Installing and configuring a cluster with a virtual PATROL Agent

In order to configure PATROL for Microsoft SQL Server in a clustered environment you need the PATROL Cluster Configuration Wizard. The PATROL Cluster Configuration Wizard is used to make the PATROL Agent service a clustered resource. This provides the PATROL Agent the ability to failover between nodes while keeping its configuration and history intact.

Using the PATROL Cluster Configuration Wizard, you can specify the following properties of a clustered PATROL Agent:

• PATROL Agent resources
• Communication port for the PATROL Agent
• Location to save history and configuration files

To use the PATROL Cluster Configuration Wizard

1. Create a domain PATROL account with local administrator rights on all SQL Server nodes in the cluster on which BMC PATROL is installed:
2. Using the PATROL account created in step 1, install the following products on each SQL Server cluster node:
   • PATROL Agent
   • PATROL for Microsoft SQL Server
   • PATROL Cluster Configuration Wizard
3. Identify the SQL Server cluster groups into which you want to install a virtual PATROL Agent. These groups must contain the following resources:
   • Physical disk to store history and configuration data--preferably a standard cluster-shared disk.
   • IP address--so that the virtual PATROL Agent can run from any node, even if that node does not own the cluster IP address.
   • Network name--a name the virtual PATROL Agent uses to refer to the resources BMC PATROL monitors. Thus, the resources can failover to a node.
4. On each cluster node, run the PATROL Cluster Configuration Wizard. To start the wizard, use one of the following methods:
   • From command prompt, type pcc.exe
   • Select Start > Programs > BMC PATROL > PATROL Cluster Configuration Wizard. 

This process involves adding the virtual PATROL Agent to the Disk Group that contains the Virtual SQL Server default and named instances that is, sql2k, sql2k\db1, sql2k\db2 etc. Each virtual PATROL Agent must be configured with a unique port number.

For information about how the PATROL Agent supports an application in a cluster environment and what type of failover tolerance it provides, see the PATROL Agent Reference Manual. See your Microsoft SQL Server documentation for details about SQL Servers, clustering, and failovers.

Related topics

Setting up the monitoring of a clustered environment