RSA Authentication Manager 8.1 Quick Setup Fails with "Failed to Attach Replica Instance"
20 hours ago
Originally Published: 2016-06-23
Article Number
000049602
Applies To
RSA Product Set: SecurID
RSA Product/Service Type: Authentication Manager
RSA Version/Condition: 8.1
Issue
When running Quick Setup to attach a replica server to the RSA Authentication Manager 8.1 primary, the process fails and does not complete successfully.
Observable symptoms:
  • The Quick Setup wizard does not progress past the attachment stage
  • The following error message is displayed on screen:
Failed to Attach Replica Instance
ℹ️ NOTE: This error appears during the replica attachment step of Quick Setup on the replica server's browser-based interface

 
Error: Failed to attach replica instance
Cause
The replica server cannot establish communication with the primary RSA Authentication Manager 8.1 server during the Quick Setup attachment process.
 
This commonly happens when the primary and replica servers cannot resolve each other's hostnames through DNS. The following conditions can trigger this error:
  • The replica is unable to connect to the primary server within the required time window.
  • There are network issues between the primary and replica RSA Authentication Manager 8.1 servers.
Resolution
Complete the following four tasks in order to resolve the issue.
 
Task 1: Add the Replica Entry to the Primary Server's Hosts File
 
Step 1: Log in to the RSA Authentication Manager 8.1 primary server's Operations Console.
Step 2: Navigate to Administration > Network > Hosts File.
Step 3: Click Add New.
Step 4: Enter the replica server's IP address and Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
Step 5: Click Save.

 

Hosts File Entry

Task 2: Add the Primary Entry to the Replica Server's Hosts File
 
ℹ️ NOTE: Because the replica is not yet attached, SSH must be enabled manually. Refer to:
Step 1: Log in to the replica server via SSH, vSphere, or your Hypervisor client using the rsaadmin account
Step 2: Switch to the root user:
sudo su - root
Step 3: Navigate to the /etc directory:
cd /etc
Step 4: Create a backup of the current hosts file:
cp hosts hosts.bak
Step 5: Open the hosts file in a text editor: 
vi /etc/hosts
Step 6: Press i to enter insert mode. Add the primary server's IP address and FQDN. The entry format must be: IP address, followed by a space or tab, then the FQDN. Optionally add the short hostname after the FQDN:
 
192.168.x.x   primary.example.com   primary
 
Step 7: Press ESC to exit insert mode.
Step 8: Save and exit the file:
:wq!
 
⚠️ CAUTION: To quit without saving changes, type :q! instead.
Step 9: Reboot both the primary and replica Authentication Manager servers for the /etc/hosts changes to take effect. Continue with Task 3 once both servers are back online.
 
Task 3: Increase the Synchronization Heartbeat Interval on the Primary Server
 
ℹ️ NOTE: The default replication heartbeat between the primary and replica servers is 30 seconds. Increasing this interval gives the servers more time to communicate during the attachment process.
Step 1: Log in to the primary server via SSH, vSphere, or direct connection using the rsaadmin account.
Step 2: Navigate to the utils directory:
cd /opt/rsa/am/utils
Step 3: Run the following command to increase the heartbeat interval. Use 60 seconds as a first attempt:
./rsautil store -a update_config auth_manager synchronization.replica_sync.heartbeat_interval.seconds 60 GLOBAL 501
✅ TIP: If the attachment still fails at 60 seconds, increase the interval to 120 seconds: 
./rsautil store -a update_config auth_manager synchronization.replica_sync.heartbeat_interval.seconds 120 GLOBAL 501
Step 4: When prompted, enter the Operations Console administrator username and password.
 
Task 4: Generate a New Replica Package from the Primary Server
 
Step 1: From the primary server's Operations Console, navigate to Deployment Configuration > Instances > Generate Replica Package.
Step 2: Click Download to download the replica package.
Step 3: Click Save to save replica_package.zip to your local machine.
Step 4: Click Done. Step 5: Use the newly generated replica package to re-run the Quick Setup process on the replica server.
 
Verification The Quick Setup process completes without error. The replica server status displays as Active in the Operations Console under Deployment Configuration > Instances.
Notes

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