How to apply patches in SQL server 2005 Active/passive cluster

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How to apply patches in SQL server 2005 Active/passive cluster

solomon.jernas

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October 2, 2014 at 1:30 am

#312025

HI
How to apply patches in Sql server 2005 Active/passive cluster ,what are the steps need to be follow..
We will be initiate production server..
Please anyone help to us..
Regards,
solomon

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HanShi SSC-Dedicated Points: 33507 More actions · Answer 1

Text below is copied from http://blogs.msdn.com/b/glsmall/archive/2013/11/14/best-practise-for-patching-sql-server.aspx

SQL 2005 Clusters
Patching a cluster is slightly more complicated and the process is different fro SQL 2005 than it is for versions later than SQL 2005. With SQL Server 2005, the patch is applied to the active node of the cluster and it is the patch that will go off to all passive nodes and will apply the patch files remotely. This can be the most problematic part of the process and fortunately this was removed in SQL 2008. Here is the process for patching a SQL 2005 cluster
1.Copy the patch to the active node of the cluster
2.Ensure that no-one is using the SQL Server, and then run the patch installer
3.The initial screens for the patch will be very similar to that of the stand alone installer, so just follow the on-screen instructions
Once you start physically copying file patch files, this is where is gets different as the installer will start doing remote installations. What you will find is that once you start patching a SQL 2005 cluster, the instance is unavailable to users for the duration of the patching process. Since the patch does the remote installations on all nodes in the cluster this may take quite a bit of time (I have seen a 2 node cluster take 40 minutes to patch), and you need to be aware that the instance will effectively be down during that time. With SQL 2005 the patch does everything so once it's finished either all nodes are patched, or none are patched. If there is an issue during the patching phase, then the entire patch needs to be rolled back on all nodes. Therefore if you have 3 node cluster and the last node fails to patch, the patch will be rolled back on all nodes - which will take quite a bit of time to do. Bottom line for patch a SQL 2005 cluster is to do it out of hours or during some other down time, and allow yourself plenty of time to do it.

** Don't mistake the ‘stupidity of the crowd’ for the ‘wisdom of the group’! **

Perry Whittle SSC Guru Points: 234013 More actions · Answer 2

solomon.jernas (10/2/2014)
HI
How to apply patches in Sql server 2005 Active/passive cluster ,what are the steps need to be follow..
We will be initiate production server..
Please anyone help to us..
Regards,
solomon

Which patch(es) are you applying?

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