Creating a clustered SQL Server instance

This topic describes how to create a clustered Microsoft SQL Server instance. Although BMC Database Automation (BDA) can be used to create or remove clustered SQL Server instances, it is not used to manage the underlying Microsoft cluster. Creation of Microsoft clusters, as well as management of the cluster (such as adding and removing nodes) is outside the scope of BDA.

Before you begin

• SQL Server media must be installed on the Manager by using the provided tool. This enables the Manager to automatically download the media to all servers as required when performing the creation of SQL Server instances. See Setting up SQL Server media.
• Cluster Service must be installed and a cluster must be established between the nodes on which you want to install the clustered instance of SQL Server.
• The node on which the SQL Server instances will run must meet all of the SQL Server Prerequisites.
• Credentials for a domain administrator account are required.
• Mixing 32-bit and 64-bit SQL Server instances on the same node or cluster is not supported.

To add an instance to a clustered SQL Server instance

1. From the Management Console, navigate to the cluster on which you want to add an instance.
2. Select Provision > Add Clustered SQL Server Instance.

3. In the Naming page, populate the following fields, and click Next.

   Field	Description
   Domain	Displays the BDA domain within which this instance of SQL Server is created.
   Windows Cluster	Displays the Windows cluster on which to run this instance.
   SQL Server Version	Select the version of SQL Server to install. The entries in this list depend of the media installed, OS version and CPU architecture.
   Template	Select from the defined templates to limit input during the wizard data collection. If you select a template, click Skip Ahead to advance directly to the next step that requires input. Any steps that have been configured by the information in the template do not appear.
   Instance Name	Type the name of the instance of SQL Server.
   Make Default	(Optional) Select this to make this instance of SQL Server the default instance on the host. If this field is dimmed, that indicates that there is already a default instance installed.

4. If the Custom Fields page appears, enter the password, and click Next.
   The Custom Fields page appears only when custom fields are defined in the BDA XML template used for this provisioning activity. See Adding custom fields to a template.

5. In the Cluster Setup page, populate the following fields, and click Next.

   Field	Description
   Virtual Server Name	Type a name for the virtual server. This name is used to identify your failover cluster on the network. This network name for the failover cluster instance must be unique to your domain.
   Configure Virtual Server IPs	(Optional) Select to enable the configuring of virtual server IPs. This option should remain enabled unless you have custom scripts installed to alter the behavior of the operation. See Creating provisioning scripts for virtual servers and cluster group configuration for SQL Server.
   Configure Cluster Group Selection	(Optional) Select to enable the configuring of cluster group selection. This option should remain enabled unless you have custom scripts installed to alter the behavior of the operation. See Creating provisioning scripts for virtual servers and cluster group configuration for SQL Server.

6. In the Settings page, populate the following fields, and click Next.

   Field	Description
   Instance ID	Type the internal label for the SQL Server instance. By default, this entry the same as the instance name created in step 1. Make any wanted changes.
   Install Directory	Type the directory in which to install SQL Server. It must be on a local drive, not in a cluster or shared storage.
   Install Shared Directory	(Optional) Type the directory in which 64-bit shared components are installed.
   Install Shared Directory (32-bit)	(Optional) Type the directory in which 32-bit shared components are installed (applies only to 64-bit systems).
   CD Key	(Optional) Type the license key. This field enables the support of MSDN editions. This field is optional unless the media requires it. If the media requires the CD key and this field is left blank or an invalid key is entered, the operation fails.
   Remove SQL Server Media When Complete	(Optional) Select to clean up media placed in cache upon completion of the provisioning activity.
   Collation	(Optional) Select the SQL Server collation that is used when creating the SQL Server instance.
   INI File Data	(Advanced) Customize the BDA SQL server instance provisioning template beyond what is offered in the GUI input fields by editing the contents of this field. This field should only be edited under the direction of technical support personnel.

7. In the Custom Scripts Configuration page, select any pre-provisioning or post-provisioning scripts that you want to run as follows, and click Next.

