Clustering the SCOM 2007 R2 RMS Role on a Microsoft SQL 2008 R2 Cluster (Part 4)

Welcome to Part 4 of my 'Clustering the SCOM 2007 R2 RMS Role on a Microsoft SQL 2008 R2 Cluster' blog series. Before you read through this section, please make sure you've read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of this series first to ensure you have your environment ready to create the SCOM 2007 R2 RMS cluster resources outlined below.

In this part of the series, we will create the SCOM 2007 R2 RMS Cluster Group and RMS Cluster Group Resources.

To prepare the Cluster Nodes, the RMS Cluster Group, and the RMS Cluster Group resources: 


1. On each RMS cluster node, ensure that the domain Operations Manager Administrators security group has been added to the local Administrators group.

2. Ensure that each cluster node meets the prerequisites for the management server and User Interface components:

• Windows Server 2003 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 
• MDAC version 2.80.1022.0 or later 
• .NET Framework version 2.0 
• .NET Framework version 3.0 features 
• WSMAN v 1.1 (this is only required if UNIX/Linux computers will be monitored in this management group). 

3. Add the Data Access and Config service account to the Local Administrators group on each node of the RMS cluster.

4. Log on to the cluster node that will be the primary owning node for the RMS with administrative rights.

5. Start the Failover Cluster Management tool from Administrative tools.

6. If this is the first time that the Failover Cluster Management tool has been run, you will be prompted to connect to a cluster. Select the Manage a cluster option from the Action drop-down box and either enter or browse for the cluster name for the Cluster or server name box.

7. In the Failover Cluster Management tool, right-click the Services and Applications folder to open the context menu and click Configure a Service or Application to start the High Availability Wizard.

8. On the Before You Begin page, click Next.

Note
If you have chosen a different port for SQL Server communications and have already configured that in SQL Server, you should enter that value here; otherwise, accept the default of 1433. If you have installed SQL Server using a named instance, type in the dynamic port value.

On the Select Service or Application page, select Other Server and click NEXT.

9. On the Client Access Point page, type in the network name that you have planned for your rms. This name will be registered in DNS as an A record.

10. Click the address box and type the IPv4 address you have planned for the rms. This is the publicly accessible address for the rms.

11. Click Next.

12. On the Select Storage page, select the disk resource that will be used for the rms. This should not be the quorum disk.

13. Click Next.

14. On the Select Resource Types page, click Next.

15. On the Confirmation page, review the information and click Next.

16. On the Summary page, optionally review the report and click Finish.

17. Right-click the application that you just created and open its properties. On the General tab, optionally select a preferred owner node and on the Failover tab, accept the default failover values and ensure that the Prevent failback option is selected.

18. Click OK.

Installing the RMS

In this procedure, you install the first management server in the management group (the RMS).

To prepare the Cluster and install RMS and User Interfaces Components:

1. Log on to the cluster node that will be the primary owning node for the RMS with administrative rights.

2. On your installation media, start SetupOM.exe. This starts the System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Setup Wizard on the Start page.

3. Under the Install heading, click Install Operations Manager 2007 R2. This starts the Operations Manager 2007 R2 Setup Wizard.

4. On the Welcome page, click Next.

5. On the End User License Agreement page, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option, and then click Next.

6. On the Product Registration page, enter the appropriate values in the User Name and Organization fields. Enter your 25-digit CD Key, and then click Next.

7. On the Custom Setup page, leave the management server and User Interfaces options set to This component, and all dependent components, will be installed on the local disk drive. Set the Database, Command Shell and Web Console components to This component will not be available, accept the default installation location, and then click Next.

8. On the SQL Server Database Instance page, type the SQL Server name and database instance in the SQL Database Name box. This is in the format of SQL Server\SQL Instance. If the SQL Server database was installed in the default instance, you only need to enter the SQL Cluster name that was created when you installed SQL Server 2008 in the cluster.

9. Check that the SQL Database Name field reads OperationsManager.

10. Check that the SQL Server Port field has the value of 1433.

Note
If you have chosen a different port for SQL Server communications and have already configured that in SQL Server, you should enter that value here; otherwise, accept the default of 1433. If you have installed SQL Server using a named instance, type in the dynamic port value.

