ACE - Probe

I am trying to determine the best way to monitor the health of my servers. I have multiple Web Server instances running on different ports on the same physical server. So I have configured 1 RSERVER. In my Server Farm configuration I specify the RSERVER then the port number for each Web Server instance.
How can I monitor each Instance individualy?
I dont want to take the entire RSERVER out of service if just one of the instances fail. I just want to take the one instance out of service if that one instance has failed.
probe http EP-57100
port 57100
interval 2
faildetect 2
passdetect interval 2
request method get url /index.html
expect status 200 200
probe http EP-57300
port 57300
interval 2
faildetect 2
passdetect interval 2
request method get url /index.html
expect status 200 200
rserver host EP1
ip address 10.10.10.10
inservice
serverfarm host EP
rserver EP1 57100
inservice
rserver EP1 57300
inservice
Thanks for the help!

You cannot create multiple rservers with same IP address. Similarly there is no way to define a port under rserver definition. You can define probes under rserver configuration but not ports.
Are the different instances (listening on diff ports) are serving the same application? If yes then you can try
serverfarm host EP
rserver EP1 57100
probe EP-57100
inservice
rserver EP1 57300
probe EP-57300
inservice
Syed Iftekhar Ahmed

Similar Messages

ACE Probe regex and escaping Parenthesis

I'm trying to setup a ACE probe that expects a return of
(server.domain.com) EXISTS=TRUE,AVAILABLE=TRUE,ACTIVE=TRUE
But it doesn't appear that I can use Parenthesis inside a regex. I've tried escaping as well.
expect $server\.domain\.com$ EXISTS=TRUE,AVAILABLE=TRUE,ACTIVE=TRUE
% invalid command detected at '^' marker. Pointing at the (
But this doesn't work either. Any ideas?

Hi,
Hi,
If it has taken it, it should match the response from server. Is it still not matching?
If you look at the regex builder below, the regex matches the response which is expected from the server. So ACE should be able to match it.
Also, you can try and put \ before dots but not sure. In my opinion it should work fine with what we have put in already. If it doesn't we will have to use hit and trial. Let me know if you need this regex builder. You can download it from google though. In any case i just attached it.

ACE: probe timers

Hi,
I've general question about ACE probe timers. I've following probe setup:
probe https probe:1061
port 1061
interval 34
passdetect interval 17
open 1
ACE# sh probe probe:1061detail
probe       : probe:1061
type        : HTTPS
state       : ACTIVE
description :
   port      : 1061   address     : 0.0.0.0         addr type : -
   interval : 34      pass intvl : 17              pass count : 3
   fail count: 3       recv timeout: 10
===
for above probe: when ACE will declare the server as down? will it declare it down after (17*3+34) 85 seconds or it will declare it down after 115 seconds (added recv timeout=secs 3 times = 30 seconds).
please help.
========
we did a test and bought down the server manually. ACE declared the server down after 91 seconds (from the time when server was brought down).

Hi Gavin, Krishna,
The explanation for all these parameters can be found in the health monitoring section of the configuration guide (
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/interfaces_modules/services_modules/ace/vA2_3_0/configuration/slb/guide/probe.html#wp1031040)
Below are the definitions quoted from the guide:
Interval:
The time interval between probes is the frequency that the ACE sends probes to a server marked as passed. You can change the time interval between probes by using the interval command
Faildetect:
Before the ACE marks a server as failed, it must detect that probes have failed a consecutive number of times. By default, when three consecutive probes have failed, the ACE marks the server as failed. You can configure this number of failed probes by using the faildetect command
Passdetect interval/count:
To configure the time interval after which the ACE sends a probe to a failed server and the number of consecutive successful probes required to mark the server as passed, use the passdetect command.
So, to summarize, taking Gavin's configuration as example. A server failure would be detected in a time between 78 seconds (2x34 +10) and 112 (3x34 +10). Once it's down, it will become operational between 34 (2x17) and 51 (3x17) seconds after it comes back up.
I hope this helps
Daniel

