Q. How can I change a Windows Server 2008 cluster quorum from the command line?

A. You can use the cluster.exe command to change a cluster’s quorum mode. To view the existing quorum mode for a cluster, you use the following command (in the format cluster cluster name /quorum), as follows:

C:\>cluster savdalclusfs01 /quorum

You’ll get this output:

Witness                Resource Name                                Path Type
--------------------- --------------------------------------------- --------
(Node Majority)        Majority

To change the quorum mode, you add a resource for the type of quorum mode you want—for example, a file-share witness—as follows. (Both the commands you enter and their output are shown.)

C:\>cluster /cluster:savdalclusfs01 res "File Share Witness" /create /group:"Cluster Group" /type:"File 

Share Witness" /priv SharePath=\\savdaldc02\fsw

Creating resource 'File Share Witness'...

Resource             Group                Node            Status
-------------------- -------------------- --------------- ------
File Share Witness   Cluster Group        savdalclus01    Offline

C:\>cluster /cluster:savdalclusfs01 res "File Share Witness" /online

Bringing resource 'File Share Witness' online...

Resource             Group                Node            Status
-------------------- -------------------- --------------- ------
File Share Witness   Cluster Group        savdalclus01    Online

C:\>cluster savdalclusfs01 /quorum:"File Share Witness"

Witness               Resource Name                                 Path Type
--------------------- --------------------------------------------- --------
File Share            Witness Majority

Notice we add the file share as a resource, bring the new resource online, then tell the cluster to use that resource for the quorum. Unlike the procedure for changing the cluster quorum via the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Failover Cluster Management snap-in, you must give the cluster computer object, and not the administrator, full control on the share. That is, for my cluster I must add account savdalclusfs01$ with full control to the share fsw on server savdaldc02.

To change quorum to a disk witness, you need to move a disk resource into the cluster group, like this:

C:\>cluster res "Quorum Disk" /move:"Cluster Group"

Moving resource 'Quorum Disk' to group 'Cluster Group'...

Resource             Group                Node            Status
-------------------- -------------------- --------------- ------
Quorum Disk          Cluster Group        savdalclus01    Online

Now you need to tell the cluster to use the disk for the quorum:

C:\>cluster /quorum:"Quorum Disk"

Witness               Resource Name                                 Path Type
--------------------- --------------------------------------------- --------
Quorum Disk           F:\Cluster\                                   Majority

Note that if you add /disk to the end of the command, you tell the cluster to use disk only and not Node and Disk Majority (the normal mode).

C:\>cluster /quorum:"Quorum Disk" /disk

Quorum Resource Name Path                                          Type
-------------------- --------------------------------------------- --------
Quorum Disk          F:\Cluster\                                   No Majority--Disk Only

You can switch to Node Majority only by running the following command:

C:\>cluster /quorum /node

Witness Resource Name Path                                          Type
--------------------- --------------------------------------------- --------
(Node Majority)                                                     Majority

The screencast below takes you through using the command line to perform this and other Server 2008 cluster-configuration tasks.

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