Repaving a cluster node

Repaving the nodes in the clusters may be needed in the following scenarios:

• When performing a patch upgrade to the host operating system or software;
• When a security policy requires that you regularly rotate nodes in the cluster;
• When your organization imposes any other policy restrictions.

Direct maintenance on the node that is already part of cluster can interfere with the installed software and network manager, cause cluster instability, and result in downtime.

To prevent these issues, take the following steps to rotate nodes:

1. Add the node(s) to the cluster. The nodes you add at this step must ensure the proper functioning of the cluster without the nodes you will remove at Step 2.
2. Remove the targeted node(s) from the cluster.
   Important:

   To perform node maintenance operations, you must bring additional hardware resources for adding new nodes to the cluster. This prevents the risk of failure or loss of quorum, which will maintain the cluster high availability. Once a new node is added to the cluster, you can immediately proceed with the removal of an old node.

   New nodes (both server and agent) must meet the Automation Suite hardware requirement so that they can take the load from the nodes being removed. Ensure that the server nodes satisfy the quorum requirements while you perform the entire procedure.

   Do not reinstall the cluster on removed nodes. The node removal process leaves behind some residues that could render it unusable for further installation.

For details steps on how to add or remove a node from the cluster, see:

• Adding a new node to the cluster

• Removing a node from the cluster