fake is a simple utility designed to enable the switching in of backup servers by bringing up an additional interface and using arp spoofing to take over the ip address. Either additional physically or logical interfaces can be used.

Variants of the script have been used extensively at Zip World, http://www.zipworld.com.au./ for backing up various servers including the mail, web and proxy servers. Please be aware that though this system has been shown to work you are well advised to test the system throughly before putting into production.

[ Linux Manual ]

To configure an instance of fake create /etc/fake/instance_config/<ip-to-take-over>.cfg with the following format:
(config file for “fake”, .fakerc)

The SPOOF_IP must be the same as the IP in the name of the file as this is checked at run time to ensure that config files are edited and not just copied over each other. It is very important that the TARGET_INTERFACE is different for each instance that you envisage running simultaneously.