300 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
300 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: "docs"
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page_title: "Autopilot"
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sidebar_current: "docs-guides-autopilot"
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description: |-
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This guide covers how to configure and use Autopilot features.
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---
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# Autopilot
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Autopilot features allow for automatic,
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operator-friendly management of Consul servers. It includes cleanup of dead
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servers, monitoring the state of the Raft cluster, and stable server introduction.
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To enable Autopilot features (with the exception of dead server cleanup),
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the [`raft_protocol`](/docs/agent/options.html#_raft_protocol) setting in
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the Agent configuration must be set to 3 or higher on all servers. In Consul
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0.8 this setting defaults to 2; in Consul 1.0 it will default to 3. For more
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information, see the [Version Upgrade section](/docs/upgrade-specific.html#raft_protocol)
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on Raft Protocol versions.
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In this guide we will learn more about Autopilot's features.
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* Dead server cleanup
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* Server Stabilization
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* Redundancy zone tags
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* Upgrade migration
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Finally, we will review how to ensure Autopilot is healthy.
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Note, in this guide we are using examples from a Consul 1.4 cluster, we
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are starting with Autopilot enabled by default.
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## Default Configuration
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The configuration of Autopilot is loaded by the leader from the agent's
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[Autopilot settings](/docs/agent/options.html#autopilot) when initially
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bootstrapping the cluster. Since Autopilot and it's features are already
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enabled, we only need to update the configuration to disable them. The
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following are the defaults.
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```
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{
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"cleanup_dead_servers": true,
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"last_contact_threshold": "200ms",
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"max_trailing_logs": 250,
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"server_stabilization_time": "10s",
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"redundancy_zone_tag": "",
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"disable_upgrade_migration": false,
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"upgrade_version_tag": ""
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}
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```
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All Consul servers should have Autopilot and its features either enabled
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or disabled to ensure consistency accross servers in case of a failure. Additionally,
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Autopilot must be enabled to use any of the features, but the features themselves
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can be configured independently. Meaning you can enable or disable any of the features
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separately, at any time.
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After bootstrapping, the configuration can be viewed or modified either via the
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[`operator autopilot`](/docs/commands/operator/autopilot.html) subcommand or the
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[`/v1/operator/autopilot/configuration`](/api/operator.html#autopilot-configuration)
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HTTP endpoint.
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```
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$ consul operator autopilot get-config
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CleanupDeadServers = true
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LastContactThreshold = 200ms
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MaxTrailingLogs = 250
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ServerStabilizationTime = 10s
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RedundancyZoneTag = ""
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DisableUpgradeMigration = false
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UpgradeVersionTag = ""
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```
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In the example above, we used the `operator autopilot get-config` subcommand to check
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the autopilot configuration. You can see we still have all the defaults.
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## Dead Server Cleanup
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If Autopilot is disabled, it will take 72 hours for dead servers to be automatically reaped
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or an operator had to script a `consul force-leave`. If another server failure occurred
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it could jeopardize the quorum, even if the failed Consul server had been automatically
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replaced. Autopilot helps prevent these kinds of outages by quickly removing failed
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servers as soon as a replacement Consul server comes online. When servers are removed
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by the cleanup process they will enter the "left" state.
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With Autopilot's dead server cleanup enabled, dead servers will periodically be
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cleaned up and removed from the Raft peer set to prevent them from interfering with
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the quorum size and leader elections. The cleanup process will also be automatically
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triggered whenever a new server is successfully added to the cluster.
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To update the dead server cleanup feature use `consul operator autopilot set-config`
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with the `-cleanup-dead-servers` flag.
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```sh
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$ consul operator autopilot set-config -cleanup-dead-servers=false
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Configuration updated!
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$ consul operator autopilot get-config
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CleanupDeadServers = false
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LastContactThreshold = 200ms
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MaxTrailingLogs = 250
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ServerStabilizationTime = 10s
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RedundancyZoneTag = ""
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DisableUpgradeMigration = false
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UpgradeVersionTag = ""
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```
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We have disabled dead server cleanup, but sill have all the other Autopilot defaults.
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## Server Stabilization
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When a new server is added to the cluster, there is a waiting period where it
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must be healthy and stable for a certain amount of time before being promoted
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to a full, voting member. This can be configured via the `ServerStabilizationTime`
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setting.
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```sh
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consul operator autopilot set-config -server-stabilization-time=5s
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Configuration updated!
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$ consul operator autopilot get-config
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CleanupDeadServers = false
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LastContactThreshold = 200ms
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MaxTrailingLogs = 250
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ServerStabilizationTime = 5s
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RedundancyZoneTag = ""
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DisableUpgradeMigration = false
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UpgradeVersionTag = ""
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```
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Now we have disabled dead server cleanup and set the server stabilization time to 5 seconds.
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When a new server is added to our cluster, it will only need to be healthy and stable for
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5 seconds.
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## Redundancy Zones
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Prior to Autopilot, it was difficult to deploy servers in a way that took advantage of
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isolated failure domains such as AWS Availability Zones; users would be forced to either
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have an overly-large quorum (2-3 nodes per AZ) or give up redundancy within an AZ by
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deploying just one server in each.
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If the `RedundancyZoneTag` setting is set, Consul will use its value to look for a
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zone in each server's specified [`-node-meta`](/docs/agent/options.html#_node_meta)
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tag. For example, if `RedundancyZoneTag` is set to `zone`, and `-node-meta zone:east1a`
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is used when starting a server, that server's redundancy zone will be `east1a`.
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```
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$ consul operator autopilot set-config -redundancy-zone-tag=uswest1
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Configuration updated!
