Adding a multicluster failover host

Once you have installed and configured your multicluster primary host, add one or more multicluster failover hosts to your multicluster primary cluster. Setting up multicluster primary failover is optional, but is recommended for production clusters. Should your primary host fail, failover hosts take over.

About this task

This process involves installing the multicluster package on at least one other host to be your failover host, completing configuration steps on that host, and defining a primary candidates list to indicate the host names for your primary and failover hosts.

Procedure

  1. Install the multicluster package on another host (that is, one that is not your multicluster primary host; this new host will be your multicluster failover host).
    Follow the same steps as Installing the multicluster feature on Windows or Installing the multicluster feature on Linux, and note the following information:
    1. Ensure that you use the same parameters as with your original installation. Use the command egosh ego info to get your cluster name.
    2. For Windows, you do not need to set entitlement on additional multicluster hosts; you only need to set entitlement once on the multicluster primary host.
  2. Configure your multicluster failover host.

    Follow the same steps as Configuring the multicluster primary host; however, if you are configuring on Linux, you do not need to set entitlement on additional multicluster hosts; you only need to set entitlement once on the multicluster primary host.

  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to install and configure on additional multicluster failover hosts.
  4. Configure the primary candidates list. This is the list of hosts that take over should the multicluster primary host fail.
    Run the following command from any one of your multicluster failover hosts (note that regardless of the number of failover hosts you have installed and configured, you only need to run this command once from any one of the failover hosts):
    Tip: The following steps use the egoconfig administrative command. Ensure that you are logged on as cluster administrator to run egoconfig.
    egoconfig masterlist primary_host,failover_host_1,failover_host_2
    where:
    • primary_host is the host name of your multicluster primary host. Always list the primary host first, when you run this command.
    • failover_host_number is the host name of your multicluster failover hosts. If you have installed and configured more than one failover host, lists them all here, separating each by a comma. List them in the order of preference for failover. Always follow the primary host with a list of failover hosts, when you run this command.
    Note: This procedure applies to in-data center failover, not to cross-data center recovery. This means that the failover host is only for a primary host in the same cluster. Cross-data center recovery involves two separate clusters.

    For example, if your primary host is hostP and you have one failover host, hostX, run:

    egoconfig masterlist hostP,hostX

What to do next

Once you have set up failover hosts to your multicluster primary cluster, you can start the multicluster primary, and then test your entire multicluster primary cluster.