Error This is a standby Vault node but can't communicate with the active node via request forwarding

Vault
1

Hello,

On my staging environment, using OSS vault, I configured HA clusters, one is Active and the other one is Standby, with Multi Regional GCS bucket.

I created a new vault cluster on test environment, and I copied the backend data (GCS bucket), from staging to test cluster.

Once everything was configured on test cluster, initialized, and unsealed, from vault UI , I got the following error message:

Error

This is a standby Vault node but can't communicate with the active node via request forwarding. 
Sign in at the active node to use the Vault UI.

Reading few pages related to vault, and I found this, Upgrading Vault - Guides | Vault by HashiCorp.

If I understand correctly, if a vault cluster is configured HA in one environment, copying the data of that cluster and use it in other environment, and then spin up a new vault cluster, this newly created vault cluster will behave as vault standby.

If this is the case, is there a way for me to “cut ties” this standby cluster or promote it as non HA cluster?

vault version: 1.0.3

I really appreciate any inputs, suggestions and pointers.

Regards,
Laurentius

2

1.0.3 is so out of date I doubt anyone even remembers that workings or find the right docs to help you. I’d upgrade to at least 1.6, 1.7 or 1.8.

3

I did spin up a new vault cluster v1.8.3 with the same backend, and the UI still showed the same thing regarding the standby Vault node.

I wish I can just “tweak” the file(s) in the backend to release this “lock”.

4

The solution is actually rather simple. Shutdown or “Seal” (and make sure it stays seal, in case you have auto-unseal setup) the source vault before you copy the data.

@laurentiuspurba if your testing instance is working against the same GCP bucket the situation will remain that either your production version or your local development version can be connected.

Additionally; i looked at the data in the bucket, and believe that if your delete the core/lock file you will also “cut” your ties – Only do this when you’re working on a copy, otherwise use method #1.