iNotes irule for v. 10.2.0 with HF2

> but for some reason, the connections don't appear to be persisting correctly after selecting the pool member.

 

 

Same problem here with BIG-IP 10.2.2 HFA4. We opend a case at F5 with problem descriptions like:

 

 

'As you can see in the /var/log/ltm, the iRule always selects the correct pool-member (172.28.46.134) but 'http::retry $original_request' is sent to the randomly selected pool member at session start.

 

So sometimes we get a 'HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found' and sometimes not.

 

The 'pool [LB::server pool] member $dest' selection seems not to work.

 

'

 

 

'Thank you for the hints. We changed the irule and use the pool selection in HTTP_REQUEST.

 

But that works only for one request.

 

Similar problem like this: http://devcentral.f5.com/wiki/irules.manual_cookie_persistence.ashx

 

I think, a new session cookie would solve our problem. Is there a simple way to generate a new session cookie with the right/selected member?'

 

 

Case ended with statement from F5: 'it could be due to you are running the solution guide in a different version of software not supported by the mentioned guide.' Sad but true... :(

 

 

 

So we modified the iRule on our own.

 

 

Can anybody please tell us if the generation of a new session cookie is recommended in this scenario?

 

And is there a more elegant way than LB::reselect based on 404-Code in the case the server crashes to which the user is connected to?

 

 

Regards, Matthias

 

 

iRule:

 

 

iRule for iNotes-Access with Load Balancer Assistance Service on Notes

 

based on 'F5 and IBM Lotus iNotes deployment guide Version 1.2' (f5-ibm-inotes-dg.pdf)

 

which is inoperable with Notes 8.5.2, BIG-IP 10.2.2 and contains faults like missing spaces and HTTP::retry in HTTP_RESPONSE_DATA

 

see deployment guide for cookie- and 'Data Group List' configuration

 

 

 

when CLIENT_ACCEPTED {

 

log local0. "ACC - got new connect"

 

set retries 0

 

set server_needed 0

 

set server_selected "none"

 

}

 

 

when HTTP_REQUEST {

 

when opening Notes database, set server_needed 1

 

if {([HTTP::uri] ends_with ".nsf?OpenDatabase") and not ([HTTP::uri] contains "names.nsf") and not ([HTTP::uri] contains "iwaredir.nsf") and not ($server_selected == "new") and not ($server_selected == "orig") }{

 

set original_request [HTTP::request]

 

set server_needed 1

 

set nsf "[substr [HTTP::uri] 1 ".nsf"].nsf"

 

log local0. "REQ - Server needed: $server_needed"

 

log local0. "REQ - NSF: $nsf"

 

HTTP::uri /iwaredir.nsf/ServersLookup?OpenForm&nsfpath=$nsf

 

log local0. "REQ - uri: /iwaredir.nsf/ServersLookup?OpenForm&nsfpath=$nsf"

 

} else {

 

set server_needed 0

 

set original_request [HTTP::request]

 

}

 

when HTTP::retry with new server from X-header, select it from pool

 

if { $server_selected == "new" } {

 

pool [LB::server pool] member $dest

 

log local0. "REQ - Using selected new server [LB::server addr] of pool: [LB::server pool] (Destination: $dest)"

 

}

 

}

 

 

when LB_SELECTED {

 

when HTTP::retry because of 404-Code, reselect member

 

F5 unit sends a new session cookie

 

if { ($retries > 0) and ($retries < 9) } {

 

LB::reselect pool [LB::server pool]

 

log local0. "SELE - Reselection No. $retries"

 

}

 

}

 

 

when HTTP_RESPONSE {

 

log local0. "RESP - Used server [LB::server addr] of pool: [LB::server pool]"

 

 

when 404-Code after automatic reselection of F5 unit to wrong server occurs, do another try

 

if { ([HTTP::status] == 404) and ($retries < 8) } {

 

log local0. "ALERT: 404"

 

incr retries

 

log local0. "RESP - Retrying original request with reselection No. $retries"

 

HTTP::retry $original_request

 

}

 

 

generate new session cookie (code from DevCentral) after member selection based on X-Headers because the F5 unit does not send one

 

if { $server_selected == "new" } {

 

set member "[LB::server addr]:[LB::server port]"

 

scan $member "%u.%u.%u.%u:%u" a b c d e

 

set pcookie "[scan [expr ($d<<24)|($c<<16)|($b<<8)|$a] %u].[expr 256*$e].0000"

 

HTTP::cookie insert name BIGipServer[LB::server pool] value $pcookie path "/"

 

log local0. "RESP - New persistence cookie sent for $dest"

 

set server_selected "none"

 

}

 

build list of iNotes-Server from X-Domino Header

 

if { $server_needed == 1} {

 

set server_list1 [split [HTTP::header X-Domino-ClusterServers], ,]

 

set server_list2 [split [HTTP::header X-Domino-ReplicaServers], ,]

 

set server_list "${server_list1} ${server_list2}"

 

log local0. "RESP - Server_list_Cluster: $server_list1"

 

log local0. "RESP - Server_list_Replica: $server_list2"

 

log local0. "RESP - Server_list: $server_list"

 

HTTP::collect [HTTP::header Content-Length]

 

 

check if we are already on right server and then set server_selected "orig"

 

foreach {svr} $server_list {

 

if { "" ne $svr }{

 

set dest [class search -value iNotes_ReplicaServer equals "[string trim $svr]"]

 

if {[LB::server addr] == $dest } {

 

log local0. "RESP - Already on right server: $dest"

 

set server_selected "orig"

 

}

 

}

 

}

 

 

foreach {svr} $server_list {

 

if { "" ne $svr }{

 

set dest [class search -value iNotes_ReplicaServer equals "[string trim $svr]"]

 

when on right server, do HTTP::retry

 

if { $server_selected == "orig" } {

 

log local0. "RESP - Retrying original request for original server"

 

HTTP::retry $original_request

 

break

 

}

 

when server in list is up, do HTTP::retry

 

if { [LB::status pool [LB::server pool] member $dest 80] eq "up" } {

 

log local0. "RESP - Status of selected server $dest, pool [LB::server pool]: [LB::status pool [LB::server pool] member $dest 80]"

 

set server_selected "new"

 

log local0. "RESP - Retrying original request for new server"

 

HTTP::retry $original_request

 

break

 

}

 

}

 

}

 

 

}

 

}