34.5 Managing the WebAccess Agent in a Heartbeat Cluster

After you have installed the WebAccess Agent in a cluster, you should consider some long-term management issues.

34.5.1 Updating GroupWise Objects with Cluster-Specific Descriptions

After installing the WebAccess Agent in your clustered GroupWise system, while the cluster-specific information is fresh in your mind, you should record the cluster-specific information as part of the GroupWise objects in ConsoleOne so that you can easily refer to it later. Be sure to update the information in the GroupWise objects if the configuration of your system changes.

Recording Cluster-Specific Information about the WebAccess Agent Domain and Its MTA

To permanently record important cluster-specific information for the WebAccess Agent domain:

  1. In ConsoleOne, browse to and right-click the Domain object, then click Properties.

  2. In the Description field of the WebAccess Agent domain Identification page, provide a cluster-specific description of the WebAccess Agent domain, including the cluster resource group and shared storage partition where the domain is located.

  3. Click OK to save the WebAccess Agent domain description.

  4. Select the WebAccess Agent Domain object to display its contents.

  5. Right-click the MTA object, then click Properties.

  6. In the Description field of the MTA Identification page, record the secondary IP address of the cluster resource group.

    When the MTA runs with a user interface, this information appears on the MTA server console.

  7. Click OK to save the MTA description.

  8. Continue with Recording Cluster-Specific Information about the WebAccess Agent.

Recording Cluster-Specific Information about the WebAccess Agent

With the contents of the WebAccess Agent domain still displayed:

  1. Right-click the WebAccess Agent object, then click Properties.

  2. Click GroupWise > Identification.

  3. In the Description field, record the secondary IP address of the cluster resource group.

  4. Click OK to save the WebAccess Agent information.

  5. Continue with Knowing What to Expect in a WebAccess Agent Failover Situation.

34.5.2 Knowing What to Expect in a WebAccess Agent Failover Situation

The failover behavior of the MTA for the WebAccess Agent domain is the same as for an MTA in a regular domain. See Section 14.6.2, Knowing What to Expect in MTA and POA Failover Situations.

When the WebAccess Agent fails over, the WebAccess client user sees the following message:

Unable to communicate with the GroupWise WebAccess Agent

The user just needs to be patient. When the WebAccess Agent comes up on the next node, the user can continue working without logging in again and no data is lost.

If the POA for the user’s post office fails over, the WebAccess client becomes unresponsive, but there is no error message. Again, the user should be patient until the POA comes up on the next node. Then the user can continue working without logging in again and no data is lost.

As with the MTA and the POA, migration of the WebAccess Agent takes longer than failover. In fact, the WebAccess Agent can seem especially slow to shut down properly as it finishes its normal processing, stops its threads, and stops the Document Viewer Agent. For a busy WebAccess Agent, you might need to wait several minutes for it to shut down properly.