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How to Create a Hyper-V Host Cluster in VMM

 

Updated: May 27, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager

You can use the following procedure to create a Hyper-V host cluster from the VMM console in Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).

Important

Before you begin this procedure, make sure that your configuration meets the prerequisites that are described in the Creating a Hyper-V Host Cluster in VMM Prerequisites topic.

To create a Hyper-V host cluster through VMM

  1. Open the Fabric workspace.

  2. In the Fabric pane, click Servers.

  3. On the Home tab, in the Create group, click Create, and then click Hyper-V Cluster.

    The Create Cluster Wizard opens.

  4. On the General tab, do the following, and then click Next:

    1. In the Cluster name box, enter the name of the cluster.

      For example, enter the cluster name HyperVClus01.contoso.com.

    2. Enter the credentials that will be used to create the cluster. You can specify a Run As account or manually enter user credentials in the format domain_name\user_name.

      Note

      To create a Run As account, next to the Use an existing Run As account box, click Browse, and then in the Select a Run As Account dialog box, click Create Run As Account.

      The account that you use must have administrative permissions on the servers that will become cluster nodes, and must belong to the same domain as the Hyper-V hosts that you want to cluster. Also, the account requires Create Computer objects and Read All Properties permissions in the container that is used for Computer accounts in the domain. For more information, see the Failover Cluster Step-by-Step Guide: Configuring Accounts in Active Directory.

  5. On the Nodes page, do the following:

    1. In the Host group list, click the host group that contains the Hyper-V hosts that you want to cluster.

      For example, click the New York\Tier0_NY host group.

      Any available Hyper-V hosts that meet the operating system prerequisites from the selected host group appear under Available hosts.

    2. Under Available hosts, click a Hyper-V host that you want to cluster, and then click Add. (To select multiple hosts, press and hold the CTRL key, and then click each host. To select a range, click the first host in the range, press and hold the SHIFT key, and then click the last host in the range.)

      The hosts that you added move to the Hosts to cluster column.

      For example, add the hosts HyperVHost05 and HyperVHost06.

    3. If desired, select the Skip cluster validation tests check box.

      Warning

      Select this check box only if you do not require support from Microsoft for the host cluster.

    4. When you are finished, click Next.

  6. If at least one host that you selected in the previous step has a network adapter that is configured to use a static IPv4 address instead of DHCP, and there is a network adapter on all other hosts that is assigned to the same subnet, the IP Address page of the wizard appears. VMM detects and lists the associated networks for the discovered static IPv4 addresses.

    Note

    A static IP address is not required if a physical network adapter on any host is configured to use DHCP for the same subnet. If DHCP is available, you can click Next to skip this page of the wizard.

    In the Network column, select the check box next to each network from which you want to assign a static cluster IP address, and then do the following depending on the selection:

    • If there are no static IP address pools that are associated with the subnet, in the IP Address column, enter the static IP address that you want to use from the selected network.

    • If there are static IP address pools that are associated with the subnet, and you want VMM to automatically assign a static IP address from a pool, in the Static IP Pool column, select which IP address pool to use.

    • If there are static IP address pools that are associated with the subnet, but you want to specify the IP address to use, in the Static IP Pool column, make sure that no IP address pool is selected. Then, in the IP Address column, enter an available IP address from the selected network.

      Note

      The IP address does not have to be part of an available IP address pool range. However, it does have to fall within the subnet range. If you do specify an IP address that falls within a static IP address pool range, VMM recognizes this and will not assign the same static IP address to another virtual device.

    When you are finished, click Next.

  7. On the Storage page, select the check box next to each disk that you want to cluster, and then configure the various options. The list of available disks represents the logical units that are associated with the host group that you selected in step 5. If you assigned storage out-of-band, disks that are not managed by VMM are displayed and selected as available disks, with the check box next to each disk dimmed and unavailable.

    Important

    If you are using a third-party clustered file system (CFS) solution, make sure you are aware which disks are CFS disks. Do not select those disks for the cluster. If you do, cluster creation will fail.

    Note

    If the number of selected hosts for the cluster is even, the smallest disk that is larger than 500 megabytes (MB) is automatically chosen as the witness disk and is unavailable for selection.

    The options include the following.

    Classification The storage classification value is pre-assigned in the VMM console, and is non-editable in the wizard.
    Partition Style Click MBR or GPT. Note: This setting is ignored if the disk is already initialized.
    File System Click NTFS or Do not format. By default, the file system is NTFS.
    Volume Label Enter a volume label.
    Quick Format Select the check box to perform a quick format of the disk. Available only if NTFS is selected. Quick format formats the disk only if the disk is unformatted.
    CSV Select the check box to convert the disk to a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV). Available only if NTFS is selected.

    Note

    The Force Format option is available if you right-click the column header, and then click Force Format. Use this setting with caution, as any existing data on the disk will be overwritten during cluster creation.

  8. On the Virtual Switches page (in System Center 2012, this is the Virtual Networks page), configure the external virtual switches that VMM will automatically create on all cluster nodes. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Select the check box next to a logical network. The selected logical network will be automatically associated with the external virtual switch that is created on each host.

      Note

      For a logical network to appear in the list, the following conditions must be true:

      • The logical network must be associated with a physical network adapter on each host.
      • The logical networks that are associated with a physical network adapter on each host must be identical. (This includes any associated VLAN IDs.) For example, if you associated a network adapter on one host to the BACKEND logical network, and a network adapter on another host to the BACKEND and the CORP logical networks, the logical networks will not be listed. If both network adapters are associated with only BACKEND, or both network adapters are associated with BACKEND and CORP, the logical networks will be listed.

      Note that logical networks for external virtual switches that have already been configured on the hosts do not appear in the list.

    2. In the Name and Description boxes, enter a name and description for the external virtual switch.

    3. To allow hosts to access virtual machines through the external virtual switch, select the Allow hosts to access VMs through this virtual switch check box. (In System Center 2012, the check box is labeled Allow hosts to access VMs through this virtual network.)

    4. To access the hosts through a VLAN, select the Hosts can access the VLAN ID check box, and then click the desired VLAN. The list of available VLANs is scoped to the VLANs that are configured as part of the logical network.

    When you are finished, click Next.

  9. On the Summary page, confirm the settings and then click Finish.

    The Jobs dialog box appears to show the job status. Verify that the job has a status of Complete, and then close the dialog box.

  10. When the job completes, verify the cluster status. To do this, in the Fabric pane, expand Servers, expand All Hosts, and then locate and click the new host cluster. In the Hosts pane, in the Host Status column, verify that the host status for each node in the cluster is OK.

    Tip

    To view detailed status information for the host cluster, including a link to the cluster validation test report, right-click the host cluster, and then click Properties. View the information on the Status tab. For more information, see Configuring Hyper-V Host Cluster Properties in VMM.

    Also, realize that you can perform an on-demand cluster validation. To do this, click the host cluster. Then, on the Host Cluster tab, click Validate Cluster. Cluster validation begins immediately.

See Also

Creating a Hyper-V Host Cluster in VMM Overview
Creating a Hyper-V Host Cluster in VMM Prerequisites