Hi,

Here is my feature request:

I would like to have native support for MS cluster (VisualCron should be cluster aware):
* When running vistualcron installation it should detect that it is running on cluster enviroment and create the cluster resources (just like SQL server or exchange)

Thanks !
Odra

Our knowledge of clusters is currently limited. Please send any links or information you got and ideas of how it should work. We have found these links so far:

http://technet2.microsof...f51bd31033.mspx?mfr=true 
http://forums.msdn.micro...-43a3-a47d-f9abdd0813e2/ 
http://msdn.microsoft.co...us/library/ms952401.aspx 

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Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply.
We managed to installed VisualCron on MScluster using the hard manual way. I will post the installation instructions later on.

The main issue is to have a separation between the program file and the jobs directory, for example: VisualCron "Engine" will be installed on c:\program files\vistualcron but the jobs will be installed on z:\jobs where z: is shared disk cluster resource.


The best way to detect where cluster is installed or not is check if "clusterservice" is installed and running.

During the installation, VisualCron should detect that is it been installed on a cluster enviroment, ask the user if he would like to use cluster aware installation or a regular installation, than it should ask the user where to place the program files and what is the shared disk where the jobs will be installed.


regards
Odra

In order to install VisualCron on an MS Cluster environment, The following steps should be taken:

1. Use “Cluster Administrator” to connect to the cluster on which you want to install VisualCron, and verify that the cluster is
Online and has no errors or warnings and that all the cluster nodes are online.

2. Create new group and name it “VisualCron”.

3. In the “VisualCron” group create a new physical disk resource and name it “Visual Cron Disk X: “, (where X is the OS drive letter of the shared disk) and bring it online (this will be used for storing the “VisualCron” shared data).

4. Installing “VisualCron” on the cluster nodes:

Please repeat the following sections on each one of the cluster nodes:

A. Move the “VisualCron” Group to the node on which you intend to perform an installation, and verify that the “VisualCron” physical disk resource was successfully initialized.
B. On the target node, Initiate “VisualCron” installation and select “VisualCron client and server” components.
In the “installation folder selection” select the shared disk drive letter as the target installation folder
(E.g. if G: is the drive letter for the shared disk use “G:\Program Files\VisualCron 4\” as the installation folder).
C. Copy the “VisualCron 4” directory which was created during the installation phase (located in the shared disk) to
“C:\Program Files” directory the local disk of the node
D. Create a desktop shortcut for the “VisualCron” client image file (C:\Program Files\VisualCron 4\ VisualCronClient.exe).

5. Open “Cluster Administrator” and create a new “IP Address” resource in the “VisualCron” group and name it “Visual Cron IP”
(This will be the “VisualCron” virtual IP for connecting “VisualCron” by clients from the public LAN).
In the “TCP Address Parameters” tab provide the IP Address and Subnet mask you intend to use.

6. Open “Cluster Administrator” and create a new “Network Name” resource in the “VisualCron” group and name it “Visual Cron Name”
(This will be the “VisualCron” DNS Network Name for connecting “VisualCron” by clients from the public LAN).
In the dependencies tab add the “Visual Cron IP” resource as dependency resource.
In the “Network name parameters” tab provide the DNS name you intend to use.

7. Open “Cluster Administrator” and create a new “Generic Service” resource In the “VisualCron” group:
In the “Service Name” field enter “VisualCron 4”.
In the dependencies tab add the “VisualCron” shared disk as dependency resource.

8. Bring “Visual Cron” group and all its related resources online.

9. Try to connect the clustered “VisualCron” scheduler remotely using “VisualCron client”.

10. Move “Visual Cron” group by order to each one the cluster nodes and verify that it was successfully initialized and that you are able to
Connect “VisualCron” server remotely using “VisualCron client”.


Thanks
Odra

Thanks for your posts. Where would you recommend that we store path to settings and jobs? I mean, which part of the cluster is accesible from anywhere?

Also, even though we set where we store settings in a shared drive you still have to do your configuration, right? If so, have you any programatical solution to what you do?

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Thanks for your posts. Where would you recommend that we store path to settings and jobs? I mean, which part of the cluster is accesible from anywhere?

Also, even though we set where we store settings in a shared drive you still have to do your configuration, right? If so, have you any programatical solution to what you do?

I would recommend that the option of storing the settings and jobs we be determinate by the user during the installation or be possible to change it after the installation (if by registry key or configuration file)

configuration can be done via:
1. CLUADMIN (http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/829f26e2-5892-4821-aae6-b15beeec95811033.mspx?mfr=true)
2. cluster.exe (http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/62513114-6281-4119-8a65-6463be5646a61033.mspx?mfr=true)
both can be used by your installation according to user settings.

Thanks
odra

What is the current status of cluster support in VisualCron? The changelog for v3.0.4 [2006-02-24] mentions better cluster support. But this thread implies that cluster support is very limited.

All that I've found in the documentation is a mention of failover using shared drives. What are the requirements for this type of setup (operating system, networking, shared drives, etc.)?

There is no "native" support. Customers, that use VisualCron, install VisualCron a shared drive by the cluster. Then, when switching to another cluster the service is restarted and all settings (which are stored on file) are loaded on the new machine.

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Hi,

Is there anyone who has experience setting up VisualCron on application servers that are load balanced? These load balanced servers are both active at the same time, but I only need the jobs to run once on either machines.

Regards,
kelly

Thanks, odra, for the detailed instructions.
What if I just want to install the clients on the cluster and have the scheduler on another stand alone machine?

The instructions as outlined here https://www.visualcron.c...=posts&m=500#post500  are they still valid (it's 10 years ago)
Brgds Ulf