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# Connecting a high availability cluster to the server

The three following steps are required to connect a high availability cluster to the SMC server:

Declaring the cluster in the SMC server web interface

1. In the SMC server web interface, select Monitoring > Firewalls and click Create a firewall. The new firewall stands for the cluster; you do not need to declare both nodes of the cluster.
2. Complete the cluster properties. The Firewall name, Description and Location fields are filled in for information only and do not have any impact on the configuration.
3. For more information on the VPN contact address, refer to the section Defining the contact IP address of firewalls for VPN topologies.
4. For more information on the VPN output interface, refer to the section Selecting the output interface of firewalls for VPN topologies.
5. Select the folder in which you wish to organize the cluster. Folders are created in the Configuration > Firewalls and folders menu on the left. For more information, please refer to the section Organizing firewalls by folders. You need to hold write access privileges on the folder. For more information, refer to the section Restricting folder administrators' access privileges.

Building the cluster connecting package,

1. In the same window, select Generate the connecting package to generate the package while adding the new firewall. This connecting package will have to be installed on the firewall to connect to the SMC server.

   TIP
   You can build the package later, by editing the firewall in the Firewalls menu.

2. Click on Create.
3. In the Generating the connecting package panel, click on Next then select This firewall is already in production.
4. On next panel, select the version of the firewall. Verify and edit the information to connect to the SMC server if needed. The panel varies according to the version of the firewall. In 3.9.0 and higher versions:
   - IP address or FQDN: the firewall connects using these addresses to contact the SMC server. Depending on network topology, they can either be the SMC server's IP addresses or external IP addresses that the firewall can reach, and which are redirected to the SMC server through destination translation. You can set up to ten addresses or FQDNs to contact the SMC server, by order of priority. The firewall browses the addresses from 1 to 10 and connects to the SMC server through the first address reachable. If the address currently used has not the highest priority, the firewall regularly tries to reach an address with greatest priority.
   - Port: depending on network topology, they can either be the SMC server's ports (1754 by default) or external ports that the firewall can reach, and which are redirected to the SMC server's port through destination translation.
   - Local address: you can specify a different outgoing interface for each contact address.
   - For firewalls in version 3.7.X to 3.8.X, only one outgoing interface can be specified, and which will apply for all contact addresses.
5. Click on Generate and download.

Installing the connecting package on the active node of the cluster.

IMPORTANT
The connecting package makes it possible to establish a connection from the firewall to the SMC server. Share this package only with users who have been made aware of security. Such packages must only be shared through secure channels (encrypted e-mails, secured USB keys, etc.) between SMC and SNS firewalls.

1. Provide the package to the administrator in charge of managing the cluster on the remote site.
2. Ensure that the administrator:
   - connects to the web administration interface of the active node of the cluster.
   - selects the connecting package In the menu Configuration > System > Management Center of the firewall administration interface. After the package has been installed, the administrator can see the SMC server connection settings in the same menu. They are also displayed in the SMC dashboard component.
   - performs a synchronization of both nodes from the administration interface of the active node. The passive node retrieves then the configuration contained in the firewall connecting package.
3. In the SMC server web interface, verify that the state of the cluster changes in the Firewalls menu. It must be "On line". The mode icon changes as well: .
   In case of failover, the passive node will become active and will automatically connect to the SMC server.
4. To view different types of information about both nodes of the cluster, edit the cluster in the Firewalls menu and open the High availability tab.

The SMC server regularly synchronizes both nodes in the high availability clusters of firewalls that it manages. To disable this automatic synchronization, refer to the section Disabling automatic synchronization of high availability clusters.