Hey Tim,
Thanks for the reply. I've already read the abstract you are quoting as I said I went through the documentation already (over and over ) to track any hints.
I'm already using FailoverOnServerShutdown property.
Just a question though about it ... Setting FailoverOnServerShutdown to false, does it sound right to you, when you want the failover to happen when the server is shutdown?

Thank you.

Tim,

So, you said that this needs to be set to "true" if you want the failover to occur. That's not what's written in the documentation. It says:

Sometimes you want a client to failover onto a backup server even if the live server is just cleanly shutdown rather than having crashed or the connection failed. To configure this you can set the property FailoverOnServerShutdown to false either on the HornetQConnectionFactory

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<connection-factories>

 <mbean
 code="org.jboss.jms.jndi.JMSProviderLoader"
 name="hornetq:service=JMSProviderLoader,name=JMSProvider">
 <attribute name="ProviderName">DefaultJMSProvider</attribute>
 <attribute name="ProviderAdapterClass">org.jboss.jms.jndi.JNDIProviderAdapter</attribute>
 <attribute name="FactoryRef">java:/ConnectionFactory</attribute>
 <attribute name="QueueFactoryRef">java:/ConnectionFactory</attribute>
 <attribute name="TopicFactoryRef">java:/ConnectionFactory</attribute>
 <attribute name="Properties">
 java.naming.factory.initial=org.jnp.interfaces.NamingContextFactory
 java.naming.factory.url.pkgs=org.jnp.interfaces
 java.naming.provider.url=localhost:2099,localhost:3099
 </attribute>
 </mbean>


 <!-- JMS XA Resource adapter, use this to get transacted JMS in beans -->
 <no-tx-connection-factory>
 <jndi-name>JmsNonXA</jndi-name>
 <!-- xa-transaction/ -->
 <rar-name>jms-ra.rar</rar-name>
 <!-- connection-definition>org.jboss.resource.adapter.jms.JmsConnectionFactory</connection-definition -->
 <connection-definition>org.hornetq.ra.HornetQRAConnectionFactory</connection-definition>
 <config-property name="SessionDefaultType" type="java.lang.String">javax.jms.Topic</config-property>
 <config-property name="JmsProviderAdapterJNDI" type="java.lang.String">java:/DefaultJMSProvider</config-property>
 <!-- Force le failover meme si le server live est arreter proprement -->
 <config-property name="FailoverOnServerShutdown" type="java.lang.Boolean">true</config-property>
 <security-domain-and-application>JmsRealm</security-domain-and-application>
 <max-pool-size>20</max-pool-size>
 </no-tx-connection-factory>

</connection-factories>

I'm using:
* HornetQ 2.0.0.Beta5
* 2 standalone instances deployed on the same host (my dev host) as clustered live/backup srvers
* Jboss has been configured to use the HornetQ cluster (I'm not using XA, using NonXA for now) as an external provider as described in the :
http://www.jboss.org/community/wiki/UsingHornetQwithJBoss4x

* The Jboss instance is also on my dev host

* The client is deployed inside Jboss, using the default JMS provider instanciated by Jboss, and which is using HornetQ factory.

* Jboss handles the connection factory and the Ressource adapter set up on Jboss has been configured to use auto-discovery to get the connectors configuration set on the HornetQ cluster.

* So the client is using the ConnectionFactory set up on the Jboss Side but point to the connection factory declared on the hornetQ side as described by JNDI configuration on the JMSProviderLoader configuration above.

As I said the MBean (the sender) can send the messages and when the live server goes down, it can still send the message to the backup. So failover is occuring.

But, the consumer which is an MDB installed on Jboss, does not get the message. I assume that it can not because it not connected anymore.

Here's the deploy/jms-ra.rar/META-INF/ra.xml file.
I'm using auto discovery. As far as I understand, connectors (live/backup) are supposed to be broadcasted based on the broadcast group declared on the hornetQ side.
See also, hornetq-configuration for live and backup below.
In order to set the variable I setting those up in my run.bat file for each node. It ensures that port does not confict and that I'm using different data directories.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!-- $Id: ra.xml 76819 2008-08-08 11:04:20Z jesper.pedersen $ -->

<connector xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee"
 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee
 http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/connector_1_5.xsd"
 version="1.5">

 <description>HornetQ 2.0 Resource Adapter</description>
 <display-name>HornetQ 2.0 Resource Adapter</display-name>

