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  2. Deployment

Set up a high availability environment in Windows using Shared Folder for Bold BI.

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This guide explains how to install and configure the Bold BI application on Windows IIS using Shared Folder. By implementing Shared Folder, you can achieve high availability and resilience for your Bold BI application. The setup process includes configuring shared storage, enabling centralized IIS settings, and establishing network load balancing to distribute traffic across multiple servers.

Prerequisites:

Hardware and Software Requirements:

  • Three virtual machines running the same version of Windows Server with Server Manager support (Windows Server 2012 or later).
    • VM1 for storing app_data and configure Network Load balancer cluster.

      Note: Since VM1 contains the NLB cluster and app_data, it should remain in an active state at all times.

    • VM2 and VM3 is for deploying and running Bold BI.
  • IIS Server and the File Server must be installed on all VMs.
  • Shared storage must be configured and accessible from all VMs (e.g., C:\IISSharedContent).
  • Network Load Balancing (NLB) must be set up between the VM2 and VM3 from VM1.

Installation Steps:

Step 1: Install IIS, NLB and File Server Features:

  1. Open Server Manager on each VM.

  2. Navigate to Dashboard and click Add roles and features.

    dashboard-page.png

  3. In the Add Roles and Features Wizard, navigate to the Before you begin page and select Next.

    before-you-begin-page.png

  4. On the Select installation type page, choose Role-based or feature-based installation, and then click Next.

    installation-type-page.png

  5. On the Select destination server page, choose Select a server from the server pool, opt your server, and then click Next.

    destination-server.png

  6. On the Select server roles page, select Web Server (IIS) and ensure the following roles are checked and enabled correctly, then click Next.

    select-server-roles.png

  7. On the Server Roles, select File Server and click Next.

    Fileserver.png

  8. On the Features, select Network Load Balancing feature.

    NLB-install.png

  9. On the Confirmation page, click Install.

Step 2: Network Load Balancer Setup

  1. From VM1’s Server Manager console, click Tools and select Network Load Balancing Manager.
    nlb8.png
  2. Right-click Network Load Balancing Clusters and choose the New option.
    nlb9.png
  3. On the New Cluster window, type the IP address or name of VM2 in the Host field and then click Connect. Verify that the Interface name is listed and proceed to the next step.
    20.png
  4. On the next page(Host Parameters page), adjust the priority value as per need. Also, ensure that the default status has been set as Started. When you are ready, click on Next.
    host-parameters.png
  5. Cluster IP Addresses page, click Add to add a new Cluster IP address.
    cluster-ip-address.png
  6. Specify a Cluster IP Address and click OK
    cluster-ip-address-and-click.png

    NOTE: This IP address is a new NLB Cluster virtual IP address on which the host service will run.
  7. Select an NLB cluster operation mode. You can also specify the FQDN name for the NLB cluster in the Full Internet name field and click Next.
    internet-name-filed.png
  8. In the Port Rules page, select the existing port rule and click Edit.
    port-rules.png
  9. Type the port range as 80 to 80 (as you only want port number 80 for the IIS NLB cluster). Select the affinity mode as none and click OK.
    port-rules-range.png
  10. Click Add to add a new rule for the port number 443 using the same steps.
    port-rules-range-443.png
  11. Once the port range is configured, click Finish.
    click-finish.png
  12. Wait until the machine is added successfully. The icon color of the added NLB node should be displaying green.
    machines-ready.png
  13. Ensure that the second NLB node has been successfully added by checking if the icon color is showing green.
  14. Repeat the before mentioned steps to add the VM3 in NLB.

Step 3: Shared Folder setup:

Step 3.1: Configure File Sharing on VM1

  • Create a shared folder for IIS configuration (e.g. C:\IISSharedConfig)
    • Create a folder named IISSharedConfig in the C drive.
    • Right-click the folder, go to Properties -> Sharing -> Provide a name for the shared folder and click Share.
      shared-folder.png

      share-with-people.png
    • Navigate to Advanced Sharing, click Permissions, and then add a user or group (e.g., Everyone or a specific user). Assign Read/Write or Full Control permissions as required.
      advanced-sharing.png

      assign-permissions.png
File and Printer Sharing:
  • Open the Control Panel, navigate to Network and Sharing Center, and then go to Advanced Sharing Settings.
  • Under the Private Network section, enable the following:
    • Turn on network discovery.
    • Turn on file and printer sharing.
Set NTFS Permissions:
  • Go to the Security tab in folder properties.
  • Add the same user or group and assign Full Control permissions.
    share-permissions.png

Step 3.2: Access the Shared Folder from VM2 and VM3

  1. Access the Shared Folder via IP Address:

    • Open File Explorer on VM2 and enter the folder path.
      Example : \10.0.0.4\IISSharedConfig.
      search-folder.png

  2. Create a Symbolic Link:

  • Run the following command in Command Prompt on VM2:
    Example: mklink /D C:\SharedFolder \\10.0.0.4\IISSharedConfig

    command-prompt.png

  • After running this command, navigate to the C drive to verify if the shared folder is present.

    find-shared-folder.png

  • Do the same steps to link the shared folder in VM3.

Step 3.3: IIS Centralized Configuration

  1. On VM1:
  • Open IIS Manager on VM1.
  • Right-click the server name, select Shared Configuration, and then click Open Feature -> Export Configuration.
    select-shared-configuration.png

    select-open-feature.png

    click-export-configuration.png
  • Choose the shared folder path (e.g., C:\IISSharedConfig) and provide a password to secure the exported configuration.
    exported-configuration.png
  1. On VM2 and VM3
  • Follow the same steps as on VM1, using the shared folder (e.g., \10.0.0.35\IISSharedConfig).
    export-configuration-location.png
  • After configuring IIS Shared Configuration, the process generates the following files in the specified export location.
    iis-shared-config.png

Step 3.4: Install Bold BI Application

  1. On VM2:
  • Install the Bold BI application using the shared folder from VM1.
    Example: C:\SharedFolder\BoldServices.
    vm2-intallation.png
  1. On VM3:
  • Install the Bold BI application using the shared folder from VM1.
    Example: C:\SharedFolder\BoldServices.
    vm2-intallation.png
  • Ensure the 80 port is used on both VM2 and VM3.
    port.png
  • Finally, click Install.
  • After installation, remove “localhost” from the Host Name in the Bold BI IIS site bindings on VM2 and VM3.
    iis-bindings.png
  • Access the NLB IP address to access the site and click here to do startup.
    NLB-IP.png

Important Notes

  • Ensure that both VMs use the same port number to avoid conflicts.
  • Verify that proper permissions are set on the shared folder.
  • Test network connectivity between VM1, VM2, VM3 and the shared storage.
  • After installation, test the Bold BI application from both VMs to confirm the shared folder functionality.

References:

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Written by Ranjithkumar Chinnadurai
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