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Using VRRP in a cluster setup

September 27, 2025
Contributed by: 
C S

Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) is supported in a cluster setup for both IPv4 and IPv6. The two VRRP features supported in a cluster setup are Interface based VRRP and IP based VRRP.

IP based VRRP

In IP based VRRP, striped VIP addresses bound to the same VRID are configured on all nodes of a cluster setup. These VIP addresses are active on all the nodes

One of the cluster nodes acts as the VRID owner and sends out the VRRP advertisement to other nodes. If there is failure of the VRID owner node, another node in the cluster assumes the ownership of the VRID and starts sending VRRP advertisements. You can also assign a specific cluster node as the owner of the VRID.

Note

Citrix® recommends you to use IP based method for VRRP deployment in cluster.

Configuring IP based VRRP for IPv4

Perform the following tasks on a cluster setup for configuring IP based VRRP for IPv4:

  • Add a VRID. A VRID is an integer used by the Cluster setup to form a virtual MAC address. The generic VMAC address is in the form of 00:00:5e:00:02:<VRID>.
  • (Optional) Assign a node as the owner of the virtual MAC address. You can set the owner node parameter (while adding or modifying VRID6) to the ID of the cluster node to assign it as the owner of the virtual MAC address. If the assigned owner node fails, one of the UP cluster nodes is dynamically elected as the owner of the virtual MAC address. You can set the owner node using the set vrID <id> -ownerNode <positive_interger> command.
  • Bind the VRID to the VIP address of the nodes. Bind the created VRID to the striped VIP address.

To add a VRID by using the CLI

At the command prompt, type:

-  add vrid <ID> [-ownerNode <positive_integer>]
-  show vrid <ID>

To bind the VRID to VIP address by using the CLI

At the command prompt, type:

  • set ns ip <IPv4Address> -vrid <ID><!--NeedCopy-->
  • show vrid <ID><!--NeedCopy-->

To add a VRID by using the GUI

  1. Navigate to System > Network > VMAC and, on the VMAC tab, click Add.
  2. On the Create VMAC page, specify a value in the Virtual Router ID field and then click Create.

To bind the VRID to a VIP address by using the GUI

  1. Navigate to System > Network > IPs, on the IPV4s tab, select a VIP address and click Edit.

  2. Set the Virtual Router ID parameter while editing the VIP configuration.

    > add vrid 90
 Done
> set ns ip 192.0.2.90 –vrid 90
 Done

Configuring IP based VRRP for IPv6

Perform the following tasks on a cluster setup for configuring IP based VRRP for IPv6:

  • Add a VRID6. A VRID6 is an integer used by the Cluster setup to form a virtual MAC6 address. The generic VMAC6 address is in the form of 00:00:5e:00:02:<VRID6>.
  • (Optional) Assign a node as the owner of the virtual MAC6 address. You can set the owner node parameter (while adding or modifying VRID6) to the ID of the cluster node to assign it as the owner of the virtual MAC6 address. If the assigned owner node fails, one of the UP cluster nodes is dynamically elected as the owner of the virtual MAC6 address.
  • Bind the VRID6 to the VIP6 address of the nodes. Bind the created VRID6 to the striped VIP6 address.

To add a VRID6 by using the CLI

At the command prompt, type:

  • add vrid6 <ID> [-ownerNode <positive_integer>]<!--NeedCopy-->
  • show vrid6 <ID><!--NeedCopy-->

To bind the VRID6 to VIP6 address by using the CLI

At the command prompt, type:

  • set ns ip6 <IPv6Address> -vrid6 <ID><!--NeedCopy-->
  • show vrid6 <ID><!--NeedCopy-->

To add a VRID6 by using the GUI

  1. Navigate to System > Network > VMAC and, on the VMAC6 tab, click Add.
  2. On the Create virtual MAC6 page, specify a value in the Virtual Router ID field and then click Create.

To bind the VRID6 to a VIP6 address by using the GUI

  1. Navigate to System > Network > IPs, on the IPV6s tab, select a VIP address and click Edit.

  2. Set the Virtual Router ID parameter while editing the VIP6 configuration.

    > add vrid6 90
 Done
> set ns ip6 2001:db8::5001 –vrid6 90
 Done

Interface based VRRP

In the interface based VRRP feature, the same virtual MAC address is configured on both the nodes of the cluster. This virtual MAC address is used in GARP advertisements and ARP responses for the IP addresses configured on a node. This feature is useful in an active-spare two-node cluster setup that has external devices/routers that do not accept GARP advertisements.

Note

The interface based VRRP feature is applicable only to a two-node cluster with one node in active state and the other node serving as a spare.

With the same virtual MAC address on both cluster nodes, when the active node goes down and the spare node takes over as active, the MAC address for the IP addresses on the new active node remain unchanged and the ARP tables on the external devices/routers do not need to be updated.

Configuring interface based VRRP for IPv4

Perform the following tasks on a cluster setup to configure interface based VRRP for IPv4:

  • Add a VRID. A VRID is an integer used by the Cluster setup to form a virtual MAC address.
  • Bind the VRID to node interfaces. Bind the interfaces to the created VRID. The bound interfaces (in the current active node) use the virtual MAC address in GARP advertisements and ARP responses for its IPv4 addresses. You must associate the VRID to the interfaces of both nodes of the active-spare cluster setup. This is because unlike in a high availability setup, interface IDs differ in a cluster setup.

To add a VRID by using the CLI

At the command prompt, type:

-  add vrid <ID>
-  show vrid <ID>

To bind the VRID to an interface by using the CLI

At the command prompt, type:

-  bind vrid <ID> -ifnum <interface_name>
-  show vrid <ID>

To add a VRID and bind it to interfaces by using the GUI

  1. Navigate to System > Network > VMAC and, on the VMAC tab, click Add.

  2. On the Create virtual MAC page, specify a value in the Virtual Router ID* field, bind interfaces in the Associate Interfaces section, and then click Create.

    > add vrid 300
 Done
> bind vrid 300 -ifnum 1/1/2 2/1/3
 Done

Configuring interface based VRRP for IPv6

Perform the following tasks on a cluster setup to configure interface based VRRP for IPv6:

  • Add a VRID6. A VRID6 is an integer used by the Cluster setup to form a virtual MAC6 address. The generic VMAC6 address is in the form of 00:00:5e:00:01:<VRID6>.
  • Bind the VRID6 to node interfaces. Bind the interfaces to the created VRID6. The bound interfaces (in the current active node) use the virtual MAC6 address in GARP advertisements and ARP responses for its IPv6 addresses. You must associate the VRID6 to the interfaces of both nodes of the active-spare cluster setup. This is because unlike in a high availability setup, interface IDs differ in a cluster setup.

To add a VRID6 by using the CLI

At the command prompt, type:

-  add vrid6 <ID>
-  show vrid6 <ID>

To bind the VRID6 to an interface by using the CLI

At the command prompt, type:

  • bind vrid6 <ID> -ifnum <interface_name><!--NeedCopy-->
  • show vrid6 <ID><!--NeedCopy-->

To add a VRID6 and bind it to interfaces by using the GUI

  1. Navigate System > Network > VMAC and, on the VMAC6 tab, click Add.

  2. On the Create virtual MAC6 page, specify a value in the Virtual Router ID field, bind interfaces in the Associate Interfaces section, and then click Create.

    > add vrid6 100
 Done
> bind vrid6 100 -ifnum 0/1/1 1/1/2 2/1/3
 Done
Using VRRP in a cluster setup
September 27, 2025
Contributed by: 
C S
September 27, 2025
Contributed by: 
C S

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