ACE Probe Config for Blue Coat Proxy TCP Port 74 NETRJS-4

We are running 4710's with A5(2.2). We use Blue Coat proxies for our internet connections, specifcally TCP port 74. So when we open up a browser connection to www.cisco.com, the HTTP GET is actually encapsulated in TCP port 74 netrjs-4. We want to load-balance these proxies with ACE and I'm trying to setup health probes, but the only ones that work are the tcp probes PROXY_BCC_PROBE and PROXY_PROBE. I'd like to have health probes that hit external websites, but I'm confused whether the "ip address" Probe sub command is all I need, and netrjs is simple encapsulation of the HTTP request (which is what it looks like on a sniffer). Does anyone have Blue Coat proxies/ACE working? If so, how are your probes configured?
Thanks,
probe tcp PROXY_BCC_PROBE
port 8084
interval 3
passdetect interval 3
probe http PROXY_HTTP1_PROBE
ip address 198.133.219.25
port 74
interval 3
passdetect interval 3
request method head url /index.html
expect status 200 299
probe http PROXY_HTTP2_PROBE
ip address 198.133.219.25
port 74
interval 3
request method get url /
expect status 200 299
probe tcp PROXY_PROBE
port 74
interval 3
passdetect interval 3

Hi,
I have seen this working for one of the customer.
probe http HTTPGET
description Tests that www.gmail.com returns 302 redirect
interval 10
request method get url http://www.gmail.com
expect status 302 302
If I modify your probe :
probe http PROXY_HTTP1_PROBE
ip address 198.133.219.25
port 74
interval 3
passdetect interval 3
request method get url
http://www.gmail.com
expect status 302 302
Give it a try and see if that helps.
regards,
Ajay Kumar

ACE: probe failing

Hi,
I've following probe configured:
probe http probe1.test.com:10114
port 10114
interval 34
faildetect 17
passdetect interval 60
expect status 200 200
header Host header-value "hcmfincrp1.test.com"
open 1
and it is applied to serverfarm. but health check is failing. I see following when I do "sh probe probe1.test.com:10114 detail":
sh probe probe1.test.com:10114 deta
probe       : probe1.test.com:10114
type        : HTTP
state       : ACTIVE
description :
   port      : 10114   address     : 0.0.0.0         addr type : -
   interval : 34      pass intvl : 60              pass count : 3
   fail count: 17      recv timeout: 10
   http method      : GET
   http url         : /
   conn termination : GRACEFUL
   expect offset    : 0         , open timeout     : 1
   expect regex     : -
   send data        : -
                ------------------ probe results ------------------
   associations ip-address      port porttype probes   failed   passed   health
   ------------ ---------------+-----+--------+--------+--------+--------+------
   serverfarm : probe1.test.com:443
     real      : server1.test.com[10114]
                192.168.1.110114 PROBE    41531    19556    21975    FAILED
   Socket state        : CLOSED
   No. Passed states   : 5         No. Failed states : 6
   No. Probes skipped : 0         Last status code : 0
   No. Out of Sockets : 0         No. Internal error: 0
   Last disconnect err : Unrecognized or invalid response
   Last probe time     : Wed Oct 12 17:43:30 2011
   Last fail time      : Tue Oct 11 02:33:52 2011
   Last active time    : Sun Oct 9 20:24:02 2011
May i know why health check is failing? why am I seeing msg "Last disconnect err : Unrecognized or invalid response" ?

Hi ,
This error means, that the ace is not receiving a 200 ok response from the server, this happens when server is not responding it or it is receiving that do not have a host header having value hcmfincrp1.test.com , which you have definied, or the page has got modified. Please check if your http server is working fine.
Regards
Abijith

Ace probe failure after IIS app pool recycle?

