Premium HA - Replicate nodes across DCs

Premium High Availability

Dynatrace Premium High Availability (Premium HA) is a self-contained, out-of-the-box solution that provides near-zero downtime and allows monitoring to continue without data loss in failover scenarios. This solution requires additional licensing for your deployment.

To create a globally distributed high availability deployment (Premium High Availability), you must add a redundant set of nodes to your original Managed cluster deployment. Typically, such high availability deployments span across multiple data centers. Dynatrace Managed enables you to add mirrored nodes located in another data center.

In this procedure, the following terms are designated as follows:

  • DC-1 - The data center where the initial Dynatrace Managed cluster is located.
  • DC-2 - An additional data center designated for Premium High Availability deployment.
  • seed node - Any node within DC-1 that will be used for performing the installation tasks and distribution of configuration.

The procedure involves migration and replication of Dynatrace Managed components separately so they are prepared for data replication across two data centers. See Overview of Dynatrace Managed components.

Requirements

  • Premium High Availability license. See Calculate Dynatrace monitoring consumption

  • DC-1 cluster must have backup disabled before starting the migration procedure. We recommend that you create a fresh cluster backup and disable cluster backup shortly before deploying the additional data center.

  • Migration must not take longer than four weeks. If your migration will exceed four weeks, contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat.

  • DC-1 cluster automatic update must be disabled before starting the migration procedure. The cluster must not be upgraded during migration. See Automatic update. Contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat if your automatic update option is disabled.

  • Make sure machines are prepared for the cluster in DC-2.

    We recommend

    Since DC-2 will replicate the data of DC-1, we recommend that you designate the same number of nodes with the same hardware, including disk storage.
    All nodes in DC-1 and DC-2 must be time-synchronized. This can be achieved by setting up Network Time Protocol (NTP).

  • Premium High Availability deployment requires at least three nodes in DC-1 and three corresponding nodes in DC-2.

  • Make sure that all nodes in both data centers can communicate with each other. To check if a node in DC-1 is reachable from a host in DC-2, you can execute a health-check REST call. For example, run a following command from at a host in DC-2:

curl -k https://<DC-1-node-IP>/rest/health

where <DC-1-node-IP> is the IP address of any node in DC-1. You should receive "RUNNING" in a reponse if the connection can be established successfully.

Preparation

Ensure that your system meets the specified hardware and operating system requirements.

Gather information

The commands use these variables in executing the REST API calls. For this, you need the following information:

  • <seed-node-ip> - The IP address of the seed node from DC-1.
    This can be any node running in the existing data center that will be used for performing the installation tasks and distribution of configuration.

  • <nodes-ips> - The list of IPV4 addresses of new nodes in DC-2.
    Example: "176.16.0.5", "176.16.0.6", "176.16.0.7"

  • <api-token> - A valid Cluster API token (ServiceProviderAPI scope is required).
    You can generate it in the Dynatrace Managed Cluster Management Console. See Cluster API - Authentication.

  • <dynatrace-directory> - The directory where Dynatrace Managed is installed on the seed node.
    The default Dynatrace Managed installation directory is /opt/dynatrace-managed

  • <datacenter-1> - The DC-1 name must be the same as the Cassandra DC name.
    The default Cassandra DC name is datacenter1.

    To get the DC name, execute this command on the seed node before starting migration:

    sudo <dynatrace-directory>/utils/cassandra-nodetool.sh status

    You will get a response that includes the DC-1 name. Example for a DC named datacenter1:

    Datacenter: datacenter1
    =======================
    Status=Up/Down
    |/ State=Normal/Leaving/Joining/Moving
    --  Address        Load       Tokens       Owns (effective)  Host ID                               Rack
    UN  10.176.42.20   65.54 GB   256          100.0%            f053dd8d-ecf3-7834-b099-68542439817b  rack1
    UN  10.176.42.244  65.47 GB   256          100.0%            2aa7e790-a423-9273-88f9-45bcd158dd6e  rack1
    UN  10.176.42.168  65.47 GB   256          100.0%            48543bca-41f5-26d3-b2fd-6cfdf5c0f3b2  rack1

  • <datacenter-2> - The DC-2 name can be any string that begins and ends with an alphanumeric character and is no longer than 80 characters. Underscores and dashes are allowed within the name. Example: dc-us-east-2.

Set variables

To streamline the numerous REST API calls during the deployment, set environment variables on every node in DC-1 and DC-2.

