Citrix ADC 12.

x Essentials

High Availability (HA)

Module 4

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 • Describe how the high availability (HA) process works on
Citrix ADC.
• Discuss Citrix ADC high availability configuration options
Learning and advanced settings.
Objectives • Identify methods of managing a Citrix ADC high availability
configuration.
• Explain common high availability issues and
troubleshooting options.

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 Citrix ADC High Availability

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 In a high availability configuration:
• The primary Citrix ADC system actively accepts
Citrix ADC connections, manages servers, and contains all active
High Availability shared IP addresses.
• The secondary system monitors the health of the primary
system.
• If the secondary system is in a healthy state, it is prepared
to take over the primary system, in case of any issues.
• When Citrix ADCs are paired, they share a configuration.

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 • Both systems in a high availability pair exchange UDP port
High Availability 3003 heartbeat messages that communicate the state of
the other node.
Functionality
• This communication ensures that only one unit is servicing
connections at a time.
• This configuration is known as Primary/Secondary.
• The two units behave as one logical unit.

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 High Characteristics of the primary node in a high availability
Availability setup:
Failover • Shared IP addresses, such as the MIP, SNIP, and VIP
addresses are active.
Process
• The primary node responds to address resolution protocol
(ARP) requests with its own MAC address.
• The ARP table of an external device, such as an upstream
router, is updated with the floating IP address and the
MAC address of the primary node via ARP or Gratuitous
ARP (after failover).

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High Availability
Typical Two-Arm Configuration
Typical Two-Arm Configuration

Subnet
Subnet 22 Subnet
Subnet 22

VLAN
VLAN 11 VLAN
VLAN 22
NSIP Node 1

Citrix ADC Shared IPs:

Mapped IP address
Virtual IP address
Subnet address

Server 1 Router
server IP Address 1
Server 2
server IP Address 2
Server 3 NSIP Node 2
server IP Address 3

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High Availability Failover
Typical Two-Arm Configuration

Subnet 2 Subnet 2

VLAN 1 VLAN 2
NSIP Node 1

Citrix ADC Shared IPs:

Mapped IP address
Virtual IP address
Subnet address

Router
Server 1
server IP Address 1
Server 2
server IP Address 2
Server 3
Secondary
server IP Address 3

Primary –
GARP on IPs

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 Propagation and • High-availability configuration synchronization occurs on
TCP port 3010 (3008 secured).
Synchronization • Command propagation between the primary and
secondary occurs on TCP port 3011 (3009 secured).
• The heartbeat messages are UDP packets sent via port
3003 of the other node in a high-availability pair.

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 By default, configuration synchronization between the
Automatic systems in a high-availability pair occurs automatically
Configuration when:

Synchronization • A node first comes up in the secondary state.

• A failover event occurs.
• A forced synchronization is issued.
• Identical build versions are on the Citrix ADC. If the builds
are not identical, then synchronization does not occur,
because the secondary will go into a listen-only state.

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 Automatic
Configuration • Files are synchronized from the primary Citrix ADC to the
Synchronization secondary.
(Continued) • Sync is done via Rsync, using an SSL tunnel.
• Most of the files synced are in /nsconfig and subdirectories
or in /var and its subdirectories.
• The sync HA files <options> command can enable a full or
partial sync.

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 Which of the following IP’s does not float between the
primary and secondary Citrix ADC?
MIP, SNIP, NSIP, or VIP

Lesson
Objective Review

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 Which of the following IP’s does not float between the
primary and secondary Citrix ADC?
MIP, SNIP, NSIP, or VIP
Answer: The NSIP
Lesson The NSIP needs to be unique on each Citrix ADC instance.
Objective Review Both the primary and secondary Citrix ADC will have a
unique NSIP.

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 High Availability Configuration

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Citrix ADC HA Requirements
To configure Citrix ADC nodes in a high
availability pair, you need the following:
• Same type of appliances
• Same RPC node password
• Requisite ports must be open

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 Preconfiguration Before configuring high availability pair nodes, ensure:

Checklist • The NSIP addresses for the primary and the secondary
nodes are unique from any other device on the network.
• You do not have any IP address conflicts.
• IP address conflicts can be viewed in the configuration utility from the System
> Diagnostics > View console messages menu.

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Configuring Primary and Secondary Nodes
Add the IP of the node
• Primary and secondary nodes can be that will participate in
HA.
configured using the Configuration Utility or
CLI.
• The status of the secondary node should be
set to stay secondary, when nodes are
Add the admin
configured. credentials of the
remote node.
• Disable any interfaces that are not used.
• Set HA monitoring to OFF on unimportant
interfaces.

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High Availability Verification
View the status of the HA node in System > Status > HA ,or from the CLI, show HA node.
Test HA failover before putting the HA pair into production.

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 What is the main benefit of binding a SNIP for Management
of your HA pair?

Lesson
Objective Review

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 What is the main benefit of binding a SNIP for Management
of your HA pair?
Answer: You are always connected to the primary node.
Lesson A SNIP address is active only on the primary node and will
Objective Review float between the two if there is a failover event. Binding a
SNIP for management will ensure that only the primary
node responds to that IP.

