Backing Up Sun Secure Application Switch Configuration

Multi-node deployments of enterprise applications like E-Business Suite (aka Oracle Applications) have a dependency on hardware load balancers like Sun Secure Application Switch^*. Just like any piece of hardware, Sun Secure Application Switches are also vulnerable to hardware failures. Naturally we want to make a backup copy of the switch configuration once everything is configured and tested properly. So, here are the steps to save the existing configuration:

1. Connect to Application Switch on the CLI. On the CLI, type, for example:
   

   
    % telnet 192.168.109.70
    Trying 192.168.109.70...
    Connected to 192.168.109.70.
    Escape character is '^]'.
    username: admin
    password:
   
    MDE> 
   
   

   
   
2. Save the configuration to any file with show runningConfig saveToFile command as shown below:
   

   
    MDE> show runningConfig saveToFile sunfish_3appnodes_010707.cfg.txt password admin nameValuePairs true
   
    Please confirm the password:
   
    Note: Opening file "/ftl0/usr/home/sunfish_3appnodes_010707.cfg.txt" to write running-config.
   
    MDE> quit
    Goodbye
    Connection to 192.168.109.70 closed by foreign host.
   
   

   
   
3. Finally download the configuration file from the switch {to the local host} with the help of trivial file transfer program (tftp) on port 69.
   

   
    % tftp 192.168.109.70 69
   
    tftp> get /ftl0/usr/home/sunfish_3appnodes_010707.cfg.txt
    Received 19672 bytes in 0.2 seconds
   
    tftp> quit
   
   

The configuration file may look like:

################################################################################
#  System Name     : Sun Secure Application Switch
#  Date            : Sun Jan  7 18:49:33 2007
#  Serial No       : 00608000124
#  Sofware Version : V3_1R0
################################################################################
commandModeEntry on
enable
configure

#
# Create all vSwitches upfront
#
vSwitch vSwitchName EBS 
    vRouter name default description {Default vRouter} 
    vRouter name default 
    exit;
exit;
vSwitch vSwitchName system description {System vSwitch} 
vSwitch vSwitchName system 
    vRouter name management description {System Management vRouter} 
    vRouter name management 
    exit;
    vRouter name shared description {Shared vRouter} 
    vRouter name shared 
    exit;
exit;

#
# Event configuration and statistics
#
event fileLogSize 4194304 
...
...

Sample Sun Secure Application Switch configuration:

Click here for the complete copy of the configuration file from an E-Business Suite 11.5.10 deployment with three application server nodes in the middle-tier.

Related documentation:

• Clustering and Securing Web Applications: A Tutorial
  
• Sun Secure Application Switch - N1000 Series documentation

Note:
Sun Secure Application Switch is more than a hardware load balancer. Check the home page of Sun Secure Application Switch for key features. By the way, Sun Secure Application Switch may also be referred as 'Nauticus Switch' or 'Sunfish' by some Sun folks.
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Sun | Sun Secure Application Switch | Oracle Applications | E-Business Suite