Article ID: 935197 - Last Review: September 11, 2009 - Revision: 3.0

You cannot upgrade the operating system of a clustered server from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 and from Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2008 R2

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SYMPTOMS

When you try to upgrade the following server operating systems, the upgrade is blocked:

Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2008 R2

When this problem occurs, the following error message is recorded in the System Compatibility report:

You must make the following changes before upgrading Windows

Uninstall the following Windows components and features:
Server Clustering - Please read Microsoft Knowledge Base article: 935197

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This behavior occurs because the server is a cluster member. Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 do not support an upgrade of clustered servers from previous versions. This is because of incompatibilities between the cluster versions.

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WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, use one of the following methods, as appropriate for your situation.

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Method 1: Clean installation

Perform a clean installation of Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 on the nodes in the cluster.
Install the Failover Clustering feature, create a new cluster, and then reconfigure the cluster settings.

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Method 2: In-place migration

To perform in-place migration, visit the following Microsoft Web site for more information:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=142796 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=142796)

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STATUS

This behavior is by design.

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MORE INFORMATION

The Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Help files contain more information about supported paths from previous versions of clustered servers.

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