Single-network high availability¶

The single-network high availability configuration is meant for environments where two Plixer Replicator appliances can be deployed on the same subnet. In this configuration, packets are sent to a virtual IP address that the primary (master) and secondary (backup) appliances are both configured to listen to for traffic. Because each appliance in high availability mode is assigned a priority, they are aware of their role in the configuration.

When the primary appliance goes offline, the packet streams are immediately picked up by the secondary instance and forwarded to the same collectors. Once the primary appliance is active again, it will resume its previous functions.

The single-network high availability configuration can also be extended to create additional redundancy beyond a basic primary + secondary setup.

Requirements¶

Setting up a single-network high availability configuration has the following requirements:

A primary Plixer Replicator
A secondary Plixer Replicator
Exporters must be configured to send flows to a single virtual IP address.
The primary and secondary appliances must have the same password set for the web interface admin user.

Important

The secondary Plixer Replicator appliance must be licensed specifically for use as a secondary/backup appliance in a single-network high availability configuration. After a valid failover license is obtained, it should be applied to the appliance intended for use as the secondary/backup instance. Contact Plixer Technical Support to learn more.

Configuration steps¶

To set up the primary and secondary Plixer Replicator appliances for single-network high availability, follow these steps:

Deploy the primary and secondary appliances as normal following the instructions in the deployment guides.
SSH to the primary appliance as the replicator user and launch the interactive prompt (REPLICATOR>).
Add the virtual IP address to the primary Plixer Replicator appliance:
```
system virtualip enable eth0 [VIRTUAL_IP]
```
Set the IP address of the primary appliance:
```
role set ha master [PRIMARY_IP]
```
Enable single-network high availability on the primary appliance:
```
role set ha on 101 [VIRTUAL_IP] eth0 master
```
When prompted, enter the web interface admin user’s password.
SSH to the secondary appliance as the replicator user and launch the interactive prompt (REPLICATOR>).
Add the virtual IP address to the secondary Plixer Replicator appliance:
```
system virtualip enable eth0 [VIRTUAL_IP]
```
Add the IP address of the primary appliance to the secondary appliance:
```
role set ha master [PRIMARY_IP]
```
Enable single-network high availability on the secondary appliance:
```
role set ha on 100 [VIRTUAL_IP] eth0 backup
```
When prompted, enter the web interface admin user’s password.
Test whether single-network high availability has been enabled successfully:

Run the following command from the REPLICATOR> prompt on both appliances:
role test ha
Shut down the primary appliance and ping the virtual IP address.

If a response is received from the virtual IP address, single-network high availability has been correctly configured. The primary Plixer Replicator appliance can then be restarted as normal.

Disabling single-network high availability¶

To revert the primary and secondary Plixer Replicator appliances to their previous state, run the following commands from the REPLICATOR> prompt on both appliances:

role set ha off
system virtualip disable eth0 [VIRTUAL_IP]