How to Add a Node to a Hyper-V Host Cluster in VMM

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager

You can use the following procedure to add one or more nodes to a managed Hyper-V host cluster by using the VMM console in Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).

Before you begin this procedure, make sure that the following prerequisites are met for the Hyper-V host that you want to add as a cluster node:

• The host must already be managed by VMM.

• The host must meet the requirements for failover clustering and must be running a supported operating system:

  For more information, see the followings:

  • About supported operating systems, see as follows:

    • For System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager or for System Center 2012 SP1: System Requirements: Hyper-V Hosts in System Center 2012 and in System Center 2012 SP1.

    • For System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager: Preparing your environment for System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager.

  • About hardware requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2, see Understanding Requirements for Failover Clusters.

  • About hardware requirements for Windows Server 2012, see Failover Clustering Hardware Requirements and Storage Options.

  For information about hardware requirements, see Understanding Requirements for Failover Clusters (for Windows Server 2008 R2) or Failover Clustering Hardware Requirements and Storage Options (for Windows Server 2012).

  Important

  If the cluster will have three or more nodes, and the nodes are running Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1, you must install the hotfix that is described in the article Validate SCSI Device Vital Product Data (VPD) test fails after you install Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. Install the hotfix on each node before you run the Create Cluster Wizard. Otherwise, cluster validation may fail.

• The host must be located in the same host group as the target host cluster.

• The host must be in the same domain as the target host cluster.

• If the cluster uses static IP addresses, the host must be configured to use static IP addresses with a subnet that matches the other nodes in the cluster.

• Physical network adapters on the host must be configured with logical networks that match the existing cluster virtual networks on the target host cluster. You do not have to create the external virtual network on the host that you want to add. You only have to associate the logical networks for all existing cluster virtual networks with physical network adapters on the host. To view the virtual networks on the target host cluster, right-click the cluster, and then in the Cluster Name Properties dialog box, click the Virtual Networks tab.

  Also, the logical networks that are associated with a network adapter on the host must exactly match what is configured for an existing virtual network on the cluster. (This includes any associated VLAN IDs.) For example, if a virtual network on the cluster is associated with the BACKEND and the CORP logical networks, a physical network adapter on the host must be associated with both the BACKEND and CORP logical networks.

  Note

  For more information, see How to Configure Network Settings on a Hyper-V Host in VMM.

• If the cluster has available or shared volumes with logical units that are managed by VMM, the host that you want to add must have access to the same storage array. Any storage logical units that are not managed by VMM must already be provisioned to the host.

Additionally, the target host cluster must be located in a domain that is trusted by the domain of the VMM management server.

To add a Hyper-V host as a cluster node

1. Open the Fabric workspace.

2. In the Fabric pane, expand Servers, and then expand All Hosts.

3. Do one of the following:

   • Drag the host that you want to add as a cluster node to the host cluster name. Continue to step 5.

   • Locate and then click the host cluster on which you want to add the node. On the Host Cluster tab, in the Host Cluster group, click Add Cluster Node. Continue to the next step.

     Note

     If you use this method, you can add multiple hosts at one time.

4. In the Add Host Cluster Nodes dialog box, do the following:

   1. In the Available hosts column, click a host that you want to add as a cluster node, and then click Add. (To select multiple hosts, press and hold the CTRL key, and then click each host. To select a range, click the first host in the range, press and hold the SHIFT key, and then click the last host in the range.)

   2. If desired, select the Skip cluster validation check box.

      Warning

      Select this check box only if you do not require support from Microsoft for the host cluster.

   3. When you are finished, click Add in the lower-right of the dialog box.

5. In the Enter Credentials dialog box (or the Add Node to Cluster dialog box if you used the drag-and-drop method to add a node), enter the credentials for a user account that has administrative permissions on the host that you want to add, and then click OK. You can specify a Run As account, or enter the credentials in the format domain_name\user_name.

   Note

   To create a Run As account, next to the Use an existing Run As account box, click Browse, and then in the Select a Run As Account dialog box, click Create Run As Account.

   VMM adds the node to the cluster. To view the job status, open the Jobs workspace.

   Note

   As part of the job, VMM automatically registers shared storage for the cluster that is managed through VMM.

6. To verify that the cluster node was added, in the Fabric pane, expand Servers, expand All Hosts, and then locate and click the host cluster.

   In the Hosts pane, verify that the new node appears as part of the host cluster, and that the host status is OK.

   Tip

   To view detailed status information for the host cluster, including a link to the cluster validation test report, right-click the host cluster, and then click Properties. View the information on the Status tab. For more information, see Configuring Hyper-V Host Cluster Properties in VMM.

   Also, note that you can perform an on-demand cluster validation. To do this, click the host cluster. Then, on the Host Cluster tab, click Validate Cluster. Cluster validation begins immediately.

Creating and Modifying Hyper-V Host Clusters in VMM