Can't access Cluster Core Resources

Question

_{Monday, May 13, 2013 10:08 AM}

I have a 3 node Windows Server 2008 R2 cluster where I cannot manage the Cluster Core Resources. In the GUI, where the Cluster Core Resources reside, there is a message "Failed to retrieve the information for the cluster core resources". In Powershell, if I run Get-ClusterResource, I get the message "The object has been deleted from the cluster". I have verified that the cluster name has not been removed from Active Directory.

The history of events that has led to this:

Some network issues caused the cluster network name and the file share witness to go offline. In an effort to get the cluster in more resilient state, I tried to change the FSW to a different server. I ran in to difficulty with this and got some advice from another post to change to Node Majority temporarily and then try to switch back to Node and File Share. However, I'm now stuck on Node Majority and I cannot bring the network name online. 

All cluster services are still online thankfully, but I am concerned now that the cluster core resources are damaged beyond repair. Any help appreciated.

All replies (5)

_{Tuesday, May 14, 2013 5:57 AM ✅Answered}

Hi,

After you change the cluster quorum type from Node and file share witness to Node Majority, run a Validate Quorum Configuration test to verify the updated quorum settings and post the result.

Can you change quorum type back to Node and file share witness?

Check event viewer to find related error logs and post them.

If you received Event ID 1207, you may refer to this article to troubleshooting and resolve this issue:

Cluster network name resource 'Cluster Name' cannot be brought online, Unable to get Computer Object using GUID.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/csstwplatform/archive/2010/10/15/cluster-network-name-resource-cluster-name-cannot-be-brought-online-unable-to-get-computer-object-using-guid.aspx

Check that and give us feedback for further troubleshooting, for more information please refer to following MS articles:

Cannot bring Cluster Name resource online
http://blogs.technet.com/b/craigf/archive/2011/02/04/cannot-bring-cluster-name-resource-online.aspx
How do I change the Disk Witness in Quorum
http://blogs.technet.com/b/uspartner_ts2team/archive/2010/02/21/how-do-i-change-the-disk-witness-in-quorum.aspx
Select Quorum Options for a Failover Cluster
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc733130.aspx

Hope this helps!
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Lawrence

TechNet Community Support

_{Wednesday, May 15, 2013 5:38 AM ✅Answered}

Hi,

You should able to delete the previous file share witness by using “Cluster.exe” command:

cluster res "<failed resource name>" /delete

Try that and give us feedback for further troubleshooting, for more information please refer to following MS articles:

how to delete a failed file share witness
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverClustering/thread/eb052ce8-33b1-4c68-a009-531b4a625ac8
changing file share witness quorum resource on Win 2008 FSM cluster
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverClustering/thread/9f3ade44-b72c-4791-8a12-1b72497d5548/

Hope this helps!
TechNet Subscriber Support
If you are TechNet Subscription user and have any feedback on our support quality, please send your feedback here.

Lawrence

TechNet Community Support

_{Monday, May 13, 2013 12:09 PM}

UPDATE:

If I use cluster.exe, I can list the cluster resources with cluster res. This is showing the cluster name, cluster IP, DRIP and also two file share witnesses - the original one and the one I tried to change to. If I try to bring the cluster online using cluster res "Cluster Name" /ON I get the message:

System error 5908 has occurred (0x00001714). The group is unable to accept the request since it is moving to another node.

I tried deleting both FSW resources because they should not be necessary but this produced the same error message as above.

_{Tuesday, May 14, 2013 8:21 AM}

Hi Lawrence,

On your advice, I did manage to change it back to Node and file share witness successfully. I changed the file share to a location on a domain controller because I had previously used this location for this cluster successfully. I can now see my cluster core resources and the cluster network name is back online.

But strangely, I now have 3 file share witnesses - the original one, the one I attempted to change to and the one that I just used this morning. Two of the 3 are online, the other is offline. I didn't think it was possible to have more than one file share witness, let alone have two online at the same time. Should I be attempting to delete the unnecessary ones at this point?

_{Wednesday, May 15, 2013 11:43 AM}

Hi Lawrence,

That did the trick, thanks very much for your help.