ThinManager Ready thin clients require ThinManager at boot up to provide its firmware and configuration. Using two ThinManager Servers for redundancy allows one ThinManager Server to fail while the other performs the necessary functions. If multiple ThinManager Servers are used, their configurations should be identical so that it thin clients will receive the same configuration regardless of which ThinManager Server the terminal boots from.
Synchronization of ThinManager configurations can be done manually as described in Manual Synchronization or automatically as described in Automatic Synchronization.
Note: Mirrored Licensing requires automatic synchronization. See Mirrored Licensing for details.
Additionally each thin client needs to be configured to boot from both ThinManager Server. This can be configured in the DHCP server or when setting up a static IP address as described in Adding a Terminal with Boot Loader 5.01.
ThinManager has an automatic synchronization tool that makes it easier to keep the configuration on two ThinManager Servers the same. Changing a configuration on one will make the change on the other. Automatic Synchronization has a few things to consider:
Automatic synchronization is configured on the ThinManager Server List Wizard. Launch it by selecting Manage > ThinManager Server List ThinManager menu. Proceed the ThinManager Server List page.
ThinManager Server List Wizard
Selecting Add Server will launch a ThinManager Server Definition window that allows the entry of the ThinManager Server name and IP address.
ThinManager Server Definition
Entering the network name of the ThinManager Server and its IP address allows the ThinManager Servers to be tied to a convenient name without the need of a DNS server.
Enter the computer name as found in the Microsoft System Properties in the ThinManager Server field. Add the IP address of the ThinManager Server in the ThinManager Server Address field, and select OK. This adds the ThinManager Server to the ThinManager Server list.
Discover will find and fill in the IP address for a ThinManager Server entered in the ThinManager Server field.
ThinManager Server List
Enter two ThinManager Servers into the ThinManager Server List to set up automatic synchronization.
Select the Automatic ThinManager Server Synchronization checkbox once two ThinManager Servers are added. When this is checked, the Add Server button will become inactive and no more ThinManager Servers can be added.
Select Finish to close the ThinManager Server List wizard.
The two ThinManagers will now be synchronized. The synchronization status can be checked on the Synchronization tab of ThinManager.
Properties Tab
The Properties tab will show whether the ThinManager Server is the master or the slave (although it doesn't matter which is which), the synchronization state, and the IP address of the synchronized partner.
Selecting Manage > Synchronize Configuration from the ThinManager menu to launch the Synchronize ThinManager Server Configurations Wizard to manually synchronize ThinManager Servers.
Note: It is important to synchronize the ThinManager Servers after each configuration change to keep the configurations identical.
Synchronize ThinManager Server Configuration Wizard
Highlight the primary ThinManager Server as the Configuration Source ThinManager Server and the secondary ThinManager Server as the Configuration Destination. Select Next to proceed. Although many ThinManager Servers can be defined in the ThinManager Server List it is normal to have just a primary and a backup ThinManager Server.
Synchronization Differences
The ThinManager Synchronization Wizard will list the files being updated, including the firmware, TermCap database, modules, and the configuration. It synchronizes everything but the licenses.
Note: The Synchronization tool does not compare and contrast then make changes back and forth. Synchronization will take the files and configuration from the source ThinManager Server and overwrite the corresponding files on the destination ThinManager Server.
Select Next to continue.
ThinManager Server Synchronization Confirmation
The ThinManager Server Configuration Wizard will prompt for a confirmation of the synchronization before proceeding. Select Finish to finalize the synchronization.
Synchronization Progress Meter
ThinManager will display the progress of the synchronization as it updates the files.
Synchronization Complete Window
A message will display the final results of the synchronization.
Note: Because one must remember to synchronize both ThinManager Servers after each configuration change it is easier to use automatic synchronization.
(Updated 7/19/2007)