The cluster management server is always available on the cluster. You can access the cluster management server through the console or cluster management LIF.

Upon failure of its home network port, the cluster management LIF automatically fails over to another node in the cluster. Depending on the connectivity characteristics of the management protocol you are using, you might or might not notice the failover. If you are using a connectionless protocol (for example, SNMP) or have a limited connection (for example, HTTP), you are not likely to notice the failover. However, if you are using a long-term connection (for example, SSH), then you will have to reconnect to the cluster management server after the failover.

When you create a cluster, all of the characteristics of the cluster management LIF are configured, including its IP address, netmask, gateway, and port.

Unlike a data SVM or node SVM, a cluster management server does not have a root volume or host user volumes (though it can host system volumes). Furthermore, a cluster management server can only have LIFs of the cluster management type.

If you run the vserver show command, the cluster management server appears in the output listing for that command.