How to: Create a New SQL Server 2005 Failover Cluster (Setup)

You can install Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or upgrade to SQL Server 2005 from a previous SQL Server version using the SQL Server 2005 Installation Wizard. The SQL Server 2005 Setup program is Microsoft Windows Installer-based, and provides a single feature tree for installation of all SQL Server 2005 components; You do not have to install each component individually.

For upgrade information, see Version and Edition Upgrades and Upgrading to SQL Server 2005.

To install a stand-alone instance of SQL Server 2005, see How to: Install SQL Server 2005 (Setup). To upgrade a stand-alone or failover cluster instance, see How to: Upgrade to a SQL Server 2005 Failover Cluster Instance (Setup).

Prerequisites

Before you begin, review the following SQL Server Books Online topics:

  • Preparing to Install SQL Server 2005

  • Before Installing Failover Clustering

  • It is very important that you also read and explicitly follow instructions in the Recommended private "Heartbeat" configuration on a cluster server Knowledge Base article.

  • Before you create a Microsoft SQL Server failover cluster, you must configure Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) and use Cluster Administrator in Microsoft Windows 2000, or Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Server to create at least one cluster disk resource on a shared drive.

  • For local installations, you must run SQL Server Setup as an administrator. If you install SQL Server from a remote share, you must use a domain account that has read and execute permissions on the remote share.

  • We recommend that you run Setup from the active node.

    Note

    Take note of the location of the shared drive in the Cluster Administrator before you run SQL Server Setup because you need this information to create a new failover cluster.

To create a new SQL Server 2005 failover cluster

  1. Insert the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 DVD into your DVD drive. If the SQL Server Installation Wizard does not launch automatically, double-click Splash.hta in the root directory of the DVD.

    If you are installing from a network location, share the installation files and connect to the location from the computer where you want to install SQL Server.

  2. To begin the installation process, click Install SQL Server.

  3. On the End User License Agreement page, read the license agreement, and then select the check box to accept the licensing terms and conditions. Accepting the license agreement activates the Next button. To continue, click Next. To end Setup, click Cancel.

  4. SQL Server Component Update runs, installing software required prior to installing SQL Server. For more information about component requirements, click the Help button at the bottom of the page. To continue after the component update has run, click Finish.

  5. On the Welcome page of the SQL Server Installation Wizard, click Next to continue.

  6. On the System Configuration Check (SCC) page, the installation computer is scanned for conditions that may block Setup. For more information about configuration check items, see System Configuration Check (SCC).

    To interrupt the scan, click Stop. To proceed with Setup after the scan completes, click Continue.

    Note

    If the scan reports any errors, identify the error and click Exit. You are not able to complete the installation until blocking errors are removed. For more information, see Check Parameters for the System Configuration Checker.

  7. On the Microsoft SQL Server Installation page, the SQL Server Installation Wizard prepares to install the software. The Installation Wizard proceeds when the preparation is complete.

  8. On the Registration Information page, enter information in the Name and Company text boxes. To continue, click Next.

  9. On the Components to Install page, select the components for your installation.

    A description for each component group appears in the Components to be Installed pane when you select it. You can select any combination of check boxes. When you select SQL Server or Analysis Services, if Setup detects that you are installing to a failover cluster, the Create a SQL Server failover cluster or Create an Analysis Server failover cluster check boxes are enabled. You must select this option to install a failover cluster. If you already have the administration tools installed on another server and you wish to shorten the installation time, you can choose not to install administration tools on the initial installation, allowing you to configure the new server remotely while running SQL Server Setup a second time to install the administration tools.

    To install individual components or to specify where files are installed, click Advanced. Otherwise, make your selections and then click Next.

  10. If you clicked Advanced on the previous page, the Feature Selection page is displayed. On the Feature Selection page, select the program features to install using the drop-down boxes. To install components to a custom directory, select the feature and then click Browse. For more information about the functionality of this page, see Feature Selection. To continue, click Next when your feature selections are complete.

  11. On the Instance Name page, select a default or named instance for your installation. If a default or named instance is already installed, and you select the existing instance for your installation, Setup upgrades it and provides you the option to install additional components.

    To install a new default instance, there must not be a default instance on the computer.

    To install a new named instance, click the Named Instance and type a unique instance name in the space provided. For more information about instance naming rules, see Instance Name.

  12. On the Virtual SQL Server Name page, type a unique instance name for your installation. This is the name used to identify the failover cluster on your network. The virtual SQL Server name must be unique on your network, and must have a name that is different than the host cluster and cluster nodes. To proceed, click Next.

    Important

    You cannot name an instance DEFAULT or MSSQLSERVER. Names must follow rules for SQL Server identifiers. For more information about instance naming rules, see Instance Name.

    Note

    The Virtual SQL Server Name page only appears If Setup detects that you are running MSCS. If the Virtual SQL Server Name page does not appear, cancel Setup and configure MSCS. For more help on this page, see Virtual Server Name.

  13. On the Virtual SQL Server Configuration page, enter one IP address for each network configured for client access. That is, enter one IP address for each network on which the failover cluster instance is available to clients on a public (or mixed) network. Only one IP address is allowed on each subnet.

    To avoid IP address conflicts, make sure that the IP addresses assigned to the heartbeat and to SQL Server 2005 are not shared by any other application.

