When you try to run the chkdsk /f or
chkdsk /f /r command on a shared cluster drive, Chkdsk may not
run and may state that the drive could not be locked for exclusive use. If you
schedule Chkdsk to run after the computer restarts, Chkdsk may generate the
following error message during the startup process:
Cannot determine file system on drive \??\drive
letter.
You receive an "Error: Access is denied" error message when you try to set the dirty bit on a mount point by using the fsutil utility in Windows Server 2003
Under most circumstances, running Chkdsk with the /F or /R switch requires the computer to be restarted because of open
handles on the shared disk. Typically, there are no services or drivers running
that prevent autochk (a derivative of Chkdsk) from checking the disk when the computer
restarts. However, if you are using Windows Clustering, the file system does
not mount the shared disk until the Cluster service starts because the owner of
the shared disk is unknown. This causes Chkdsk to report that it cannot
determine the file system on a shared cluster disk. Running Chkdsk in Read-Only
mode may seem to work, but Chkdsk does not fix any problems.
If you
suspect that there is file corruption on the shared disk, use the following
steps to close all open handles to the shared disk and run Chkdsk on the drive:
Quit all programs and stop all non-cluster-aware
services.
Start the Cluster Administrator tool, right-click the
cluster name, and then click Properties.
On the Quorum tab, note which hard disk is the quorum hard disk. If the hard
disk on which you want to run Chkdsk contains the quorum log, temporarily move
the quorum to another shared disk.
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Use the Cluster Administrator tool to find the group that
contains the shared hard disk on which you want to run Chkdsk.
After you find the physical disk resource on which you want
to run Chkdsk, take the entire group offline, including the shared disk. This
closes all of the handles to the physical disk. To take the group offline,
right-click the group name, and then click Take
off-line.
In the Cluster Administrator tool, click the shared disk on
which you want to run Chkdsk, and then bring it online. To do this, right-click
the disk resource, and then click Bring on-line.
Note If the dirty bit was previously set, Chkdsk may automatically
run and the Physical Disk resource may take awhile to come online. In Windows
NT 4.0, you will see a Command Prompt window with Chkdsk running. In Windows
2000, if you open Task Manager you will see Chkdsk running as a
process.
At a command prompt, change to a drive other than the drive
on which you are attempting to run Chkdsk, and then type the following command,
where X is the shared disk:
chkdsk x: /f /r
If you receive a "Disk cannot be locked" error message when you
try to run Chkdsk, verify that all services and tools that have access to the
drive are stopped, and then try to run Chkdsk again. Any running service or
program that has an open handle to the drive can prevent Chkdsk from running.
Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows can attempt to close open handles to
the shared disk. If you are prompted to close open handles, press the Y key.
If handles remain open or the cluster contains a single shared disk
If programs or drivers maintain an open handle to the shared
disk, or if there is only a single shared disk (on which the quorum log is
stored), you must take the entire cluster down. Doing this requires that you
disable the clustering components temporarily so that the file system can mount
the shared disk when you restart the node. You must also shut down the other
nodes in the cluster so that they do not take ownership of the shared disk when
the node restarts.
To do this, use the steps in the appropriate section.
Windows Server 2003
You must put the physical disk resource in maintenance mode before you run a "chkdsk /F" command against a volume on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer. You must do this to prevent the physical disk resource from going into a failed state.
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Extended maintenance mode functionality for cluster physical disk resources in Windows Server 2003
Windows 2000
Quit all programs, stop all programs that are not
cluster-aware, and then log on to the server with an account that has
Administrative credentials.
Start Cluster Administrator, right-click
cluster name, and then click
Properties.
Click the Quorum tab, and then note which
drive is the quorum disk. If the drive on which you want to run Chkdsk contains
the quorum log, temporarily move the quorum disk to another shared
drive.
Copy FSUtil.exe from the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder on a
Windows XP-or-later-based computer to the local drive on the Windows 2000-based
computer.
On the Windows 2000-based computer, at a command prompt,
change to the folder that contains FSUtil.exe, and then type the following
command, where drive is the shared drive:
fsutil dirty set drive:
Use Cluster Administrator to find the group that contains
the shared drive on which you want to run Chkdsk.
Right-click the group name, and then click Take
offline. This takes the whole group offline, including the shared
drive, and closes all the handles to the physical drive.
Right-click the Physical Disk resource, and then click
Bring Online. This brings the drive online. Chkdsk runs on the
volume, and it may be in an "online pending" state for a while.
After Chkdsk runs on the volume, bring all other resources
in the group online.
Windows NT 4.0
Turn off node B.
Log on to node A as an administrator.
Run the chkdsk /f command on the shared
disk. When you are prompted to schedule Chkdsk to run when the computer next
restarts, press Y.
In the Devices tool in Control Panel, click Cluster Disk, and then click Startup.
Change the Startup type to Disabled.
In the Services tool in Control Panel, click the Cluster Server service, and then click Startup.
Change the Startup type to Disabled.
Quit Control Panel, and then restart node A. Chkdsk runs
without interference from the Cluster Disk driver or any other
service.
After Chkdsk is finished, change the Startup type back to its original setting, and then restart the computer
to activate the cluster.
Turn on node B.
For more information on Chkdsk and server clusters, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
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