Test that the Failover Smoothwall Appliance or VM works

This article applies to organisations with an On-Premise setup, and those with a 'Hybrid' setup (both On-Premise Appliance and Cloud).

 

After you set up your Failover Smoothwall Appliance or Virtual Machine (VM) or reinstall a failover setup archive, test that the Failover will work as expected if your Main Smoothwall Appliance or VM fails.

Check the setup by accessing the Failover

Access the Failover Smoothwall on port 440 instead of port 441, for example: https://smoothwall.domain.local:440

Note

You’ll need a Smoothwall access rule for the Heartbeat admin on HTTPS (440) service.

 

Test the Failover

  1. In the Main Smoothwall, go to System > Hardware > Failover.
  2. Select Enter standby mode. The Failover Smoothwall will take over from the Main Smoothwall, and you will lose connection to the Admin UI for the Main Smoothwall.
  3. Wait 10 seconds and refresh your page.
  4. Sign in to the Failover Smoothwall (now acting as the Main Smoothwall) on port 441.
  5. You’ll see a message on every page:
    ‘Warning: This is the failover heartbeat system. Any changes to settings will not be preserved. Please bring the master machine online as soon as possible. The installed settings were last copied from the master at: Date Time Year.’
  6. Check all services are working as expected through the Failover Smoothwall. You can check each area of the product in use or ensure there are no red crosses in the System services section of the Dashboard.
  7. To fail back to the Main Smoothwall manually, go to System > Hardware > Failover and select Enter standby mode.