   Section	Description
   Pre-Provisioning Script Directory	(Optional) Select the scripts that you want to run before this event and click the right arrow to move them to the Selected list box. The scripts in Selected are run in the order listed. Use Move Up and Move Down to re-order the scripts when necessary. See also Managing pre-provisioning and post-provisioning script files.
   Post-Provisioning Script Directory	(Optional) Select the scripts that you want to run after this event and click the right arrow to move them to the Selected list box. See also Managing pre-provisioning and post-provisioning script files.
   Final Script	Select a final script from the pull down menu. The final script is run after all provisioning scripts have been run.

8. In the Virtual Servers Configuration page, enter the virtual address for the instance in at least one of the sections in the IP Address field (providing more than one virtual address is optional), and click Next.
   This page lists all non-private network interfaces available in the Windows Cluster. The connection names that appear in this step vary depending on your environment.

9. In the Cluster Group Selection page, populate the following fields, and click Next.

   Field	Description
   Available Cluster Groups	Select the cluster group that contains the shared drive on which you want to place the data for the Clustered SQL Server instance.
   Unavailable Cluster Groups	Displays a list of unavailable cluster groups and the reason why the cluster group is unavailable.
   Data Root Directory	Specify the data directory in which SQL Server data files are installed.
   System Database Directory	Specify the directory where the SQL Server system databases for this instance is located.
   User Database Directory	Specify the user database data files directory.
   User Database Log Directory	Specify the user database log files directory.
   Temp DB Directory	Specify the tempdb data files directory.
   Temp DB Log Directory	Specify the tempdb log files directory.
   Backup Directory	Specify the backup files directory.

10. In the Cluster Configuration page, populate the following fields, and click Next.

    Section	Field	Description
    Node Configuration	Required Cluster Node	Displays the name of the cluster node that is currently the owner of the cluster resource specified in the previous dialog. This node must be one of the nodes in the clustered SQL Server instance.
    	Additional Cluster Nodes	Displays other nodes that are available to participate in the clustered SQL Server instance. Click the right arrow to move an Available node to the Selected list box. Note: This can be an important step in the configuration because you can have a clustered node but only have a database reside on one node of the cluster. By selecting the other nodes, you specify that the database is created on both nodes of the cluster.
    	Unavailable Cluster Nodes	Displays other nodes that are unavailable to participate in the clustered SQL Server instance and the reason why a node cannot participate.
    Remote Account Information	Remote Account Domain	Type the domain of which the user name entered in Remote Account Username is a member.
    	Remote Account Username	Type a valid username with administrator privileges for all nodes in the cluster.
    	Remote Account Password	Type the password corresponding to the user name entered in Remote Account Username.

11. If the Utility Upgrades page appears, ensure that Reboot Nodes is selected, and click Next.
    The Utility Upgrades page appears when any of following requirements are not met:
    • Microsoft Windows Installer version 4.5 or later is installed

    • .NET framework 3.5 SP1 or later is installed

      Note

      If any utility upgrades are required, you must complete the necessary upgrade outside of BDA, then you can continue provisioning.

12. In the Domain Groups page, populate the following fields, and click Next.

    Field	Description
    Use Service SIDs	This check box is available when you create a Clustered SQL Server 2008 instance on a Windows Server 2008 cluster. Select it to enable a security enhancement that Microsoft has added to the Windows Server 2008 OS in SQL Server 2008; rather than providing a cluster group to which the service accounts are added and permissions are granted, the SQL Server 2008 installer creates a SID for the service that holds the required privileges and is applicable to that service only. To learn more about Service SIDs, consult SQL Server 2008 Books Online article MS143504, "Setting Up Windows Service Accounts".
    SQL Server Cluster Group	Type the domain name and group name for the SQL Server Cluster service in this format: DomainName\GroupName.
    SQL Server Agent Cluster Group	Type the domain name and group name for the SQL Server Agent service in this format: DomainName\GroupName.

