Configuring a cluster

This section describes the steps required to create, configure, and manage a cluster using EAServer Manager.

StepsCreating a cluster from EAServer Manager

  1. Highlight the Clusters folder.

  2. Select File | New Cluster Wizard.

  3. Enter the requested data on the Wizard pages; click Help for additional information on any page.

To set the initial context used by servers in a cluster when they bind their objects into the name servers, set the com.sybase.jaguar.cluster.initialcontext property on the Advanced tab in the Cluster Properties dialog. For example, cluster “US_Cluster” may have initial context “/US”, and cluster “UK_Cluster” may have initial context “/UK”. Then clients can talk to any name server which is used by either “US_Cluster” or “UK_Cluster”, and by specifying the appropriate initial context, (either “/US” or “/UK”) the clients can be directed to the appropriate servers.

StepsConfiguring a server to enable synchronization

Before you can add a server to a cluster, you must configure each physical server to enable synchronization from the primary server.

  1. Use EAServer Manager to connect to the physical server. If necessary, define a server that matches a logical server name defined in the primary server's repository. In other words, if the primary server’s name is Jaguar_cluster, you must also assign the name Jaguar_cluster to each participating server.

  2. If necessary, configure the listeners of this server. You must at least configure an IIOP listener to match the URL that will be used for cluster synchronization. Each like-named server in a cluster must also share the same listener name. Do not use ‘localhost’ for any IIOP listeners if the cluster runs on multiple machines.

  3. Configure the account that will be used to synchronize the cluster:

    • If you are using jagadmin, change the jagadmin password to match that of the primary server.

    • If you are using an account other than jagadmin, add that account's user name or digital ID to the Admin role.

  4. Restart the server so the new network addresses and security changes take effect.

StepsAdding a server to a cluster

Connect to the primary server with EAServer Manager and add each physical server to the cluster definition:

  1. Click the Clusters icon.

  2. Select the cluster to which you want to add servers.

  3. Select File | Properties. The primary server (the server to which you are connected) displays in the Primary Server field of the General tab.

  4. Select the Servers tab.

  5. Click Add.

  6. Enter a valid IIOP address for the server, for example iiop://myhost:9000. This address is used for inter-server connections when you synchronize the cluster.

    When creating a server that will join the cluster, you must define and install listeners with the same names as used by the primary (in the master configuration) for that server name.

  7. Once you have added all the servers that you intend to add to the cluster, synchronize the cluster. The Synchronize dialog box appears automatically after you add a server and click OK. See “Synchronizing a cluster from EAServer Manager” for more information. You can add more servers later, but you must then again synchronize the cluster.

  8. After you have synchronized the cluster, restart the new member servers. This step ensures that the new servers use the same security key information for interserver configuration.

WARNING! After you add a nonprimary server to a cluster, EAServer Manager warns you when you connect directly to that server. Direct user updates to the server’s configuration can be overwritten when the cluster is synchronized if the new server has been the target of at least one synchronization before it was added as a member of the cluster.

StepsAdding a name server to a cluster

  1. Click the Clusters icon.

  2. Select the cluster to which you want to add name servers.

  3. Select File | Properties.

  4. Select the Name Servers tab.

  5. Click Add.

  6. Enter the server’s URL (for example, iiop://myhost:9000). When you have entered all of the name servers for the cluster, click OK. The Synchronize dialog box appears automatically after you add a name server and click OK. You can add more name servers later but must synchronize the cluster afterwards.

  7. Synchronize the cluster.

NoteName servers can also be “ordinary” members of a cluster (if they are also listed on the Servers tab in the Cluster Properties dialog). However, if a name server is used by more than one cluster, it can be an ordinary member of only one cluster.

EAServer requires the cluster’s bind password to authorize name context updates to the cluster’s name servers. When you create a cluster, a random bind password is automatically generated. In most cases, you do not need to edit the password. However, if a name server is used by two or more clusters, you must configure the clusters to use the same bind password.

To change the password, modify the com.sybase.jaguar.cluster.bindpassword property on the Advanced tab in the Cluster Properties dialog—see com.sybase.jaguar.cluster.bindpassword. Sybase recommends that you use one of the randomly generated passwords, as security can be compromised if clients obtain knowledge of a cluster’s bind password.

StepsRemoving a server from a cluster

  1. Click the Clusters icon.

  2. Select the cluster from which to remove the server.

  3. Select File | Properties.

  4. Select the Servers tab.

  5. Highlight the server you want to delete and click Delete.

  6. Connect to the deleted server using EAServer Manager, and delete the com.sybase.jaguar.server.cluster property from the Server Properties dialog (this tells the server it is no longer a member of the cluster):

    1. Double-click the Servers folder.

    2. Highlight the server that has been deleted from the cluster.

    3. Select File | Properties.

    4. Select the Advanced tab.

    5. Highlight the com.sybase.jaguar.server.cluster property.

    6. Click Delete.

  7. Synchronize the cluster, and restart the name servers.

StepsRemoving a name server from a cluster

  1. Click the Clusters icon.

  2. Select the cluster from which to remove the name server.

  3. Select File | Properties.

  4. Select the Name Servers tab.

  5. Highlight the server you want to delete and click Delete.

  6. Synchronize the cluster.

StepsDeleting an existing cluster

  1. Click the Clusters icon.

  2. Select the cluster you want to delete.

  3. Select File | Delete Cluster.

  4. For each server that was in the cluster, verify that the server is no longer configured to join the deleted cluster, as follows:

    1. Connect to the server with Jaguar Manager (if not connected already).

    2. Highlight the server icon.

    3. Select File | Properties.

    4. Select the Advanced tab.

    5. Delete the com.sybase.jaguar.server.cluster property.

A server that was part of the deleted cluster may try to connect to the cluster if the com.sybase.jaguar.server.cluster property is set to the name of the cluster. In these cases, you see error messages in the server_name.log file (where server_name is the name of the server) indicating that the server is in Admin mode. Fix this problem by deleting the property as described above.

StepsRebinding a cluster

The Rebind option refreshes all of the name servers within a cluster. If you add a component to a server that is already part of a cluster and want to make that component available to the cluster, you need to rebind the cluster. You can also use the rebind option if a problem occurs when you synchronize the cluster; for example, if one of the name servers is slow to start.

  1. Highlight the name of the cluster.

  2. Select File | Rebind.