Windows Server 2003 SP2
ACE Module A2(1.6a)
I suspect this is caused by an IIS6 setting, but posting here in case anyone has seen this. For this one particular site, we have 4 servers in the farm. 2 of those servers are fine. The other 2 (new) servers will generate probe failure after the site's app pool recycles. I then remove the 2 servers from service and re-activate (no inservice, then inservice) and the probe comes back as operational. It appears that the app pool recycle somehow is resetting the hash on the default page, though I'm not sure how. Any ideas are very much appreciated.

Yeah, the hash is inside the probe. Here's the config for the serverfarm and the probe. Public-007 and Public-008 are new servers...the other 6 have been in the farm for the last 2.5 years and they don't have this issue. It's only the 2 new boxes that the probe fails when the app pool is recycled.
serverfarm host PUBLIC
probe URL-DEFAULT-ASPX
rserver PUBLIC-001
    inservice
rserver PUBLIC-002
    inservice
rserver PUBLIC-003
    inservice
rserver PUBLIC-004
    inservice
rserver PUBLIC-005
    inservice
rserver PUBLIC-006
    inservice
rserver PUBLIC-007
    inservice
rserver PUBLIC-008
    inservice
probe http URL-DEFAULT-ASPX
interval 2
faildetect 2
passdetect interval 2
passdetect count 2
request method get url /default.aspx
expect status 200 200
hash

ACE ; probe for host header-value

Hi,
we have following probe setup. sometimes this probe fails because server resets the connection but server team claims there aren't any issues with server.
probe https probe1.abc.com:10456
port 10456
interval 34
passdetect interval 17
ssl version all
expect status 200 200
header Host header-value "probe1.abc.com"
open 1
is there a way to validate able probe using linux/linux servers? i.e. using unix/linux server is there a way to send that host header-value to the servers and see if servers are responding with 200 OK status? if not from Unix/Linux servers than if there any otherway to validate it apart from validating it from ACE?
Thanks...

or can we do it using window? maybe using firefox on windows machine?
please advise.

ACE Probe with special Caracters

I need to probe a URL that contains the caracter "?".
I am working with the ACE and would like to know how can I put the URL within the probe format.
Thanks

Hi,
It's one of the 2 solutions below, don't know which one :-)
you can use brackets [ ] or a slash in front of you question mark.
fe:
request method get url /search[?]number=10
If this doens't work, try to use the escape sequence like in IOS:
escape sequence is CRTL-V
so if you want to type it in a probe:
request method get url /search(type CTRL-V)?number=10
HTH,
Dario

ACE probe for LDAP

Is there a way to configure a probe to check the health of LDAP and how? I can't find any reference in the docs for how to do this.

You can use scripted ldap probe (LDAP_PROBE) available with ACE.It sends an
anonymous bind request and check for bind success.
Syed

ACE probe to test telnet

Is there a way to create a probe in the ACE that can telnet into a rserver login with a uid/pass and pass the probe when a expected return message is sent back from the rserver? I have been looking into way to do this for days. I thought I might be able to create a tcl script for it, but have had no luck. Then I thought I could modify the imap probe but I keep getting an error "Invalid server greeting" in the probe state. Has any one done this type of probe or can point me in the correct direction?

The problem is that the telnet protocol use some communication parameters negotiation before you can start transmitting your text.
You need to take into account when designing your tcl probe.
The best is to capture a sniffer trace going to your server, extract the negotiation part and replay it from within your probe.
Gilles.

ACE probe dilemma

Hi, I have a requirement to use the ACE to provide Active/Standby service for 2 services located on 2 physical servers. Server A is active for one port and backup for antoher, Server B vice versa.
As well as this, I am doing port translation - incoming requests to one port are being translated to one of two ports - see config below
rserver host TEST-FE01
ip address 10.100.100.1
inservice
rserver host TEST-FE02
ip address 10.100.100.2
inservice
serverfarm host test-farm
predictor leastconns
rserver TEST-FE01 20902
backup-rserver TEST-FE02 20902
inservice
rserver TEST-FE01 20903
inservice standby
rserver TEST-FE02 20902
inservice standby
rserver TEST-FE02 20903
backup-rserver TEST-FE01 20903
inservice
My problem is that I want to configure probes for each ip/port combination, but I can't seem to achieve this as my server farm contains servers that listen on more than one port and a probe can only be configured with one TCP port and can only be applied to either the rserver or the whole serverfarm.
Can anynone see how I can achieve this
Many Thanks in advance

