Recover from a corrupted quorum log or quorum disk

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To recover from a corrupted quorum log or quorum disk

  1. If the Cluster service is running, open Computer Management.

  2. In the console tree, double-click Services and Applications, and then click Services.

  3. In the details pane, click Cluster Service.

  4. On the Action menu, click Stop.

  5. Repeat steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 for all nodes.

  6. If you have a backup of the quorum log, restore the log by following the instructions in "Backing up and restoring server clusters" in Related Topics.

  7. If you do not have a backup, select any given node. Make sure that Cluster Service is highlighted in the details pane, and then on the Action menu, click Properties.

    Under Service status, in Start parameters, specify /fixquorum, and then click Start.

  8. Switch from the problematic quorum disk to another quorum resource.

    For more information, see "To use a different disk for the quorum resource" in Related Topics.

  9. In Cluster Administrator, bring the new quorum resource disk online.

    For information about how to do this, see "To bring a resource online" in Related Topics.

  10. Click Start, click Run, and type a command with the following syntax:

    cluster [ClusterName] res QuorumDiskResourceName /maint:on

  11. Run Chkdsk, using the switches /f and /r, on the quorum resource disk to determine whether the disk is corrupted.

    For more information on running Chkdsk, see "Chkdsk" in Related Topics.

  12. Click Start, click Run, and type a command with the following syntax:

    cluster [ClusterName] res QuorumDiskResourceName /maint:off

  13. If no corruption is detected by Chkdsk, it is likely that the log was corrupted. Proceed to step 15.

    If corruption is detected on the disk, check the system log in Event Viewer for possible hardware errors.

    Resolve any hardware errors before continuing.

  14. Stop the Cluster service after Chkdsk is complete, following the instructions in steps 1-4.

  15. Make sure that Cluster Service is highlighted in the details pane. On the Action menu, click Properties.

    Under Service status, in Start parameters, specify /resetquorumlog, and then click Start.

    This restores the quorum log from the node's local database.

    Important

    • The Cluster service must be started by clicking Start on the service control panel. You cannot click OK or Apply to commit these changes as this does not preserve the /resetquorumlog parameter.
  16. Restart the Cluster service on all other nodes.

Notes

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

  • To open Computer Management, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.

  • The quorum disk must be formatted with the NTFS file system.

  • If none of the nodes are running, or one node fails while you are changing the quorum resource, only the running nodes are able to form the cluster, and the offline node is only able to join the cluster. After the offline node has joined the cluster, all nodes are again able to form or join the cluster. This design prevents the offline node from forming the cluster using the old quorum resource.

  • Optionally, after step 13 above, you can use the ClusterRecovery tool, available in the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit, to restore the registry checkpoint files.

Information about functional differences

  • Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.

See Also

Concepts

Start, stop, pause, resume, or restart a service
Quorum resource
Backing up and restoring server clusters
Use a different disk for the quorum resource
Run a disk maintenance tool such as Chkdsk on a Physical Disk resource
Bring a resource online
chkdsk