SQL Server 2008 Two Node Cluster Installation and Setup

The installation process for SQL Server 2008 failover clusters has changed significantly. Unlike earlier versions, when you install or upgrade a SQL Server 2008 failover cluster, you must run the setup process for SQL Server individually on each node of the failover cluster.

Installation Options for a SQL Server Failover Cluster

There are two options for installing a SQL Server 2008 failover cluster: Integrated and Advanced/Enterprise installation. Each option is designed to handle different scenarios, although each option is capable of delivering exactly the same end result. Both installation options are available in the SQL Server 2008 Setup Wizard and via command-prompt installation.

Integrated Installation

Integrated installation satisfies the most common requirements for SQL Server deployments. Integrated installation is used for creating a SQL failover instance, adding a node to an existing cluster, and removing a node from an existing cluster regardless of the original installation option.

SQL Server integrated failover cluster installation consists of the following steps:

1. Create and configure a single-node SQL Server failover cluster instance. When configuration of the node is successful, you have a fully functional failover cluster instance. At this point, it does not have high availability because there is only one node in the failover cluster.

2.       On each node to be added to the SQL Server failover cluster, run Setup with Add Node functionality to add that node.

AS a prerequisite of setup routine for SQL Server 2008, before start the activity couple of information should be in hand.

·         IP address and server names for each node of the cluster

·         IP addresses for the virtual SQL Server

·         IP for MSDTC 

·         SQL Installation File location

·         Service account details

·         Directory details(Like which location should you place the  SQL Server Program Files and DB data file)

·         Determine instance name(s) and port number(s) .The SQL Server default port of 1433 but it depends on company security policy.

·         Collation settings and authentication mode (Most of the organization prefer default collation and mixed mode authentication but some case it is changed depend application requirement)

Prerequisites for SQL 2008:

1. .NET Framework 3.5 with Service Pack 1
2. Windows Installer 4.5

Check the server to find out if these 2 prerequisites are on all nodes of the cluster.  If they are not you will need to download and apply to each node sql server will reside. 

a.       To check the server for these 2 programs go to: 

·         Control Panel

·         Programs and Features

Find these on the Microsoft Site:

1. .NET Framework 3.5 with Service Pack 1:  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=ab99342f-5d1a-413d-8319-81da479ab0d7&displaylang=en
2. Windows Installer 4.5

·         http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/details.aspx?familyid=5A58B56F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4&displaylang=en

Installing a SQL Server 2008 Failover Cluster Using Integrated Installation with Add Node Operation

1.       After prerequisites are installed, the Installation Wizard starts the SQL Server Installation Center. To create a new cluster installation of SQL Server 2008, click New SQL Server failover cluster installation on the Installation page.

2.       The System Configuration Checker runs a discovery operation on your computer. To continue, click OK. You can view the details on the screen by clicking Show Details, or as an HTML report by clicking View detailed report.

3.       On the Product key page, indicate whether you are installing a free edition of SQL Server, or whether you have a PID key for a production version of the product

Note: The Product Key and License Terms pages show up after the setup support files page if you already installed the setup support files during a previous installation.

4.       On the License Terms page, read the license agreement, and then select the check box to accept the license terms and conditions. Click Next to continue. To end Setup, click Cancel.

5.       On the Setup Support Files page, click Install to install the setup support files.

6.       The System Configuration Checker verifies the system state of your computer before Setup continues. After the check is complete, click Next to continue. You can view the details on the screen by clicking Show Details, or as an HTML report by clicking View detailed report.

Correct any issues that are reported on the rules list. Errors block Setup, but warnings do not. It is a best practice to address all warnings and errors.

Example of Warning and Solution:  In this example you can see that there is a warning on the Network Binding Order.  To fix this please complete the following steps:

****MS Link:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955963

7.       On the Feature Selection page, select the components for your installation.

A description for each component group appears in the right pane after you select the feature name. You can select any combination of check boxes, but only the Database Engine and Analysis Services support failover clustering. Other selected components will run as stand-alone features without failover capability on the current node that you are running Setup on.

You can specify a custom directory for shared components by using the field at the bottom of this page. To change the installation path for shared components, either update the path in the field provided at the bottom of the dialog box, or click the ellipsis button to browse to an installation directory. The default installation path is C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\.

