We are preparing to deploy Bigfix in a DSA architecture. Two servers will be sitting side by side, named BES1.domain.local and BES2.domain.local. Because of Systems design, I have little control over the actual server name, but total control over cname choice.
When creating the action site masthead for the entire deployment, can I use a Cname of BEST.domain.local which would be an alias of BES1.domail.local?
-or-
Must I use BES1.domain.local for creation of the masthead file?
The documentation mentions using the DNS or IP address of the server but no mention of using an alias FQDN. What would the ramifications be for this situation.
You can use an alias when creating the actionsite masthead. As long as the alias FQDN resolves to the BES Server machine (even on the BES Server machine itself), there are no ramifications.
When using an alias for licensing in a DSA setup, and since you are using the same masthead for both Primary and Secondary services, do you want that alias be resolvable for both nodes? I couldn’t find anything specific about this in the docs.
I assume that all of the clients will be using this name to reach the main BES server, and I was thinking that the alias was only necessary on the Primary node and the secondary node might be acting more like a relay but before I got to far with the DSA stuff I thought I’d get confirmation.
And If you only use it on the Primary node do you need to change which node resolves it if you change which node is primary at a later point.
I’m not exactly sure how you would make one alias resolvable to two different IPs, but that is not necessary. The replica server is its own entity and will be accessed by its own hostname, like a relay. It uses the same masthead so it knows what deployment it is part of.
If you want to change the replica server into the master server, you should redirect the DNS alias to the replica server. But this should only be done if you are permanently changing it to be the master. For failover purposes, no DNS changes are necessary. Top-level relays should be using their 2nd relay or FailoverRelay option to point to the replica/secondary server.