FIX: Error message when you try to set up a virtual server on more than one node in SQL Server 2000: "Setup is in resume mode in some of the cluster nodes"

A SQL Server 2000 virtual server setup or a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 1 (SP1) setup for a virtual server configured to run on more than one node, may fail with following error message in the Sqlstp.log file: In the preceding error message, the node with a return status of 2, NODEC, is the node that has the following error message in the SqlstpN.log file: All the logs for a SQL Server setup are located in the %WINDIR% folder. For example, with a typical Microsoft Windows 2000 Server setup, the log files are in the C:\Winnt folder.

There is a delay in the start of the unattended silent installations on one of the nodes. The main setup process (Sqlstp.log is the log file for the main setup process) starts the unattended silent installation (SqlstpN.log on the respective nodes represent the log files for these setup threads).

During the setup, SQL Server creates a Resume key after the completion of each setup stage so that the program can keep track of where to continue the setup in case of a failure. In each of the silent unattended installations, the setup process checks for the presence of a Resume key on all the cluster nodes to see if there are any incomplete setup operations. If one of the silent unattended installations on one of the nodes progressed faster than the corresponding installations on the other nodes, the SQL Server setup process on the faster node has a Resume key created in its registry. When the SQL Server setup program initiates a Resume key check on the slower node, the Resume key check returns a failure. When the failure occurs, the setup fails and error messages shown in the "Symptoms" section occurs.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To work around this problem, use the method that is appropriate for your version:

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 RTM (8.00.0194)

1. Install a single node virtual server by running the Setup program. For more information and detailed steps, refer to the "How to install a one-node failover cluster (Setup)" topic in SQL Server 2000 Books Online.
2. Add the second node to the virtual server by running Setup. For more information and detailed steps, refer to the "How to add nodes to an existing virtual server (Setup)" topic in SQL Server 2000 Books Online. Repeat step 2 for any number of nodes that you want to add to the virtual server.

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 1 (SP1) - (8.00.0384)

1. Install a single node virtual server by running the Setup program. For more information and detailed steps, refer to the "How to install a one-node failover cluster (Setup)" topic in SQL Server 2000 Books Online.
2. Apply SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 1 (SP1) to the virtual server you installed in step 1.
3. Add a second node to the virtual server by using the SQL Server 2000 CD. For more information about adding a node to a virtual server, refer to the "How to add nodes to an existing virtual server (Setup)" topic in SQL Server 2000 Books Online.
   
   Now, you have an installation that has SQL Server 2000 SP1 level binaries on the first node, and RTM binaries on the second node.
4. On the node that you added to the virtual server, run the SQL Server 2000 SP1 Setup program. The SQL Server 2000 SP1 Setup updates the binaries on the node that you added to the virtual server in step 3 and completes the configuration of the resources on the node.
   
   NOTE: In this step, do not initiate the service pack setup from the node on which the virtual server was first installed because that may cause the problem discussed in the "Symptoms" section to re-occur.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft SQL Server 2000.

This problem was first corrected in Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 2.