Note: When you select the Database Engine Services feature, both replication and full-text search are selected automatically. Unselecting any of these subfeatures also unselects the Database Engine Services feature.

8.       On the Instance Configuration page, specify whether to install a default or a named instance.

SQL Server Network Name — Specify a network name for the new SQL Server failover cluster. This is the name that is used to identify your failover cluster on the network.

Note: This is known as the virtual SQL Server name in earlier versions of SQL Server failover clusters.

Instance ID — By default, the instance name is used as the Instance ID. This is used to identify installation directories and registry keys for your instance of SQL Server. This is the case for default instances and named instances. For a default instance, the instance name and instance ID would be MSSQLSERVER. To use a non-default instance ID, select the Instance ID box and provide a value.

Note: Typical stand-alone instances of SQL Server 2008, whether default or named instances, do not use a nondefault value for the Instance ID box.

Instance root directory — By default, the instance root directory is C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\. To specify a nondefault root directory, use the field provided, or click the ellipsis button to locate an installation folder.

Detected SQL Server instances and features on this computer - The grid shows instances of SQL Server that are on the computer where Setup is running. If a default instance is already installed on the computer, you must install a named instance of SQL Server 2008. Click Next to continue.

9.       The Disk Space Requirements page calculates the required disk space for the features that you specify, and it compares requirements to the available disk space on the computer where Setup is running.

10.   Use the Cluster Resource Group page to specify the cluster resource group name where SQL Server virtual server resources will be located. To specify the SQL Server cluster resource group name, you have two options:

·         Use the drop-down box to specify an existing group to use.

·         Type the name of a new group to create.

11.   On the Cluster Disk Selection page, select the shared cluster disk resource for your SQL Server failover cluster.

The cluster disk is where the SQL Server data will be stored. More than one disk can be specified. The Available shared disks box displays a list of available disks, whether each is qualified as a shared disk, and a description of each disk resource. Click Next to continue.

Note: The first drive is used as the default drive for all databases, but it can be changed on the Database Engine or Analysis Services configuration pages.

12.   On the Cluster Network Configuration page, specify the network resources for your failover cluster instance:

·         Network Settings — Specify the IP type and IP address for your failover cluster instance. On Windows Server 2008 failover clusters, SQL Server supports the use of DHCP addresses. Before choosing this option make sure that any network security such as firewalls and IPsec in use between this SQL Server and its clients can accommodate server side DHCP. For example, some firewalls will require a static port for proper configuration of the firewall.

Click Next to continue.

13.   Use the following page to specify the security policy for the cluster.

The following screenshot displays the cluster security policies for Windows Server 2003. In Windows Server 2003, you can not leverage service SIDs. Specify domain groups for SQL Server services. All resource permissions are controlled by domain-level groups that include SQL Server service accounts as group members. This is displayed in the following screen shot.

The following screenshot displays the cluster security policies available for Windows Server 2008. In Windows Server 2008 and later versions, service SIDs (server security IDs) are the recommended and default setting. The option to specify domain groups is available but not recommended. For information about service SIDs functionality on Windows Server 2008, see Setting Up Windows Service Accounts (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143504.aspx). This is displayed in the following screen shot.

Click Next to continue.

Note: If you are installing a SQL Server 2008 failover cluster instance in a Windows 2000 Server mixed-mode domain, you must use domain global groups for SQL Server clustered services.

Note: Windows 2000 Server domain controllers can operate in mixed mode or native mode. Mixed mode enables down-level domain controllers in the same domain.

Work flow for the rest of this procedure depends on the features that you have specified for your installation. You might not see all the pages, depending on your selections (Database Engine, Analysis Services, or Reporting Services).

14.   On the Service Accounts tab, specify login accounts for SQL Server services. The actual services that are configured on this page depend on the features that you are installing.

You can assign the same login account to all SQL Server services, or you can configure each service account individually. The startup type is set to manual for all cluster-aware services, including full-text search and SQL Server Agent, and cannot be changed during installation. Microsoft recommends that you configure service accounts individually to provide least privileges for each service, where SQL Server services are granted the minimum permissions they have to have complete their tasks..

15.   To specify the same login account for all service accounts in this instance of SQL Server, provide credentials in the fields at the bottom of the page.

Security note: Do not use a blank password. Use a strong password.

