NLB

Control Network Load Balancing operations and modify parameter settings.

NLB [/h]

NLB disable [{all global | all local | all | all:all | all:port | cluster[:host] | vip | vip:all | vip:port}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB display [{all local | cluster}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB drain [{all global | all local | all | all:all | all:port | cluster[:host] | vip | vip:all | vip:port}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB drainstop [{all global | all local | cluster[:host]}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB enable [{all global | all local | all | all:all | all:port | cluster[:host] | vip | vip:all | vip:port}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB help

NLB ip2mac cluster [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB params [{all local | cluster}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB query [{all global | all local | cluster[:host]}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB queryport [{all global | all local | cluster[:host] | vip | vip:port}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB reload [{all local | cluster}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB resume [{all global | all local | cluster[:host]}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB start [{all global | all local | cluster[:host]}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB stop [{all global | all local | cluster[:host]}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

NLB suspend [{all global | all local | cluster[:host]}] [/local] [/passw pass_word] [/port port]

all (NT2003)

Apply to all ports by the affected port rule.

all:all (NT2003)

Apply to all ports covered by all the port rules.

all global (NT2003)

Address all global computers that are part of the cluster.

all local (NT2003)

Address all clusters on the local computer.

all:port (NT2003)

Apply to a specific port by the affected port rule.

cluster (NT2003)

Address a specific cluster.

Can be either the cluster's full Internet name or the cluster's primary IP address.

You can omit when running directly on a cluster host. Applies only to the local cluster host.

To address the cluster as a whole or a different host within the cluster, you must also specify the target cluster (or target cluster and specific host together).

cluster[:host] (NT2003)

Address a specific cluster, or a specific cluster on a specific host.

Can be either the cluster's full Internet name or the cluster's primary IP address.

You can omit when running directly on a cluster host. Applies only to the local cluster host.

To address the cluster as a whole or a different host within the cluster, you must also specify the target cluster (or target cluster and specific host together).

Host specifies which host within the cluster to which the action should be applied. If host is omitted, the action applies to all hosts within the cluster.

You can specify host name using the internet host name, the IP address, or the unique host priorities assigned in the Network Load Balancing Properties dialog box. You can use the special host priority value 0 (zero) to refer to the default host within a cluster.

display (NT2003)

Displays extensive information about your current Network Load Balancing parameters, cluster state, and past cluster activity. The last several event log records produced by Network Load Balancing are shown, including the binary data attached to those records. Designed to assist in technical support and debugging.

The registry information retrieved shows what the next state of Network Load Balancing would be if a reload or some other operation that causes the driver to read the registry were to be performed. The registry information might or might not be the current state of Network Load Balancing.

disable (NT2003)

Disables and immediately blocks all traffic handling for the rule whose port range contains the specified port. All active connections on the specified hosts are blocked. To maintain active connections, use drain instead. Has no effect if the specified hosts have not started cluster operations.

drain (NT2003)

Disables new traffic handling for the rule whose port range contains the specified port. New connections to the specified hosts are not allowed, but all active connections are maintained. To disable active connections, use disable instead. Has no effect if the specified hosts have not started cluster operations.

drainstop (NT2003)

Disables all new traffic handling on the specified hosts. While draining, hosts continue to service opened connections and stop their cluster operations when there are no more active connections. Draining mode can be terminated by explicitly stopping cluster mode with stop or by restarting new traffic handling with start.

enable (NT2003)

Enables traffic handling for the rule whose port range contains the specified port. Has no effect if the specified hosts have not started cluster operations.

help (NT2003)

Displays the online Help.

ip2mac (NT2003)

Displays the media access control address corresponding to the specified cluster name or IP address. If multicast support is enabled, the multicast media access control address is used by Network Load Balancing for cluster operations. Otherwise, the unicast media access control address is used. Useful for creating a static ARP entry in the router if necessary.

params (NT2003)

Displays information about your current Network Load Balancing configuration. Similar to display, however, instead of retrieving the information from the registry, params queries directly from the kernel-mode driver. The information displayed is therefore the current state of Network Load Balancing. (The registry information retrieved by display shows what the next state of Network Load Balancing would be if a reload or some other operation that causes the driver to read the registry were to be performed. The registry information might or might not be the current state of Network Load Balancing.) In addition to the configuration information, params displays state variables from the kernel, including the current number of connections being maintained by Network Load Balancing and the number of dynamic allocations that have been necessary for connection tracking.

query (NT2003)

Displays the current cluster state and the list of host priorities for the current members of the cluster. The possible states are:

• Unknown The responding host has not started cluster operations and cannot determine the cluster's state.
• Converging The cluster is currently attempting to converge to a consistent state. Prolonged convergence usually indicates a problem with cluster parameters. If this occurs, check the event logs on the cluster hosts for Network Load Balancing messages warning you about the source of the problem.
• Draining The cluster has converged, and the responding host is draining active connections in response to a drainstop command.
• Converged as default The cluster has converged, and the responding host is the current default (the highest priority host without a drainstop in progress). The default host handles network traffic for all of the TCP/UDP ports not covered by the port rules.
• Converged The cluster has converged, and the responding host is not the default host.

queryport (NT2003)

Displays information about a given port rule. The information returned includes:

• Information regarding if the port rule was found or an indication that the port rule was not found
• The state of the port rule (Disabled, Draining, or Enabled)
• A count of packets accepted and dropped on that port rule. These counters are reset each time the cluster reconverges. If you add a host to the cluster, you should see the counters reset on all hosts in the cluster. These counters can be used as a very coarse method of calculating load balance. Be aware that these numbers are dependent on a variety of factors and should only be used as a very rough estimate of actual load weight.

reload (NT2003)

Reloads the Network Load Balancing driver's current parameters from the registry. Cluster operations on the local host are automatically stopped and restarted if necessary. If an error exists in the parameters, the host will not join the cluster, and a warning is displayed. If this should occur, open the Network Load Balancing Properties dialog box to fix the problem.

resume (NT2003)

Resumes cluster operations after a previous suspend. This does not restart cluster operations, but enables use of cluster-control commands, including remote control commands.

start (NT2003)

Starts cluster operations on the specified hosts. This enables all ports that might have been previously disabled.

stop (NT2003)

Stops cluster operations on the specified hosts.

suspend (NT2003)

Suspends all cluster operations until resume is issued. Suspend temporarily stops cluster operations if they were previously started. Override any remote control commands that might be issued. All subsequent cluster-control commands except resume and query are ignored.

vip (NT2003)

Address every virtual IP address (vip).

vip:all (NT2003)

.

Address specific virtual IP address (vip) on all ports.

vip:port (NT2003)

Address specific virtual IP address (vip) on a specific port.

/h (NT2003)

Display command help.

/local (NT2003)

Perform the operations only on the local computer.

/passw pass_word (NT2003)

Specifies the remote control pass_word.

/port port (NT2003)

Specifies the cluster's remote control UDP port.

Replaces wlbs.

Network Load Balancing hosts can be configured to join the cluster automatically upon startup or to wait for NLB start by enabling the initial host state option in the Network Load Balancing Properties dialog box. You can use with NLB stop to change cluster parameters for the local host without taking the entire cluster offline.

You can modify the Network Load Balancing parameters without disrupting the cluster's service to the clients. To do this, take a host out of the cluster, update its parameters, and then return it to the cluster. During this process, other cluster hosts will detect inconsistencies in the rules, and they will handle these inconsistencies in a manner that minimizes disruption of service to the clients.

You can use the NLB disable and NLB enable to customize your cluster responses to various failures.

none.

none.

External

DOS

none

Windows

none

Windows NT

NT2003