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 Additional HA Settings

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 Configuring By default, configuration synchronization between the
systems in a high availability pair occurs automatically.
High Availability
The HA status in a node can be one of these four:
Status
• ENABLED
• STAYPRIMARY
• STAYSECONDARY
• DISABLED

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High Availability—Fail Safe Mode
Fail Safe mode ensures that one node is
primary when both nodes fail a health check.
Fail Safe mode is:
• Configured individually on each node.
• Not enabled by default.

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High Availability—Fail Safe Mode
I have a
Subnet
Subnet 22 bad Subnet
Subnet 22

interface.
VLAN
VLAN11 VLAN
VLAN 22
Secondary

Citrix ADC
IP Address 1
Mapped IP address
Virtual IP address
Subnet address
Router
Server 1 Router
server IP Address 1
Server 2
server IP Address 2
Secondary
Server 3
server IP Address 3
I have a
bad
interface.
Fail Safe mode is not enabled in this environment.
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 Securing
Communication • Citrix ADC requires that RPC node passwords on both
Between Nodes appliances in an HA pair are identical to secure traffic.
• RPC nodes are implicitly created when adding a node.
• Utilize Configuration Utility or CLI to create or change an
RPC node password.

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Disabling Synchronization and Command Propagation
In some cases, command propagation may not
be desired.
When testing a new configuration, decide
whether it be synchronized or propagated to
the secondary until it has been tested and is
working as expected.

NOTE: It is possible to Disable Synchronization and

Propagation by clearing tick boxes in Configure HA
Node.

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Forced Synchronization
• Forced synchronization can be performed on either the primary or the secondary node.
• If synchronization is already in progress, the command fails and a warning message is
displayed.

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 Performing a A forced failover will only work when:
Forced Failover • The primary node is able to determine that the status of
the secondary node is UP.
• The health of the secondary node is good.
• The secondary node is not configured to STAYSECONDARY.

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Failover Interface Set Benefits
• Failover by grouping interfaces into a
failover interface set (FIS).
• Failure of a single link from causing failover
to the secondary system unless all interfaces
on the primary system are non-functional.
• No switch configuration required.

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High Availability without GARP
• Virtual MAC addresses (VMAC):
• Floating ARP entry shared by both nodes. Client

• Useful for devices which do not honor GARP.

• Independent Network Configuration (INC):

Citrix ADC NS1 Citrix ADC NS2
• Useful when Citrix ADC nodes are in different subnets. Internet

• Each Citrix ADC has individual Routes, VLAN, and

SNIP/MIP.
Firewall

Server S1 Server S2 Server S3

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High Availability—Route Monitors

Router

Switch SW1 Switch SW2

Citrix ADC VPX1 Citrix ADC VPX3

Switch SW3

In some cases, up or down stream routes must also be monitored to ensure that HA failover occurs when necessary.

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 Why should you configure fail safe mode?

Lesson
Objective Review

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 Why should you configure fail safe mode?
Answer: Without Fail Safe mode enabled, if both nodes are
Lesson experiencing failed health checks, then they both can
demote themselves to secondary. Then you could have both
Objective Review nodes refusing to handle traffic, which causes problems. To
mitigate this scenario, you need to enable Fail Safe mode, so
one system will stay primary even if both are experiencing
failures.

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 Managing High Availability

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 • Every Citrix ADC system is assigned a MIP/SNIP address or
High Availability a range of MIP/SNIP addresses during initial configuration.

Management • Management access must be enabled on the MIP or SNIP

address before it can be used to manage a high-availability
pair.
• It is a best practice to use a SNIP for management of the
HA pair, to ensure management is always performed on
the primary system.

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 Upgrading a
High Availability • To upgrade the software of the Citrix ADC appliances in a
Pair high availability setup, complete the following procedure:
• Issue STAYSECONDARY and then upgrade software of the secondary
appliance.
• Disable STAYSECONDARY and force a failover.
• Issue STAYSECONDARY upgrade software of the (old) primary appliance.

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 Issue STAYSECONDARY and then upgrade software of the Citrix
Upgrading a ADC and prevent an unexpected failover.
High Availability
Pair

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 Have you previously updated a standalone Citrix ADC or a
high availability pair of Citrix ADCs? If so, what challenges
did you encounter?
Group Discussion

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 Troubleshooting High Availability

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 Troubleshooting • High availability issues include:
High Availability • Configuration synchronization failure
• File synchronization failure
• Unexpected failover

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 • What questions do you have about configuring high
availability for Citrix ADC?
• Have you implemented high availability in your
environment previously, and what challenges or issues did
Group Discussion you encounter?

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 • Citrix ADC High Availability includes an active/passive
configuration that acts as one logical unit.
• The secondary node monitors the primary node for
Key Takeaways failures.
• Console messages can be useful in troubleshooting high
availability issues.

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 • Exercise 4-1: Configuring an HA Pair
• Exercise 4-2: Managing an HA Pair
Lab Exercise

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 Work better. Live better.

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