windows-server-2016adfs4.0

ADFS farm when the primary instance is down, it doesn't automatically failover to the secondary instance


I have two instances (adfs1.xxx.com & adfs2.xxx.com) on a farm (sts.xxx.com) with WID (Windows Internal Database) setup, and am testing a failover situation.

Both are ADFS4.0 on Windows Server 2016.

When I stop the primary instance (adfs1.xxx.com), I expect the secondary instance to become the primary, and our client is able to continue accessing the login page (sts.xxx.com/adfs/ls/IdpInitiatedSignon.aspx).

However, it seems the failover does not happen automatically - the secondary instance still remains as a secondary and the login page (sts.xxx...) stops working.

Am I missing some configuration steps required to make it automatically failover when the primary instance is dead?


Solution

  • Authentication will still work. The only difference is that WID is RO so you can't update configs. on a secondary.

    If you want "automatic failover", switch the DNS and make the secondary the primary manually.