Resolution
Verify that the primary PIX Firewall is actually the active PIX for failover, by issuing the following command on the primary:
pixfirewall# configure terminal
pixfirewall (config t)# show failover
The output should look like the following:
Failover On
Cable status:Normal
Reconnect timeout 0:00:00
Poll frequency 15 seconds
failover replication http
This host:Primary - Active
Active time:30 (sec)
Interface FailLink (172.16.31.2):Normal
Interface 4th (172.16.16.1):Normal
Interface int5 (192.168.168.1):Normal
Interface intf2 (192.168.1.1):Normal
Interface outside (209.165.200.225):Normal
Interface inside (10.1.1.4):Normal
Other host: Secondary - Standby
Active time:0 (sec)
Interface FailLink (172.16.31.1) : Normal
After you have confirmed that the primary PIX is actually the active PIX, remove the secondary PIX from the setup by shutting down the secondary unit. Make sure that the primary PIX is still active before physically removing the secondary PIX by issuing the show failover command again.
Once the old secondary unit has been removed, you will need to physically install the new secondary unit. The hardware and software for the new secondary PIX must match the primary unit. If these requirement are not met, the new primary PIX will not perform properly in a failover environment.
Once the new secondary PIX has been attached properly and is running, you will need the existing configuration on the new unit. This can be done through TFTP or entered manually. The entire configuration is not necessary at this time, but the interfaces must be set up properly and failover commands must be in place. Issue the show failover command again on the secondary unit. The above information from the previous show failover command will appear along with the following:
Other host: Secondary - Standby
Active time:0 (sec)
Interface FailLink (172.16.31.1) : Normal
This will verify that the secondary PIX is properly attached using failover. Issue the copy standby command on the primary unit. This will copy the full configuration from the primary PIX to the new secondary PIX.
For more information about failover, refer to How Failover Works on the Cisco Secure PIX Firewall.
Problem Type
How to (General Information)
Product Family
Firewall - PIX 500 series
PIX Software Version
PIX version 4.2
PIX version 6.0
PIX version 4.3
PIX version 6.1
PIX version 4.4
PIX version 6.2
PIX version 5.0
PIX version 6.3
PIX version 5.1
PIX version 4.0
PIX version 5.2
PIX version 4.1
PIX version 5.3
PIX Model
515E
520
525
535
515
Features & Tasks
Failover