You will need to define probe under serverfarms's Rserver config
probe tcp port-20902
port 20902
probe tcp port-20903
port 20903
rserver host TEST-FE01
ip address 10.100.100.1
inservice
rserver host TEST-FE02
ip address 10.100.100.2
inservice
serverfarm host test-farm
predictor leastconns
rserver TEST-FE01 20902
probe port-20902
inservice
rserver TEST-FE01 20903
probe port-20903
inservice
Syed

ACE : PROBE-FAILED and Syslog messages

Hi,
When a real server is in PROBE-FAILED status, I observe a syslog message at each trial of the proble. This fills our syslog server. Is there a mean to configure the ACE in such a way that a syslog message would be generated only when a transition occurs in the probe status ?
Thank you for any hints,
Yves

Hello,
You can utilize "logging trap " command and
"logging message level " command
in order to achive what you are seeking.
The "logging trap " command limits the logging messages sent to a syslog server based on severity.
If it is set to "5 - notification", all messages that have security level of 5 or lower number are sent to the syslog server.
You can disable the display of a specific syslog
message or change the severity level of a specific system log message using
"logging message level " command.
Not sure what kind of probe you are using but If it is ICMP probe and
the reason of probe failure is arp, it generates a message for every try
as below with severity level of 3, by default.
%ACE-3-251009: ICMP health probe failed for server 192.168.0.1, connectivity error: ARP not resolved for destination ip address
%ACE-3-251009: ICMP health probe failed for server 192.168.0.1, connectivity error: ARP not resolved for destination ip address
%ACE-3-251009: ICMP health probe failed for server 192.168.0.1, connectivity error: ARP not resolved for destination ip address
%ACE-3-251009: ICMP health probe failed for server 192.168.0.1, connectivity error: ARP not resolved for destination ip address
%ACE-3-251009: ICMP health probe failed for server 192.168.0.1, connectivity error: ARP not resolved for destination ip address
%ACE-5-441002: Serverfarm (SF) is now back in service in policy_map (fs) -->
class_map (#class_default_slb). Number of failovers = 0, number of times back in service = 0
%ACE-4-442007: VIP in class: 'VIP' changed state from OUTOFSERVICE to INSERVICE
%ACE-5-441002: Serverfarm (SF) is now back in service in policy_map (fs) -->
class_map (#class_default_slb). Number of failovers = 0, number of times back in service = 0
%ACE-4-442004: Health probe ICMP detected rserver r1 (interface vlan31) changed state to UP
%ACE-4-442001: Health probe ICMP detected r1 (interface vlan31) in serverfarm SF changed state to UP
If your "logging trap " is set to "5 - notification" and you do not want
the message "%ACE-3-251009:xxx" to be sent to syslog server,
you can change its security level like below.
switch/Admin(config)# logging message 251009 level 6
switch/Admin(config)# do show logging message 251009
Message logging:
message 251009: current-level 6 default-level 3 (enabled)
You can check the message id that is filling the syslog server
and change its security level to higher number than "logging trap ".
Regards,
Kimihito.