SEED_IP=<seed-ip>
DT_DIR=<dynatrace-directory>
NODES_IPS=$(echo '[<nodes-ips]')
API_TOKEN=<api-token>
DC1_NAME=<datacenter-1>
DC2_NAME=<datacenter-2>

For example:

SEED_IP=10.176.37.201
DT_DIR=/opt/dynatrace-managed
NODES_IPS=$(echo '["10.176.37.218", "10.176.37.227", "10.176.37.120"]')
API_TOKEN=R_SZOpV4RTOmjr9fFmK4x
DC1_NAME=datacenter1
DC2_NAME=dc-us-east-2

Check for custom settings

If your Cassandra or Elasticsearch cluster is configured with custom.settings that enable rack-awareness, contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat to apply these custom settings before proceeding with DC-2 installation.

To check whether custom settings are applied, execute on seed node:

ls $DT_DIR/installer/custom.settings

If the custom.settings file exists, you are using custom settings.

Installation

To create a cluster in a second DC, follow this procedure.

Step 1

Update Elasticsearch license

Step 2

Distribute the installer

Step 3

Create the data center topology

Step 4

Open firewall rules

Step 5

Install second data center nodes

Step 6

Replicate Cassandra

Step 7

Replicate Elasticsearch

Step 8

Migrate the server

Step 9

Enable the new data center

API return codes

Each of the REST API calls returns an HTTP code. Go to the next step only when the returned code is 200. Expect the following return codes:

200 - Go to the next step, current step was executed successfully.
207 - The request is being processed, repeat step after a few minutes if there's no response.
40x - Revise your request path and arguments, then repeat the request.
5xx - Contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat.

Step 1 Update Elasticsearch license

Fetch the Premium High Availability license. Execute the following command on each existing DC-1 node successively:

sudo nohup $DT_DIR/installer/reconfigure.sh --only els --premium-ha on &

Step 2 Distribute the installer

In this step, you copy the node installer to every node in DC-2.

  1. Log into your Dynatrace Managed Cluster Management Console.

  2. Go to Home for the Dynatrace Managed deployment status page.

  3. Select Add new cluster node.

  4. Copy the wget command line from the Run this command on the target host text box.

    Do not run the installer script

    The Run this installer script with root rights text box contains a command for the installation script. Ignore this command; do not execute the provided script.

  5. Paste and execute only the wget command line into your terminal window.

Step 3 Create the data center topology

In this step, you create a configuration that defines which node belongs to which data center.

Execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

curl -ikS -X POST -d "{\"newDatacenterName\" : \"$DC2_NAME\", \"nodesIp\" :$NODES_IPS}" https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/datacenterTopology?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

If the status code is not 200 and the response does not suggest next steps, contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat.

Step 4 Open firewall rules

In this step, you add firewall rules that open ports for traffic to the new DC-2 nodes.

Open ports

To open ports to traffic from the new DC-2 nodes, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

curl -ikS -X POST -d "$NODES_IPS" https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/clusterNodes/currentDc?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

If successful, the status code is 200 and the response body contains a request ID you need to check the firewall rules status.

If the status code is not 200 and the response does not suggest next steps, contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat.

Verify firewall rules

Set the request ID environment variable on seed node only. The request ID is from the response in the previous API call.

REQ_ID=<topology-configuration-request-id>

To check the firewall rules status, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

curl -ikS https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/clusterNodes/currentDc/$REQ_ID?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

If the status code from this call is not 200, try again after a few minutes.

Step 5 Install second data center nodes

In this step, you install managed nodes on all hosts within DC-2 and, once completed, you check for the presence of a Nodekeeper service. This indicates if all nodes were successfully installed in DC-2.

Install nodes in DC-2

Execute the following command on every node in DC-2. Follow the on-screen instructions, as this will be a typical node installation.

sudo /bin/sh ./managed-installer.sh --install-new-dc --premium-ha on --datacenter $DC2_NAME --seed-auth $API_TOKEN

This operation should take 3 to 5 minutes and the expected result should be similar to this:

Installation in new data center completed successfully after 2 minutes 51 seconds.

Check Nodekeeper in DC-2

Execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node when all nodes in DC-2 finish installing:

curl -ikS https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/nodekeeper/healthCheck?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

If the status code is not 200, try again after a few minutes.

Step 6 Replicate Cassandra

In this step, you reconfigure Cassandra in DC-1 and DC-2 for cross-data center replication, trigger data synchronization, rebuild Cassandra data, and verify the Cassandra state.

It may take minutes to hours, depending on your metric storage size.

