Disk resource could not be moved error when installing SQL Server 2012 failover cluster

SQL Server 2012 failover cluster installation fails with the following error:

"The resource 'Disk Z' could not be moved from cluster group 'Available Storage' to cluster group 'SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)'. Error: There was a failure to call cluster code from a provider. Exception message: Generic failure . Status code: 183. Description: Cannot create a file when that file already exists."

This comes up when you are installing the SQL instance onto mount points under a root mount point. The cluster install has trouble adding these disk resources to the SQL Server cluster group and setting its dependencies.

To fix:

1. The failed installation may have partially installed the SQL instance. If that is the case, uninstall the instance first. Do this by using the "Remove node from a SQL Server failover cluster" option.

2. In the Failover Cluster Manager, right click on Roles and select Create Empty Role:

3. Rename the role to your desired instance name, eg. "SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)"

4. Right click on the role and click Add Storage

5. Select the mount points to be used for this instance, including the root mount point, and add them to this role.

Now when you re-run the cluster installation, it should complete successfully.

Error when failing over Availability Group with Listener

The following error shows up in the System event log on the secondary server when trying to fail over an availability group that has a listener configured:

"Cluster network name resource 'resource_name' cannot be brought online. The computer object associated with the resource could not be updated in domain '' for the following reason:

Unable to set DnsHostName attribute.

The text for the associated error code is: A constraint violation occurred.

The cluster identity 'cluster_object' may lack permissions required to update the object. Please work with your domain administrator to ensure that the cluster identity can update computer objects in the domain."

This was due to inadequate permissions for the computer account of the Windows cluster.  The cluster computer object needs the "Read All Properties" and "Create Computer Objects" permission in the domain.  It also needs Full Control to the computer object for the cluster itself.  Once those permissions were granted, the availability group failed over successfully.

Here is the Microsoft article that details the permissions needed.

Create failed for Availability Group Listener

Error when setting up a listener for an availability group for SQL Server AlwaysOn:

"Create failed for Availability Group Listener 'listener_name'.

An exception occurred while executing a Transact-SQL statement or batch.

The WSFC cluster could not bring the Network Name resource with DNS name 'dns_name' online. The DNS name may have been taken or have a conflict with existing name services, or the WSFC cluster service may not be running or may be inaccessible.  Use a different DNS name to resolve the name conflict, or check the WSFC cluster log for more information.
The attempt to create the netowrk name and IP address for the listener failed.  The WSFC service may not be running or may be inaccessbile in its current state, or the values provided for the network name and IP address may be incorrect.  Check the state of the WSFC cluster and validate the network name and IP address with the network administrator."

This was due to inadequate permissions for the computer account of the Windows cluster.  The cluster computer object needs the "Read All Properties" and "Create Computer Objects" permission in the domain. Once those permissions were granted, the listener was created successfully.

Here is the Microsoft article that details the permissions needed.

Error Installing SQL Server Cluster - The cluster resource could not be brought online

Error when creating a SQL Server cluster:

"The following error has occurred:
The cluster resource 'SQL Server (InstanceName)' could not be brought online. Error: The resource failed to come online due to the failure of one or more provider resources. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80071736)"

The following error shows up in the System event log:


"Cluster network name resource 'resource_name' failed to create its associated computer object in domain 'ad.weil.com' for the following reason: Unable to create computer account.

The text for the associated error code is: Access is denied.

Please work with your domain administrator to ensure that:
- The cluster identity 'computer_object' can create computer objects. By default all computer objects are created in the 'Computers' container; consult the domain administrator if this location has been changed.
- The quota for computer objects has not been reached.
- If there is an existing computer object, verify the Cluster Identity 'computer_object' has 'Full Control' permission to that computer object using the Active Directory Users and Computers tool."

This was due to inadequate permissions for the computer account of the Windows cluster.  The cluster computer object needs the "Read All Properties" and "Create Computer Objects" permission in the domain. Once those permissions were granted, the install completed successfully.

Here is the Microsoft article that details the permissions needed.

Quorum Error When Creating an AlwaysOn Availibility Group

I ran into the following error today when trying to create a new availability group for AlwaysOn.  This was on a fresh install of SQL 2012.

"The local node is not part of quorum and is therefore unable to process this operation. This may be due to one of the following reasons:

• The local node is not able to communicate with the WSFC cluster.

• No quorum set across the WSFC cluster.

For more information on recovering from quorum loss, refer to SQL Server Books Online."

To fix this issue, make sure you have the prerequisite hotfixes applied:
Prerequisites, Restrictions, and Recommendations for AlwaysOn Availability Groups (SQL Server)

In particular, this specific error requires hotfix 2494036.

If the error still comes up, disable and re-enable AlwaysOn in SQL Server Configuration Manager, then restart the SQL instance.

Error When Creating Windows 2008 R2 Cluster - The argument is null or empty string. Parameter name: domainName

While trying to set up a Windows cluster today (Windows Server 2008 R2) for our new SQL Server 2012 cluster, I came across the following error:

Error in Validation.
The argument is null or empty string.
Parameter name: domainName

If I fully qualify the server name and try again, the following error came up:

The NetBIOS name is limited to 15 characters.  The NetBios name will be shortened to "jcsql2012cla.ad".

To resolve this error, do the following:

1. Go to the Start menu, right click on Computer and select Properties
2. Click on Advanced system settings on the left
3. On the Computer Name tab click the Change button next to "To rename this computer..."
4. Click the More button
5. Under "Primary DNS suffix of this computer, enter your company's DNS suffix
6. Click Ok to close out of these windows
7. You will then need to reboot

Once the server comes back up, try creating the Windows cluster again and you should be able to continue without this error.