How to create a Failover Cluster in Windows Server 2019 step by step.

In this blog, we’ll learn the skill to make a Microsoft Windows Failover Cluster with Windows Server 2019. The environment may be a two-node cluster with one shared disk.

Environment details:

SRV2019-DC

                     10.0.0.20

SRV2019-1

Primary –   10.0.0.30

Cluster –    192.168.0.10

SRV2019-2

Primary :  10.0.0.40

Cluster:    192.168.0.20

iSCSI Storage : 10.0.0.100

Cluster Name – XTCLUSTER

Cluster IP Address – 10.0.0.110

1- Before we start, make sure you meet the following prerequisites:
I have 2 Windows Server 2019 machines with the latest updates installed. The machines have at least two network interfaces, I rename them Primary and Cluster.

network connections

Join both servers to your Microsoft Active Directory domain and confirm that both servers see the shared memory device available in disk management. So, don’t bring the disk online yet.

2- User the Following PowerShell command to enable failover clustering and management Toole 1 Node (SRV2019-1)

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Failover-Clustering –IncludeManagementTools

enable failover cluster powershell command

Failover Cluster Server 2019

Enabling Failover Manager Feature in 2 Node (SRV2019-2).

3- Open Server Manage select dashboard and then click on ADD Roles and Features.

server manager 2019

4- So, click Next.

add roles and feature wizard

5- Click Role-based or feature-based installation and then click Next.

add roles based or feature based

6- Select a server from the server pool and then click next.

server 2019 server selections

7- So, click Next.

server 2019 roles and features

8- Select Failover clustering.

install failover cluster features server 2019

9- Click Add features.

server 2019 add features

10- After enabling the failover clustering feature so, click next.

install failover cluster features windows server 2019

11- Then click Install.

server 2019 confirm installation

12- Successfully enable the Failover cluster feature so, click Close.

server 2019 installation progress

13- After a successful installation, it appears in the Server Manager, click Tools, and then Failover Cluster Manager.

server manager 2019

After you installed the Failover Clustering feature so, you can bring the shared disk online and format it on one of the servers 1 Node (SRV2019-1).

The following steps are performed on the 1 Node (SRV2019-1).

14- In Server Manager click Tools and then click Computer Management.

server manager 2019

15- Click on Disk Management.

ou will see disk 1 which is in offline status right click on disk 1 and then select Online.

disk management online

16- Right-click on disk 1 and click Initialize Disk.

disk management initialize disk

17- Click OK.

disk to gpt or mbr

18- Right-click on unallocated disk 1 and select New Simple Volume.

computer management disk unallocated

19- Click Next.

new simple volume wizard

20- Click Next.

simple volume wizard disk size

21- Assign a drive letter and click Next.

simple volume wizard drive letter

22- Type a volume label and click next.

simple volume wizard format partition

23- Click Finish.

simple volume wizard finish

24- 1 Node (SRV2019-1) Disk Management (disk status online)

disk management

25- Please Don’t change anything on the 2nd Node (SRV2019-2), the disk stays offline. 2ND Node (SRV2019-2) Disk Management (disk status offline).

disk management

Failover Cluster readiness check-in 1 Node (SRV2019-1).

Before we create the cluster, we’d like to form sure that everything is about up properly.

26- In Server Manager click Tools and Click Failover Cluster Manager.

server manager 2019

27- Under Action menu click Validate Configuration.

failover cluster manager 2019

28- Click Next.

validation configuration wizard

29- Select the browse button.

validation select servers or cluster

30- Type both the Nodes name, click check name and click ok.

enter the object names to

31- After Selecting the two-node servers for validation, click next.

validation select servers or cluster

32- Select Run all tests (recommended) and click next.

cluster validation testing options

33- Review the validate configuration confirmation and click next.

cluster validation confirmation

34- Cluster validation testing is in progress.

cluster validation

35- After you make sure that every applicable test passed with the status successful. If you have any errors or warnings, you can use the detailed report by clicking on View Report and click Finish.

cluster validation summary

Create a Failover Cluster Server 2019

36- Under Action Menu so, select Create Cluster.

failover cluster manager 2019

37- Click Next.

create cluster wizard

38- Click the browse button.

create cluster select servers

39- Type both the node names, click check names and click ok.

enter the object names to

40- Both the servers nodes selected, click next.

create cluster select servers

41- Type a Cluster name, select the IP address and click next.

access point for administering the cluster

42- As a last step, confirm everything, click next and wait for the cluster to be created.

create cluster wizard confirmation

43- Cluster setup successfully completed and click Finish.

create cluster wizard summary

44- The wizard will add the shared disk automatically to the cluster per default. If you did not configure it yet, then it is also possible afterward. As a result, you can see a new Active Directory computer object named XTCLUSTER.

active directory users and computers

45- You can ping the new computer to check whether it is online (if you allow ping on the Windows firewall).

command prompt

As an alternative, you’ll create the cluster also with PowerShell. the subsequent command also will add all eligible storage automatically:

New-Cluster -Name XTCLUSTER -Node SRV2019-1, SRV2019-2 -StaticAddress 10.0.0.110

46- Both the Nodes are up now.

failover cluster manager

47- You can see the result in the Failover Cluster Manager in the Nodes and Storage under Disks sections.

failover cluster manager

For more information click here

How to Configure Network Load Balancing In Windows Server 2019.

Jamil Parvez
Jamil Parvezhttps://www.xpertstec.com
Jamil Pervez works as a Network Administrator, based in Kuwait with a Primary focus on Microsoft technologies. Microsoft Certified MCSE, MCTP, MCITP, CCNP, CCIP, CCVP with 20 years of experience in administering Windows Servers, Exchange, VMWare, Veeam B&R, Veritas BackupExec.

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