Missing SQL Failover Cluster Dependency

You know it’s going to be a fun week when it starts out with an error you’ve never seen before while performing a task that seems about as simple as can be. All I need to do is create a database?

A tool that restores a model type database and does a bit of configuration work was failing. I took a look at the stores procedures and started to go step by step. It didn’t take long before getting this error message when attempting to restore/create a database:

Msg 5184, Level 16, State 2, Line 3
Cannot use file ‘D:\sql_log\CC_Test_name_4.ldf’ for clustered server. Only formatted files on which the cluster resource of the server has a dependency can be used. Either the disk resource containing the file is not present in the cluster group or the cluster resource of the Sql Server does not have a dependency on it.
Msg 3156, Level 16, State 3, Line 3
File ‘CC_Test_log’ cannot be restored to ‘D:\sql_log\CC_Test_name_4.ldf’. Use WITH MOVE to identify a valid location for the file.
Msg 3119, Level 16, State 1, Line 3
Problems were identified while planning for the RESTORE statement. Previous messages provide details.
Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 3
RESTORE DATABASE is terminating abnormally.

Luckily, this is one error message that’s pretty helpful and straightforward. While I wasn’t sure why the failover cluster settings would suddenly be wrong, that’s what the error message referenced so that’s what I wanted to check first.

Checking Failover Cluster Resource Dependencies

1. Start by opening Failover Cluster Manager
2. Expand your cluster in the pane on the left
3. Click on Roles and select the Role you’re troubleshooting
4. At the bottom of the window you should see a Summary tab and a Resources tab. Select the Resources tab
5. Under Other Resources right click on SQL Server and select Properties
6. In the new window that opens, select the Dependencies tab

In my case, a Resource that I was trying to use was not listed under Dependencies. The reason why is a mystery and that remains unsolved. In the meantime, I clicked Insert to add the dependency, went back into SSMS to test, and was able to restore a test database successfully.

That was it. A relatively easy fix and a chance to learn something new. Why can’t they all be that simple?

Thanks for reading!