Orchestration (runbooks) – Acronis Disaster Recovery

Content

Overview

A runbook is a predefined set of instructions designed to automate the process of spinning up a production environment in the cloud. Within the Acronis Disaster Recovery Cloud service console, runbooks can be created and managed to streamline disaster recovery operations. To access the Runbooks tab, navigate to Disaster Recovery > Runbooks.

Why Use Runbooks?

Runbooks enable you to:

Automate the failover of one or multiple servers.
Automatically verify the success of a failover by pinging server IP addresses and checking specified port connections.
Define the sequence of operations for servers running distributed applications.
Incorporate manual operations into the workflow.
Validate the integrity of your disaster recovery solution by executing runbooks in test mode.

Creating a Runbook

To create a runbook:

Click Create Runbook.
Add a step by clicking Add Step.
Within the step, add actions by clicking Add Action.
Use drag-and-drop to rearrange actions and steps as needed.
Assign a distinctive name to the runbook.
Periodically click Save to preserve your progress.
Once completed, click Close.

Steps and Actions

A runbook comprises steps executed sequentially. Each step contains actions that run concurrently. Actions can include:

Cloud Server Operations: Perform operations such as Failover Server, Start Server, Stop Server, or Failback Server. Specify the operation, target cloud server, and relevant parameters.
Manual Operations: Describe the operation verbally. Upon completion, a user must confirm to proceed.
Execute Another Runbook: Select an existing runbook to execute. Note that a runbook can include only one execution of a given runbook.

Note
In the current product version, failback operations must be performed manually. The runbook will prompt when required.Libyan Spider Knowledge Base

Action Parameters

Operations involving cloud servers have the following parameters:

Continue if Already Done (enabled by default): If the operation has already been completed (e.g., server already running), the runbook issues a warning and proceeds. If disabled, the operation fails, causing the runbook to fail.
Continue if Failed (disabled by default): If the operation fails, the runbook issues a warning and proceeds. If disabled, the operation fails, causing the runbook to fail.

Completion Check

For Failover Server and Start Server actions, you can add completion checks to ensure server availability and service readiness:

Ping IP Address: The system pings the server's production IP address until a response is received or a timeout occurs.
Connect to Port (default is 443): The system attempts to connect to the specified port on the server's production IP address until successful or until a timeout occurs.

Note
The default timeout is 10 minutes, but this can be adjusted as needed.

Operations with Runbooks

To manage runbooks:

Hover over a runbook and click the ellipsis icon to access options.
Available operations when a runbook is not running include:
- Execute
- Edit
- Clone
- Delete

Note
The availability of these features depends on the service quotas enabled for your account.

Executing a Runbook

When executing a runbook:

You will be prompted to specify execution parameters applicable to all failover and failback operations within the runbook.
Runbooks invoked through the Execute Runbook action inherit these parameters from the main runbook.

Failover and Failback Mode:

Choose between Test Failover (default) or Production Failover. The failback mode will correspond to the selected failover mode.

Failover Recovery Point:

Select the most recent recovery point (default) or specify a past point in time. The system will choose the recovery point closest to the specified date and time for each server.

Stopping a Runbook Execution

During execution, you can stop a runbook by selecting Stop from the operations list. The system will complete all already started actions, excluding those requiring user interaction.