---
title: "Configuring the vNIOS Instance with High Availability"
canonical: "https://docs.infoblox.com/space/vniosazure/847578419/Configuring%20the%20vNIOS%20Instance%20with%20High%20Availability"
format: markdown
---
After creating an instance with MGMT and LAN1 interfaces, you can set up the instance with high availability (HA), a capability available from NIOS 9.0.4 onwards.

To configure HA, add a third interface for HA on both nodes, and then configure a secondary IP address on the HA interface of one of the nodes. NIOS uses the secondary IP address as the virtual IP (VIP) for external communication.

To set up HA, complete the following steps on each node:

1. In the Microsoft Azure portal, go to the *Virtual machines* page.
2. Stop the vNIOS instance that you created.  
Note that before you add a network interface, you must stop the instance, add the interface, and then start the instance.
3. On the instance details page, click **Networking** > **Network settings**.
4. In the *Network settings* panel, click **Attach network interface**.
5. In the **Attach network interface** drop-down list, perform one of the following to attach an HA interface to the instance:
  1. Select an existing interface from the drop-down list.
  2. Create a new interface as follows:
    1. Click **Create and attach network interface**.
    2. In the *Create network interface* dialog box, complete the following:
      1. **Name**: Type a name for the HA interface.
      2. **Subnet**: Select the same subnet as the LAN1 interface of this instance.
      3. Click **Create** and wait until the interface is created and attached to the instance.
  3. Add a secondary IP address to the HA interface:
    1. Click the HA interface name to view its details.
    2. Click **+Add**.
    3. In the *Add IP configuration* panel, enter a **Name** and select the **Allocation** as **Static** or **Dynamic**, and then click **Add**:
      

After the instance is created in Azure, proceed to assign the managed identity to the instance as described in *[About Deploying a vNIOS for Azure Instance with High Availability](https://infoblox-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/vniosazure/pages/1324942556)*.