Primary and secondary consoles use eDirectory synchronization to keep their configuration databases current.
WARNING:When the primary console is running, all configuration changes must be made at the primary console. If you make changes at both a primary console and a secondary console, browser caching can cause you to create an invalid configuration.
Access Manager devices use the secondary console only when the primary console is down. Therefore, if a secondary console goes down while the primary console is running, devices are notified. But they continue to run by using the primary console for configuration information. The secondary console can be down for as long as required to fix the problem without affecting other Access Manager devices.
When the primary console goes down, all devices discover this and switch to using the secondary console. This can take a few minutes, because each device has its own trigger for checking in with Administration Console. After the device switches to the secondary console, it continues to run just as it did when it was communicating with the primary console. When the primary console is up again, all devices discover this and switch back to using the primary console. Again, this can take a few minutes.