SQL Server 2012 Failover Cluster Installation Guide
This article will walk you through SQL Server 2012 failover cluster installation. First, let’s start with the requirements.
Basic OS requirements
- Windows Powershell 2.0
- .Net framework 3.5 SP1
- .Net framework 4
- Ensure Antivirus software is compatible and proper exclusions are set.
- Remove disabled NICs by running “set devmgr_Show_Nonpersistent_Devices=1”
Basic Cluster requirements
- Do not use special characters in the cluster name
- Confirm all cluster members are similar hardware and ensure disk resource is online and same drive letters.
- Ensure SQL cluster service account is not a local administrator on sql nodes.
Installing SQL Server 2012 Failover Cluster
- Copy SQL Server 2012 files locally.
- Ensure all above requirements are met. Note: Setup uses Windows Installer version 4.5.
- When prompted, install “setup support files”
- Choose desire language when asked.
- Choose “Add node”
- Follow on screen instructions.
- When prompted, choose desired components for your install; note you may add additional components later.
- Enter the instance name of the SQL Instance. This is used to indenitfy the SQL Installation instance since multiple SQL instances can exist one server.
Adding a node member to existing 2012 Failover Cluster
- Copy SQL Server 2012 files locally.
- Ensure all above requirements are met. Note: Setup uses Windows Installer version 4.5.
- Choose Installation > Add node to a SQL server failover cluster.
- When prompted, install “setup support files”
- Follow on screen instructions.
Removing a node member from 2012 Failover Cluster
- Copy SQL Server 2012 files locally and launch setup.exe
- After launching setup.exe, choose Maintenance > Remove node from a SQL server failover cluster.
- Follow on screen instructions.