Test the Failover of a Clustered Virtual Machine
Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2
You can perform a basic test to confirm that a clustered virtual machine can fail over successfully to another node. For information about performing a similar test for a clustered service or application, see Test the Failover of a Clustered Service or Application.
This procedure is one of the steps in the following checklist:
Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477.
To test the failover of a clustered virtual machine
In the Failover Cluster Manager snap-in, if the cluster that you want to configure is not displayed, in the console tree, right-click Failover Cluster Manager, click Manage a Cluster, and then select or specify the cluster that you want.
If the console tree is collapsed, expand the tree under the cluster that you want to configure.
Expand Virtual Machine, and then click the virtual machine for which you want to test failover.
Under Actions (on the right), click Move virtual machine(s) to another node.
As the virtual machine moves, the status is displayed in the results pane (center pane).
Optionally, repeat step 4 to move the virtual machine to an additional node or back to the original node.
Additional considerations
You can also perform the task described in this procedure by using Windows PowerShell. For more information about using Windows PowerShell for failover clusters, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=135119 and https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=135120.
To open the failover cluster snap-in, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Failover Cluster Manager. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.
If you decide to change the settings of a clustered virtual machine, be sure to see Modify the Virtual Machine Settings for a Clustered Virtual Machine.