Wlbs.exe Commands The Wlbs.exe program operates on Network Load Balanced hosts or on any remote computer running Windows 2000 that accesses the cluster over a local or wide area network.

The Wlbs.exe program operates on Network Load Balanced hosts or on any remote computer that is running Microsoft Windows 2000 that accesses the cluster over a local or wide area network. You can also use Wlbs.exe to issue commands to a single host or an entire cluster remotely; however, firewalls or intermediate security devices may require configuration to allow communication to the cluster.

Wlbs.exe Command Line Syntax The command line for Wlbs.exe uses the syntax wlbs command [cluster [:host] [remote options]] and is installed in the %Systemroot%\System32 folder. You can omit the cluster, host, and remote options when running Wlbs.exe directly on a cluster host. In this case, the command applies only to the local cluster host. To address the cluster as a whole or a different host within the cluster, you must also specify the target cluster, or target cluster and specific host together. The following table provides examples of how to address the cluster.

Cluster and Host Parameter Example Action (omitted) wlbs command Invokes command on current cluster host Cluster wlbs command mycluster Invokes command on all cluster hosts cluster:host wlbs command mycluster:host1 Invokes command on a specific cluster host

Wlbs.exe Commands You can configure Network Load Balancing hosts to join the cluster automatically upon startup or to wait for the wlbs start command by enabling the initial state option in the Network Load Balancing Properties dialog box. You can use the wlbs start command with the wlbs stop command to change cluster parameters for the local host without taking the entire cluster offline.

Wlbs start The wlbs start command will attempt to start the actions of the Network Load Balancing driver on the local host. When you start a host, there is communication between the local host and current members of the cluster (heartbeat communications). If you have properly configured the local host, it will successfully join the cluster. Note: You can restart cluster operations on the local cluster host by either restarting the computer or typing wlbs start at the command prompt. You can restart cluster operations on all of the cluster hosts by typing wlbs start followed by the cluster Internet Protocol (IP) address or cluster name.

Wlbs stop The wlbs stop command will stop the actions of the Network Load Balancing driver on the local host. When you stop the local host, it no longer participates in the cluster. The wlbs stop command can be described as a command to a host to leave the cluster. You can use the following procedure to stop operations on a specific host or the entire cluster by adding the IP address or the cluster name after the wlbs stop command.

To stop Network Load Balancing 1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt. 2. Type wlbs stop at the command prompt. Cluster operations are immediately stopped on the local cluster host. 3. If you want to stop cluster operations on all cluster hosts, type wlbs stop followed by the cluster IP address or cluster name. Note: When you use the wlbs stop command any client connections already in progress are interrupted. To avoid interrupting active connections, consider using the drainstop cluster control command. Drainstop will be explained in a later topic within this module.