18.   When you are finished specifying login information for SQL Server services, click Next.

19.   Use the Collation tab to specify nondefault collations for the Database Engine and Analysis Services.

16.   Use the Account Provisioning tab to specify the following:

·         Authentication mode - select Windows authentication or Mixed Mode authentication for your instance of SQL Server. If you select Mixed Mode authentication, you must provide a strong password for the built-in SQL Server system administrator account.

·          

·         SQL Server administrators - You must specify at least one system administrator for the instance of SQL Server. To add the account under which SQL Server Setup is running, click Add Current User. To add or remove accounts from the list of system administrators, click Add or Remove, and then edit the list of users, groups, or computers that will have administrator privileges for the instance of SQL Server.  

When you are finished editing the list, click OK. Verify the list of administrators in the configuration dialog box. When the list is complete, click Next.

17.   Use the Data Directories tab to specify nondefault installation directories. To install to default directories, click Next.

Important: If you specify nondefault installation directories, make sure that the installation folders are unique to this instance of SQL Server. None of the directories in this dialog box should be shared with directories from other instances of SQL Server. The data directories should be located on the shared cluster disk for the failover cluster.

18.   Use the FILESTREAM tab to enable FILESTREAM for your instance of SQL Server.

Click Next to continue.

19.   On the Analysis Services Configuration page, use the Account Provisioning tab to specify users or accounts that will have administrator permissions for Analysis Services. You must specify at least one system administrator for Analysis Services. To add the account under which SQL Server Setup is running, click Add Current User. To add or remove accounts from the list of system administrators, click Add or Remove, and then edit the list of users, groups, or computers that will have administrator privileges for Analysis Services.

When you are finished editing the list, click OK. Verify the list of administrators in the configuration dialog box. When the list is complete, click Next.

20.   Use the Data Directories tab to specify nondefault installation directories. To install to default directories, click Next.

Important: If you specify nondefault installation directories, make sure that the installation folders are unique to this instance of SQL Server. None of the directories in this dialog box should be shared with directories from other instances of SQL Server. The data directories should be located on the shared cluster disk for the failover cluster.

21.   Use the Reporting Services Configuration page to specify the kind of Reporting Services installation to create. For failover cluster installation, the option is set to “Install, but do not configure the report server.” You must configure Reporting Services after you complete the installation.

22.   On the Error and Usage Reporting page, specify the information that you want to send to Microsoft that will help improve SQL Server. By default, options for error reporting and feature usage are disabled.

23.   The System Configuration Checker runs one more set of rules to validate your configuration with the SQL Server features that you have specified.

24.   The Ready to Install page displays a tree view of installation options that you specified during Setup. To continue, click Install.

25.   During installation, the Installation Progress page provides status so that you can monitor installation progress as Setup continues.

26.   After installation, the Complete page provides a link to the summary log file for the installation and other important notes. To complete the SQL Server installation process, click Close.

High-Availability

1.  We now have a fully functioning SQL Server 2008 failover cluster but there is only one Node to this SQL Server instance.  To make this High-Availability we will need to add a node to this sql server instance. 

2.  Before we start adding a node to this sql instance we need to apply the service pack to this node.  

Applying SQL Server Service Pack and/or Hot Fix to base node:

Next you will install the latest Service Pack, which will be found in the D:\SQL\ directory

1.  Click on the .exe for the correct service pack make sure you have the right versions:  X86 or X64

2. Click Run:  

3.  At the Welcome Screen make sure that everything passes or have warnings.  If anything has failed here you have to fix before moving forward. 

4.  At the License Terms:  Click I Accept The License Terms.  Then Click Next

5.  Select Features:  Select the part you want to apply service pack to if it is not already selected.    Then Click Next. 

6.  Check Files In Use:  There is nothing that needs to be done here at this point. 

Just click Next.  *****If for some reason you cannot restart the node that you are applying sql server to you will need to manually stop the service to avoid a computer restart. 

 7.  Ready to Update:  Check to make sure all updates are correct and then Click:  Update

8.  Update Progress:  Monitor the update Progress.  Once it is complete if it is successful you can click Next.

9.  Complete:  The next screen will give you details about the install as well as Summary log if you want to view the install log.  If the service pack fails you can click this link to find out any info about why. 