SMTP and IMAP ACE Probe configuration Example

Hi,
Could someone share he SMTPS and IMAPS probe setting configuration in CISCO ACE 4710 for my reference.
I have two server 10.1.1.58 and 10.1.1.59 which supposed to be load balaced for the service 993 and 465.
Regards
BR

Hello There,
The ACE has built-in scripted probes in order to check connectivity beyond layer 4 with these kinds of mail servers but only for the unencrypted versions SMTP/IMAP.
In your case since you're working with these protocols over SSL/TLS, you'll need to configure regular TCP probes for each serverfarm so reachability will be test'd based on TCP port.
probe tcp IMAPS-993
port 993
interval 5
faildetect 2
passdetect interval 3
passdetect count 1
open 1
probe tcp SMTPS-464
port 465
interval 5
faildetect 2
passdetect interval 3
passdetect count 1
open 1
HTH
Pablo

Looking for ACE Probe TCL script specific for LDAPS

Hello Everyone,
I have searched the forum, and i am having difficulty finding an example of how to modify the LDAP TCL probe from port 389 to secure LDAP port 636.
Could someone kindly point me or provide me the modified TCL script if you happen to have it.
During my search I also found a config that someone had provided, which contained the following probe:
probe tcp LDAPS_Probe
port 636
probe tcp LDAP_Probe
port 389
I was trying to figure out if this a modified TCL script for LDAP or modifed TCP TCL script specific for port 636.
This is how I applied the script for LDAP port 389.
script file 1 LDAP_PROBE
probe scripted LDAP_PROBE_389
interval 5
passdetect interval 30
receive 5
script LDAP_PROBE
serverfarm host SF-LDAP-389
description SF LDAP Port 389
predictor leastconns
probe LDAP_PROBE_389
rserver LDAP-RS1-389
inservice
I will be more than glad to provide you any additional information that you need.
As always thanks for your input.
Raman Azizian
SAIC/NISN Network services

normally you would engage a TCL developer or ciso advanced services to develop a custom script for anything other than what Cisco provides in canned scripts. If you are comfortable with tcl you can do it yourself. Here is an example of the LDAP script modified to include initiation via ssl. default port is 389 when you implement you would specify 636.
#!name = LDAP_PROBE
# Description:
#    LDAP_PROBE opens a TCP connection to an LDAP server, sends a bind request. and
#    determines whether the bind request succeeds. LDAP_PROBE then closes the
#    connection with a TCP RST.
#    If a port is specified in the "probe scripted" configuration, the script probes
#     each suspect on that port. If no port is specified, the default LDAP port 389
#     is used.
# Success:
#   The script succeeds if the server returns a bind response indicating success
#    (status code 0x0a0100) to the bind request.
#   The script closes the TCP connection with a RST following a successful attempt.
# Failure:
#   The script fails due to timeout if the response is not returned. This
#    includes a failure to receive ARP resolution, a failure to create a TCP connection
#    to the port, or a failure to return a response to the LDAP bind request.
#   The script also fails if the server bind response does not indicate success.
#    This specific error returns the 30002 error code.
#   The script closes any attempted TCP connection, successful or not, with a RST.
# PLEASE NOTE: This script expects the server LDAP bind response to specify length
#   in ASN.1 short definite form. Responses using other length forms (e.g., long
#   definite length form) will require script modification to achieve success.
# SCRIPT version: 1.0       April 1, 2008
# Parameters:
#   [DEBUG]
#      username - user login name
#      password - password
#      DEBUG        - optional key word 'DEBUG'. default is off
#         Do not enable this flag while multiple probe suspects are configured for this
#         script.
# Example config :
#   probe scripted USE_LDAP_PROBE
#         script LDAP_PROBE
#   Values configured in the "probe scripted" configuration populate the
#   scriptprobe_env array. These may be accessed or manipulated if desired.
# Documentation:
#    A detailed discussion of the use of scripts on the ACE is included in
#       "Using Toolkit Command Language (TCL) Scripts with the ACE"
#    in the "Load-Balancing Configuration Guide" section of the ACE documentation set.
# Copyright (c) 2005-2008 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
# debug procedure
# set the EXIT_MSG environment variable to help debug
# also print the debug message when debug flag is on
proc ace_debug { msg } {
    global debug ip port EXIT_MSG
    set EXIT_MSG $msg
    if { [ info exists ip ] && [ info exists port ] } {
     set EXIT_MSG "[ info script ]:$ip:$port: $EXIT_MSG "
    if { [ info exists debug ] && $debug } {
     puts $EXIT_MSG
# main
# parse cmd line args and initialize variables
## set debug value
set debug 0
if { [ regsub -nocase "DEBUG" $argv "" argv] } {
    set debug 1
ace_debug "initializing variable"
set EXIT_MSG "Error config: script LDAP_PROBE \[DEBUG\]"
set ip $scriptprobe_env(realIP)
set port $scriptprobe_env(realPort)
# if port is zero the use well known ldap port 389
if { $port == 0 } {
    set port 389
# PROBE START
# open connection
ace_debug "opening socket"
set sock [ socket -sslversion all -sslcipher RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 $ip $port ]
fconfigure $sock -buffering line -translation binary
# send a standard anonymous bind request
ace_debug "sending ldap bind request"
puts -nonewline $sock [ binary format "H*" 300c020101600702010304008000 ]
flush $sock
# read string back from server
ace_debug "receiving ldap bind result"
set line [read $sock 14]
binary scan $line H* res
binary scan $line @7H6 code
ace_debug "received $res with code $code"
# close connection
ace_debug "closing socket"
close $sock
# make probe fail by exit with 30002 if ldap reply code != success code 0x0a0100
if { $code != "0a0100" } {
    ace_debug " probe failed : expect response code \'0a0100\' but received \'$code\'"
    exit 30002
## make probe success by exit with 30001
ace_debug "probe success"
exit 30001

