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Last updated on Aug 31, 2023 You can configure an additional Coordinator (called the Secondary Coordinator) to automatically engage if your Primary Coordinator goes down. The Secondary Coordinator has limited functionality and should not be used as a permanent Coordinator. The Secondary Coordinator periodically fetches the settings from the Primary Coordinator so it is effectively an exact copy.

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What Happens if the Primary Coordinator Goes Down?

The Secondary Coordinator checks the connection to the Primary Coordinator in the interval set in the timeout setting. If the Primary Coordinator is not responsive within the defined timeout, the secondary coordinator will contact all agents in the grid and they will continue operating via the Secondary Coordinator. The Primary Coordinator is considered not responsive in any of the following cases:
  • The coordinator machine is down.
  • The coordinator machine disconnected from the network.
  • The coordinator service (ib_coordinator) in the machine is down.
If the Primary Coordinator goes down or offline, there is an alert in the user interface of the Primary Coordinator Monitor. Any builds that were running, continue to run, and new builds can be initiated and distributed automatically as usual. No manual steps are required. When you log in to the Secondary Coordinator, the Coordinator Monitor tab is renamed as the Secondary Coordinator Monitor tab, and most of the buttons and actions are grayed out and disabled. No changes can be made to the grid (add/remove agents, modify build groups, etc.), or to any of the settings. The only change that can be made is to pause and delete your cloud helpers. The Secondary Coordinator can only be active for up to 30 days. You can view the current status of the Primary and Secondary Coordinators at the bottom of the Coordinator Monitor. Once the Primary Coordinator is back online, it will communicate with the Secondary Coordinator, which will return agents and functionality to the original state.

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Upgrading the Secondary Coordinator

The Secondary Coordinator cannot be upgraded independently. When you upgrade your Primary Coordinator, all associated Agents and the Secondary Coordinator are automatically upgraded to the same version.

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How to Set up a Secondary Coordinator

There is a flag to install a secondary coordinator (-E)
  1. Go to Coordinator Settings > SecondaryCoordinator
  2. Enter the following details:
    • Hostname or IP of the machine that will host your Secondary Coordinator. This must be set before you install Incredibuild on the machine.
    • The Port used to connect from the Secondary Coordinator to the Primary Coordinator. This port must be available and dedicated for Incredibuild. The default is 9954.
    • The Timeout in seconds for your Primary Coordinator before the Secondary Coordinator is activated.
    • The Sync Frequency in seconds that your Secondary Coordinator fetches settings and information from your Primary Coordinator.
  3. Install an Incredibuild Coordinator on the new machine using the -E flag. For example:
    For more details, see Installing Components.
  4. You can verify that the Secondary Coordinator is installed and ready by looking at the bottom of the grid in the Coordinator Monitor.
  5. You can recognize the secondary by the Secondary Coordinator Monitor title at the top.