Event ID 4871 — Network Connectivity and Configuration

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

Each node in a failover cluster requires network connectivity with the other nodes. Problems with a network adapter or other network device (either physical problems or configuration problems) can interfere with connectivity.

Event Details

Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 4871
Source: Microsoft-Windows-FailoverClustering
Version: 6.0
Symbolic Name: NETFT_MINIPORT_INITIALIZATION_FAILURE
Message: The cluster service failed to start. This was because the failover cluster virtual adapter failed to initialize the miniport adapter. The error code was '%1'. Verify that other network adapters are functioning properly and check the device manager for errors. If the configuration was changed, it may be necessary to reinstall the failover clustering feature on this computer.

Resolve

Check the status of the cluster virtual adapter

Correct any problems with the physical network adapters and the cluster virtual adapter. If a previous change in the configuration is interfering with the function of the cluster virtual adapter, it might be necessary to reinstall the failover clustering feature on the node.

If you do not currently have Event Viewer open, see "Opening Event Viewer and viewing events related to failover clustering." If the event contains an error code that you have not yet looked up, see "Finding more information about error codes that some event messages contain."

To perform the following procedures, you must be a member of the local Administrators group on the server, or you must have been delegated the equivalent authority.

Opening Device Manager and checking adapters used by the failover cluster

To open Device Manager and check adapters used by the failover cluster:

  1. To open Server Manager, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
  2. In the console tree, expand Diagnostics and then click Device Manager.
  3. In the center pane, expand Network adapters.
  4. Right-click the listing for one of the physical adapters on the cluster node, and then click Properties. On the General tab, review the Device status. Repeat this for each of the physical adapters in the cluster.
  5. Still in Device Manager, click View and then select Show Hidden Devices.
  6. In the center pane, under Network adapters, confirm that the Microsoft Failover Cluster Virtual Adapter is listed.
  7. If the Microsoft Failover Cluster Virtual Adapter is listed, right-click it and then click Properties. On the General tab, review the Device status.
  8. Using the information gathered in the previous steps, correct any problems with the physical network adapters used by the cluster node.

If other solutions do not correct the configuration problem, it might be necessary to reinstall the failover clustering feature on the node.

To open Event Viewer and view events related to failover clustering:

  1. If Server Manager is not already open, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
  2. In the console tree, expand Diagnostics, expand Event Viewer, expand Windows Logs, and then click System.
  3. To filter the events so that only events with a Source of FailoverClustering are shown, in the Actions pane, click Filter Current Log. On the Filter tab, in the Event sources box, select FailoverClustering. Select other options as appropriate, and then click OK.
  4. To sort the displayed events by date and time, in the center pane, click the Date and Time column heading.

Finding more information about the error codes that some event messages contain

To find more information about the error codes that some event messages contain:

  1. View the event, and note the error code.
  2. Look up more information about the error code in one of two ways:

Verify

Restart the Cluster service, confirm that the nodes come up successfully and that the clustered networks are functioning.

To perform the following procedure, you must be a member of the local Administrators group on each clustered server, and the account you use must be a domain account, or you must have been delegated the equivalent authority.

To restart the Cluster service on a node and confirm the status of the nodes and networks:

  1. To open the failover cluster snap-in, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Failover Cluster Management. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
  2. In the Failover Cluster Management snap-in, if the cluster you want to manage is not displayed, in the console tree, right-click Failover Cluster Management, click Manage a Cluster, and then select or specify the cluster that you want.
  3. If the console tree is collapsed, expand the tree under the cluster you want to manage.
  4. Expand the console tree under Nodes.
  5. Right-click the node that you want to start and then click More Actions. If Stop Cluster Service is available, click it. Otherwise, skip to the next step.
  6. Right-click the node that you want to start, click More Actions, and then click Start Cluster Service.
  7. Repeat the previous two steps for any other nodes you want to start.
  8. Click Nodes and then view the status of the nodes in the center pane. If a node is Up, the Cluster service is started on that node.
  9. In the console tree, click Networks and then view the status of the networks.

Network Connectivity and Configuration

Failover Clustering