating xHA, the IPv4 addresses and netmasks for the Active and Passive nodes will be pre-populated with the existing values.
    2. If this is your first time configuring the xHA backbone connection, enter the IPv4 address and netmask for the Active and Passive servers.
    Note: Complete this step only if Dedicated Management is enabled.
  7. Under NAT, set the following NAT (Network Address Translation) options:
    • Enable NAT Support—select to enable NAT support. When selected, the following fields appear. This is the virtual IP address for the xHA pair behind NAT.
      • Active Server IPv4 Address (Inside)—enter the inside NAT IPv4 address for the active server.
      • Passive Server Address (Inside)—enter the inside NAT IPv4 address for the passive server.
      • Active Server New Address (Inside)—enter a new inside NAT IPv4 address for the active server. This is the new physical IP address for the Active server.
    Note: Complete this step only if Dedicated Management is disabled.
  8. Under Change Control, add comments, if required.
  9. Click Add. The xHA pair appears under the Servers tab of the Configuration Information page.
    Note: You can't disable NTP service for an DNS/DHCP Server that's part of an active xHA pair. For more information on NTP, refer to Network Time Protocol.

Wait three to four minutes for the DNS/DHCP Servers to finish the configuration. After this time, you should be able to query the pair for information.

  • At this point, you are managing the xHA pair as a single entity, although it has two physical nodes. You can now view the status of the xHA cluster and the active and passive nodes to verify interface and network settings. For details, refer to Viewing xHA status.
  • If you are satisfied with the status of the xHA pair, you should deploy DNS/DHCP to the xHA pair to ensure proper operation with Address Manager. For details, refer to Deploying data to an xHA pair.