How to: Add or Remove Nodes in a SQL Server Failover Cluster (Setup)
Use this procedure to manage nodes to an existing SQL Server failover cluster instance.
Important
To update or remove a SQL Server failover cluster, you must be a local administrator with permission to log in as a service on all nodes of the failover cluster. For local installations, you must run Setup as an administrator. If you install SQL Server from a remote share, you must use a domain account that has read and execute permissions on the remote share.
Setup does not install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 on a clustered operating system. You must install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 before you run Setup.
You may need to apply cumulative updates to the original media before you install SQL Server 2008, if you are affected by a known issue in the setup program. For more information about known issues and detailed instructions, see How to update SQL Server 2008 Setup by running a newer version of the SQL Server 2008 Setup support files.
Note that Setup operations for SQL Server failover clustering have changed in this release. To install or upgrade a SQL Server failover cluster, you must run the Setup program on each node of the failover cluster.
To add a node to an existing SQL Server failover cluster, you must run SQL Server Setup on the node that is to be added to the SQL Server failover cluster instance. Do not run Setup on the active node.
To remove a node from an existing SQL Server failover cluster, you must run SQL Server Setup on the node that is to be removed from the SQL Server failover cluster instance.
To view procedural steps to add or remove nodes, select one of the following operations:
Add a node to an existing SQL Server 2008 failover cluster
Remove a node from an existing SQL Server 2008 failover cluster
Important
The operating system drive letter for SQL Server install locations must match on all the nodes added to the SQL Server failover cluster.
Add Node
To add a node to an existing SQL Server 2008 failover cluster
Insert the SQL Server installation media, and from the root folder, double-click setup.exe. To install from a network share, navigate to the root folder on the share, and then double-click Setup.exe. You may be asked to install the prerequisites if they are not previously installed.
Windows Installer 4.5 is required, and may be installed by the Installation Wizard. If you are prompted to restart your computer, restart, and then start SQL Server 2008 Setup.exe again.
When prerequisites are installed, the Installation Wizard will launch the SQL Server Installation Center. To add a node to an existing failover cluster instance, click Installation in the left-hand pane. Then, select Add node to a SQL Server failover cluster.
The System Configuration Checker will run a discovery operation on your computer. To continue, click OK. Setup log files have been created for your installation. For more information about log files, see How to: View and Read SQL Server Setup Log Files.
On the Product key page, specify the PID key for a production version of the product. Note that the product key you enter for this installation must be for the same SQL Server 2008 edition as that which is installed on the active node.
On the License Terms page, read the license agreement, and then select the check box to accept the licensing terms and conditions. To continue, click Next. To end Setup, click Cancel.
The Installation Wizard will install SQL Server prerequisites if they are not already on the computer. They include the following:
- SQL Server Setup Support Files
To install prerequisites, click Install.
The System Configuration Checker will verify the system state of your computer before Setup continues. After the check is complete, click Next to continue.
On the Cluster Node Configuration page, use the drop-down box to specify the name of the SQL Server 2008 failover cluster instance that will be modified during this Setup operation.
On the Server Configuration — Service Accounts page, specify login accounts for SQL Server services. The actual services that are configured on this page depend on the features you selected to install. For failover cluster installations, account name and startup type information will be pre-populated on this page based on settings provided for the active node. You must provide passwords for each account. For more information, see SQL Server Configuration - Service Accounts and Setting Up Windows Service Accounts.
Security Note Do not use a blank password. Use a strong password.
When you are finished specifying login information for SQL Server services, click Next.
On the Error and Usage Reporting page, specify the information you would like to send to Microsoft that will help to improve SQL Server. By default, options for error reporting and feature usage are enabled. For more information, see Error and Usage Report Settings.
The System Configuration Checker will run one more set of rules to validate your computer configuration with the SQL Server features you have specified.
The Ready to Add Node page displays a tree view of installation options that were specified during Setup.
Add Node Progress page provides status so you can monitor add node progress as Setup proceeds.
After installation, the Complete page provides a link to the summary log file for the installation and other important notes. To complete the SQL Server installation process, click Close.
If you are instructed to restart the computer, do so now. It is important to read the message from the Installation Wizard when you are done with Setup. For information about Setup log files, see How to: View and Read SQL Server Setup Log Files.
Remove Node
To remove a node from an existing SQL Server 2008 failover cluster
Insert the SQL Server installation media. From the root folder, double-click setup.exe. To install from a network share, navigate to the root folder on the share, and then double-click setup.exe. . If the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Setup dialog box appears, click OK to install the prerequisites, then click Cancel to quit the SQL Server 2008 installation.
Windows Installer 4.5 is required, and may be installed by the Installation Wizard. If you are prompted to restart your computer, restart and then start SQL Server 2008 setup.exe again.
When prerequisites are installed, the Installation Wizard will launch the SQL Server Installation Center. To remove a node from an existing failover cluster instance, click Maintenance in the left-hand pane, and then select Remove node from a SQL Server failover cluster.
The System Configuration Checker will run a discovery operation on your computer. To continue, click OK. Setup log files have been created for your installation. For more information about log files, see How to: View and Read SQL Server Setup Log Files.
The Installation Wizard will install SQL Server prerequisites if they are not already on the computer. They include the following:
- SQL Server Setup Support Files
To install prerequisites, click Install.
The System Configuration Checker will verify the system state of your computer before Setup continues. After the check is complete, click Next to continue.
On the Cluster Node Configuration page, use the drop-down box to specify the name of the SQL Server 2008 failover cluster instance that will be modified during this Setup operation. The node that will be removed will be listed in the "Name of this node" field.
The Ready to Remove page displays a tree view of options that will be removed during Setup. To continue, click Remove.
During the remove operation, the Remove Node Progress page provides status.
The Complete page provides a link to the summary log file for the remove node operation and other important notes. To complete the SQL Server remove node operation, click Close. For information about Setup log files, see How to: View and Read SQL Server Setup Log Files.