Configuring High Availability for the eG Agent

You can configure two agents within a Windows cluster setup, so that when one agent fails, the other agent takes over from the first and performs all the monitoring tasks originally assigned to the first. This way, there will not be a single point of failure of the eG agent.

In order to configure a fail-proof agent, follow the broad steps listed below:

1. Prepare two machines with identical specifications. Name them as Node 1 and Node 2.
2. Install Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition on both the machines.
3. Both nodes in the cluster must be in the same Active Directory domain, as a best practice. Both the clustered nodes should have the same domain role. The recommended role is member server.
4. The File Share Server should also be in the same Active Directory domain as the clustered nodes.
5. Install an eG agent each on Node 1 and Node 2.
6. Then, proceed to create the Windows cluster. Follow the steps detailed in Creating a Windows Cluster for this purpose.
7. Next, create a Windows file share from a File share server. This file share will be used as a third vote in the Node and File Share Majority quorum mode that is to be set for the cluster. The steps to achieve this have been detailed in Creating a Windows File Share.
8. Configure cluster quorum settings using the procedure discussed in Configuring Cluster Quorum Settings.
9. Add eG agent service as a cluster resource, as outlined in Adding the eG Agent Service as a Cluster Resource.