Article ID: 2216491 - Last Review: April 22, 2011 - Revision: 2.0

The SQL Dumper utility cannot generate error dump files on a SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2 failover cluster on an Advanced/Enterprise Failover Cluster install

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SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario. You install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2 to a failover cluster by using an Advanced/Enterprise Failover Cluster installation. Then, the server that is running SQL Server encounters an error condition or exception. Typically, this causes the generation of a mini-dump file by using the SQL Dumper utility.

In this scenario, the SQL Dumper utility does not create a mini-dump file.

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CAUSE

This problem occurs because the Advance/Enterprise Failover Cluster sets an incorrect path for the ErrorDumpDir in a SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2 installation. The SQL Server service account and the SQL Dumper cannot write files to this path.

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RESOLUTION

Service pack information for SQL Server 2008

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2008. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

968382 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968382/en-US/ ) How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2008

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Service pack information for SQL Server 2008 R2

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2008 R2. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

2527041 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2527041/ ) How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2008 R2

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

This problem was first corrected in SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 for SQL Server 2008.

This problem was first corrected in SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1.

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MORE INFORMATION

For more information about this issue, visit the CSS SQL Server Engineers MSDN blog page:

SQLDumper unable to generate mdmp files in SQL Server 2008 Failover clusters (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/psssql/archive/2009/03/30/sqldumper-unable-to-generate-mdmp-files-in-sql-server-2008-failover-clusters.aspx)

For more information about how to install SQL Server 2008 to a failover cluster, visit the following TechNet website:

How to: Create a New SQL Server Failover Cluster (Setup) (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms179530.aspx)

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