Changing config manually with HADR

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The global settings or configuration for a Zoom server deployment with High-Availability and Disaster Recovery (HADR) enabled can be changed easily through the Server Control Panel or other options on the Zoom Web Management Portal (Webmin). Global configuration may include various aspects such as Repository settings, Metadata specification, Workflow settings etc. However, at present, the Webmin, may not provide a mechanism to modify some of these configurations. For these, a manual process needs to be followed.

The process for manually changing the global configuration with HADR requires that the identical change be made across all the Zoom server installations that are part of the HADR deployment. The first process given below can be used if the changes are being made at a time when there are not many users editing assets etc. on the repository. The alternative process given subsequently, may be used otherwise, but can be lengthier due to an additional step of Zoom DB manual sync.

Before starting either process, it is advised that the required changes to the configuration files are kept ready in a copy of those files. This will allow a quick replacement of the configuration files at the appropriate stage. These can also be used to verify the proposed changes on a test setup, thereby ensuring that the manual edits achieve the desired effect.

Manual configuration change when few users editing on the system

  1. Monitor the HADR Dashboard Status in any running Zoom server Webmin.
  2. Wait till all the peers get their Last Delivered value equal to the highest Last Proposed value among all the peers.
  3. Stop peers’ Zoom services immediately.
    • Preferably stop all in the order of descending weights.
    • Else, stop at least a majority of the peers (in terms of weight), i.e., stop at least as many as peers as possible, such that the total weight of all the remaining alive peers is less than half of the total weight of all peers.
  4. Identically modify the required configuration files (inside the conf directory) in each of the Zoom servers.
    • The Zoom service must be in a stopped state when modifying the file.
    • In case all peers have not been stopped in the previous step, the running Zoom services must be stopped individually before modifying the configuration files, and then restarted.
  5. Restart all the stopped Zoom service peers.

Manual configuration change with additional DB sync

  1. Monitor the HADR Dashboard Status in any running Zoom server Webmin.
  2. Wait till any one peer gets its Last Delivered value equal to the highest Last Proposed value among all the peers.
    • This peer will be the one to perform a DB sync from.
  3. Stop peers’ Zoom services immediately.
    • Preferably stop all in the order of descending weights.
    • Else, stop at least a majority of the peers (in terms of weight), i.e., stop at least as many as peers as possible, such that the total weight of all the remaining alive peers is less than half of the total weight of all peers.
  4. Sync the DB files manually, from the above identified peer to each of the other peers, including if any, the new peers. Follow the guide on manual DB sync to do this.
  5. Identically modify the required configuration files (inside the conf directory) in each of the Zoom servers.
    • The Zoom service must be in a stopped state when modifying the file.
    • In case all peers have not been stopped in the previous step, the running Zoom services must be stopped individually before modifying the configuration files, and then restarted.
  6. Restart all the stopped Zoom service peers.