11. Click Next.

12. On the Management Server Action Account page, accept the default Domain or Local Computer Account option, enter the credentials of the MSAA, and then click Next.

Note
By using a domain-based account, it will be much easier to perform discovery and push agent installation later on than if you chose the Local System account.

13. On the SDK and Config Service Account page, select the Domain or Local Account option, enter the credentials for the Data Access and Config service account, and then click Next.

Note
In this configuration, the account must be a domain account, because reporting is installed on a separate server. This account must have permissions on the reporting system.

Note
If you receive an Account Verification Error when you click Next, it is most likely that you mistyped the credentials or the SDK and Config service account was not added to the local Administrators group.

14. On the Customer Experience Improvement Program page, optionally indicate whether you want to join this program, and then click Next.

15. On the Microsoft Update page, optionally indicate whether you want to use the Microsoft Update services to check for updates, and then click Next.

16. On the Ready to Install the Program page, click Install when you are ready for the installation to proceed.

17. On the Completing the System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Setup Wizard page, clear the Start the Console check box, ensure that the Back up Encryption Key check box is selected, and then click Finish. The Encryption Key Backup or Restore Wizard will now launch.

Important
Even though the Operations console has been installed, do not launch the console at this point. Clear the Launch the Operations Console check box to prevent the Operations console from launching.

Note
If setup fails, it provides you with a value to search on and a link to open the setup log.

18. On the Introduction page of the Encryption Key Backup or Restore Wizard, click Next.

19. On the Backup or Restore? page, select Backup the Encryption Key option, and then click Next.

20. On the Provide a Location page, specify a valid path and file name for the encryption key and click Next.

Important
It is critical that the location provided for backing up the encryption key be accessible to all nodes in the cluster.

21. On the Provide a Password page, enter a password to secure the encryption key backup file and click Next to start the backup process. You will be prompted for this password when you restore the RMS encryption key later in this procedure.

22. You should see the Secure Storage Backup Complete page. Click Finish.

Note
Be sure to copy the encryption key to a location that is accessible by all computers that will be management servers. Also be sure to make multiple copies and store them in separate, secure locations.


Installing the Secondary Management Servers (Additional RMS Cluster Node Members)

In this procedure, you will install secondary management servers on all other nodes in the cluster. These servers are secondary management servers until this process is complete, at which time they will be able to host the root management server.

To install secondary management servers in the RMS cluster:

1. Log on to each remaining cluster node with the Operations Manager Administrator account.

2. Follow the ‘Install RMS’ procedures to install the management server and User Interface components on each of the other nodes in the management group.

3. Do not start the console.

Note
If you choose to install any management server without the User Interfaces component and you want to run SecureStorageBackup.exe, you must copy Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.UI.ConsoleFramework.dll, Microsoft.Mom.UI.Common.dll, and SecureStorageBackup.exe from the installation media (make sure to copy the correct platform version x86 or x64) to the installation directory on the management server. Typically this is C:\Program Files\System Center Operations Manager 2007. 

Preparing RMS Cluster Resources

In this procedure, you create cluster resources out of the System Center Management service (HealthService), the System Center Management Configuration service (OMCFG), and the System Center Data Access service (OMSDK). These are the RMS resources that can fail over between cluster nodes along with the network name, IP address, and physical disk.

1. Log on to the node that is the owner of the RMS application with an account that has administrative rights.

2. In Failover Cluster Management, right-click the RMS application in the navigation pane, and then select Add a resource 4-Generic Service.

3. On the Select Service page, select the System Center Management Service, and click Next.

4. On the Summary page, click Finish.

5. In the summary pane of your RMS application, right click the System Center Management resource and open its properties.

6. On the Dependencies tab, click Insert, and select the shared disk that you prepared for the RMS cluster from the Resource list.

7. Click Insert again and select the network name from the Resource list.

8. Click Apply.

9. On the General tab, select the Use Network Name for computer name option.

10. Click Apply.

11. Click OK

12. Repeat the same process for the System Center Management Configuration service and the System Center Data Access service.

That concludes Part 4 of this series of posts on 'Clustering the SCOM 2007 R2 RMS Role on a Microsoft SQL 2008 R2 Cluster'. In Part 5 we will create the RMS Cluster and test the Cluster configuration.