Win Cluster Plug-in - Technical Reference

Introduction

Failover clustering is a high-availability feature that ensures that critical applications and services are available when needed. Clustering uses multiple servers and redundant interconnections to form a single, highly available system that provides protection against downtime for important applications or services. In the event that a server fails or is intentionally stopped, the clustering services ensures that the processes and services being run switch or "failover" to another server in the cluster.

The Windows Cluster monitoring plugin uses the native API to obtain information on configured Windows failover clusters.

Environment

This plugin supports Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 2012 Enterprise and Datacenter editions.

If you come across an error like "ERROR: Cannot connect to cluster 'cluster1': Error #127 - The specified procedure could not be found." in your probe log, it may mean you are running on a non-supported platform.

Note: The Netprobe should be installed outside of the cluster. The Netprobe will connect to the cluster using the cluster alias. The cluster name resolves to a particular host that can be connected to. As long as there is one node online in the cluster, the cluster can be accessed by the Netprobe.

Views

The Win-Cluster plugin has eight (8) views - five (5) Cluster Summary views and three (3) views for Cluster Information, Network Information and Node Information.

Cluster Information View

This view shows all resources and a cluster grouped under their resource groups. All resource types are shown in this view.

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Cluster Information Headline Legend

Name	Description
Cluster name	Shows name of the cluster.
samplingStatus	For each views, the status can be: OK - The cluster is reachable and available. ERROR - The cluster is not reachable.

Name

Description

Cluster name

Shows name of the cluster.

samplingStatus

For each views, the status can be:

OK - The cluster is reachable and available.
ERROR - The cluster is not reachable.

Cluster Information Table Legend

Name	Description
ResourceGroup/Resource	This column shows resource groups and an indented list of resources. The resources are shown as an indented list below the resource group it belongs to.
Status	The possible statuses (and their return codes in parenthesis) are: ONLINE (2) - the resource is operational and functioning normally; it is available ONLINE PENDING (129) the resource is in the process of coming online OFFLINE (3) - the resource is not operational; it is not available for use by any other resource or client OFFLINE PENDING (130) - the resource is in the process of going offline FAILED (4) - the resource has failed; there is a problem with the resource that the Cluster Service cannot resolve This field corresponds to the field state on the query, Select from MSCluster_Resource, and gets states and types (which returns a number)
Active Node	The name of the active node for the resource
Primary Node	The name of the primary node or preferred node for the resource
Secondary Node	The name of the secondary node for the resource
Tertiary Nodes	The name of the tertiary node(s) for the resource. There can be multiple tertiary nodes separated by comma (,).
ResourceType	The name of the type of resource.

Cluster Summary View

There are five (5) cluster summary views that group the cluster resources based on their types.

Summary View	Description
Application	The summary view for resources with Generic Application type, other default resource types, and third-party application/service types
Generic Service	The summary view for resources with Generic Service type
IP Address	The summary view for resources with IP Address type
Network Name	The summary view for resources with Network Name type
Physical Disk	The summary view for resources with Physical Disk type

Cluster Summary - Application view

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Cluster Summary - Generic Service view

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Cluster Summary - IP Address view

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Cluster Summary - Network Name view

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Cluster Summary - Physical Disk view

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Cluster Summary Headline Legend

Name	Description
Cluster name	Shows name of the cluster.
Resource Type	There are four possible resource types: Generic Service IP Address Network Name Physical Disk Application view does not have the resource type headline since,it shows resources with Generic Application, other default resource types, and third-party applications/services types.
samplingStatus	For each views, the status can be: OK - The cluster is reachable and available. ERROR - The cluster is not reachable.

Name

Description

Cluster name

Shows name of the cluster.

Resource Type

There are four possible resource types:

Generic Service
IP Address
Network Name
Physical Disk

Application view does not have the resource type headline since,it shows resources with Generic Application, other default resource types, and third-party applications/services types.

samplingStatus

For each views, the status can be:

OK - The cluster is reachable and available.
ERROR - The cluster is not reachable.

