"Device Is Not Ready" Error Message When Creating a Server Cluster MSMQ Resource

When you create a new MSMQ resource in Cluster Administrator with the Configure Application Wizard or the New Resource Wizard, you may receive the following error messages:

NOTE: This may occur after setting the required dependencies and clicking Next on the Application Resource Name and Description page of the Configure Application Wizard or on the first page of the New Resource Wizard. NOTE: The name "msmq" in the preceding sample error messages may be different depending on what name was given to the resource in the wizard.

Also, the Application Event Viewer may contain the following error entry:

This problem can occur if the MSMQ service has not been installed on the node that is the owner of the group to which MSMQ is being added. Note that this is not necessarily the node that is running Cluster Administrator Wizards to add the resource. Also, the service must be installed with the same settings on all nodes that will be possible owners of this MSMQ cluster resource.

To work around this problem:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add/Remove Windows Components. If there are no outstanding configurations, the Windows Component Wizard starts automatically. If it does not, click Windows Components.
2. Click to select Message Queuing Services check box, and then click Next. Now configure MSMQ as needed for your environment. For more information about these options, view Windows 2000 Help for this topic.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.