Network Load Balancer Router

The Network Load Balancer Router is a Control-M component that transfers jobs to a virtual IP that interfaces with a third-party load balancer. Load balancers distribute jobs to available Agents based on user-defined criteria, such as resource levels and CPU utilization. This prevents overloading a host, and ensures continuity to run jobs that end OK and complete workflows successfully, even if one or more Agents are unavailable or overloaded.

Configuration Requirements

• All Agents associated with a Network Load Balancer Router must have the following:

  • The same protocol version

  • The same plug-ins installed on each Agent

  • The same Run as Users

• All Agents that are associated with a Network Load Balancer Router must be configured in the same mode, either SSL or TCP.

• The Agent and the Control-M/Server must have the same logical name.

• The Agents associated with a Network Load Balancer Router must not work in persistent mode.

• ICMP must be open.

Limitations

• The Network Load Balancer Router and an associated Agent cannot have the same name.

• A Network Load Balancer Router cannot be part of a host group.

• Agentless Hosts are not supported with a Network Load Balancer Router.

• To view the plug-ins for individual Agents associated with a Network Load Balancer Router, you need to check each Agent instead of the Network Load Balancer Router.

• Agents associated with a Network Load Balancer Router do not support the system variable %% nodeID.

Defining a Network Load Balancer Router

This procedure describes how to define a Network Load Balancer Router, which automatically routes jobs to the required Agent based on a predefined configuration.

Begin

1. From the icon, select Configuration.

   The Configuration domain opens.

2. From the drop-down list, select Agents.

   The Agents tab appears.

3. From the Add Agent drop-down list, select Load Balancer Router.

   The Load Balancer Router pane appears.

4. For each field, define the required parameters, as described in Network Load Balancer Router Parameters.

Network Load Balancer Router Parameters

The following table describes the Network Load Balancer Router parameters.

Field	Description
Control-M/Server	Defines the name of the Control-M/Server.
Load Balancer Router Name	Defines the virtual IP name that interfaces with the third-party party load balancer. The name must be unique.
Server to Load Balancer Router Port*	Defines the port number in the Agent host where data is received from the Control-M/Server host. The value assigned to this parameter must correspond to the value assigned to the Server-to-Agent Port Number field in the configuration file on the corresponding Agent host. Default: 7006
Secure Socket Layer*	Determines whether to encrypt communication via SSL between Control-M/Server and the Agent.
Unavailability Shout Urgency	Determines the urgency level of a message sent with high priority sent from a Agent with an Unavailable status. Urgent messages are sent with a special indication so that the recipient of the message is aware of the urgency. Valid Values: Regular Urgent Critical Default: Regular
Check Interval	Determines the number of seconds between status checks for each Agent that communicates with the Control-M/Server. If you decrease the default value, it might impact Control-M/Server performance. Default: 7200 (2 hours)
Retry Interval	Determines the number of seconds between attempts to communicate with the Agent host that is Unavailable. If you decrease the default value, it might impact Control-M/Server performance. Default: 90
Communication Timeout	Determines the maximum number of seconds that Control-M/Server attempts to connect to an Agent before the Agent is set to Unavailable. If you decrease the default value, it might impact Control-M/Server performance. Default: 120
Maximum Retries	Determines the number of times Control-M/Server attempts to connect to the Agent before the Agent is set to Unavailable. Default: 12