    Select the network for which you want to enter an IP address, and then enter the IP address. Click Add.

    The IP address and the subnet are displayed. The subnet is supplied by MSCS. Continue to enter IP addresses for each installed network until you have populated all desired networks with an IP address. To proceed, click Next. For more information, see Virtual Server Configuration.

  14. On the Cluster Group Selection page, select the group that contains the drive you want to use for SQL Server from the Available Cluster Groups. The selected cluster group is where the SQL Server virtual SQL Server resources are placed. If you select the group containing the cluster quorum resource, a warning is displayed recommending you do not install to the cluster quorum resource. You can also specify a custom path for data files in the Data Files field. To proceed, click Next. For more information, see Cluster Group Selection.

  15. On the Cluster Node Configuration page, specify the nodes to include in the failover cluster instance. To add a node to the failover cluster instance, select the computer from the Available Nodes list, and click Add. To remove a node from the failover cluster instance, select the computer from the Selected Nodes list, and click Remove. Any nodes that are unavailable are displayed in the Unavailable Nodes list, as well as the reason the node is unavailable.

    To create a one-node failover cluster, only the node that will be installed with the failover cluster instance should be listed in the Required Node list.

    To proceed, click Next. For more information, see Cluster Node Configuration.

  16. On the Remote Account Information page, specify the remote login information by typing a username and password that has administrator rights on all nodes of the cluster. This dialog only appears if you are installing to a remote node. The credentials you provide are used only during SQL Server Setup to configure SQL Server on each node in the failover cluster instance. This account must be a valid administrator account on all nodes of the cluster. To proceed, click Next. For more information, see Remote Account Information.

  17. On the Service Accounts (Clusters) page, specify the username, password and domain name for SQL Server service accounts. You can use one account for all of the services. All service accounts for a failover cluster instance must be domain accounts. Check the Customize for each service account box to specify the Username, Password, and Domain for specific services, selecting the service from the Service list. The account for the SQL Server Agent service must be an administrator for the cluster node. Do not use the same account that was assigned to the Cluster service.

    Optionally, you can specify an individual account for each service. To specify an Individual account for each service, select Customize for each service account, select a service name from the drop-down box, and then provide login credentials for the service. To proceed, click Next. For more information, see Service Accounts (Clusters).

    Note

    The domain name cannot be a full DNS name. For example, if your DNS name is my-domain-name.com, use my-domain-name in the Domain field. SQL Server does not accept my-domain-name.com in the Domain field.

  18. On the Domain Groups for Clustered Services page, provide a DomainName\GroupName for each clustered service being installed: the SQL Server service, SQL Server Agent service, Analysis Services service, and Full-Text Search service must run as domain accounts that are members of the global or local domain group. To proceed, click Next. For more information, see Domain Groups for Clustered Services.

  19. On the Authentication Mode page, choose the authentication mode to use for your SQL Server installation. You must also enter and confirm a strong password for the System Administrator (sa) login. To proceed, click Next.

    ms179530.security(en-US,SQL.90).gifSecurity Note:
    When possible, use Windows Authentication.
    ms179530.security(en-US,SQL.90).gifSecurity Note:
    For this release, SQL Server Setup may not enforce the strong password requirement on some default configurations of Windows Server 2003 where the machine is not a member of a domain. Setting strong passwords is essential to the security of your system. Always use strong passwords. For strong password guidelines, see Authentication Mode in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.
  20. On the Collation Settings page, specify the sorting behavior for your server. You can use one collation for SQL Server and Analysis Services, or you can specify collations for individual components.

    To set separate collation settings for SQL Server and for Analysis Services, select the check box to Customize for each service account. After you select the check box, a drop-down selection box appears. Select a service from the drop-down selection box and then assign its collation. Repeat for each service. To proceed, click Next. For more information, see Collation Settings.

  21. On the Error and Usage Report Settings page, optionally clear the checkboxes to disable error reporting or feature usage reporting. To proceed, click Next. For more information, see Error and Usage Report Settings.

  22. On the Ready to Install page, review the summary of features and components for your SQL Server installation. To proceed, click Install.

  23. On the Installation Progress page, you can monitor installation progress on individual cluster nodes by selecting a node from the Node drop-down selection box. Setup progress is displayed for the selected node. To view the log file for a component during installation, click the product or status name on the Installation Progress page.

  24. On the Completing the Microsoft SQL Server Installation Wizard page, you can view the Setup summary log by clicking the link provided on this page. To exit the SQL Server Installation Wizard, click Finish.

  25. If you are instructed to restart the computer, do so now. It is important to read the message from the Setup program when you are done with installation. Failure to restart any of the specified nodes may cause failures when you run the Setup program in the future.

Next Steps

  • Configure your new SQL Server installation - To reduce the attackable surface area of a system, SQL Server 2005 selectively installs and activates key services and features. For more information on how to activate SQL Server 2005 features, see SQL Server Surface Area Configuration.

For information about log file locations, see How to: View SQL Server 2005 Setup Log Files.

For information about verifying your new SQL Server installation, see How to: Verify a Successful Installation of SQL Server 2005 Services.

See Also

Other Resources

How to: Install SQL Server 2005 from the Command Prompt

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance