Restoring the cluster quorum to a Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 node running Active Directory to a Microsoft cluster

To restore the quorum to a node that is a domain controller running Active Directory, the node must be in Directory Services Restore Mode. The cluster services cannot run in this mode, so the cluster quorum must be restored separately, after System State is restored and the node has been rebooted.

To exclude the cluster quorum from being restored with System State, clear the Restore Cluster Quorum option on the Advanced Restore Job Properties dialog box. When System State is restored, the cluster quorum is copied to a default location. For Windows 2000 the default location is:

%SystemRoot%\cluster\BackupExec

For Windows Server 2003, the default location is:

%SystemRoot%\windows\repair\backup\bootablesystemstate\clusterdatabase

Then, use the command-line utility clrest.exe to restore the cluster quorum from the default location to the quorum drive.

To restore the cluster quorum to a node running Active Directory without using Backup Exec Cluster

  1. Take the other nodes in the cluster offline.

  2. To restore System State, start the computer in safe (repair) mode (restart the computer and then press <F8> when prompted to select an operating system) and then select Directory Services Restore Mode.

    If this is a local restore, you must also start the Backup Exec services before you restore the System State data.

    See Starting and stopping Backup Exec services.

  3. On the navigation bar, click the arrow next to Restore.

  4. Click New Restore Job.

  5. In the Restore Selections pane, click System State.

  6. On the Properties pane, under Settings, click Advanced.

  7. Clear the Restore cluster quorum option. This option must not be selected.

  8. Start the restore operation.

    During the restore, the cluster quorum files are copied to the default location. For Windows 2000 the default location is:

    %SystemRoot%\cluster\BackupExec

    For Windows Server 2003, the default location is:

    %SystemRoot%\windows\repair\backup\bootablesystemstate\clusterdatabase

  9. When the restore has completed, reboot the target node.

  10. After reboot is complete, run clrest.exe from the command line to restore the cluster quorum from the default location to the quorum disk:

    clrest path

    where path is the complete path to the cluster quorum; typically, the path is %SystemRoot%\cluster\BackupExec for Windows 2000 and %SystemRoot%\windows\repair\backup\bootablesystemstate\clusterdatabase for Windows Server 2003. A path is required.

    You can include other options on the command line to force the restore to proceed even if other cluster nodes are online, and/or if the disk signatures do not match, and to specify another disk as the quorum disk:

    clrest [-f] path [drive letter]

    where

    [-f] forces the restore to proceed even if other cluster nodes are online and/or the disk signatures do not match. When this option is selected, the cluster service for any nodes that are online is stopped. This option also allows the drive letter of the disk that the cluster quorum was on to remain the same, even if the configuration has changed and the disk signatures contained in the restore media do not match the disk signatures contained in the cluster quorum.

    [drive letter] specifies another drive letter for the quorum disk. If you use this option, the drive letter that the cluster quorum resides on will be changed to the drive letter specified. Otherwise, the drive letter that the cluster quorum resides on will stay the same as it was previously.

  11. After the cluster quorum is restored, use the cluster administrator to bring the other cluster nodes online.