1 Overview
2 Creating an Agent Cluster
- 2.1 Agent Cluster Details
- 2.2 Agent Cluster Details Field Descriptions
3 Assigning Agents to the Cluster
4 Suspending Agent Clusters and Agent Cluster Memberships
5 Sending Notifications on Status of an Agent Cluster
6 Network Alias

Overview

For Windows and Linux/Unix Agents only, Universal Controller allows you to create clusters (groups) of Agents.

If you specify an agent cluster in a task, the Controller selects an Agent from the cluster based on the selection method that you specified when you created the cluster. If you specify both an Agent and an agent cluster in a task, the Controller first attempts to run the task on the Agent; if the Agent is unavailable, the Controller selects an Agent from the agent cluster.

Note

The instructions and illustrations, below, for creating Windows agent clusters and Linux/Unix agent clusters, and assigning Agents to those clusters, are the same.

Creating an Agent Cluster

Step 1

From the Agents & Connections navigation pane, select (for example) Agent Clusters > Linux/Unix Agent Clusters. The Linux/Unix Clusters List displays.

Below the list, Agent Cluster Details for a new Agent Cluster displays.

Step 2

Enter / select Details for a new agent cluster, using the field descriptions below as a guide.

Required fields display an asterisk ( * ) after the field name.
Default values for fields, if available, display automatically.

To display more of the Details fields on the screen, you can either:

Use the scroll bar.
Temporarily hide the list above the Details.
Click the New button above the list to display a pop-up version of the Details.

Step 3

Click a Save button. The record is added to the database, and all buttons and tabs in the Agent Cluster Details are enabled.

Note

To open an existing record on the list, either:

Click a record in the list to display its record Details below the list. (To clear record Details below the list, click the New button that displays above and below the Details.)
Clicking the Details icon next to a record name in the list, or right-click a record in the list and then click Open in the Action menu that displays, to display a pop-up version of the record Details.
Right-click a record in the a list, or open a record and right-click in the record Details, and then click Open In Tab in the Action menu that displays, to display the record Details under a new tab on the record list page (see Record Details as Tabs).

Agent Cluster Details

The following Agent Cluster Details is for an existing Linux/Unix agent cluster (with Network Alias specified as the Distribution method for selecting an Agent). See the field descriptions, below, for a description of all fields that may display in the Agent Cluster Details.

For information on how to access additional details - such as Metadata and complete database Details - for Agent Clusters (or any type of record), see Records.

Agent Cluster Details Field Descriptions

The following table describes the fields, buttons, and tabs in the Agent Cluster Details.

Field Name	Description

Field Name	Description
Details	This section contains detailed information about the agent cluster.
Name	Name used within the Controller to identify this agent cluster. Up to 40 alphanumerics. It is the responsibility of the user to develop a workable naming scheme for agent clusters.
Version	System-supplied; version number of the current record, which is incremented by the Controller every time a user updates a record. Click the #Versions tab to view previous versions. For details, see Record Versioning.
Description	Description of this record. (Maximum = 255 characters.)
Member of Business Service	User-defined; Allows you to select one or more Business Services that this record belongs to. (You also can Check All or Uncheck All Business Services for this record.) You can select up to 62 Business Services for any record type, and enter a maximum of 2048 characters for each Business Service. If the Business Service Visibility Restricted Universal Controller system property is set to true, depending on your assigned (or inherited) Permissions or Roles, Business Services available for selection may be restricted.
Distribution	Method used to select an Agent. Options: Any - Select any Agent in the cluster. Round Robin - Select the next Agent in a round robin series. Lowest CPU Utilization - Selects the Agent whose CPU utilization is currently the lowest. Network Alias - Select the Agent based on either an IP or DNS name for an external Load Balancer, or a Virtual IP address.
Last Agent Used	System-supplied; Agent that was selected the last time a task was sent to this agent cluster.
Suspended	Indication that the ability for this cluster of Agents to run tasks has been suspended.
Suspended On	Date and time that an Agent Cluster was suspended from running tasks.
Resumed On	Date and time that an Agent Cluster suspended from running tasks has been resumed.
Current Task Count
Task Execution Limit
Limit Amount
Network Alias Details	If Distribution = Network Alias; This section contains information about the Network Alias.
Network Alias	Network alias (or VIP). If a network alias is not specified, the Name is used as the network alias.
Agent Port	Network alias (or VIP) port that the Agent Cluster Agent Broker is listening on. If a port is not specified, the default is the value of the Agent Cluster Network Alias Uquery Port Universal Controller system property.
Last Resolution	Last attempted time of Network Alias resolution.
Resolution Expiration	Expiration of Network Alias resolution.
Resolution Status	Status of the last resolution of the Network Alias.
Resolution Description	Description of the last attempted resolution.
Broadcast Options	This section contains information about Cluster Broadcasts.
Ignore Inactive Agents	Specification for whether or not inactive (offline) Agents should be ignored when the agent cluster is used for broadcasting.
Ignore Suspended Agents	Specification for whether or not suspended Agents should be ignored when the agent cluster is used for broadcasting.
Metadata	This section contains Metadata information about this record.
UUID	Universally Unique Identifier of this record.
Updated By	Name of the user that last updated this record.
Updated	Date and time that this record was last updated.
Created By	Name of the user that created this record.
Created	Date and time that this record was created.
Buttons	This section identifies the buttons displayed above and below the Agent Cluster Details that let you perform various actions.
Save	Saves a new task record in the Controller database.
Save & New	Saves a new Agent Cluster record in the Controller database and redisplays empty Details so that you can create another Agent Cluster.
Save & View	Saves a new Agent Cluster record in the Controller database and continues to display that record.
New	Displays empty (except for default values) Details for creating a new record.
Update
Suspend Agent Cluster
Resume Agent Cluster
Resolve Agent Cluster
Delete
Refresh	Refreshes any dynamic data displayed in the Details.
Close	For pop-up view only; closes the pop-up view of this task.
Tabs	This section identifies the tabs across the top of the Agent Cluster Details that provide access to additional information about the agent cluster.
Agents in Cluster
Notifications	Lists all notifications that have been defined for this agent cluster.
Tasks	Lists all tasks, according to task type, that currently are being dispatched to this agent cluster. You also can create tasks for the identified task types that will have this agent cluster pre-selected in the Agent Cluster field of its Task Details.
Versions	Note Updates to the following fields, whether system-supplied or user-supplied (as appropriate), does not affect the version of the Agent Cluster Details: Current Task Count Execution Limit Last Agent Used Limit Amount Suspended Additionally, if you restore Agent Cluster Details to a previous version, values for those fields are preserved; they do not revert to their values from the selected previous version.