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ALIF: Replacing an AIM Manager

In the unlikely event that you should need to replace an AIM Manager, whether it is a Solo, Primary, Backup or Satellite, this will guide you through the process. If you are replacing the 1st generation ALIF-AIM, please see the Migration guide.

Replacing a Solo AIM

It is advisable that you have more than one AIM Manager. For small installations, a solo AIM may be sufficient, however, it would not offer redundancy in the event of a failure. As of firmware version 3.3 and above, SSL/TLS certification was employed to secure the communication between the AIM Manager and endpoints (transmitters and receivers). For the endpoints to work with a replacement AIM Manager, a factory reset would be required to re-establish a new trust.

Procedure

  • Boot up and configure the replacement AIM Manager (see Quick Start Guide)
  • Restore a recent backup of the AIM.
  • Factory Reset all the endpoints to recreate the SSL/TLS certificates. The endpoints will retain their configuration on the AIM after the reset.

Replacing a Primary AIM (requires an operational Backup Manager)

It is not possible to directly replace the Primary AIM Manager, you must promote the Backup Manager to be a Primary and then use the replacement AIM as a Backup. This is required to maintain the SSL/TLS trust between the AIM and endpoints. The replacement AIM will take the next available IP address after the promoted Primary. If you are using Infinity in a multi-subnet environment, your DHCP option 125 will need to be updated,

Procedure

  • Promote the Backup AIM to be a Primary. Open the Backup AIM's web interface.
  • Click on configure this server.

    ALIFAIM Acting Primary

  • Change the Role from Backup to Primary.

    ALIFAIM Acting Primary 2

  • Press Save to commit the change.
  • Add the replacement AIM Manager as a Backup. See Adding Backup and Satellite AIM's.

 Important

If you are running AIM firmware older the 4.5, do not delete the original Primary AIM from the Servers tab. Doing so deletes the SSL/TLS trust between the Promoted Backup AIM and endpoints. All the endpoints would need to factory reset to re-establish the trust. On AIM firmware 4.5 and above, the original Primary will be automatically removed.

Replacing a Backup AIM

Replacing a Backup AIM is the same as adding one, with the exception that you should remove the original unit from the Primary's Server table.

Procedure

  • Remove the original Backup AIM from the Primary Server table. Navigate to the Servers tab and delete the Backup Server.

    ALIFAIM ClusterTable

  • Add the replacement AIM Manager. See Adding Backup and Satellite AIM's.

Swapping over AIM Managers.

In a scenario where you wish to exchange your operating Primary Manager with another, for example, you are changing a 2nd gen for a 3rd gen, make sure that all of your endpoints are online before proceeding. You will need to first add the replacement unit as a backup AIM, shutdown the Primary and then promote the Backup to a Primary, Any units that are offline during this procedure will need to be manually factory reset.


Page last modified on Monday November 14, 2022 10:39:47 GMT-0000