High-Availability

1.  We now have a fully functioning SQL Server 2008 failover cluster but there is only one Node to this SQL Server instance.  To make this High-Availability we will need to add a node to this sql server instance. 

2.  The number of nodes you can add in a failover cluster depends on the editions of SQL Server that you will use.  A Standard Edition of SQL Server 2008 can support up to two (2) nodes in  a failover cluster while the Enterprise Edition supports up to sixteen (16) nodes

Adding a Node to a Failover Instance

SQL Server 2008 provides specific installation steps to incorporate a node within the cluster as a potential node for a SQL Server failover instance to run on. To add a cluster node that is not already configured as part of a SQL Server instance, you must run setup on the node to add it to the SQL Server failover instance. This process copies the binaries to the local node and configures the node to be part of the SQL Server cluster. By default, when a node is added to a failover cluster, it is added to the end of the list of the available nodes and becomes available for failover.

Setup does not install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 on a clustered operating system. You must install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 before you run Setup.

You may need to apply cumulative updates to the original media before you install SQL Server 2008, if you are affected by a known issue in the Setup program. For more information about known issues and detailed instructions, see How to update or slipstream an installation SQL Server 2008 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955392).

Note that setup operations for SQL Server failover clustering have changed in this release. To install or upgrade a SQL Server failover cluster, you must run the Setup program on each node of the failover cluster.

To add a node to an existing SQL Server failover cluster, you must run SQL Server Setup on the node that is to be added to the SQL Server failover cluster instance. Do not run Setup on the active node.

To remove a node from an existing SQL Server failover cluster, you must run SQL Server Setup on the node that is to be removed from the SQL Server failover cluster instance.

To Add a Node to an Existing SQL Server 2008 Failover Cluster

1.       Insert the SQL Server installation media, and from the root folder, double-click Setup.exe. To install from a network share, navigate to the root folder on the share, and then double-click Setup.exe. You may be asked to install the prerequisites if they are not previously installed.

Install Windows Installer 4.5. Windows Installer 4.5 is required, and it can be installed by the Installation Wizard. If you are prompted to restart your computer, restart, and then start SQL Server 2008 Setup.exe again.

2.       When prerequisites are installed, the Installation Wizard will launch the SQL Server Installation Center. To add a node to an existing failover cluster instance, click Installation in the left-hand pane. Then, click Add node to a SQL Server failover cluster.

The System Configuration Checker will run a discovery operation on your computer. To continue, click OK. Setup log files have been created for your installation. For more information about log files, see How To: View SQL Server Setup Log Files (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143702.aspx).

3.       On the Product Key page, specify the PID key for a production version of the product. Note that the product key you enter for this installation must be for the same SQL Server 2008 edition as that which is installed on the active node.

Note: The Product Key and License Terms pages show up after the setup support files page if you already installed the setup support files during a previous installation.

4.       On the License Terms page, read the license agreement, and then select the check box to accept the licensing terms and conditions. To continue, click Next. To end Setup, click Cancel.

5.       On the Setup Support Files page, click Install to install the setup support files. To install prerequisites, click Install.

6.       The System Configuration Checker will verify the system state of your computer before Setup continues. After the check is complete, click Next to continue.

7.       On the Cluster Node Configuration page, use the SQL Server instance name box to specify the name of the SQL Server 2008 failover cluster instance that will be modified during this setup operation.

8.       On the Service Accounts page, specify login accounts for SQL Server services. The actual services that are configured on this page depend on the features you selected to install. For failover cluster installations, account name and startup type information will be prepopulated on this page based on settings provided for the active node. You must provide passwords for each account.

Security note: Do not use a blank password. Use a strong password.

When you are finished specifying login information for SQL Server services, click Next.

9.       On the Error and Usage Reporting page, specify the information to send to Microsoft that will help to improve SQL Server. By default, options for error reporting and feature usage are enabled.

10.   The System Configuration Checker will run one more set of rules to validate your computer configuration with the SQL Server features you have specified.

11.   The Ready to Add Node page displays a tree view of installation options that you specified during setup.

12.   The Add Node Progress page provides status so you can monitor add node progress as Setup proceeds.

13.   After installation, the Complete page provides a link to the summary log file for the installation and other important notes. To complete the SQL Server installation process, click Close.

14.   If you are instructed to restart the computer, do so now. It is important to read the message from the Installation Wizard when you are done with setup.