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?

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" <Ron (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote