Cold Standby - User Guide - BlueCat LiveAssurance

The Cold Standby feature allows for improved reliability and risk mitigation by using a standby idle backup server. This Cold Standby Server takes over all LiveAssurance operations in the event the Primary LiveAssurance Server fails.

The switchover to the Cold Standby Server will be done manually.

Note: The Primary and Secondary Servers must be identical and must be running the same release.

How it works:

Use imanage on the Primary Server to configure the Cold Standby Server.

Data from the Primary Server is backed-up automatically every 24 hours.

Data is synced from the Active Server to the Cold Standby Server every 3 hours.

When the Active Server becomes unavailable for any reason, the user can perform a manual switchover to the Passive Server, making it the Active Server.

The following table summarizes the backup frequency and retention period for standalone configuration and cold standby configuration in LiveAssurance v26.1 and later:

Standalone configuration

Retention: Last 7 days of backups

Frequency: Backups occur once a day (every 24 hours)

Standby configuration

Retention: Last 7 days of backups

Frequency: Backups occur once a day (every 24 hours); sync to standby occurs every 3 hours

Step 1: Establish the Cold Standby Cluster

On the Primary Server, run imanage. The Primary Server is now the Active Server.

Select Set Cold Standby Server.. Enter the IP address and password of the Cold Standby Server; this identifies the Cold Standby Server as the Passive Server, shuts down the LiveAssurance processes and establishes a data sync between the Primary and Cold Standby Servers.

Step 2: Enable LiveAssurance Processes on the Cold Standby Server (Perform a manual Fail-over)

From the Secondary Server, run imanage, select Backup & Restore, then select Restore. This action results in the Cold Standby Server becoming the Active Server. It will then start all LiveAssurance Services.

Note:

Starting in v25.2.0, the Primary Server backup files are stored on the Cold Standby Server in the following location:
```
/usr/share/indeni-services/ha-system-backups/system-backups/backup<time stamp>.tgz
```
In earlier releases, the Primary Server backup files are stored on the Cold Standby Server in the following location:
```
/home/indeni/system-backups/backup<time stamp>.tgz
```
When the Primary Server becomes available again, its services will NOT resume, making it the Passive Server.

Step 3: Re-building the Cluster (Configuring The Cold Standby feature once both servers are back up)

When the Primary Server becomes operational again, re-establishing the cluster becomes possible. This action effectively swaps the two servers, turning the previously Cold Standby Server to the Active Server.

Since the Cold Standby Server acted as the Active Server last, the new cluster should be built from it.

To re-build the cluster:

From the Cold Standby Server, run imanage. Select Set Cold Standby Server. Enter the IP address and password of the Secondary Server (which is now the Active Server). This identifies the Cold Standby Server as the Passive Server, shuts down the LiveAssurance processes and establishes a data sync between the Primary and Cold Standby Servers.

Cold Standby - User Guide - BlueCat LiveAssurance - 26.2.0

BlueCat LiveAssurance User Guide