 <vendor-name>Red Hat Middleware LLC</vendor-name>
 <eis-type>JMS 1.1 Server</eis-type>
 <resourceadapter-version>1.0</resourceadapter-version>

 <license>
 <description>
Copyright 2009 Red Hat, Inc.
 Red Hat licenses this file to you under the Apache License, version
 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
 with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
 implied. See the License for the specific language governing
 permissions and limitations under the License.
 </description>
 <license-required>true</license-required>
 </license>

 <resourceadapter>
 <resourceadapter-class>org.hornetq.ra.HornetQResourceAdapter</resourceadapter-class>
 <config-property>
 <description>The discovery group address</description>
 <config-property-name>DiscoveryAddress</config-property-name>
 <config-property-type>java.lang.String</config-property-type>
 <config-property-value>231.7.7.7</config-property-value>
 </config-property>
 <config-property>
 <description>The discovery group port</description>
 <config-property-name>DiscoveryPort</config-property-name>
 <config-property-type>java.lang.Integer</config-property-type>
 <config-property-value>9876</config-property-value>
 </config-property>
 <config-property>
 <description>The discovery refresh timeout</description>
 <config-property-name>DiscoveryRefreshTimeout</config-property-name>
 <config-property-type>java.lang.Long</config-property-type>
 <config-property-value>100</config-property-value>
 </config-property>
 <config-property>
 <description>The discovery initial wait timeout</description>
 <config-property-name>DiscoveryInitialWaitTimeout</config-property-name>
 <config-property-type>java.lang.Long</config-property-type>
 <config-property-value>10000</config-property-value>
 </config-property>


 <outbound-resourceadapter>
 <connection-definition>
 <managedconnectionfactory-class>org.hornetq.ra.HornetQRAManagedConnectionFactory</managedconnectionfactory-class>

 <config-property>
 <description>The default session type</description>
 <config-property-name>SessionDefaultType</config-property-name>
 <config-property-type>java.lang.String</config-property-type>
 <config-property-value>javax.jms.Queue</config-property-value>
 </config-property>
 <config-property>
 <description>Try to obtain a lock within specified number of seconds; less than or equal to 0 disable this functionality</description>
 <config-property-name>UseTryLock</config-property-name>
 <config-property-type>java.lang.Integer</config-property-type>
 <config-property-value>0</config-property-value>
 </config-property>

 <connectionfactory-interface>org.hornetq.ra.HornetQRAConnectionFactory</connectionfactory-interface>
 <connectionfactory-impl-class>org.hornetq.ra.HornetQRAConnectionFactoryImpl</connectionfactory-impl-class>
 <connection-interface>javax.jms.Session</connection-interface>
 <connection-impl-class>org.hornetq.ra.HornetQRASession</connection-impl-class>
 </connection-definition>
 <transaction-support>XATransaction</transaction-support>
 <authentication-mechanism>
 <authentication-mechanism-type>BasicPassword</authentication-mechanism-type>
 <credential-interface>javax.resource.spi.security.PasswordCredential</credential-interface>
 </authentication-mechanism>
 <reauthentication-support>false</reauthentication-support>
 </outbound-resourceadapter>

 <inbound-resourceadapter>
 <messageadapter>
 <messagelistener>
 <messagelistener-type>javax.jms.MessageListener</messagelistener-type>
 <activationspec>
 <activationspec-class>org.hornetq.ra.inflow.HornetQActivationSpec</activationspec-class>
 <required-config-property>
 <config-property-name>destination</config-property-name>
 </required-config-property>
 </activationspec>
 </messagelistener>
 </messageadapter>
 </inbound-resourceadapter>

 </resourceadapter>
</connector>

<configuration xmlns="urn:hornetq"
 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 xsi:schemaLocation="urn:hornetq /schema/hornetq-configuration.xsd">

 <clustered>true</clustered>

 <!-- definition du connecteur de backup sur le node2 -->
 <backup-connector-ref connector-name="backup-connector"/>

 <connectors>
 <connector name="netty">
 <factory-class>org.hornetq.integration.transports.netty.NettyConnectorFactory</factory-class>
 <param key="hornetq.remoting.netty.host" value="${hornetq.remoting.netty.host:localhost}" type="String"/>
 <param key="hornetq.remoting.netty.port" value="${hornetq.remoting.netty.port:5445}" type="Integer"/>
 </connector>

