Because the Messenger agents are not associated with GroupWise domains or post offices, the Messenger agents are easier to implement in a cluster than are the GroupWise agents. The Messenger Clustering Worksheet lists all the information you will need as you set up the Messenger agents in a clustering environment. You should print the worksheet and fill it out as you complete the tasks listed below:
Fill out items 1 and 2 on the Messenger Clustering Worksheet with information about your cluster. This information corresponds to items 1 and 2 on the System Clustering Worksheet that you filled out for GroupWise. For background information, see Setting Up Your Microsoft Cluster.
If you have set up a shared disk for GroupWise administration, as described in Planning Shared Administrative Resources, you can use the same shared disk for the Messenger administration files. For example, you might want to have a shared disk where you install the Messenger snap-in to ConsoleOne® instead of installing it to multiple administrator workstations.
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Under Item 5: Installation Location for Messenger Administration, mark whether you want to install the Messenger snap-in to ConsoleOne to administrator workstations or to a shared disk. If you plan to install the Messenger snap-in to ConsoleOne to a shared disk, under Item 6: Resource for Messenger Administration, list the network name and IP address of the shared disk, the physical disk name and file share for mapping to it, and the nodes in the cluster that it could fail over to. |
In a Microsoft cluster, the Messenger agents must run as Windows services. When you install the Windows Messenger Agents, you can choose between two different installation locations:
Because the Messenger agents must be installed as Windows services in a Microsoft cluster, you must initially run the Messenger Installation program for each node in the cluster so that the Windows services for the agents get created, regardless of where you are planning to run the Messenger agents from. However, for updates, you need to run the Messenger Installation program only once if you are running the Messenger agents from a shared disk.
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Under Item 3: Installation Location for Messenger Agents, mark whether you want to install the Messenger agent software to each node in the cluster or to a shared disk. |
Continue with the planning instructions for the installation location you want to use:
Make sure you have filled out item 2on the Messenger Clustering Worksheet with a complete list of nodes in the cluster where you need to install the Messenger agents. Continue with Planning the Messenger Agent Installation.
If you do not anticipate a large Messenger archive, you can use one Messenger shared disk. If you anticipate archiving a large number of messages so that the Messenger archive grows very large, you might want to have a separate Messenger shared disk for the Archive Agent and the archive database. The steps in this section cover setting up the Messenger agents on a single shared disk.
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Under Item 4: Resource Group for Messenger Agents, plan the network name and IP address of the resource group, the physical disk and share name for mapping to it, the agent service names, and the nodes in the cluster where the Messenger resource group can fail over. |
Continue with Planning the Messenger Agent Installation.
Aside from the cluster-specific issues discussed in the preceding sections, the considerations involved in planning to install the Messenger agents are the same in a clustering environment as for any other environment. Review "Planning Your Novell Messenger System", then print and fill out the "Novell Messenger System Worksheet" in "Installing a Novell Messenger System" in the Messenger 1.0 Installation Guide. Transfer the following information from the Messenger Clustering Worksheet to the Messenger System Worksheet:
Continue with Setting Up Your Messenger System in a Cluster.