If you have installed a SQL Server cluster, you may encounter errors while adding a new node to the cluster. In this blog post, we will discuss one such error and how to fix it.

A client recently encountered an error while adding a second node to their SQL Server cluster. The error message in the Detail.txt file indicated the following:

(13) 2017-01-08 14:33:01 Slp: Rule evaluation message: This SQL Server edition does not support the installed number of cluster nodes. To continue, remove nodes and then complete cluster installation.

Initially, it was thought that the error was due to using the Standard edition of SQL Server, which has a limitation on the number of nodes in a cluster. However, upon checking the edition using the query SELECT SERVERPROPERTY ('Edition'), it was found that the client was using the Enterprise edition, which does not have this limitation.

Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the SQL setup was not able to determine the edition correctly. The error log showed the following line:

(13) 2017-01-08 14:33:01 Slp: Rule 'Cluster_NumberOfNodes' edition Invalid allows 0 cluster nodes.

It was also observed that the file sqlboot.dll, which is used to get the version using a checksum value, was missing from the path “C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\120\Shared”. This could have been caused by an incomplete setup on Node1 and a manual fix that was attempted.

Although this error is rare, it can be resolved by ensuring that the necessary files are present in the correct locations. In this case, the missing sqlboot.dll file needed to be restored to the Shared folder.

It is important to note that troubleshooting such errors may require advanced knowledge of SQL Server internals. The internet can be a valuable resource for finding solutions and understanding the underlying causes of these issues.

Have you ever encountered a similar error while adding a node to a SQL Server cluster? Share your experiences in the comments below!