The following table lists the appliance states and what actions are available when the appliance is in a particular state.

Table 64: Appliance states
Appliance state and description Actions available

EnrollingReplica (only applies to replica appliances in a cluster)

A transitional state where a replica appliance is being added to a cluster and is not available for access. From this state, the appliance goes into Maintenance mode to complete the enroll operation.

Wait for operation to complete before logging in to appliance.

Initial Setup Required

A virtual appliance has been deployed but cannot be used until it is in the Online state.

The Appliance Administrator must run Initial Setup for the virtual appliance to move to the Online state. For more information, see Setting up the virtual appliance.

Initializing

A transitional state where the appliance is initializing to start, but is not yet available for access.

Wait for operation to complete before logging in to appliance.

Maintenance

Appliance is performing maintenance tasks and is not available for access.

Wait for maintenance tasks to complete before logging in to appliance.

LeavingCluster (only applies to replica appliances in a cluster)

A transitional state where a replica appliance is being unjoined from a cluster and is not available for access. From this state, the appliance goes into Maintenance mode to complete the unjoin operation.

Wait for operation to complete before logging in to appliance.

Offline

Appliance is not available for access.

Wait for appliance to come back online before logging in.

Offline Workflow

The appliance is not communicating with the cluster but has been either automatically or manually placed in Offline Workflow Mode to run access request workflow.

Enable Offline Workflow Mode. Once online operations are resumed, the appliance is returned to Maintenance mode. For more information, see About Offline Workflow Mode.

Online

The appliance is a primary and has consensus. Or the appliance is a replica and has both consensus and connectivity to the primary.

Log in to appliance.

In this state, access request workflow is available from all clustered appliances that are online and able to communicate.

PatchPending (only applies to replica appliances in a cluster)

Upon cluster patch, the primary appliance instructs all replicas to enter PatchPending state. The primary appliance then patches and upon completion, instructs the PatchPending replicas to install the patch one at a time.

You can log in to a replica with a PatchPending state.

You can initially perform access request workflow on a replica in PatchPending state; however, during the cluster upgrade, when the majority of the cluster members have upgraded, access request worklfow migrates from the PatchPending side of the cluster to the upgraded side of the cluster. During this time, access request workflow is unavailable on any appliance still in the PatchPending state.

PrimaryNoQuorum (only applies to the primary appliance in a cluster)

The primary appliance is in a Read-only mode while attempting to get the lease, but can't because the cluster does not have consensus. The appliance continues to attempt getting the lease and when it does, the appliance state goes back to Online.

If the appliance is powered on, you can log in to an appliance with a PrimaryNoQuorum state; however, it will be in a Read-only mode.

In this state, access request workflow is not available from the primary appliance, but may be available from other appliances in the cluster.

For example, if the primary cannot communicate with the rest of the nodes in the cluster, but the rest of the nodes can communicate between themselves (ReplicaWithQuorum state), then access request workflow will be available from these replica appliances even though it is not available from the primary appliance.

Quarantine

Appliance is broken or in an unknown state.

Requires manual intervention to recover.

Go to the Recovery Kiosk to recover. For more information, see Recovery Kiosk (Serial Kiosk).

ReplicaDisconnected (applies to replica appliances in a cluster)

A replica appliance is available for access; however, both of the following conditions apply:
    • The replica appliance cannot communicate with the primary appliance in the cluster.
    • The remaining nodes in the cluster that the replica appliance can communicate with do not have consensus.

You can log in to a replica with a ReplicaDisconnected state, but access request workflow is disabled.

If the replica appliance cannot communicate with the other nodes in the cluster, but the remaining nodes can communicate with each other, then access request workflow will be available from those appliances even though it is not available from the appliance that cannot communicate with them.

ReplicaNoQuorum (applies to replica appliances in a cluster)

A replica appliance can communicate with the primary appliance; however, the remaining nodes in the cluster do not reach consensus. Once the cluster regains consensus, the replica appliance will go into the Online state.

You can log in to a replica with a ReplicaNoQuorum state, but access request workflow is disabled.

In this state, access request workflow is not available from the primary appliance, but may be available from other replicas.

For example, in a cluster of five appliances, if the primary and a single replica cannot communicate with the remaining replicas in the cluster, but the other three replicas in the cluster can communicate between themselves (ReplicaWithQuorum state), then access request workflow will be available from the replicas that are online and communicating even though it is not available from the primary and replica that cannot communicate.

ReplicaWithQuorum (applies to replica appliances in a cluster)

A replica appliance cannot communicate with the primary appliance; however, the remaining nodes in the cluster have reached consensus.

You can log in to a replica with a ReplicaWithQuorum state. In this state, access request workflow is available from any clustered appliance that is online and able to communicate. Passwords and SSH keys can be requested and checked in. Scheduled tasks will not occur until after the cluster patching is complete. Manual check and change is not available.

The policy may be configured such that a password or SSH key reset is required before the password or SSH key can be checked out again. If that is the case, the following can be temporarily configured prior to cluster patching and access request to allow for password or SSH key check out when a password or SSH key has not been reset.

  • The policy can be set to allow multiple accesses.
  • The policy can be set to not require a password or SSH key change at check in.
  • Emergency requests can be allowed so the user does not have to wait for the password or SSH key to be reset.

TransitioningToPrimary (only applies to replica appliances in a cluster)

A transitional state where a replica appliance is being promoted to be the new primary and is not available for access.

Wait for operation to complete before logging in to appliance.

TransitioningToReplica (only applies to the primary appliance in a cluster.)

A transitional state where a primary appliance is being demoted to a replica and is not available for access.

Wait for operation to complete before logging in to appliance.

ShuttingDown

A transitional state where an appliance is shutting down and is not available for access.

Wait for appliance to come back online before logging in.

StandaloneReadOnly

State used for replicas unjoined from a cluster or a primary appliance restored from a backup. The appliance can be activated.

Log in to appliance.

See Activating a read-only appliance for how to activate a Read-only appliance so you can add, delete and modify data, apply access request workflow, and so on.

Unknown

Appliance is broken or in an unknown state.

Requires manual intervention to recover.

Go to the Recovery Kiosk to recover. For more information, see Recovery Kiosk (Serial Kiosk).

HardwareSecurityModuleError

The appliance can no longer access the configured Hardware Security Module for decryption. This state only occurs on startup or during the connection checks that run every 4 hours. During startup, any error to connect to the Hardware Security Module will cause the appliance to transition to this state. During a connection check, networking issues will not cause the appliance to transition to this state.

All Hardware Security Module related actions are available. This includes managing Hardware Security Module Client and Server certificates, updating the Hardware Security Module configuration, running cluster health checks, and running Hardware Security Module verifications.

The appliance will transition out of this state when a valid configuration exists that allows the appliance to decrypt, and either:

  • The next connection check runs (every 4 hours).

  • A Hardware Security Module verification is run, either through a cluster member health check, or through a refresh on the Hardware Security Module external integration menu.