Active/Active Pairs

To configure active/active high-availability (HA) redundancy on a pair of Solace PubSub+ Appliances, the following tasks must be performed.

• Step 1: Configure First Appliance
• Step 2: Configure Second Appliance
• Step 3: If you want to use the Config-Sync feature to maintain consistent configurations for both mates, you must also enable Guaranteed Messaging and Config-Sync for the primary and backup appliances. Refer to Enabling Guaranteed Messaging for HA Appliances.

The following command sequence examples assume that the Message VPNs blue and red have already been created, and that the client username account named default belongs to Message VPNs blue and red. It doesn't show how to configure these items; for examples on how to configure them, refer to Configuring Message VPNs and Client Username Configuration.

The following table specifies the required configuration parameter matches for one appliance and its mate for active/active redundancy.

Parameter Matches Required by Active/Active HA Pair

If the First Appliance uses. . .	The Second Appliance must use. . .
(configure/ip/vrf)# interface <ip-interface> primary	(configure/ip/vrf)# interface <ip-interface> backup
(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# ip-address <cidr-addr>	(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# ip-address <cidr-addr>
(configure/ip/vrf)# interface <ip-interface> backup	(configure/ip/vrf)# interface <ip‑interface> primary
(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# ip-address <cidr-addr>	(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# ip-address <cidr-addr>
(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# primary-vrid <vrid>	(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# backup-vrid <vrid>
(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# backup-vrid <vrid>	(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# primary-vrid <vrid>

Configure First Appliance

To configure the first appliance to be used in an active/active redundant pair (solace1 in this example), perform the following steps:

1. Configure and start a primary IP interface for the Message Backbone VRF:

   solace1(configure)# ip vrf msg-backbone
   
   solace1(configure/ip/vrf)# create interface 1/1/1:1 primary
   
   solace1(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# ip-address 192.168.181.198/19

   The primary IP address of the first appliance is the backup IP address of the second appliance (and vice versa).

   solace1(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# no shutdown
   
   solace1(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# exit
   
   solace1(configure/ip/vrf)# exit
   
   solace1(configure/ip)# exit

2. Configure and start a backup IP interface for the Message Backbone VRF:

   solace1(configure)# ip vrf msg-backbone
   
   solace1(configure/ip/vrf)# create interface 1/1/1:2 backup
   
   solace1(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# ip-address 192.168.171.133/19

   The backup IP address of the first appliance is the primary IP address of the second appliance (and vice versa).

   solace1(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# no shutdown
   
   solace1(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# exit
   
   solace1(configure/ip/vrf)# exit
   
   solace1(configure/ip)# exit

3. Assign a redundancy interface. For more information about redundancy interfaces, see Configuring Redundancy Parameters.

   solace1(configure)# redundancy
   
   solace1(configure/redundancy)# vrrp
   
   solace1(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# interface 1/1/1
   
   solace1(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# exit

4. Set the active/standby role to none to ensure the active/active model is in use, and assign a VRID for the primary virtual router (for example, 11):

   solace1(configure/redundancy)# active-standby-role none
   
   solace1(configure/redundancy)# vrrp
   
   solace1(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# primary-vrid 11
   
   solace1(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# exit

   The VRID for the primary virtual router must be the same as the VRID for the backup virtual router on the mate appliance.

5. Tell the appliance solace1 who its mate is, assign a VRID for the backup virtual router (for example, 12):

   solace1(configure/redundancy)# mate-router solace2
   
   solace1(configure/redundancy)# vrrp
   
   solace1(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# backup-vrid 12
   
   solace1(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# exit

   The VRID for the backup virtual router must be the same as the VRID for the primary virtual router on the mate appliance.

6. Start redundancy:

   solace1(configure/redundancy)# no shutdown
   solace1(configure/redundancy)# exit

Configure Second Appliance

To configure the second appliance to be used in an active/active redundant pair (solace2 in this example), do the following:

1. Configure and start the primary IP interface for the Message Backbone VRF:

   solace2(configure)# ip vrf msg-backbone
   solace2(configure/ip/vrf)# create interface 1/1/1:1 primary
   solace2(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# ip-address 192.168.171.133/19

   The primary IP address of the second appliance is the backup IP address of the first appliance (and vice versa).

   solace2(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# no shutdown
   solace2(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# exit
   solace2(configure/ip/vrf)# exit
   solace2(configure/ip)# exit

2. Configure and start the backup IP interface for the Message Backbone VRF:

   solace2(configure)# ip vrf msg-backbone
   solace2(configure/ip/vrf)# create interface 1/1/1:2 backup
   solace2(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# ip-address 192.168.181.198/19

   The backup IP address of the second appliance is the primary IP address of the first appliance (and vice versa).

   solace2(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# no shutdown
   solace2(configure/ip/vrf/interface)# exit
   solace2(configure/ip/vrf)# exit
   solace2(configure/ip)# exit

3. Assign a redundancy interface. For more information about redundancy interfaces, see Configuring Redundancy Parameters.

   solace2(configure)# redundancy
   solace2(configure/redundancy)# vrrp
   solace2(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# interface 1/1/1
   solace2(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# exit
   solace2(configure/redundancy)# exit

4. Set the active/standby role to none to ensure the active/active model is in use, and assign the VRID for the primary virtual router (12 in this example):

   solace2(configure)# redundancy
   solace2(configure/redundancy)# active-standby-role none
   solace2(configure/redundancy)# vrrp
   solace2(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# primary-vrid 12
   solace2(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# exit

   The VRID for the primary virtual router must be the same as the VRID for the backup virtual router on the mate appliance.

5. Tell appliancesolace2 who its mate is and assign the VRID for the backup virtual router (11 in this example):

   solace2(configure/redundancy)# mate-router solace1
   solace2(configure/redundancy)# vrrp
   solace2(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# backup-vrid 11
   solace2(configure/redundancy/vrrp)# exit

   The VRID for the backup virtual router must be the same as the VRID for the primary virtual router on the mate appliance.

6. Start redundancy:

   solace2(configure/redundancy)# no shutdown
   solace2(configure/redundancy)# exit

   The pair of appliances is now configured for active/active redundancy. With this configuration, it can also provide active/standby redundancy.