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During a recent cluster build I inadvertently ended up with two Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard editions nodes (and no original media to get an re-install or edition refresh done). This forced me to figure out the online upgrade options in DISM. Turns out – this was quite simple.

Open an elevated command-prompt and enter the following command to check the current edition.

DISM /online /Get-CurrentEdition

To check the available editions for upgrade enter the following command.

DISM /online /Get-TargetEditions

To set the new edition enter the following command:

DISM /online /Set-Edition:<editionName> /ProductKey:xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

I recently implemented a two host NLB cluster for IIS using only powershell. I thought I would share the process to achieve this.

The first step is to install the NLB features on your two web servers.This can be achieved by using the ServerManager module in powershell.

Import-Module ServerManager

Add-WindowsFeature NLB, RSAT-NLB

Import-Module NetworkLoadBalancingClusters

Once the NLB features are installed, the cluster can be created on one of the two node. I assume that you already have created all the network required for this to function.

New-NlbCluster -InterfaceName “Server Network” -ClusterName NLBArray -Hostname FIM-Node1 -ClusterPrimaryIP 10.0.1.100

The single node cluster called “NLBArray” is now created on FIM-Node1 with a cluster IP of 10.0.1.100. Next I removed all the default port rules.

Get-NlbClusterPortRule | Remove-NlbClusterPortRule -Force

Now we need to add the port rules for the various services that we will be hosting on this NLB cluster. This will depend on the various services that you intend to host. By default you should include port 80 and 443. For FIM you can include your default FIM service ports 5725 and 5726.

 Get-NlbCluster | Add-NlbClusterPortRule -StartPort 80 -EndPort 80 -Protocol TCP -Affinity Single -InterfaceName “Server Network” 

Get-NlbCluster | Add-NlbClusterPortRule -StartPort 443 -EndPort 443 -Protocol TCP -Affinity Single -InterfaceName “Server Network”

Get-NlbCluster | Add-NlbClusterPortRule -StartPort  5725  -EndPort  5725  -Protocol TCP -Affinity Single -InterfaceName “Server Network”

Get-NlbCluster | Add-NlbClusterPortRule -StartPort  5726  -EndPort  5726 -Protocol Both -Affinity Single -InterfaceName “Server Network”

Finally I added the second node to the current cluster and then wait for the cluster to converge.

Get-NlbCluster | Add-NlbClusterNode -NewNodeName FIM-Node2 -NewNodeInterface “Server Network”

All done!

One of the primary requirements for a proper Microsoft SQL Server environment is MSDTC (Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator). When installing a SQL Server clustered environment it is required to add this clustered resource before installing you SQL Server instances.

To procedure to do this:

1. To start the Failover Cluster Management program, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, and then click Failover Cluster Management.
2. In the left hand pane, right-click Failover Cluster Management, and then click Manage a Cluster.
3. In the Select a cluster to manage dialog box, enter the cluster to be managed, and then click OK.
4. To start the High Availability Wizard, in the left pane click to expand the cluster, right-click Services and Applications, and then click Configure a Service or Application.
5. If the Before You Begin page of the High Availability Wizard is displayed, click Next.
6. On the Select Service or Application page, click Distributed Transaction Coordinator, and then click Next.
7. On the Client Access Point page, enter a value for Name, enter an available IP address under Address, and then click Next.
8. On the Select Storage page, click to select a disk resource and then click Next.
9. On the Confirmation page, click Next.
10. On the Summary page, click Finish.

Source: How to Cluster MSDTC (MSDN)

When installing SQL Server 2008 R on a Windows Server 2008 R2 cluster I recently received the following message when trying to add the MSDTC storage volume. (Step 8).

I found quite a few references to people with similar issues, thus I thought I would post this simple fix. The solution is listed in the text below the message. To resolve this blocker, you simply need to assign an actual drive letter to the disk you with the use for MSDTC storage. In my case we were using extensive Windows mount points due to the number of LUN’s presented to the cluster, but in this case it seems an actual drive letter is required.

A drive letter is assigned by:

1. To start the Failover Cluster Management program, click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, and then click Failover Cluster Management.
2. In the left hand pane, right-click Failover Cluster Management, and then click Manage a Cluster.
3. In the Select a cluster to manage dialog box, enter the cluster to be managed, and then click OK.
4. To assign a drive letter to a volume, select Storage. Right-click the volume you wish to assign a drive letter to and select Change Drive Letter.

Now the volume will appear in the MSDTC High-Availability resource Wizard.

Related articles:

• MySQL high availability comparison: service versus data
• SQL Server 2012 backup restore to earlier version (or dettach/attach) – Not working
• Two ways to find SQL Server Internal Version Number

I have been building large SQL clusters as part of a large Microsoft infrastructure deployment the last week adn came across the following error. I thought I would share the simple solution. When trying to add a cluster disk resource as a mount point you get an error stating “The parameter is incorrect”. Note that I have already added all the disks to the failover cluster manager as resources (and the disks where online).

It turns out to assign these disk the simple solution is just to place the disk resources into maintenance mode before trying to assign the mount points. To do this in failover cluster manager – select “Storage“. Find the disk you want to assign. Right click the disk and selec “More Actions” – > “Turn on maintnenace for this disk“.

Microsoft today announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, the next versions of its flagship desktop and server operating systems. With the completion of this development phase, industry partners are readying products in time for the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 worldwide general launches. Windows 7 will be generally available to customers around the world on October 22, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on or before that date. As always, current customers of the Windows Volume Licensing program, Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers and TechNet subscribers will be among the first to get customer access to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 in the coming weeks.

More information:
• Windows Team Blog, http://windowsteamblog.com
• Windows Server Blog, http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver
• Partner Web sites, http://readyset7.com and http://talkingaboutwindows.com/Default.aspx
• Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 for businesses, http://www.microsoft.com/windows/default.aspx and http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/R2.aspx