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Q172951: How to Recover from a Corrupted Quorum Log

Article: Q172951
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): 4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbsetup
Last Modified: 09-AUG-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0 
- Microsoft Cluster Server 
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SUMMARY
=======

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.

MORE INFORMATION
================

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:

  Event ID:1019
  Event Type:Warning
  Event Source:ClusSvc
  Event Category:Log Mgr
  Description: The log file Q:\MSCS\quolog.log was found to be corrupt. An
  attempt will be made to reset it, or you should use the Cluster Administrator
  utility to adjust the maximum size.

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.

Additional query words: MSCS

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Keywords          : kbsetup 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTSEntSearch kbWinNTSEnt400 kbWinNTS400search kbAudDeveloper kbClustServSearch
Version           : :4.0
Issue type        : kbhowto

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