Install SQL Server Service Pack 2 safely on a Win2008 cluster?

[Ron]

In KB958734 "SQL Server 2008 failover cluster rolling patch and service pack
process" it tells us to use "the Cluster Administrator tool (Cluadmin.exe),
to remove nodes from the possible owner nodes list in the failover cluster
instance" but there is no Cluadmin.exe tool in Win2008 (Cluadmin.exe is pre
Win2008).

So do we 'Pause' the passive nodes using 'Failover Cluster Management'? Or
do we remove the nodes by running Setup.exe from the original SQL Server
media?

I tried to pause the node but when running the installation for the service
pack on the paused node I get the following error during the validation
checks: "The machine is clustered, but the cluster is not online or cannot be
accessed from one of its nodes. To continue determine why the cluster is not
online and rerun setup instead of rerunning the rule since the rule can no
longer detect a cluster environment correctly."

So my question is, how do we safely install a SQL Server service pack that
is running on Windows 2008 with minimal downtime?

[Geoff N. Hiten]

Ron,

The tool is now called "Failover Cluster Manager".

Do not pause any nodes.

Here is an example with two nodes.

Node 1 currently hosts SQL01.

In Failover Cluster Manager, remove Node 2 from the "Allowed Owners" list
for SQL01.

Apply patch to Node 2.

In Failover Cluster Manager, Add Node 2 to the "Allowed Owners" list for
SQL01.

Failover SQL01 from Node1 to Node 2

In Failover Cluster Manager, Remove Node 1 from the "Allowed Owners" list
for SQL01.

Apply patch to Node 2

In Failover Cluster Manager, Add Node 1 to the "Allowed Owners" list for
SQL01.

When doing a major upgrade, the upgrade wizard handles the allowed owners
list modifications for you.

--
Geoff N. Hiten
Principal SQL Infrastructure Consultant
Microsoft SQL Server MVP

"Ron" <R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C8E8A0B6-45B7-4694...@microsoft.com...

[Chuck Hottle]

I can't find an Allowed Owners List in Failover Cluster Manager. I see a list of preferred owners, but didn't see any way top remove a node from that list. Can you point me to where this is located? Thanks.

> On Wednesday, August 26, 2009 11:18 AM Ron wrote:

> In KB958734 "SQL Server 2008 failover cluster rolling patch and service pack
> process" it tells us to use "the Cluster Administrator tool (Cluadmin.exe),
> to remove nodes from the possible owner nodes list in the failover cluster
> instance" but there is no Cluadmin.exe tool in Win2008 (Cluadmin.exe is pre
> Win2008).
>
> So do we 'Pause' the passive nodes using 'Failover Cluster Management'? Or
> do we remove the nodes by running Setup.exe from the original SQL Server
> media?
>
> I tried to pause the node but when running the installation for the service
> pack on the paused node I get the following error during the validation
> checks: "The machine is clustered, but the cluster is not online or cannot be
> accessed from one of its nodes. To continue determine why the cluster is not
> online and rerun setup instead of rerunning the rule since the rule can no
> longer detect a cluster environment correctly."
>
> So my question is, how do we safely install a SQL Server service pack that
> is running on Windows 2008 with minimal downtime?

>> On Wednesday, August 26, 2009 2:31 PM Geoff N. Hiten wrote:

>> Ron,
>>
>> The tool is now called "Failover Cluster Manager".
>>
>> Do not pause any nodes.
>>
>> Here is an example with two nodes.
>>
>> Node 1 currently hosts SQL01.
>>
>> In Failover Cluster Manager, remove Node 2 from the "Allowed Owners" list
>> for SQL01.
>>
>> Apply patch to Node 2.
>>
>> In Failover Cluster Manager, Add Node 2 to the "Allowed Owners" list for
>> SQL01.
>>
>> Failover SQL01 from Node1 to Node 2
>>
>> In Failover Cluster Manager, Remove Node 1 from the "Allowed Owners" list
>> for SQL01.
>>
>> Apply patch to Node 2
>>
>> In Failover Cluster Manager, Add Node 1 to the "Allowed Owners" list for
>> SQL01.
>>
>> When doing a major upgrade, the upgrade wizard handles the allowed owners
>> list modifications for you.
>>
>> --
>> Geoff N. Hiten
>> Principal SQL Infrastructure Consultant
>> Microsoft SQL Server MVP

>> Submitted via EggHeadCafe
>> Microsoft SQL Server Developer For Beginners
>> http://www.eggheadcafe.com/training-topic-area/SQL-Server-Developer/5/SQL-Server.aspx