Automating patching of operating systems in Microsoft® Windows® 2003 and 2008 clusters

Read this topic to learn how to patch Windows 2003 and 2008 clusters.

Before you begin

The Windows® cluster control scripts must be installed on the target nodes in the cluster. You can install these scripts by running the 110 Install Windows Cluster Control Application Fixlet.

About this task

The Server Automation cluster patching Fixlets support general Microsoft Windows® clusters, including patching scenarios such as Microsoft SQL Server cluster patching.

The following procedure is designed for use with a cluster set up with a quorum configured for the following systems:

  • DiskWitness only (2012 systems)
  • NoMajority (Disk Only) (2008 systems)
  • Standard Quorum (2003 systems)
With this setup, the cluster remains operational as long as at least one of the nodes in the cluster is still running. If the quorum for the cluster is configured in any other way, ensure that when targeting the nodes in the cluster that half of the total nodes +1 are operational at any time. For example, if there are 20 nodes in the cluster, 11 nodes (10 +1) nodes must be operational at any one time. If there are 16 nodes in the cluster, 9 nodes (8 +1) must be operational at any one time. Otherwise, the cluster stops working. The cluster does not resume functioning correctly until more than half the nodes have resumed the cluster service and the cluster is unavailable until this time.
Note: If your clusters are on Windows® 2008 Release 2 or later operating systems, you can use an alternative procedure to automate the patching workflow. For more information, see Automating patching of clusters on Windows 2008 Release 2 and later operating systems.

Complete the following steps to patch a Windows® cluster using the Server Automation Fixlets.

Procedure

  1. Pause the node or nodes in the cluster that you want to patch. Run Fixlet 112 Pause Node in the Cluster (Windows 2003) to pause the node on Windows® 2003 and Fixlet 116 Pause Node in the Cluster (Windows 2008-2012) to pause the node on Windows® 2008 and 2012. When running the Fixlet to pause the node, target each node that you want to pause.
  2. Move any groups on the node to another node. Use Fixlet 111 Move Groups from Node in the Cluster (Windows 2003) to move groups on Windows® 2003 and use Fixlet 114 Move Groups from Node in the Cluster (Windows 2008-2012) to move groups on Windows® 2008 and 2012.
  3. Patch or update the node as required. If you use a Baseline to patch the node, check if the Baseline contains an action script that causes the node to report a status of Pending Restart, for example, action requires restart. If the node returns a Pending Restart status, the system determines this as a wait state and does not complete the step. To correct this, you must include a restart Fixlet as part of the Baseline.
  4. Resume the node. To resume on Windows® 2003, use Fixlets 113 Resume Node in the Cluster (Windows 2003). To resume on Windows® 2008 or Windows® 2012, use Fixlets 115 Resume Node in the Cluster (Windows 2008-2012).
  5. Repeat this process for the remaining nodes in the cluster.