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$ consul operator autopilot get-config
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CleanupDeadServers = false
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LastContactThreshold = 200ms
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MaxTrailingLogs = 250
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ServerStabilizationTime = 5s
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RedundancyZoneTag = "uswest1"
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DisableUpgradeMigration = false
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UpgradeVersionTag = ""
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```
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For our Autopilot features, we now have disabled dead server cleanup, server stabilization time to 5 seconds, and
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the redundancy zone tag is uswest1.
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Consul will then use these values to partition the servers by redundancy zone, and will
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aim to keep one voting server per zone. Extra servers in each zone will stay as non-voters
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on standby to be promoted if the active voter leaves or dies.
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## Upgrade Migrations
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Autopilot in Consul *Enterprise* supports upgrade migrations by default. To disable this
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functionality, set `DisableUpgradeMigration` to true.
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```sh
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$ consul operator autopilot set-config -disable-upgrade-migration=true
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Configuration updated!
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$ consul operator autopilot get-config
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CleanupDeadServers = false
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LastContactThreshold = 200ms
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MaxTrailingLogs = 250
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ServerStabilizationTime = 5s
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RedundancyZoneTag = "uswest1"
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DisableUpgradeMigration = true
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UpgradeVersionTag = ""
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```
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With upgrade migration enabled, when a new server is added and Autopilot detects that
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its Consul version is newer than that of the existing servers, Autopilot will avoid
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promoting the new server until enough newer-versioned servers have been added to the
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cluster. When the count of new servers equals or exceeds that of the old servers,
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Autopilot will begin promoting the new servers to voters and demoting the old servers.
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After this is finished, the old servers can be safely removed from the cluster.
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To check the consul version of the servers, you can either use the [autopilot health]
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(/api/operator.html#autopilot-health) endpoint or the `consul members`
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command.
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```
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$ consul members
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Node Address Status Type Build Protocol DC Segment
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node1 127.0.0.1:8301 alive server 1.4.0 2 dc1 <all>
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node2 127.0.0.1:8703 alive server 1.4.0 2 dc1 <all>
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node3 127.0.0.1:8803 alive server 1.4.0 2 dc1 <all>
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node4 127.0.0.1:8203 alive server 1.3.0 2 dc1 <all>
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```
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### Migrations Without a Consul Version Change
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The `UpgradeVersionTag` can be used to override the version information used during
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a migration, so that the migration logic can be used for updating the cluster when
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changing configuration.
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If the `UpgradeVersionTag` setting is set, Consul will use its value to look for a
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version in each server's specified [`-node-meta`](/docs/agent/options.html#_node_meta)
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tag. For example, if `UpgradeVersionTag` is set to `build`, and `-node-meta build:0.0.2`
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is used when starting a server, that server's version will be `0.0.2` when considered in
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a migration. The upgrade logic will follow semantic versioning and the version string
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must be in the form of either `X`, `X.Y`, or `X.Y.Z`.
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```sh
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$ consul operator autopilot set-config -upgrade-version-tag=1.4.0
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Configuration updated!
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$ consul operator autopilot get-config
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CleanupDeadServers = false
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LastContactThreshold = 200ms
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MaxTrailingLogs = 250
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ServerStabilizationTime = 5s
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RedundancyZoneTag = "uswest1"
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DisableUpgradeMigration = true
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UpgradeVersionTag = "1.4.0"
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```
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## Server Health Checking
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An internal health check runs on the leader to track the stability of servers.
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<br>A server is considered healthy if all of the following conditions are true.
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- It has a SerfHealth status of 'Alive'.
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- The time since its last contact with the current leader is below
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`LastContactThreshold`.
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- Its latest Raft term matches the leader's term.
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- The number of Raft log entries it trails the leader by does not exceed
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`MaxTrailingLogs`.
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The status of these health checks can be viewed through the [`/v1/operator/autopilot/health`]
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(/api/operator.html#autopilot-health) HTTP endpoint, with a top level
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`Healthy` field indicating the overall status of the cluster:
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```
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$ curl localhost:8500/v1/operator/autopilot/health
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{
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"Healthy": true,
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"FailureTolerance": 0,
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"Servers": [
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{
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"ID": "e349749b-3303-3ddf-959c-b5885a0e1f6e",
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"Name": "node1",
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"Address": "127.0.0.1:8300",
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"SerfStatus": "alive",
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"Version": "0.8.0",
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"Leader": true,
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"LastContact": "0s",
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"LastTerm": 2,
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"LastIndex": 10,
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"Healthy": true,
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"Voter": true,
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"StableSince": "2017-03-28T18:28:52Z"
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},
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{
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"ID": "e35bde83-4e9c-434f-a6ef-453f44ee21ea",
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"Name": "node2",
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"Address": "127.0.0.1:8705",
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"SerfStatus": "alive",
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"Version": "0.8.0",
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"Leader": false,
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"LastContact": "35.371007ms",
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"LastTerm": 2,
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"LastIndex": 10,
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"Healthy": true,
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"Voter": false,
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"StableSince": "2017-03-28T18:29:10Z"
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}
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]
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}
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```
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## Summary
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In this guide we configured most of the Autopilot features; dead server cleanup, server
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stabilization, redundancy zone tags, upgrade migration, and upgrade version tag.
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To learn more about the Autopilot settings we did not configure,
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[last_contact_threshold](https://www.consul.io/docs/agent/options.html#last_contact_threshold)
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and [max_trailing_logs](https://www.consul.io/docs/agent/options.html#max_trailing_logs),
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either read the agent configuration documentation or use the help flag with the
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operator autopilot `consul operator autopilot set-config -h`.
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