 <connector name="backup-connector">
 <factory-class>org.hornetq.integration.transports.netty.NettyConnectorFactory</factory-class>
 <param key="hornetq.remoting.netty.host" value="${hornetq.remoting.netty.backup-host:localhost}" type="String"/>
 <param key="hornetq.remoting.netty.port" value="${hornetq.remoting.netty.backup-port:5446}" type="Integer"/>
 </connector>
 </connectors>

 <acceptors>
 <acceptor name="netty">
 <factory-class>org.hornetq.integration.transports.netty.NettyAcceptorFactory</factory-class>
 <param key="hornetq.remoting.netty.host" value="${hornetq.remoting.netty.host:localhost}" type="String"/>
 <param key="hornetq.remoting.netty.port" value="${hornetq.remoting.netty.port:5445}" type="Integer"/>
 </acceptor>
 </acceptors>

 <broadcast-groups>
 <broadcast-group name="bg-group1">
 <group-address>231.7.7.7</group-address>
 <group-port>9876</group-port>
 <broadcast-period>5000</broadcast-period>
 <connector-ref connector-name="netty" backup-connector-name="backup-connector" />
 </broadcast-group>
 </broadcast-groups>

 <discovery-groups>
 <discovery-group name="dg-group1">
 <group-address>231.7.7.7</group-address>
 <group-port>9876</group-port>
 <refresh-timeout>10000</refresh-timeout>
 </discovery-group>
 </discovery-groups>

 <cluster-connections>
 <cluster-connection name="my-cluster">
 <address>jms</address>
 <discovery-group-ref discovery-group-name="dg-group1"/>
 </cluster-connection>
 </cluster-connections>



 <security-settings>
 <security-setting match="#">
 <permission type="createTempQueue" roles="guest"/>
 <permission type="deleteTempQueue" roles="guest"/>
 <permission type="consume" roles="guest"/>
 <permission type="send" roles="guest"/>
 </security-setting>
 </security-settings>

 <address-settings>
 <!--default for catch all-->
 <address-setting match="#">
 <clustered>false</clustered>
 <dead-letter-address>jms.queue.DLQ</dead-letter-address>
 <expiry-address>jms.queue.ExpiryQueue</expiry-address>
 <redelivery-delay>0</redelivery-delay>
 <max-size-bytes>-1</max-size-bytes>
 <page-size-bytes>10485760</page-size-bytes>
 <distribution-policy-class>org.hornetq.core.server.impl.RoundRobinDistributor</distribution-policy-class>
 <message-counter-history-day-limit>10</message-counter-history-day-limit>
 </address-setting>
 </address-settings>

 <paging-directory>${data.dir:../data}/paging</paging-directory>
 <bindings-directory>${data.dir:../data}/bindings</bindings-directory>
 <journal-directory>${data.dir:../data}/journal</journal-directory>
 <large-messages-directory>${data.dir:../data}/large-messages</large-messages-directory>

</configuration>

<configuration xmlns="urn:hornetq"
 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 xsi:schemaLocation="urn:hornetq /schema/hornetq-configuration.xsd">

 <clustered>true</clustered>
 <backup>true</backup>

 <connectors>
 <connector name="netty">
 <factory-class>org.hornetq.integration.transports.netty.NettyConnectorFactory</factory-class>
 <param key="hornetq.remoting.netty.host" value="${hornetq.remoting.netty.host:localhost}" type="String"/>
 <param key="hornetq.remoting.netty.port" value="${hornetq.remoting.netty.port:5445}" type="Integer"/>
 </connector>
 </connectors>

 <acceptors>
 <acceptor name="netty">
 <factory-class>org.hornetq.integration.transports.netty.NettyAcceptorFactory</factory-class>
 <param key="hornetq.remoting.netty.host" value="${hornetq.remoting.netty.host:localhost}" type="String"/>
 <param key="hornetq.remoting.netty.port" value="${hornetq.remoting.netty.port:5445}" type="Integer"/>
 </acceptor>
 </acceptors>

 <broadcast-groups>
 <broadcast-group name="bg-group1">
 <group-address>231.7.7.7</group-address>
 <group-port>9876</group-port>
 <broadcast-period>5000</broadcast-period>
 <connector-ref connector-name="netty"/>
 </broadcast-group>
 </broadcast-groups>