Cluster Summary Table Legend

Name	Description
Resource	The name of a service, application, IP address, disk or network name defined and managed by the cluster
Active Node	The name of the active node for the resource
Primary Node	The name of the primary node for the resource
Status	The possible statuses (and their return codes in parenthesis) are: ONLINE (2) - the resource is operational and functioning normally, it is available ONLINE PENDING (129) - the resource is in the process of coming online OFFLINE (3) - the resource is not operational; it is not available for use by any other resource or client OFFLINE PENDING (130) - the resource is in the process of going offline FAILED (4) - the resource has failed; there is a problem with the resource that the Cluster Service cannot resolve This field corresponds to the field state on the query, Select from MSCluster_Resource, and gets states and types (which returns a number)
Resource Group	The name of the group of dependent resources grouped together
Resource Group Status	The possible values for resource groups (and their return codes) are: STATE UNKNOWN (-1) - the operation was not successful ONLINE (0) - all resources are operational and functioning normally OFFLINE (1) - all resources are not operational FAILED (2) - resources have failed PARTIAL ONLINE (3) - not all resources are operational, some are offline PENDING (4) - resources are coming online or going offline
Free Space (MB)	The free space available on the disk partition, in MB. This column is only available on the Cluster Summary - Disk View
Total Space (MB)	The total space available on the disk partition, in MB. This column is only available on the Cluster Summary - Disk View
Resource Type	The type of a resource. This column is only available on the Cluster Summary - Application View

Network Information View

This view shows the network interfaces of a cluster.

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Network Information Headline Legend

Name	Description
Cluster name	Shows name of the cluster.
samplingStatus	For each views, the status can be: OK - The cluster is reachable and available. ERROR - The cluster is not reachable.

Name

Description

Cluster name

Shows name of the cluster.

samplingStatus

For each views, the status can be:

OK - The cluster is reachable and available.
ERROR - The cluster is not reachable.

Network Information Table Legend

Name	Description
Network/NetworkInterface	The name of the network to which the network interface is connected. Below this is an indented list of network interfaces
Status	The possible statuses (and their return codes in parenthesis) are: STATE UNKNOWN (-1) - the operation was not successful STATE UNAVAILABLE (0) - all of the network interfaces on the network are unavailable, nodes that own the network interfaces are down DOWN (1) - the network is not operational PARTITIONED (2) - network is operational, but two or more nodes on the network cannot communicate UP (3) - the network is operational
Address	The name of the network address of the network/network interface
Node	The name of the node to which the network interface is part of
Network	The name of the network to which the network interface is connected

Node Information View

This view shows the resource groups running on nodes of a cluster.

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Node Information Headline Legend

Name	Description
Cluster name	Shows name of the cluster.
samplingStatus	For each views, the status can be: OK - The cluster is reachable and available. ERROR - The cluster is not reachable.

Name

Description

Cluster name

Shows name of the cluster.

samplingStatus

For each views, the status can be:

OK - The cluster is reachable and available.
ERROR - The cluster is not reachable.

Node Information Table Legend

Name	Description
Node/Resource	The name of a server in the failover cluster. Below this is an indented list of resources.
Resource Group	The name of the group where resources are associated
Status	The possible statuses (and their return codes in parenthesis) are: STATE UNKNOWN (-1) - the status of the node is unknown UP (0) - the node is operational DOWN (1) - the node is not operational PAUSED (2) - the node is running but not participating in cluster operations JOINING (3) - the node is in the process of joining a cluster

Name

Description

Node/Resource

The name of a server in the failover cluster. Below this is an indented list of resources.

Resource Group

The name of the group where resources are associated

Status

The possible statuses (and their return codes in parenthesis) are:

STATE UNKNOWN (-1) - the status of the node is unknown
UP (0) - the node is operational
DOWN (1) - the node is not operational
PAUSED (2) - the node is running but not participating in cluster operations
JOINING (3) - the node is in the process of joining a cluster

Menu Options

There are four (4) commands in Win-Cluster plugin accessed by right-clicking the cells from the second column and beyond.

Bring Online and Take Offline

These two commands allow to bring a resource online or to take it offline.

After selecting from 'Bring Online' or 'Take Offline', an authentication pop up menu will appear.

Username and password used in the monitored cluster should be entered.

After selecting OK button from the pop up, an output window will appear. This gives information if authentication details are not correct; and if it is correct, it gives information that a resource has been taken offline or has been brought online.

Pause and Resume

These commands allow the user to pause or to resume a node.

After selecting either 'Pause' or 'Resume' an authentication pop up menu will appear. Username and password used in the monitored cluster should be entered.

After selecting OK button from the pop up, an output window will appear. This gives information if authentication details are incorrect; and if it is correct, it will give information that a node has been taken paused or resumed.

Plug-in Configuration

Configuration for the Win-Cluster plugin requires specifying a Cluster domain and the type of authentication to use when accessing it. Details of each part of the configuration are discussed below.

Located on the Basic or Advanced tab of the Win-cluster plug-in configuration in the Gateway Setup Editor, the following parameters can be configured as such:

clusterAlias

This is the name/alias or the IP Address of the cluster to connect to.

