Installing Server Package on a SQL AlwaysOn High Availability Cluster Environment

You can configure a SQL AlwaysOn High Availability environment during the installation of the CommServe Server and optional Metrics Reporting, Web Server, and Workflow Engine server packages.

Before You Begin

• Verify that the following environmental specifications are met:

  • The CommServe computer is not a domain controller.

  • The Operating System must be Windows Server 2016 or a more recent version.

  • At a minimum, the environment must be a two-node cluster environment, and all the nodes must be part of the same Microsoft failover cluster.

  • At least one cluster disk must be shared between all the nodes of the Microsoft failover cluster.

• View the following topics, and gather the information that you must provide during the installation for the server packages that you want to install:

  • Preinstallation Checklist for the CommServe

  • Preinstallation Checklist for Metrics Reporting Server

  • Preinstallation Checklist for the Web Server

  • Preinstallation Checklist for the Workflow Engine

    Important

    To be supported in a cluster environment, the packages for Metrics Reporting, the Web Server, and the Workflow Engine, must be installed on the CommServe computer.

Procedure

The following instructions describe the steps to install server packages in a cluster environment.

Step 1: Configuring Microsoft Failover Cluster and SQL Server

1. Configure Microsoft failover clustering between all the Windows nodes that are included in the SQL Always On Availability Configuration using a local administrator domain user account. For more information, see Create a failover cluster.

2. Install the Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Enterprise edition or Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Enterprise Core Based Licensing edition on all the cluster nodes as a standalone installation. For more information on preinstallation of Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise version, see Preinstallation of Microsoft SQL Server Software On a Non-Cluster Environment.

   Note

   Ensure that you use the SQL Server ‘sa’ user password created in Preinstallation of Microsoft SQL Server Software On a Non-Cluster Environment, in all procedures listed in this topic.

3. Create an installation package by using the Download Manager. The installation package must not include the Microsoft SQL Server that is included in the installer. For instructions, see Downloading Software for Windows Computers Using the Download Manager.

4. Verify that you have available cluster disks. The owner node of the cluster disks must be the active physical node.

Step 2: Install the Server Package on the Active Node

1. Log on to the active physical node of the cluster as the local administrator domain user of the cluster group (also called failover cluster group).

2. Run Setup.exe from the installation package.

   The installation wizard opens.

3. On the welcome page, select the I Agree check box and then click Next.

4. On the Choose the Installation Type page, click Install packages on this computer and click Next.

5. On the Select Packages page, select one or more of the following server packages, and then click Next:

   • CommServe

   • Metrics Reporting

   • Web Server

   • Workflow Engine

6. On the Cluster Setup Install Option page, click on AlwaysOn High Availability, and then click Next.

7. Enter the SQL Server ‘sa’ user password created in Preinstallation of Microsoft SQL Server Software On a Non-Cluster Environment, and then click Next.

8. On the Availability Group Properties page, specify the following details:

   1. In the Availability Group Name box, enter a name for the new availability group.

      The name must be 128 characters or fewer characters.

   2. In the Listener DNS Name box, enter a name for the listener DNS for the availability group. This name identifies the failover cluster on the network.

   3. In the IPv4 Address box, enter a dedicated IPv4 address for SQL Always group.

      Note

      Enter a dedicated IPv4 address that is not used by any other resource.

   4. In the Subnet Mask box, enter the subnet mask for the IPv4 address.

   5. In theCluster Disk Resources section, specify the shared disks to be included in the SQL Server cluster group.

   6. Click Next.

9. On the Installation Path, Job Results Path, and Index cache path pages, follow the instructions in the installation wizard.

10. On the SQL Service Log on Account page, enter the user name and password of the local administrator domain user that is associated with the cluster group, and then click Next.

11. For the CommServe Database Installation Path, Disaster Recovery Path, Web Cache Path, and MongoDB Database Path pages, follow the instructions in the installation wizard.

12. To use an existing CommServe database, on the Database Install Option page, complete the following steps:

    1. Click Use Existing Database, and then select the CommServe check box.

       Note: If you are installing other server packages with the CommServe software, such as the Web Server, and you want to use an existing database, select the check box that corresponds to the database.

    2. Continue to follow the instructions in the installation wizard.

Step 3: Install the Server Package on the Passive Nodes

Repeat the following steps on each of the passive nodes where you want to install the server packages.

1. Log on to the passive node as the local administrator domain user of the cluster group (also called failover cluster group).

2. Run Setup.exe from the installation package.

   The installation wizard opens.

3. On the welcome page, select the I Agree check box, and then click Next.

4. On the Choose the Installation Type page, click Install packages on this computer, and then click Next.

5. On the Select Packages page, select the server packages that you installed on the active node, and then click Next.

6. On the Cluster Setup Install Option page, click on on AlwaysOn High Availability, and then click Next.

7. Enter the SQL Server ‘sa’ user password created in Preinstallation of Microsoft SQL Server Software On a Non-Cluster Environment, and then click Next.

8. On the AlwaysOn Availability Group Selection page, select the availability group that you created on the active node to add this passive node to it, and then click Next.

9. On the SQL Service Log on Account page, enter the user name and password of the local administrator domain user that is associated with the cluster group, and then click Next.

10. Continue to follow the instructions in the installation wizard.

Step 4: Perform Manual SQL AlwaysOn Failover

1. Log on to the active physical node of the cluster as the local administrator domain user of the cluster group.

2. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the CommServe node and then click Properties.

3. On the Activity Control tab, clear all the check boxes, except the Enable All Job Activity check box, and then click OK.

   This ensures that no new jobs are performed, except for disaster recovery operations, VM provisioning jobs, and workflow jobs. These jobs do not affect the hardware refresh.

4. From the Job Controller, kill all jobs that are in progress, or wait for the jobs to complete.

5. Stop the services:

   1. Click the Start button on the Windows task bar and then click All Programs.

   2. Go to Commvault and then click Process Manager.

   3. From the Process Manager dialog box, right-click the All Services node and then click Stop.

   4. From the pop up window, click Yes to stop all services.

6. Perform the SQL AlwaysOn Failover using the Microsoft Failover Availability Group Wizard. For more information, see Microsoft Documentation.

7. Log on to the new active physical node of the cluster as the local administrator domain user of the cluster group.

8. Open command prompt as an administrator, navigate to the software_installation_directory/Base directory, and then type the following command to execute CSRecoveryAssistant in recovery mode:

   CSRecoveryAssistant.exe -operation Recovery -skipdump

9. Start the services:

   1. Click the Start button on the Windows task bar and then click All Programs.

   2. Go to Commvault and then click Process Manager.

   3. From the Process Manager dialog box, right-click the All Services node and then click Start.

10. If this is the first time you are failing over to this passive node then execute queries on the new active physical node. Otherwise, skip to step 11.

    Note

    This step must be performed only when a cluster node becomes an active physical node for the first time.

    • On the new active physical node, open the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio and execute these queries targeting the master and CommServ databases.

      USE master;
      EXEC sp_configure 'clr enabled', 1;
      RECONFIGURE;
      GO

      USE CommServ EXEC sp_changedbowner 'sa'

      USE CommServ ALTER DATABASE CommServ SET TRUSTWORTHY ON

11. Log on to the CommCell Console.

12. Enable CommCell activities.

    1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the CommServe node, and click Properties.

    2. On the Activity Control tab, enable all the activities that you cleared when the CommServe database was on the old hardware, and click OK.

What to Do Next

If you installed the CommServe software, review the tasks that you must perform after the installation in Postinstallation Tasks for the CommServe.