How to Recover from a Corrupted Quorum Log

Microsoft Cluster Server maintains details about changes within the cluster via a quorum log file. If this file becomes corrupted for any reason, it is possible that the cluster service may not start.

The quorum log contains recovery information for the cluster and information about changes to the cluster configuration. When the cluster service starts, it reads the quorum log file. The service can handle some error conditions regarding this file and may elect to discard the file and create a new one. In this case, Microsoft Cluster Server writes the following message in the Windows NT system event log: If the log file becomes corrupted and cannot be reset, the cluster service may not start. To correct this problem, you must use the "noquorumlogging" option when starting the Cluster service. This option allows the cluster to start without quorum logging. You may then access the quorum disk and remove the corrupted Quolog.log file.

Use the following procedure to help recover from this situation:

1. If the Cluster service is running, use Control Panel on both nodes to stop the Cluster service.
2. On one node, use the Services tool in Control Panel to specify "-noquorumlogging" as the startup parameter for the Cluster service and start the service.
3. On the quorum disk, run Chkdsk. If the disk does not show corruption, the log file may be corrupted. In this case, delete the Quolog.log file and any .tmp files located in the MSCS folder on the quorum disk.
4. In Services, stop the Cluster service, and then start the Cluster service without startup parameters. After the service starts, you may start the service on the other node.

NOTE: When you disable quorum logging within a cluster, changes to the cluster configuration cannot be logged. If a node goes offline during this period, recent changes may be lost if changes could not be communicated to the other node. Quorum logging should only be disabled when necessary to recover from log file corruption.