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Perform IP MetroCluster switchover and switchback

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You can switch over control from one IP MetroCluster site to the other to perform maintenance or recover from an issue.

Note Switchover and switchback procedures are supported only for IP MetroCluster configurations.

Overview of switchover and switchback

A switchover can occur in two instances:

  • A planned switchover

    This switchover is initiated by a system administrator using System Manager. The planned switchover allows a system administrator of a local cluster to switch control so that the data services of the remote cluster are handled by the local cluster. Then, a system administrator at the remote cluster location can perform maintenance on the remote cluster.

  • An unplanned switchover

    In some cases, when a MetroCluster cluster goes down or the connections between the clusters are down, ONTAP will automatically initiate a switchover procedure so that the cluster that is still running handles the data handling responsibilities of the down cluster.

    At other times, when ONTAP cannot determine the status of one of the clusters, the system administrator of the site that is working initiates the switchover procedure to take control of the data handling responsibilities of the other site.

For any type of switchover procedure, the data servicing capability is returned to the cluster by using a switchback process.

You perform different switchover and switchback processes for ONTAP 9.7 and 9.8:

Use System Manager in ONTAP 9.7 for switchover and switchback

Steps

  1. Log in to System Manager in ONTAP 9.7.

  2. Click (Return to classic version).

  3. Click Configuration > MetroCluster.

    System Manager verifies whether a negotiated switchover is possible.

  4. Perform one of the following substeps when the validation process has completed:

    1. If validation fails, but Site B is up, then an error has occurred. For example, there might be a problem with a subsystem, or NVRAM mirroring might not be synchronized.

      1. Fix the issue that is causing the error, click Close, and then start again at Step 2.

      2. Halt the Site B nodes, click Close, and then perform the steps in Performing an unplanned switchover.

    2. If validation fails, and Site B is down, then most likely there is a connection problem. Verify that Site B is really down, then perform the steps in Performing an unplanned switchover.

  5. Click Switchover from Site B to Site A to initiate the switchover process.

  6. Click Switch to the new experience.

Use System Manager in ONTAP 9.8 for switchover and switchback

Perform a planned switchover (ONTAP 9.8)

Steps

  1. Log in to System Manager in ONTAP 9.8.

  2. Select Dashboard. In the MetroCluster section, the two clusters are shown with a connection.

  3. In the local cluster (shown on the left), click kebab icon, and select Switchover remote data services to the local site.

    After the switchover request is validated, control is transferred from the remote site to the local site, which performs data service requests for both clusters.

    The remote cluster reboots, but the storage components are not active, and the cluster does not service data requests. It is now available for planned maintenance.

Note The remote cluster should not be used for data servicing until you perform a switchback.

Perform an unplanned switchover (ONTAP 9.8)

An unplanned switchover might be initiated automatically by ONTAP. If ONTAP cannot determine if a switchback is needed, the system administrator of the MetroCluster site that is still running initiates the switchover with the following steps:

Steps

  1. Log in to System Manager in ONTAP 9.8.

  2. Select Dashboard.

    In the MetroCluster section, the connection between the two clusters is shown with an "X" on it, meaning a connection cannot be detected. Either the connections or the cluster is down.

  3. In the local cluster (shown on the left), click kebab icon, and select Switchover remote data services to the local site.

    If the switchover fails with an error, click on the "View details" link in the error message and confirm the unplanned switchover.

    After the switchover request is validated, control is transferred from the remote site to the local site, which performs data service requests for both clusters.

    The cluster must be repaired before it is brought online again.

Note After the remote cluster is brought online again, it should not be used for data servicing until you perform a switchback.

Perform a switchback (ONTAP 9.8)

Before you start

Whether the remote cluster was down due to planned maintenance or due to a disaster, it should now be up and running and waiting for the switchback.

Steps

  1. On the local cluster, log in to System Manager in ONTAP 9.8.

  2. Select Dashboard.

    In the MetroCluster section, the two clusters are shown.

  3. In the local cluster (shown on the left), click kebab icon, and select Take back control.

    The data is healed first, to ensure data is synchronized and mirrored between both clusters.

  4. When the data healing is complete, click kebab icon, and select Initiate switchback.

    When the switchback is complete, both clusters are active and servicing data requests. Also, the data is being mirrored and synchronized between the clusters.