Hello,

I am running SQL 2005 on W2K3.
I have a cluster for SQL Server.
There are two groups: SQLA and SQLB.
I run SQL Setup to install two SQL instances, INST1 and INST2.
SQL Server (INST1) and SQL Server Agent (INST1) are installed to both
groups. Setup says that the install failed, but, the resources do get
installed.

When the groups are owned by SQLA, neither the SQL Server (INST1) nor the
SQL Server Agent (INST1) will come online. When the groups are owned by
SQLB, everything runs fine, no problems. The Agent is dependent on the
server, so if I try to start the agent from the Services console, it attempts
to start both services. SQL Agent takes about 30 seconds, then displays a
message saying the agent started, then stopped, which may be normal because
some services will stop if there is no work to do. The SQL Server (INST1)
simply won't start and produces no messages.

In the Application log, an error is logged saying that the SQL Server agent
is failing in an attempt to connect to an incorrect instance. I have no idea
where the Agent is getting the incorrect instance name to connect to. I have
search the registry and looked for any type of config file but have not found
anything.

I have attempted multiple times to un-install and re-install all instances.
Un-install appears to work w/o problem. On each attempted re-install, Setup
indicates that it failed, but only on deploying the SQL Server instance. All
other components install successfully.

Not having any other problems with any other groups or resources.

Can anyone advise me on where the SQL Agent gets its configuration info from
so I can correct it so that the Agent attempts to connect to the correct
instance?

Are there any other thoughts on what could be causing this?

TIA,
DetRich

Broken cluster installs are nearly impossible to troubleshoot.

I would flatten the cluster and reinstall SQL if possible.


--
Geoff N. Hiten
Principal SQL Infrastructure Consultant
Microsoft SQL Server MVP


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

you say: "so if I try to start the agent from the Services console, it
attempts to start both services"

and in a cluster you may never do that,
you start clustered service using either the Cluster Administrator or the
cluster.exe command line
NEVER use the Services control panel.

Try with CluAdmin, and if that does not work, something in your SQL
(clustered) instance is wrong, and you probably want to follow Geoff's
advice

HTH,
Edwin.



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