 <discovery-groups>
 <discovery-group name="dg-group1">
 <group-address>231.7.7.7</group-address>
 <group-port>9876</group-port>
 <refresh-timeout>10000</refresh-timeout>
 </discovery-group>
 </discovery-groups>

 <cluster-connections>
 <cluster-connection name="my-cluster">
 <address>jms</address>
 <discovery-group-ref discovery-group-name="dg-group1"/>
 </cluster-connection>
 </cluster-connections>


 <security-settings>
 <security-setting match="#">
 <permission type="createTempQueue" roles="guest"/>
 <permission type="deleteTempQueue" roles="guest"/>
 <permission type="consume" roles="guest"/>
 <permission type="send" roles="guest"/>
 </security-setting>
 </security-settings>

 <address-settings>
 <!--default for catch all-->
 <address-setting match="#">
 <clustered>false</clustered>
 <dead-letter-address>jms.queue.DLQ</dead-letter-address>
 <expiry-address>jms.queue.ExpiryQueue</expiry-address>
 <redelivery-delay>0</redelivery-delay>
 <max-size-bytes>-1</max-size-bytes>
 <page-size-bytes>10485760</page-size-bytes>
 <distribution-policy-class>org.hornetq.core.server.impl.RoundRobinDistributor</distribution-policy-class>
 <message-counter-history-day-limit>10</message-counter-history-day-limit>
 </address-setting>
 </address-settings>

 <paging-directory>${data.dir:../data}/paging</paging-directory>
 <bindings-directory>${data.dir:../data}/bindings</bindings-directory>
 <journal-directory>${data.dir:../data}/journal</journal-directory>
 <large-messages-directory>${data.dir:../data}/large-messages</large-messages-directory>

</configuration>

In addition ...

Here's the code for the sender(service exposed through JMX):

package test.sender;

import java.util.Properties;

import javax.jms.*;
import javax.naming.Context;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;

import org.jboss.annotation.ejb.Service;

@Service(objectName = "jbia:service=senderMbean")
public class SenderMbean implements SenderInterface {

 String message = null;

 public void setMessage(String msg){
 this.message = msg;
 }

 public String getMessage(){
 return this.message;
 }

 public void sendMessage(){

 Connection cnx = null;

 try {

 // 1- create JNDI context
 Context jndiCtx = new InitialContext();

 // 2- lookup connection factory
 ConnectionFactory cnxFct = (ConnectionFactory)jndiCtx.lookup("java:/JmsNonXA");

 // 3- create connection
 cnx = cnxFct.createConnection();

 // 4- create session
 Session session = cnx.createSession(false, Session.AUTO_ACKNOWLEDGE);

 // 5- set destination
 Destination destExample = (Destination)session.createQueue("ExampleQueue");

 // 6- instanciate the producer
 MessageProducer producer = session.createProducer(destExample);

 // 7- starting the connection
 cnx.start();

 // 8- sending the message
 System.out.println("Sending Message!");
 Message msg = session.createTextMessage(getMessage());
 producer.send(msg);
 System.out.println("Sent!");

 // 9- closing the connection
 if(cnx!=null)
 cnx.close();

 } catch(Exception ex) {
 ex.printStackTrace();

 if(cnx!=null)
 try {
 cnx.close();
 } catch (JMSException e) {
 e.printStackTrace();
 }
 }

 }

 // Life cycle method
 public void create() { } ;
 public void destroy() { };


}

package test.mdb;

import javax.jms.*;
import javax.annotation.Resource;
import javax.ejb.*;

@MessageDriven(activationConfig={
 @ActivationConfigProperty
 (propertyName="destinationType",
 propertyValue="javax.jms.Queue"),
 @ActivationConfigProperty
 (propertyName="destination",
 propertyValue="queue/ExampleQueue")
 }
)

public class Mymdb implements MessageListener {

 @Resource(mappedName = "java:JmsNonXA")
 ConnectionFactory connectionFactory;

 public void onMessage(Message msg) {
 try {
 TextMessage textMsg = (TextMessage)msg;
 System.out.println("MESSAGE RECEIVED : " + textMsg.getText() );
 } catch (Exception e) {
 e.printStackTrace();
 }
 }
}

OK, I'm fine with creating a JIRA. I can't find the right link to add a JIRA for this issue. Could you let me know where I can post the JIRA from for this kind of issue?

Thank you Tim.