13. In the Authentication and Accounts page, populate the following fields, and click Next.

    Section	Authentication Field	Description
    Authentication	Authentication Mode	Select to indicate whether to run in mixed-mode security mode or in standard security mode.
    	New SQL Server Password	If mixed-mode security is used, this field defines the administrative password to be used for the sa account.
    	Confirm SQL Server Password	If mixed-mode security is used, this field defines the administrative password to be used for the sa account.
    SQL Server Administrator	SQL Server Administrator	Type Windows accounts to be members of the SQL Server sysadmin role and click Add.
    SQL Server Account	Account Type	Select a specific user to use for this service.
    	Domain	If a specific user is to be used, this field specifies the domain for that user. Required when Account Type is Domain User Account.
    	Username	If a specific user is to be used, this field specifies the user name for that user. Required when Account Type is Domain User Account.
    	Password	If a specific user is to be used, this field specifies the password for that user. Required when Account Type is Domain User Account.
    SQL Server Agent Account	Use Settings from SQL Server Account	Use the same properties as SQL Server Account.
    	Account Type	(Optional) Select a specific user to use for this service.
    	Domain	If a specific user is to be used, this field specifies the domain for that user. Required when Account Type is Domain User Account.
    	Username	If a specific user is to be used, this field specifies the user name for that user. Required when Account Type is Domain User Account.
    	Password	If a specific user is to be used, this field specifies the password for that user. Required when Account Type is Domain User Account.
    SQL Browser Account	Account Type	The SQL Browser service must run as the Local Service Account under SQL Server 2008.
    SQL Full Text Search Account	Type	The SQL Full Text Search service must run as the Local Service Account under SQL Server 2008.

    Note

    When creating a clustered Instance of SQL Server 2008 on Windows Server 2008, the SQL Browser Account and SQL Full Text Search Account must be LSA.

14. In the Job Options page, specify any of the following Job options, and click Next.

    Type	Option	Description
    Notification Emails	Email List	(Optional) Click Add Email to add email addresses to the notification list.
    Job Administration	Cleanup Agent Logs	(Optional) Select to automatically remove logs that are generated by BDA on the Agent after the Job is complete.

15. If the Change Control page displays, populate the following fields, and click Next.

    Section	Field	Description
    	Bypass Change Control	(Optional) Select to bypass using BMC Remedy ITSM to control the change process. Selecting this option removes the rest of the fields from this page.
    	Change Control Options	Select to determine whether to open a new BMC Remedy ITSM change ticket, or to use an existing BMC Remedy ITSM change ticket to control the change process. Selecting Use Existing Change Ticket displays the fields in the Use Existing Change Ticket section on this page. Selecting Create New Change Ticket displays the fields in the Create New Change Ticket section on this page.
    Use Existing Change Ticket	ITSM Change ID	Specify the BMC Remedy ITSM change ticket number to associate with this change process.
    	ITSM Task ID	Specify the BMC Remedy ITSM task ID number to associate with this change process.
    Create New Change Ticket	Change Type	Assign the type of change for the new BMC Remedy ITSM change ticket.
    	Change Impact	Assign the impact level of this change process for the new BMC Remedy ITSM change ticket.
    	Change Urgency	Assign the urgency level for the new BMC Remedy ITSM change ticket.
    	Change Risk-Level	Assign the risk level of this change process for the new BMC Remedy ITSM change ticket.
    	Change Class	Assign the change class for the new BMC Remedy ITSM change ticket.
    	Change Summary	Type a summary of the change process.

    Note

    The Change Control page appears only when change control is configured for your environment. See Configuring change control.

16. In the Summary page, review the provisioning information.
    To make changes, do the following:
    1. Click Go to to return to the provisioning step that you want to edit.
    2. Make your changes.
    3. Click Save and Review to return to the Summary page.
17. Specify your verification preferences.
    For additional information, see Understanding pre-verification tests.
    • To continue with database creation after the pre-verification tests have been successfully run without manual intervention, select Automatically Continue If All Tests Succeed.

    • To create the database without having first run the pre-verification steps, select Skip Pre-Verification Tests.

      Note

      The Skip Pre-Verification Tests option should only be used when you are certain all tests can succeed. The option skips verification and advances directly to the actual provisioning activity.

18. Click Create SQL Server Instance.
    A progress page appears followed by a success message upon completion. The instance now appears in the Contents page for this SQL Server. You might be prompted to restart the node.

    Note

    Detailed current and historical information about this action can be viewed in the Jobs section of the Management Console. See Monitoring jobs and viewing job history.