Guided activity: Clustering Sametime Meeting Servers

This guided activity takes you through the steps for clustering new IBM® Sametime® servers hosted on IBM WebSphere® Application Server. The servers that you add to the cluster must all be running the same Sametime product; for example, Sametime Meeting Server, Sametime Proxy Server, Sametime Conference Manager, Sametime SIP Proxy/Registrar, or Sametime Advanced Server.

Before you begin

  1. Install the Sametime System Console and two or more Sametime servers of the same product type; then start the Sametime System Console and all of the servers you plan to cluster.

    This guided activity is only for use with the Sametime servers, which are clustered using IBM WebSphere Network Deployment:

    • Sametime Proxy Server

    • Meeting Server

      Base Meeting Server role only; this role cannot share a computer with other Meeting Server roles if it will be clustered.

    • Sametime Media Manager

      Conference Manager or SIP Proxy/Registrar component only; these components must not share a computer if they will be clustered.

    • Advanced Server
  2. Run the backupConfig utility for the deployment manager, the primary node, and any secondary nodes before beginning the cluster guided activity. The utility is located in the bin folder in the profile of each server. The utility automatically shuts down any running servers in the profile, so you must restart the severs after running the utility. Use the restoreConfig utility to restore the configuration if the changes need to be undone. For more information on backupConfig and restoreConfig, see the WebSphere Application Server product documentation.
Tip: Find the most up-to-date help, and translated versions of the help, in the product documentation published on IBM Knowledge Center.

About this task

A vertical cluster consists of multiple members of the same product cluster installed on a single computer. A horizontal cluster consists of multiple members of the same product cluster with each installed on a separate computer. Sametime supports both vertical clusters and horizontal clusters, but does not allow multiple vertical clusters on a single computer.

Configure a cluster of one type of product server to improve performance with high availability, and to provide failover. You can create a horizontal cluster in which each node is hosted on a separate computer, as well as a vertical cluster with multiple cluster members hosted on the primary node.

These instructions use the Sametime System Console as the cluster's deployment manager; however, if you deploy clusters for both Meeting Server and Advanced Server, see this Tech Note for information pertaining to this configuration: When Sametime Advanced is federated to the same cell as Sametime Meetings, users have multiple issues attending meetings.

If you are creating or updating a cluster that does not use the Sametime System Console as the deployment manager, ensure that all deployment managers can create SOAP connections to each other. A firewall must not block the SOAP port, and the host names must be resolvable. The Sametime System Console must access any stand-alone primary node's application port, and every primary node must access its deployment manager's SOAP port. Verify all port assignments in the Integrated Solutions Console's System Administration > Deployment Manager > Ports section. A server's ports can be checked by selecting the server in the Servers view of Integrated Solutions Console. The SOAP ports are called SOAP_CONNECTOR_ADDRESS and the application ports are WC_defaulthost and WC_defaulthost_secure.

Procedure

  1. Cluster WebSphere Application Servers.

    Click Next to begin the clustering activity.

  2. Select Product to Cluster.

    Select the product server to cluster, and then click Next.

    The list only displays Sametime products for which one or more servers have been installed and registered with the Sametime System Console. If you installed servers using deployment plans, they are registered with the console automatically. If you did not use a deployment plan, you must manually register the servers with the console before proceeding as you would if installation failed, see the topic Registering and federating a Sametime Proxy Server, Media Manager, Meeting Server, or Sametime Advanced manually.

  3. Select or Create a Cluster.

    To create a cluster:

    1. Click Create Cluster if you are setting up a new cluster.
    2. Type a descriptive name for the cluster in the Cluster Name field.

      For example, if you are creating a cluster of Meeting Servers, you will probably want to indicate that in the cluster name so you can easily identify it later.

    3. Click Next.

    To modify an existing cluster; for example, to add a new cluster member:

    1. Click Select Existing Cluster.
    2. Select a cluster in the Cluster Name list.

      If you are going to add a node or cluster member to the cluster, you must use the same Sametime product. For example, you cannot add a Meeting Server cluster member to a cluster of Sametime Proxy Servers.

    3. Click Next.
  4. Select the deployment manager.

    In the Select Deployment Manager list, select the Sametime System Console as the cluster's deployment manager, and then click Next.

    Every cluster must have exactly one deployment manager; the Sametime System Console can function as the deployment manager for multiple clusters. Remember that if you will create clusters for both Sametime Proxy Server and Meeting Server, at least one of those clusters requires a dedicated deployment manager; this is only true when your deployment will include both types of cluster.

  5. Create the Cluster with the primary node.

    You created and federated a primary node when you installed the first server for this product. Make sure that the primary node's application server is running. Click Create cluster to configure the cluster settings, and then click Next.

    Do not click anywhere on the browser until the operation completes or it may interrupt the clustering process.

  6. Select One or More Secondary Nodes.

    If you are creating a horizontal cluster where each node is hosted on a separate computer, add one or more secondary nodes to the cluster. You created and federated the secondary nodes when you installed them. In the secondary node Name list, click the node you want to add to the cluster and click Next.

  7. Add Cluster Members.

    If you are creating a vertical cluster where multiple copies of the application are hosted on a single computer, add one or more "cluster members" to the primary node. If you are creating a horizontal cluster, add one cluster member to each of the secondary nodes you federated in the previous step.

    The table lists Cluster Members, the Node that the cluster resides on, and the Status of each cluster member. Each node in the cluster needs to have at least one cluster member created on it for the node to be used in the cluster. The status of a Cluster Member will be "Clustered" if the cluster member has been completely configured on the node. If the status is "Ready to Cluster," select the Cluster Member and use the "Add to Cluster" button to finish configuring the cluster member.

    Vertical cluster:

    1. To add a new cluster member, click New.
    2. Select the default name generated for the cluster member or enter your own cluster member server name.
    3. Select the primary node to create the cluster member on.
    4. Click Add to Cluster.

      The status will change from "Ready to cluster" to "Clustered."

    5. Click Next.

    Horizontal cluster:

    For each secondary node you added in the previous step, a cluster member is added to the table.

    1. Select the default cluster member name for each server or update with your own name, and verify that the nodes the cluster member servers will be created on are correct for your topology.
    2. One at a time, select each cluster member and click Add to Cluster.

      Do not proceed until the current cluster member's status changes from "Ready to cluster" to "Clustered," then you can add the next cluster member.

    3. If you want to add more cluster members, click New to add another row to the table, and then fill out the information accordingly.
    4. Click Next.
  8. Deployment Summary.

    Click Finish to save the cluster configuration.

    Continue with the cluster configuration tasks described in the topic Resynchronizing and restarting the Base Meeting Server cluster.