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Microsoft Cluster Service Fails When All Paths to the Boot Disk of the Active Node Become Unavailable in a Boot from SAN Configuration (1003754)
When you are running Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) on your virtual machines, and all paths to the active cluster node become unavailable, the cluster node might fail in unpredictable ways, causing the cluster service to fail on both nodes. If you are working in an environment susceptible to losing all paths to the storage device, VMware recommends that you perform the following additional steps specified in this KB article for configuring the virtual controller hosting the boot disk of the virtual machine. This KB article only applies when the boot disk of the clustered virtual machine is on SAN storage.
After you set up the virtual machine, power it off and follow these steps:
- In the VI Client inventory panel, select the virtual machine.
- In the Summary tab, click Edit Settings.
- Click the Options tab and select General under Advanced.
Click Configuration Parameters and click Add Row.
Enter scsi0.returnBusyOnNoConnectStatus under the Name column and FALSE under value (where scsi0 is the controller hosting the boot disk of the virtual machine).
In addition, set up the guest operating system to restart automatically after a crash. With your Windows virtual machine powered on, follow these steps:
- Right-click My Computer.
- Choose Properties, select the Advanced tab, and click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
Choose Automatically restart on system failure.
When all paths to storage are lost, the active node crashes and attempts to reboot.
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