Configuring the client for automated failover

You can manually configure the client to automatically fail over to the secondary server.

Before you begin

Before you begin the configuration:

Ensure that the client node participates in node replication on the primary server.
Ensure that the client meets the requirements for automated client failover.
Use this procedure only if the connection information for the secondary server is not current or if it is not in the client options file.

About this task

You might manually configure the client for automated failover in the following situations:

The secondary server configuration was changed and the primary server is down before the client logs on to the server. When you manually add the connection information, the client is enabled for failover to the secondary server.
You accidentally erased some or all of the secondary server connection information in the client options file.
Tip: Instead of manually configuring the client options file, you can run the dsmc q session command, which prompts you to log on to the primary server. The connection information for the secondary server is sent automatically to the client options file.

Procedure

To manually configure the client for automated failover, complete the following steps:

Ensure that the client is enabled for automated client failover by verifying that the usereplicationfailover option is either not in the client options file or is set to yes. By default, the client is enabled for automated client failover so the usereplicationfailover is not required in the client options file.

Obtain the connection information about the secondary server from the IBM Spectrum Protect server administrator and add the information to the beginning of the client options file. Group the statements into a stanza under the replservername statement.

For example, add the following statements to the dsm.sys file:

REPLSERVERNAME          TARGET
   REPLTCPSERVERADDRESS 192.0.2.9
   REPLTCPPORT          1501
   REPLSSLPORT          1502
   REPLSERVERGUID       60.4a.c3.e1.85.ba.11.e2.af.ce.00.0c.29.2f.07.d3

SErvername     server_a 
   COMMMethod                TCPip
   TCPPort                   1500 
   TCPServeraddress          server_hostname1.example.com
   PASSWORDAccess            prompt
   MYREPLICATIONServer       TARGET

For example, add the following statements to the dsm.opt file:

REPLSERVERNAME          TARGET
   REPLTCPSERVERADDRESS 192.0.2.9
   REPLTCPPORT          1501
   REPLSSLPORT          1502
   REPLSERVERGUID       60.4a.c3.e1.85.ba.11.e2.af.ce.00.0c.29.2f.07.d3

MYREPLICATIONServer TARGET
MYPRIMARYSERVERNAME SERVER1

Non-root users must specify a location for the node replication table by adding the nrtablepath option to the dsm.sys file. The backup-archive client uses this table to store information about each backup or archive operation to the IBM Spectrum Protect server.
You must specify a location that your user ID has write access to. For example:
```
nrtablepath /Volumes/nrtbl
```
Restriction: Do not specify the root directory (/) for the location of the node replication table.
Save and close the client options file.
Restart the backup-archive client GUI or log on to the IBM Spectrum Protect server from the command-line interface. The client is connected to the secondary server.

Example

After you configured the client for automated client failover, and the client attempts to log on to the server, the following sample command output is displayed:

IBM Spectrum Protect
Command Line Backup-Archive Client Interface
  Client Version 8, Release 1, Level 0.0
  Client date/time: 12/16/2016 12:05:35
(c) Copyright by IBM Corporation and other(s) 1990, 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Node Name: MY_NODE_NAME
ANS2106I Connection to primary IBM Spectrum Protect server 192.0.2.1 failed

ANS2107I Attempting to connect to secondary server TARGET at 192.0.2.9 : 1501

Node Name: MY_NODE_NAME
Session established with server TARGET: Windows
  Server Version 8, Release 1, Level 0.0
  Server date/time: 12/16/2016 12:05:35  Last access: 12/15/2016 09:55:56

  Session established in failover mode to secondary server
ANS2108I Connected to secondary server TARGET.

What to do next

You can restore or retrieve any replicated data in failover mode.