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Hyper-V: Add new node to Cluster and Validate the Cluster without VM shutdown

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Issue

Although Microsoft always recommends running a full validation on every Hyper-V node and connected drive, sometimes it is necessary to add a node without taking down your VMs. Later on you can fully validate all nodes and drives during scheduled downtime. This method explains how to run the validation wizard without taking your VMs off line by using a small empty drive on your SAN to be used for drive validation. I always create a small 1 GB disk and name it validation drive in each cluster I build. Skipping the validation wizard is an option but leaves the cluster in an unsupported state until the validation wizard has been run. I always prefer to run the validation to ensure all cluster nodes are configured properly. Another idea is to create a test VM that is used for nothing but testing its ability to move between all cluster nodes to ensure that failover is working properly. This How To article assumes that the reader already understands how to build a Windows Hyper-V Failover Cluster and configure connected SAN storage.

Prerequisites:

  • All Hyper-V nodes should be identical hardware with the same RAM and CPU and OS versions.
  • Make sure they are all running the same patches and firmware.
  • Make sure all necessary features and roles are installed.
  • The Hyper-V roles should be installed and all NICs should be configured the same as well as the Hyper-V virtual switch. The virtual switch should be configured and named the same on each node.
  • Make sure all SAN disks are connected and visible.
  • Add a small SAN disk of about 1 BG in size to be used for the validation test.
  • You must be logged in as an Administrator when adding a node to the cluster. The account must have access as a local administrator on all of the nodes in the cluster.

Solution

Note: Although these steps work and will help you add a fully functional node into your cluster, it may not be an accepted practice according to Microsoft because it skips over the validation of all connected drives in the cluster when running the “Validate a Configuration Wizard.” It is important to understand that you should validate selecting all drives during your clusters next scheduled downtime.

  1. Open Failover Cluster Manager
  2. Right click and select Add Node
  3. Click Next
  4. On the Select Servers page, type in the name of the server node you want to add.
  5. Click Next
  6. On the Validation Warning Page you want to select Yes and click Next.
  7. The Validate a Configuration Wizard will open up
  8. Click Next
  9. Select Run All Tests
  10. When you get to the Review Storage Status window, make sure to uncheck all of the drives except for the empty validation drive or you may use any drive that you know is not being used by any VHDs. If you select a drive being used by a VM, that VM will go down during the validation test.
  11. Click Next
  12. You may see a warning that it is recommended to stop all roles using cluster share volumes. If you are sure you have not selected any CSVs being used by any Hyper-V roles you can click Next
  13. At the confirmation page, be sure to looks it over and once you are ready to proceed click Next
  14. Click Next to start the validation test
  15. Once this is complete, review the results summary to try to correct any errors you find. If you have any errors, you will need to run the validation wizard again, after correcting the errors.