Listener ip not to be removed while decommissioning secondary server

Sujay1185 

Hi, Sujay.

1. This depends on your application - I can't answer this;
2. If you want to use a CNAME, you can, but since the A record already exists from the cluster configuration, I've taken the easier option of continuing to use it;
3. Just add another IP address to the one that already exists on the primary server's network interface - meaning it will then have two (or more) addresses.

The guidance I provided in my previous reply is more comprehensive than you might need so you have something to refer to should you want to understand not just what to do but why. However, it's quite possible you won't have to do anything (in the scenario where the AlwaysOn group DNS name is being used).

For the first point, you're focusing on one application. Think bigger. You should be looking to ensure that the primary server properly responds to all scenarios. What happens if half the users connect via name and the remainder connect via IP? I've absolutely seen that a lot, where Helpdesk staff fall back to using IP addresses when the customer has had a DNS issue. What happens when there's more than just that one application to consider, or even things like linked servers?

The application is just one small part of what could be a larger puzzle.

Focus on getting that primary server to respond to all the name and address combinations. Again, there's very little you need to do (perhaps even nothing at all) to achieve this, and once you have, you don't need to know anything whatsoever about application config files.

There's plenty of articles out there on how to add a second IP address to an interface. Because I run Server Core, I use PowerShell (below), but if you need GUI step-by-step screens, just search for them.

• New-NetIPAddress (NetTCPIP) | Microsoft Learn

Cheers,

Lain