Resource behavior during rolling upgrades

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

Resource behavior during rolling upgrades

Although the Cluster service supports rolling upgrades, not all applications have seamless rolling upgrade behavior. The following table describes the resources that are supported during a rolling upgrade. If you have a resource that is not fully supported during rolling upgrades, see Alternatives to rolling upgrades.

Note

  • You cannot perform a rolling upgrade on a cluster running Windows NT Server 4.0. Only clusters running Windows 2000 support rolling upgrades to Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition.
Resource Rolling upgrade notes

DHCP

DHCP is not fully supported during rolling upgrades. You must instead perform a "Last node rolling upgrade," as described in Perform a last node rolling upgrade from Windows 2000.

File Share

Supported during rolling upgrades.

IIS

IIS 6.0 is not supported during rolling upgrades. When upgrading a cluster that contains an IIS resource, you must follow the procedure described in Upgrade from Windows 2000 on a cluster containing IIS without using the provided script or Upgrade from Windows 2000 on a cluster containing IIS using the provided script.

IP Address

Supported during rolling upgrades.

Local Quorum

Supported during rolling upgrades.

MSDTC

Supported during rolling upgrades. However, do not create or delete the MSDTC resource while you are operating as a mixed version cluster. Instead create the MSDTC resource before starting the upgrade on any node, or wait until the upgrade is complete on all nodes. For more information on mixed version clusters, see How rolling upgrades work and Restrictions on rolling upgrades.

Message Queuing (also known as MSMQ)

Microsoft Message Queuing is not fully supported during a rolling upgrade. To upgrade a cluster that includes Message Queuing, see Upgrade from Windows 2000 on a cluster containing Message Queuing.

Network Name

Supported during rolling upgrades.

NNTP Service Instance

NNTP Service Instance is not supported in Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition. You must remove any NNTP Service Instance resources prior to upgrading.

Physical Disk

Supported during rolling upgrades.

Print Spooler

The only Print Spooler resources supported during a rolling upgrade are those on LPR ports or standard port monitor ports. See Upgrades that include a Print Spooler resource.

SMTP Service Instance

SMTP Service Instance is not supported in Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition. You must remove any SMTP Service Instance resources prior to upgrading.

Time Service

Time Service is not supported in Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition. You must remove any Time Service resources prior to upgrading.

WINS

WINS is not fully supported during rolling upgrades. You must instead perform a "Last node rolling upgrade," as described in Perform a last node rolling upgrade from Windows 2000.

Other resource types

See Relnotes.htm in the \Docs folder on the Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, setup CD. Also see the product documentation that comes with the application or resource.

When your cluster is in a mixed version state, it is recommended that you do not make any changes to the cluster configuration, such as adding or removing nodes. It is also recommended that you do not make changes to any of the cluster resources while your cluster is in a mixed version state.

Last node rolling upgrades

If you have resources on your cluster such as DHCP and WINS that are not fully supported during a rolling upgrade and are not described by other technology specific procedures (such as IIS), you can perform a "last node rolling upgrade."

Last node rolling upgrades are similar to standard rolling upgrades. In a last node rolling upgrade, you upgrade all nodes except the node which contains the unsupported resources. After all other nodes are upgraded, you then upgrade the final node containing the identified resources.

Last node rolling upgrades are a way to accommodate resources that cannot fail over to an older operating system from a node running Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition. Be aware that these resources can, however, fail over the other way, that is, from the older operating system to Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition. For more information on how to perform a last node rolling upgrade, see Perform a last node rolling upgrade from Windows 2000.