Cisco ACE probe setup

Configured a Probe to check the heath of server webpage .But getting a status code of 400.
probe http PROBE_80
interval 10
faildetect 2
passdetect interval 10
passdetect count 2
receive 5
request method get url http://<host>:<port>/eml/HealthCheckServlet
expect status 200 202
open 10
getting below status code .would like to know the correct format for the requesr method of the above url
     real      : app02p[0]
                         192.168.10.6 80 VIP     161    161    0      FAILED
   Socket state        : CLOSED
   No. Passed states   : 0         No. Failed states : 1
   No. Probes skipped : 0         Last status code : 400
   No. Out of Sockets : 0         No. Internal error: 0
   Last disconnect err : Received invalid status code
   Last probe time     : Tue Mar 17 02:53:58 2015
   Last fail time      : Tue Mar 17 02:27:15 2015
   Last active time    : Never

Hi Hari,
Does this URL return status 200 when you send the request directly from your browser?
You should use the exact URL here. If the URL is fine, then check with your server team why server is responding with 400. The syntax looks fine. You can also take a pcap on server and see what is ACE sending for probe.
Regards,
Kanwal
Note: Please mark answers if they are helpful.

ACE probe TCL script database

Hello everyone, okay?
I was thinking of a possibility to use my ACE to monitor a database, in this case a MySQL database Today I use a TCP probe, monitoring the port, but I would go one step further and try to make a connection in the DATABASE.
I would like to see the possibility of a guideline in creating a TCL script to make a simple connection to a database.
The idea is to try to make a connection in a database, run a query / select on any table just to validate its functionality and not just checking if the port is responding.
I do not know how complex it is or what would be my pre -requisites required, but any help would be welcome.
I thought about using an HTTP probe to make this validation and use a web page making the connection to the database, but it ended up creating another layer and if there is any problem in web service, the database would be affected indirectly.
Thank you. All suggestions are welcome.

Hi Plinio,
I cannot see any support for testing authentication, SQL queries or connections to a database that is supported directly in TCL at this time.
Here is the TCL guide that expalains the supported commands ( there is a HTTP example probe at the bottom )
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/data_center_app_services/ace_appliances/vA4_2_0/configuration/slb/guide/script.html
Beyond a TCL TCP probe to the port to test the listener is running, I believe your suggestion of a HTTP TCL script is probably the most accurate way to check the integrity of the database. You could write code to set a certain response to all types of failure scenarios and on the ACE you could then use a HTTP TCL script to parse the response from the web server to identify exactly what has failed in your database and act accordingly.
cheers,
Chris

ACE - Probe

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