Setting Up Server ClusteringLast Updated: 12/02/2015 Introduced in Verision: 2.0 |
Server clustering allows for active load balancing, as well as active/active or active/passive failover in the event of a server failure.
To set up server clustering, navigate to the System > Settings folder, select Clustering Settings and select the Edit Clustering Settings action. Select the Turn On Clustering checkbox, define the servers that will be part of the cluster, and then click Save.
Example
Begin by navigating to the System > Settings folder.
In the Folder Data panel, select Clustering Settings and select the Edit Clustering Settings action.
In the resulting pop-up, select the Turn On Clustering checkbox.
A new section will appear containing a list of servers that are members of our cluster. To add a server, click the Add button.
In the resulting Edit object pop-up, define the first of our cluster servers.
In the Name field, type “Server1”. In the IP Address field, type the IP address of the first server which will be “192.168.169.136” for the purposes of our example. In the Virtual Directory Path field, type “decisions”. The Base Portal URL field will automatically assemble this information into the URL of the portal for this specific machine which, for this example, will be http://192.168.169.136/decisions.
This completes our definition of the first cluster server. Click Save and, back in the Edit Clustering Settings window, click the Add button to add another server.
In the Name field, type “Server2”. In the IP Address field, type the IP address of the second server which will be “192.168.168.140” for the purposes of our example. In the Virtual Directory Path field, we will type “decisions”. The Base Portal URL field will automatically assemble this information into the URL of the portal for this specific machine which, for this example, will be http://192.168.168.140/decisions.
Clustering is now enabled with the two servers listed above. To save these changes, click the Save button at the bottom of the screen.
Encrypted Data
If a server in the cluster is using encrypted fields (such as the password field in an Active Directory-integrated environment), a unique file called keys.dat will be written to C:\Program Files\Decisions\Decisions Services Manager. This exact file needs to be present on all app servers in the cluster, otherwise each server will generate its own unique keys.dat file and be unable to correctly decrypt data written by the primary application server. Once created, keys.dat will stay in the same folder and remain unchanged through subsequent upgrades.
To setup a cluster where encrypted fields are used, install Decisions on your primary application server, followed by the rest of your application servers. Copy keys.dat file your primary server to the other application servers, and restart the Service Host Manager service on the other servers. A new keys.dat file may already have been written to the other servers. Replace them with the keys.dat from the primary application server.
Data that has been encrypted using the key from one keys.dat file cannot be decrypted using any other keys.dat file, so if it becomes necessary in the post-installation period to correct a misconfiguration by replacing keys.dat, be aware that data encrypted through the replaced keys.dat file will not be decryptable by the new one. If the encrypted data is business critical, a process should be implemented to write the unencrypted data to an outside data source (such as a flat file on the app server), and to read the data back into the system after the new keys.dat file has been installed. If the encrypted data is simple, such as an Active Directory password, you may re-enter and re-save the password after changing the keys.dat file, and the password will be saved with the correct encryption.
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