ACE - TCP probe goes into INVALID state

Question

Hello,
I have a problem with the following configuration of a sticky serverfarm with a backup serverfarm
(this setup is ofcourse used only for failover purposes, not loadbalancing):
probe tcp tcp-8888-probe
  port 8888
  interval 5
  faildetect 2
  passdetect interval 3
  passdetect count 1
rserver host rsrv1
  ip address 10.1.2.10
  inservice
rserver host rsrv2
  ip address 10.1.2.11
  inservice
serverfarm host rfarm-primary
  predictor leastconns
  probe tcp-8888-probe
  rserver rsrv1 8888
    inservice
serverfarm host rfarm-backup
  predictor leastconns
  probe tcp-8888-probe
  rserver rsrv2 8888
   inservice
sticky http-cookie RFARM-COOKIE sticky-rfarm-1
  cookie insert browser-expire
  serverfarm rfarm-primary backup rfarm-backup
etc....
The problem is that every time probe state changes (from SUCCESS to FAIL or otherwise), the tcp-8888-probe on the server that changed
the state of service, goes into INVALID state:
#show probe tcp-8888-probe detail
probe       : tcp-8888-probe
type        : TCP
state       : ACTIVE
description :
   port      : 8888    address     : 0.0.0.0         addr type  : -
   interval  : 5       pass intvl  : 3               pass count : 1
   fail count: 2       recv timeout: 10
   conn termination : GRACEFUL
   expect offset    : 0         , open timeout     : 10
   expect regex     : -
   send data        : -
                       --------------------- probe results --------------------
   probe association   probed-address  probes     failed     passed     health
   ------------------- ---------------+----------+----------+----------+-------
   serverfarm  : rfarm-backup
     real      : rsrv2[8888]
                       10.1.2.11    291        0          291        SUCCESS
   Socket state        : CLOSED
   No. Passed states   : 1         No. Failed states : 0
   No. Probes skipped  : 0         Last status code  : 0
   No. Out of Sockets  : 0         No. Internal error: 0
   Last disconnect err :  -
   Last probe time     : Thu Jun 17 22:12:31 2010
   Last fail time      : Never
   Last active time    : Thu Jun 17 21:48:21 2010
   serverfarm  : rfarm-primary
     real      : rsrv1[8888]
                       10.1.2.10    0          0          0          INVALID
   Socket state        : CLOSED
   No. Passed states   : 0         No. Failed states : 0
   No. Probes skipped  : 0         Last status code  : 0
   No. Out of Sockets  : 0         No. Internal error: 0
   Last disconnect err :  -
   Last probe time     : Never
   Last fail time      : Never
   Last active time    : Never
I have managed to get the probe into FAIL state again for a moment by removing it from serverfarm, and then reapplying, but in a few seconds it goes again from FAIL to INVAILD state, and stays in this state regardless of avaliability of probed TCP port. Only when i'm reapplying it when the port is avaliable/up, it can stay in SUCCESS state, and work till the failure of service, when INVALID state reappears.
What can be the cause of such behavior ?
thanks,
WM

Answer 1

Hello,
It looks very similar to this bug: CSCsh74871
You may need to collect a #show tech-support and do the following:
-remove the serverfarm in question
-reboot the ace module under a maintenance window.
You may upgrade to a higher version since your version is kind of old.
Jorge