This is an original planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, an official standard, or legal advice. Example addresses use documentation ranges. Review every command before you paste it.
What this hour is for
The planner takes a replica count, at least two, and says an even number of votes can tie. Add a fileshare witness or another voter so the majority is odd. The script generator reads replica name, synchronization state, and log send queue. The header says to review the draft before running. It does not fail the group over.
Do not fail over during the reading. Do not add a replica you do not administer. A vote count is not a cluster you have built.
192.0.2.10, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. A sample password is replaced. It is not a password you keep.
The change you can finish
Apply nothing while you are writing the note. When the lab window opens, it is one change on the database named in the ticket. Read the draft, then the database, then decide.
Rollback is the backup, the file, or the snapshot you saved first. You do not invent a rollback after the only copy is gone.
- Type the replica count.
- Read the vote count.
- Read the state query.
- Do not fail over.
- Stop.
Mistakes that outlive the statement
SQL Server Always On Availability Groups goes wrong in a small set of ways. The list is here so the ticket can forbid them before the window.
- A failover during the reading.
- An even vote left with no witness.
- A replica you do not administer.
- The state query treated as a completed setup.
Decisions to write down
One decision for SQL Server Always On Availability Groups: The replica count is written. The votes are odd or a witness is named. Nothing failed over. And the instance is yours.
Checks before you call it done
Confirm this before you call the change done: Replicas are written. Votes are written. The state query was read. Nothing failed over. And the instance is yours. If one of those fails, stop.
-- An even number of votes can tie.
-- The script reads replica state.
-- Do not fail over during the reading.Before you leave the database
SQL Server Always On Availability Groups ends when the database in the prompt is the database in the ticket. If it is not, you are on the wrong database. Stop.
The draft stays a draft until a person has read the names in it. A generator does not log into the database. You delete a line that names a host, a database, or an account you did not write down.
192.0.2.10, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. They belong in the note. They are not values you leave on a database because a draft included them.
prompt-for-this is a reminder that a secret is missing. It is not a password, a key, or a token you save in the ticket or in git. A sample password in a draft is replaced. It is not a password you keep.
One change is the window. If two things move and the result is wrong, you will not know which one did it.
If the same step fails twice, stop for the day. Restore the copy you took first.
A second person reads the database name and the change aloud. If they cannot find them in the ticket, the note is not done.
This page is a planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, not an official standard, and not permission to touch a database you do not administer. You do not disable authentication, a firewall, or TLS to make a check pass.
Tools for this guide
These tools run in the browser on this site. They do not log into your machines.
Related pillar guides
More in this cluster
The pillar for this page, and the next published pages filed with it.