Hello,
I have already created the primary and the backup brokers on the same machine using the management console. But, as far as I can tell, there is no straightforward way to follow the same process to create a backup broker on a different machine.
Right now, I have the primary broker up and running and I have no clue on how to use the management console or even the installer to create a backup broker on a different machine.
I have spend part of my day looking at the documentation but it seems to be targeted at the local scenario (I am also aware that a replication connection does offer that flexibility I am looking for).
When I proceeded to create just a simple backup container/broker (without the management broker) using the installer, I noticed this exception:
Hi Aziz,
It's been a while since I haven't relied on SDM (Sonic Deployment Manager) to manage Sonic component installations. I'll assume you have a SonicMQ 7.6.x software installation (i.e. product binaries) on both physical hosts from which you intend to run the primary and backup messaging brokers.
The key point to understand is that the configurations for all the components (Containers, Brokers, etc) reside in the Sonic Directory Service (DS). In order to start a container, only the containers launch configuration is required on the physical host (container.xml). Typically a batch/shell script file is used to launch the container; there are other mechnsims to launch a container but for the sake of simplicity I'll stick with the script approach. This is described in the SonicMQ Configuration and Management Guide: Launching Containers, page 431.
So basically you need to make sure you have comleted the following:
1. In SMC create the MFContainer definition and configuration for the container that will host your backup broker.
2. Create the backup broker component from the primary broker
3. Add the backup broker to the MFContainer
4. Generate the container.xml file for that container (either save it directly to the second physical host if you are using SMC from that machine or copy it across via a standard file transfer mechanism)
5. On the same physical host create a batch/shell script to launch the container.
When the container is launched it will use the configuration in the container.xml to connect to a management broker and retrieve the containers full configuration/archive files. In your case it will create the backup broker and initialise it. If the configuration is correct the broker will connect to the primary peer and you shoudl be all set.
Generally we advise customers to use SDM to manage the components of a Sonic Domain, particularly where the domain contains multiple components and multiple environments within the organisation. From Sonic 8.x onwards SDM is the default approach and supports a centralised install mechanism removing completely the need to perform any steps on the remote machines.
Kind regards
Kevin
Hello Kevin,
Yes, we are still using 7.6.
This is the part about the installation that I still don't understand: in order to use SMC, I first need to have something installed (on machine 2), the primary is installed on machine 1 and it has everything (domain manager, etc).. What is the minimum (or whatever I need) I can install to create a single (backup) container/broker on machine 2.
During the installation process, I can choose between the default installation (which installs everything) or the custom installation. I tried the custom option and it doesn't seem to work for my use case. And I can't use the default installation: I don't need the management container and management broker.
We are in the process of moving everything to 8.5 and I can't wait to play with the DM.
Thanks for your patience,
Aziz
Hi Aziz,
So you should just be looking to run the Sonic installer and perform a custom installation (Messaging Broker and Container). These steps are documented in the SonicMQ Installation Guide
Chapter 2, page 56, section: Broker: Configuring and Installing a Backup Broker
I've looked at the 7.6 install guide available from PSDN and it looks like it may not be completely accurate (it appears to describe the offline installtion scenario in both cases). However this may not be the case with the installed media, or if you are running Sonic MQ 7.6.2 so it's worth checking the documentation that was installed with your primary installation. In either case if you are able to follow the steps you should end up with a working setup.
The point to grasp is that you basically have:
1. Software installation (product binary files, configuration and scripts). This must exist on all machines that will run Sonic Containers (messaging [hosting: Brokers, ESB]) and management [hosting: Directory Service, Agent Manager, Management Broker])
2. Sonic Directory Service. This contains all the Sonic component configurations (think of a centralised configuration repository). It will exist only on the machine where the Sonic Domain was installed.
3. Local containers on disk (container configurations on disk sufficient to connect to the Domain Manager and retrieve the container configuration/components which are instanced on disk). These will exist ont he machines where the container is physically hosted and expected to run.
If you are still having issue it might prove pertinent to get in touch with technical support so they can help troubleshoot your set-up.
Kind regards
Kevin
Thanks Kevin, once I took the documentation with a grain of salt, it was exceedingly easy to setup since I was already very familiar with setting a primary/backup pair on one machine.