MSDTC Appears to Be Missing from a Cluster
Topic Last Modified: 2006-04-20
The Microsoft® Exchange Server Analyzer Tool reads the following registry entry to determine whether the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) resource exists in a cluster:
The Exchange Server Analyzer displays a warning if the value of ClusterMSDTCInstance is 0.
The MSDTC resource must be present in an Exchange Server cluster to support initial installation and service pack upgrades. However, it is not a critical component and is not required while Exchange is running.
You or another administrator in your organization might have removed the MSDTC resource because you know that it is not required when Exchange is running.
However, it is recommended that you do not remove the MSDTC resource after your initial setup of Exchange Server 2003. If you keep the MSDTC resource in the cluster, you will be able to run Service Pack setups and other updates.
To resolve this warning, create a new MSDTC resource. For specific steps about how to create an MSDTC resource, see "How to Install the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator in a Windows Server 2003 Server Cluster" in "Deploying Exchange Server 2003 in a Cluster" in the Exchange Server 2003 Deployment Guide (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=47569).
For more information about MSDTC and Exchange see "Cluster Groups" in "Understanding Exchange Server 2003 Clustering" in the Exchange Server 2003 High Availability Guide (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=47571).
For more information about how to add the MSDTC resource in Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 301600, "How to Configure Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator on a Windows Server 2003 Cluster" (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=301600).
|Knowledge Base article 301600 includes a reference to article 817064, "How to enable network DTC access in Windows Server 2003" (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=817064). It is an Exchange Server security best practice not to enable network DTC access for an Exchange cluster. If you are configuring the Distributed Transaction Coordinator resource for an Exchange cluster, do not enable network DTC access.|