Message in SSH and SAS "Broadcast message from root"

[rwallo]

Last Thursday 12/12/2013, we began seeing this message popping up in the SSH and site admin window. At the same time, it appears that the servers are continuously interchanging.

I busied one server to stop the interchanging temporarily. Does anyone have any ideas on this or have you seen it before?

Broadcast message from root (Mon Dec 16 09:07:21 2013):

Communication Manager is going or staying ACTIVE on this server.

Thanks!

[aa1]

Message in SSH and SAS "Broadcast message from root"

The message what you see is "normal" and it's because of the cause you have already discovered: the servers are doing interchange. However, servers doing interchange is not normal. by busying out one of the servers, you forced the system (communication manager duplex servers) to remain on a single and this is the best action before continuing starting the troubleshooting

The two servers are duplex servers and they continuously communicate with each other. One of the exchange in the communication is the info on the health of each sever. When one server feels is more healthier than the other server, then an automatic interchange is initiated. hence the message will be broadcasted to anyone who is logged via SSH to the system.

A single interchange would be understandable in the case when the health of one of the servers fails. this is one of the reasons of having duplex environment. However, continuous interchange is not normal and needs to be looked into. When the servers continuously interchange, it possibly means there is a race condition on; which server feels it's healthier than the other. by busying out one of the servers, then the active server is forced to "live" with the current condition.

there could be many reasons behind this., so how do we go to troubleshoot that?

one of the reasons the servers would be interchange is because of port network connectivity problems. in the world of G650 and IPSI, sometimes due to network challenges, the connection between the server and PNs fluctuates and hence causes the servers to interchange.

Another possibility would be that due to some software anomalies, the communication manager or related modules restart hence initiating the interchange.

Have you done any sort of troubleshooting?
Arbi

[aa1]

commands for troubleshooting

questions to assist with troubleshooting:

- what is the version of Avaya aura communication manager?
- what is the patch installed?
- do you have IPSI controlled port networks?
- do you have IPSI controlled remote port networks?

commands/screens to check
- on the command prompt of both servers: statusserver, check the "Control Network:" field.
- on the command prompt of both servers: statusserver, check the "Major Alarms" and "Minor Alarms" field and if there are alarms, check the alarms on the server and read the alarms manuals
- check server alarms and errors on the command line using "almdisplay" command and then follow the below manuals for troubleshooting
- use the command; "restartcause"

you may see the above output also from the Communication manager web admin too.

so documents for reference:

Avaya Aura® Communication Manager Server Alarms

https://downloads.avaya.com/css/P8/documents/100171664

Maintenance Commands for Avaya Aura® Communication Manager, Branch Gateways and Servers

https://downloads.avaya.com/css/P8/documents/100171659

Maintenance Alarms for Avaya Aura® Communication Manager, Branch Gateways and Servers

https://downloads.avaya.com/css/P8/documents/100171660

Arbi

[aa1]

Avaya knowledge database

You may also utilize Avaya's knowledge database for searching.

http://support.avaya.com

Communication manager also has logs and they are accessible from the CM web admin. you may also look into them for possible causes, however that requires more skills to understand the messages.

I hope these help you with troubleshooting and fixing the problem!
Arbi