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.
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.

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

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.
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.

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

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

    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.

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

    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.