Configuring Failover Server
Downtime affects productivity and is a threat to every enterprise. Mobile Device Manager Plus allows admins to configure a secondary server that acts as a standby, whenever the primary server fails. The data in the primary server is replicated regularly on to the secondary server to ensure the device management routine is not hampered when the primary server goes down. This document explains the steps involved in configuring the failover server.
Note: Failover Server is supported in both Standard and Professional editions.
Prerequisites
Ensure the following requirements are met before configuring the failover server.
- License for the failover server- The lincense for the failover server must be purchased and uploaded on the product.
- Remote MSSQL Database - The failover server works only with an MSSQL database. Ensure the database is installed on a remote computer present in the same network as the MDM server.
- Static IP Address - A static IP address must be configured for the primary and secondary servers. Follow the steps given below to assign a static IP to these servers:
- Navigate to Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Center -> Ethernet -> Properties.
- In Properties, select Internet Protocol version 4.
- Modify the mode from Obtain IP address automatically to Use the following IP.
- Enter the required static IP for the servers.
Ensure that the Mobile Device Manage Plus' primary and the secondary servers belong to the same domain and are located in the same subnet. If you have configured NAT settings to redirect all communications to a local IP, ensure that the redirected communications reach the virtual IP address.
Configuring Failover Server
Follow the steps to configure failover server:
- Navigate to Admin -> Setting up MDM ->Failover Server
- Check if all the pre-requisites for configuring the failover server are met. Click on Continue to proceed with failover server configuration.
- Specify the primary and secondary servers' IP address along with a virtual IP address. The communication from the managed devices is routed through the virtual IP. If NAT is configured to redirect all communications to a local IP, ensure the redirected communications reach the virtual IP address.
For MDM Plus Build number 11.1.2410.1 and above, you must specify the secondary server machine name along with the primary and secondary servers' IP addresses, as well as the virtual IP address.
All requests that reach this virtual IP will be redirected to the primary server. If the primary server is not reachable, the communications will be moved to the secondary server. The secondary server will periodically sync all the data from the primary server, so that it is up-to-date. Settings can be configured to receive mail notifications, whenever one of the server is down or not reachable.
Activate Failover Server
Follow the steps given below to activate the failover server:
- Providing required permissions
- Clone server components to secondary server
- Activate secondary server
Providing Required Permissions
This step is not required for MDM Plus Build number 11.1.2410.1 and above, as permissions for syncing data between the primary and secondary servers are automatically managed in these versions. You can skip to Cloning Server Components directly.
Ensure the secondary server has permissions to sync data from the primary server and vice versa.
You will have to enable the following settings:
- Access to computers where Mobile Device Manager Plus primary and secondary servers are installed.
- Permission for the admin to manage both the primary and secondary servers of Mobile Device Manager Plus.
During activation the below mentioned steps should first be performed on the primary server and then the secondary server.
- Right click on the folder and click on the Sharing tab.
- Click Advanced Sharing.
- Enable Share this Folder.
- Specify the name as MDMServer.
- Click Permissions.
- Click Add.
- Choose Object Types.
- Enable Computers.
- Click OK.
- Under Enter Object Name, specify the secondary server name and the username with Admin privileges.
- Click Share Permission and select user and computer. Ensure Full Control is enabled.
- Click OK to complete the process.
Clone Server Components to Secondary Server
Perform the following steps on the computer where the primary Mobile Device Manager Plus server is installed:
- Stop the Mobile Device Manager Plus service on the primary server.
- Open the command prompt in administrator mode and navigate to <Installation_Directory>\ManageEngine\MDMServer\bin.
- Execute the Clone_Primary_Server.bat script to create a backup zip of server components.
- A new zip file, product.zip, will be created in the <Installation_Directory>\ManageEngine\MDMServer folder.
Activate Secondary Server
Perform the steps mentioned below on the computer where the secondary server is installed if the build number is 11.1.2410.1 and above:
- Create a folder that mirrors the primary server's installation path.
- Extract the generated Product.zip file into the newly created folder. For example, if the primary server is installed in C://Program Files/manageEngine/MDMServer, create a similar path and extract the generated Product.zip inside the MDMServer folder.
- Open the command prompt in administrator mode and run the file named Activate_Secondary.bat in the <ServerHome>\bin folder.
Perform the steps mentioned below on the computer where the secondary server is installed if the build number is below 11.1.2410.1:
- Open Command Prompt as an administrator on the secondary server and navigate to the location where you have downloaded or placed the .bat file (the .bat file can be downloaded from the Endpoint Central Server console as shown in the image above) and execute Configure_Failover_Server.bat {PrimaryServer_IP}.
- Repeat the steps for sharing as mentioned above on the secondary server and ensure that the name of the computer where the primary server is installed is provided in step 10.
The server components are replicated to the secondary server from the primary server.