Replicator

Replicator#

The integrated Replicator instance on a Scrutinizer server/appliance can be enabled at any time by entering a valid license key on the Admin > Plixer > Replicator page in the web interface.

After an active license key has been applied, the Replicator UI tab/page of the Scrutinizer web interface becomes accessible, and the local Replicator instance is automatically added to the Admin > Resources > Replicators management view.

See this section for further information and instructions on setting up and configuring packet replication.

Note

Replicator can also be deployed as a standalone appliance (independent of Scrutinizer) with its own web interface. See these deployment guides for instructions.

Headless instances#

Additional Replicator instances (for greater replication capacity, high availability, etc.) can be deployed as “headless” appliances to minimize their resource footprint. These deployments do not include the web interface component; they must be registered and managed from a main Replicator instance (Plixer One/Scrutinizer environment or standalone appliance) and cannot be configured independently.

Registering a headless instance#

Before deploying a headless appliance, it must first be registered on the main instance as follows:

Note

Additional Replicator instances must be supported by the current license key. Contact Plixer Technical Support for further details.

View instructions

  1. Navigate to Admin > Resources > Replicators in the web interface.

  2. Click the Add button.

  3. Enter a name to assign to the new Replicator instance, and then click Save.

  4. Click on the name of the new instance in the main view and note the authentication token shown in the tray.

Once the instance has been registered, proceed to deploying the headless appliance.

Deploying a headless instance#

Follow these steps to deploy a headless Replicator instance after it has been registered:

View instructions

  1. Download the latest headless appliance package for your hypervisor from the Plixer Customer Portal.

  2. Deploy the VM following the instructions here.

  3. Complete the basic appliance configuration.

  4. After it reboots, SSH to the appliance as the plixer user again.

  5. Enter the following details when prompted:

    • Configuration host

    • Authentication token generated when the instance was registered

    • Name given to the headless instance during registration

The headless instance will now be available for assignment when configuring Replicator profiles. To manage the instance, return to the Admin > Resources > Replicators view.

Profile migrations#

Profile configuration data from previous Replicator versions (pre-v20.0.0) can be migrated to Replicator 20.0.0+ instances using the configuration migration tool included with Scrutinizer deployments.

Migration to a Scrutinizer Replicator instance#

The following instructions cover profile data migration from a pre-v20.0.0 deployment to a Scrutinizer (or standalone) Replicator instance.

View guide

Requirements

  • Migration source - pre-v20.0.0 Replicator appliance

  • Configuration/destination host - Fully deployed and licensed Scrutinizer 19.7.0+ server (or standalone Replicator 20.0.0 instance)

  • Migration utility (Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh) - Found in /home/plixer/scrutinizer/files/ on the configuration host; can also be downloaded from files.plixer.com.

  • Source and destination IP addresses must be the same (contact Plixer Technical Support for assistance with the local Replicator instance in Scrutinizer deployments)

Migration procedure

  1. Apply the correct permissions for the utility on the configuration host:

    chmod 755 /home/plixer/scrutinizer/files/Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh

  2. Copy Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh to the migration source.

  3. Use the utility to create a backup of the profile data on the source (BACKUP_NAME.tar.gz):

    ./Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh backup <BACKUP_NAME>

  4. Verify the contents of the backup file:

    tar -vztf <name-of-backup>.tar.gz
ls -l /home/replicator/v19_backup

    The files should have the same size and not be empty.

  5. Copy the backup file to the configuration host, and then shut down the source host.

  6. Navigate to Admin > Resources > Replicators on the configuration host and verify that the Local Replicator instance has the same IP address as the migration source.

  7. Restore the backup file on the configuration host:

    ./Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh restore <BACKUP_NAME.tar.gz>

  8. Navigate to the Replicator UI on the configuration host and verify that the profile data was successfully restored.

After the migration has been completed, the Replicator service should be updated with the new profile configuration data and start replication within one minute.

Migration to a headless Replicator instance#

The following instructions cover profile data migration from a pre-v20.0.0 deployment to a headless Replicator instance.

View guide

Requirements

  • Migration source - pre-v20.0.0 Replicator appliance

  • Destination host - Should be registered and deployed with the same IP address as the source Replicator after the the latter has been backed up and shut down

  • Configuration host - Fully deployed and licensed Scrutinizer 19.7.0+ server (or standalone Replicator 20.0.0 instance with at least an evaluation license); license must support at least two instances (configuration host and destination headless instance)

  • Migration utility (Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh) - Found in /home/plixer/scrutinizer/files/ on the configuration host; can also be downloaded from files.plixer.com.

Migration procedure

  1. Apply the correct permissions for the utility on the migration source:

    chmod 755 /home/plixer/scrutinizer/files/Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh

  2. Copy Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh to the migration source.

  3. Use the utility to create a backup of the profile data on the source (BACKUP_NAME.tar.gz):

    ./Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh backup <BACKUP_NAME>

  4. Verify the contents of the backup file:

    tar -vztf <name-of-backup>.tar.gz
ls -l /home/replicator/v19_backup

    The files should have the same size and not be empty.

  5. Copy the backup file to the configuration host, and then shut down the source host.

  6. Navigate to Admin > Resources > Replicators on the configuration host and register the destination host.

  7. Deploy the destination host appliance and assign it the same IP address previously used by the source host.

  8. Navigate to Admin > Resources > Replicators again and verify that the destination Replicator instance has self-registered and has the correct IP address.

  9. Restore the backup file on the configuration host:

    ./Replicator-19-conf-tool.sh restore <BACKUP_NAME.tar.gz>

  10. Navigate to the Replicator UI on the configuration host and verify that the restored profile data was correctly associated with the destination Replicator instance.

After the migration has been completed, the Replicator service should be updated with the new profile configuration data and start replication within one minute.

Hint

Profile data from multiple pre-v20.0.0 Replicator instances can be migrated to new Replicator 20.0.0 headless instances by repeating the steps above and deploying each destination host with an IP address matching a source.

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