Configuring the boot file for high availability
When a Provisioning Server is configured by the Configuration Wizard, that server can be selected as one of the servers used to connect target devices during the boot process. To be highly available, at least two login Provisioning Servers must be listed in the boot file (maximum of four servers).
The target device’s boot file contains the IP addresses of up to four login Provisioning Servers, as well as other configuration information. The boot file lists the Provisioning Servers that a target device can contact to get access to the Provisioning Services farm. The server that is contacted may hand the target device off to a different Provisioning Server that is able to provide the target device with its vDisk.
Note: A shared storage system ensures the availability of the Provisioning Server vDisks. Depending on the type of shared storage, the vDisks use either the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) or the usual DOS naming convention.
Adding Provisioning Servers to the boot file
An administrator must add Provisioning Servers to the boot file in order to provide a target device with the information necessary to make contact with the Stream Service.
When first configuring a Provisioning Server, the Configuration Wizard allows you to select to use the server, which is currently being configured, to provide TFTP services. If all target devices are on one network segment, there will typically be one TFTP server per farm. If target devices are on multiple network segments, and each segment is configured as an independent site, then one TFTP server per site (network segment) may be used.
Provisioning Servers can also be configured as login servers in the Console using the Configure Bootstrap dialog.
Select from either method to add Provisioning Servers to the boot file.
Adding Login Servers using the Configuration Wizard
To add and configure the first Provisioning Server as the TFTP and login server using the Configuration Wizard:
- Run the Configuration Wizard and when presented with the TFTP option and bootstrap location dialog, select the Use the Provisioning Server TFTP Service option.
- Enter or browse for the bootstrap file location, then click Next. The default location is: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Citrix\Provisioning Services\Tftpboot Note: If a previous version of Provisioning Server was installed on this server, you may need to change the default location from C:\Program Files\Citrix\Provisioning Server\TFTPBoot or C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Citrix\Provisioning Server\TFTPboot to: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Citrix\Provisioning Services\TFTPboot. If the default is not changed, the bootstrap file can not be configured from the Console and target devices will fail to boot; receiving a ‘Missing TFTP’ error message.
- In the Provisioning Servers boot list, click the Add button to add additional login Provisioning Servers to the list. Use the Move up or Move down buttons to change the Provisioning Server boot preference order. Note: In an HA implementation, at least two Provisioning Server must be selected as boot servers.
- To set advanced configuration settings, highlight the IP address of the Provisioning Server, click Advanced, then configure the bootstrap file. Note: For field definitions, refer to Provisioning Server Properties.
- Click OK, then click Next.
- Review configuration settings, then click Finish to confirm configuration settings and restart network services on this server. As configuration settings are saved, they display in the progress dialog.
- To exit the Configuration Wizard, click Done.
Adding Login Servers Using the Console
To add and configure additional Provisioning Servers as a login servers:
- In the Console, right-click on a Provisioning Server that will be used as a login server, then select the Configure Bootstrap menu option. The Configure Bootstrap dialog appears. Note: Clicking Read DB populates the table with login servers that already exist. When the Stream Service starts, it creates a record in the database with its own IP address. There is only one Stream Service option record per database. If the service is bound to multiple IP addresses, multiple records appear in the database. The Read DB function chooses only one IP address from each Provisioning Server. This function can also be used to populate the boot file with the Stream Service IP settings already configured in the database.
- Click Add to add a new login Provisioning Server to the bootstrap file. The Streaming Server dialog appears.
- Type the IP address and port number of this Provisioning Server in the appropriate text boxes.
- Select to either use subnet mask and gateway settings using DHCP/BOOTP, or type in the settings to use, then click OK. The Provisioning Server information displays in the list of available login servers.
- To configure advanced bootstrap settings, on the Options tab, choose from the following settings:
- Select Verbose Mode if you want to monitor the boot process on the target device (optional). This enables system messaging on the target device.
- Select Interrupt Safe Mode if the target device hangs early in the boot process.
- Select Advanced Memory Support checkbox unless using older versions without PAE enabled.
- Select from the following Network Recovery Methods:
- Restore Network Connections - Selecting this option results in the target device attempting indefinitely to restore its connection to the Provisioning Server. Note: Because the Seconds field does not apply, it becomes inactive when the Restore Network Connections option is selected.
- Reboot to Hard Drive - Selecting this option instructs the target device to perform a hardware reset to force a reboot after failing to re-establish communications for a defined number of seconds. The user determines the number of seconds to wait before rebooting. Assuming the network connection can not be established, PXE will fail and the system will reboot to the local hard drive. The default number of seconds is 50.
- Under Timeouts, scroll for the Login Polling Timeout, in milliseconds, between retries when polling for Provisioning Servers.
- Under Timeouts, scroll for the Login General Timeout, in milliseconds, for all login associated packets, except the initial login polling time-out.
- Click OK to save your changes.