  1. Replication of Cassandra in DC-1

    In this step, you reconfigure Cassandra for cross-data center replication.

    Replicate Cassandra

    To start Cassandra replication in the DC-1 data center, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

    curl -ikS -X POST https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/cassandra/currentDc?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

    If successful, the status code is 200 and the response body contains a request ID that you need to check replication status. Set the request ID environment variable only on the seed node. The request ID is from the response in the previous API call.

    REQ_ID=<replication-old-datacenter-request-id>

    If the status code is not 200 and the response does not suggest next steps, contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat.

    Check replication status

    To check replication status, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

    curl -ikS -X GET https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/cassandra/currentDc/$REQ_ID?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

    If the status code is not 200, try again after a few minutes.

  2. Replication of Cassandra in DC-2

    In this step, you reconfigure Cassandra for cross–data center replication and trigger data synchronization.

    Replicate Cassandra

    To start replication of Cassandra in the DC-2 data center, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

    curl -ikS -X POST https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/cassandra/newDc?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

    If successful, the status code is 200 and the response body contains a request ID that you need to check replication status. Set the request ID environment variable only on the seed node. The request ID is from the response in the previous API call.

    REQ_ID=<replication-new-datacenter-request-id>

    If the status code is not 200 and the response does not suggest next steps, contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat.

    Check replication status

    To check the replication status, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

    curl -ikS -X GET https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/cassandra/newDc/$REQ_ID?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H  "accept: application/json" -H  "Content-Type: application/json"

    If the status code is not 200, try again after a few minutes.

  3. Rebuild Cassandra data

    In this step, you'll rebuild Cassandra and verify the progress by checking the status. Depending on the size of your Cassandra database, this can take several hours.

    Rebuild data

    To rebuild Cassandra data in the DC-2 data center, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

    curl -ikS -X POST https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/cassandra/rebuild?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

    If successful, the status code is 200. If the status code is not 200 and the response does not suggest the following steps, contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat within your Dynatrace environment.

    Check the rebuild data status

    To check the rebuild data status, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

    curl -ikS -X GET https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/cassandra/rebuild?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H  "accept: application/json" -H  "Content-Type: application/json"

    If the status code is not 200, try again after approximately 15 minutes. Remember that the rebuilding data process can be time-consuming.

    If the response has an error flag set to true, contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat within your environment.

Step 7 Replicate Elasticsearch

In this step, you replicate Elasticsearch to the DC-2 data center and verify the configuration and data replication. This step may take minutes or hours, depending on your Elasticsearch storage.

Replicate Elasticsearch to DC-2

To start replication of Elasticsearch to the DC-2 data center, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

curl -ikS -X POST https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/elasticsearch?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

If successful, the status code is 200 and the response body contains a request ID that you need to check replication status. Set the request ID environment variable only on the seed node. The request ID is from the response in the previous API call.

REQ_ID=<replication-elasticsearch-request-id>

If the status code is not 200 and the response does not suggest next steps, contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat.

Verify progress and status

To check the replication status of Elasticsearch, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

curl -ikS -X GET https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/elasticsearch/$REQ_ID?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

If the status code is not 200, try again after a few minutes.

Verify data replication

To verify replication Elasticsearch data replication, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

curl -ikS -X GET https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/elasticsearch/indexMigrationStatus?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

If the status code is not 200, try again after a few minutes.

Step 8 Migrate the server

In this step, you migrate the server, refresh authorization tokens that enable OneAgent connectivity, and start NGINX in the DC-2 data center. Also, you refresh installers in DC-1 that are used to add nodes.

Migrate server

Launch the Dynatrace Managed cluster in the DC-2 by executing the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

curl -ikS -X POST https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/server?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

If successful, the status code is 200 and the response body contains a request ID that you need to check cluster readiness. Set the request ID environment variable only on the seed node. The request ID is from the response in the previous API call.

REQ_ID=<replication-server-request-id>

If the status code is not 200 and the response does not suggest next steps, contact a Dynatrace product expert via live chat.

Check cluster readiness

To check if the cluster is ready, execute the following cluster API call only on the seed node:

curl -ikS -X GET https://$SEED_IP/api/v1.0/onpremise/multiDc/migration/server/$REQ_ID?Api-Token=$API_TOKEN -H "accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

If the status code is not 200, try again after a few minutes.

Step 9 Enable the new data center

  1. Enable OneAgent traffic.
    For details, see Enable/Disable a cluster node.
  2. Enable backup in one of the data centers. Your backup is disabled after migration.
    For details, see Back up and restore a cluster.