SharePoint SE Distributed Cache problem

Question

I believe the distributed cache setup in my SharePoint SE farm is hosed. I turn on the SharePoint Caching Service, but it stops almost immediately. I'm trying to troubleshoot the issue using all the advice on Microsoft's Learn site, but No Joy. Even running the 'Export-spcacheclusterconfig' command to try to get at the problem fails, with the error: "Failed to connect to the hosts in the cluster".

I'm guessing I need to remove and re-create/re-configure the SPDistributedCacheService, but am unable to find the correct procedure to do this.

Has anyone run into this before?

Thank you,

Answer 1

Hello @Keith Vollero

While researching, I came across a very similar issue and a detailed article that explains a common cause: cluster security mismatch leading to the “Failed to connect to hosts in the cluster” error: Distributed Cache problems after applying January 2023 CUNote: This information is provided as a convenience to you. These sites are not controlled by Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please ensure that you fully understand the risks before using any suggestions from the above link.

The article recommends checking/reconfiguring the cluster security settings (or applying a newer Cumulative Update if you're on an older build). Since your farm is on SharePoint Server SE, you may also want to try the standard SE repair commands first:

Remove-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance

Add-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance

If Remove-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance fails, use the manual cleanup script:

$instanceName = "SPDistributedCacheService Name=SPCache"
$serviceInstance = Get-SPServiceInstance | Where-Object { ($_.service.ToString()) -eq $instanceName -and ($_.server.Name) -eq $env:COMPUTERNAME }
if ($serviceInstance -ne $null) { $serviceInstance.Delete() }

# Also clean the AppFabric entry (sometimes needed in SE)
$instanceName = "SPDistributedCacheService Name=AppFabricCachingService"
$serviceInstance = Get-SPServiceInstance | Where-Object { ($_.service.ToString()) -eq $instanceName -and ($_.server.Name) -eq $env:COMPUTERNAME }
if ($serviceInstance -ne $null) { $serviceInstance.Delete() }

# Now re-add the service
Add-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance

After running the script, go to Central Administration > Application Management > Manage Services on Server and confirm that the Distributed Cache service status shows Started then test the cache health: Get-SPCacheClusterHealth

Hope this helps, please give it a try and let me know the result

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Answer 2

To repair a broken Distributed Cache configuration in a SharePoint Server Subscription Edition farm, remove and then re-add the Distributed Cache service instance on the affected server.

Use these steps on the non-functioning cache host:

1. Open SharePoint Management Shell as an administrator.
2. Remove the Distributed Cache service instance:

      Remove-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance
   

3. If the previous command fails, manually delete the service instance (Subscription Edition syntax):

      $instanceName = "SPDistributedCacheService Name=SPCache"
      
      $serviceInstance = Get-SPServiceInstance | ? { ($_.service.ToString()) -eq $instanceName -and ($_.server.Name) -eq $env:COMPUTERNAME }
      
      if ($serviceInstance -ne $null)
      {
          $serviceInstance.Delete()
      }
   

4. After the service instance has been removed, add it back:

      Add-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance
   

5. In Central Administration → Application Management → Manage services on server, confirm that Distributed Cache is listed and its status is Started.

If Health Analyzer reports that a cache host is stopped but still registered, use Add-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance to start it; if a host should not be running Distributed Cache, use Remove-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance on that server to unregister it.

Note: Remove-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance stops the cache service and any nonpersisted cached data will be lost. Do not restart the underlying AppFabric Caching service directly; always use Add-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance.

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References:

• Manage the Distributed Cache service in SharePoint Server
• This Distributed Cache host may cause cache reliability problems (SharePoint Server)
• Distributed cache service is not enabled in this deployment (SharePoint Server)
• Distributed cache service is unexpectedly configured on server(s) (SharePoint Server 2016)
• More cache hosts are running in this deployment than are registered with SharePoint (SharePoint Server)
• One of the cache hosts in the cluster is down (SharePoint Server)
• Cached objects have been evicted (SharePoint Server)