Mandatory: Yes

resourceTypeFilters

There is a checkbox for each resource type to determine whether or not to show the Cluster Summary per resource type view.

Mandatory: No

resourceTypeFilters > showGenericApplications

This enables the Cluster Summary - Application view for the cluster.

Mandatory: No

Default: true (checked)

resourceTypeFilters > showGenericServices

This enables the Cluster Summary - Service view for the cluster.

Mandatory: No

Default: true (checked)

resourceTypeFilters > showIpAddresses

This enables the Cluster Summary - IP Address view for the cluster.

Mandatory: No

Default: true (checked)

resourceTypeFilters > showNetworkNames

This enables the Cluster Summary - Network view for the cluster.

Mandatory: No

Default: true (checked)

resourceTypeFilters > showPhysicalDisks

This enables the Cluster Summary - Disk view for the cluster.

Mandatory: No

Default: true (checked)

resourceDisplay

Resource Display consists of a dropdown menu, which will either filter out or filter in a resource, and fields for regex and resource type, which is used to show or hide a resource from the view.

Mandatory: No

resourceDisplay > defaultMode

This is a drop-down menu, which if used together with filters, will either filter out or filter in a resource.

The choices are:

Setting	Description
displayAllResources	Shows all resources
doNotDisplayAllResources	Hides all resources

Mandatory: No

Default: displayAllResources

resourceDisplay > filters

Either inclusion or exclusion filters with a regex can be used to specify what resources to show in the views.

Mandatory: No

resourceDisplay > filters > name

This contains regex and flags.

Mandatory: Yes

Default: none

resourceDisplay > filters > name > data > regex

This contains regular expression to match the resource name.

Mandatory: Yes

Default: none

resourceDisplay > filters > name > data > flags

This contains "i" flag option. This modifier is to make the regular expression matches case insensitive.

Mandatory: No

Default: none

resourceDisplay > filters > type

This drop-down menu determines from which resource type the regular expression is filtered. The choices are

Setting	Description
All types	All resources regardless of type
Generic Application	Resources with Generic Application type
Generic Service	Resources with Generic Service type
IP Address	Resources with IP Address type
Network Name	Resources with Network Name type
Physical Disk	Resources with Physical disk type
Other	User specified resource types

Mandatory: No

Default: All types

resourceDisplay > filters > type > other > type

This free text field allows users to specify a resource type that is not included in the Type dropdown menu.

Mandatory: No

Sample Configuration

Default Mode is Display All Resources

If filter is used with displayAllResources as the default mode, resource(s) that matches the regex and type will be filtered out.

The configuration below filters out any resource from Generic Application type that starts with "s" and ends with "l" regardless of case.

Configuration:

Default Mode: displayAllResources

Regex: s.*l

Flags: i

Type: Generic Application

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This is the 'Cluster Summary - Application' view before the filter has been applied.

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After the filter has been applied, "Sql Application" is removed from 'Cluster Summary - Application' view. However, 'SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER2K8)' matches the regex but since it is a 'SQL Server' type not a 'Generic Application', it is not filtered out from the view.

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In addition, 'Sql Application' is filtered out from 'Cluster Information' and 'Node Information' views as well. Filters apply to all views where a match is found.

Default Mode is Do Not Display All Resources

If filter is used with doNotDisplayAllResources as the default mode, resource(s) that match the regex and type will be shown in the view.

The configuration below filters "in" any resource from Generic Application type that starts with "s" and ends with "l" regardless of case.

Configuration:

Default Mode: doNotDisplayAllResources

Regex: s.*l

Flags: i

Type: Generic Application

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This is 'Cluster Summary - Application' view before the filter has been applied.

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After the filter has been applied, "Sql Application" is shown in 'Cluster Summary - Application' view. However, 'SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER2K8)' matches the regex but since it is a 'SQL Server' type not a 'Generic Application' it is not shown in the view.

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In addition, 'Sql Application' is shown in 'Cluster Information' and 'Node Information' views.

Filtering Other Resource Types

In order to filter resources with types that are not included among the defaults, use the 'Other' option in the Type dropdown menu.

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The 'Other' button appears on the right of 'Type' field once the 'Other' option is selected from the dropdown list. On the resulting dialog box, a free text field allows users to specify any resource type to filter out or filter in.

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Resources that match the regex and types should either be shown or hidden (depends on the default mode selected) in the 'Cluster Summary - Application', 'Cluster Information' and 'Node Information' views.