Commit Warning for HA: 'Heartbeat-Backup' Configuration is Unnecessary and Therefore Ignored

Symptom

During a commit operation, the following warning message appears:

When High-availability ha1/ha1-backup port is configured to 'management', the 'heartbeat-backup' configuration is unnecessary and therefore ignored(Module: ha_agent)

Cause

As described in the PAN-OS Administrator's Guide:

Heartbeat Backup - Uses the management ports on the HA devices to provide a backup path for heartbeat and hello messages. The management port IP address will be shared with the HA peer through the HA1 control link. No additional configuration is required.

It is normal to see this warning message if HA1-backup is configured for management port, as it does the functionality of a heartbeat backup and other features dedicated for HA1 (including config sync and other activities). Therefore, the warning message indicates that a heartbeat backup would be redundant.

Note: Warning messages are suggestions provided to improve the configuration on the device and do not impact the commit.

Resolution

Although the message is only a warning, one of the following operations can be performed to suppress the message:

• Un-check Heartbeat backup in HA configuration.
• Create a new interface of type HA and assign that interface for HA1-backup and the warning message would not be generated.

owner: ssunku