Can't remove active node from SQL Server 2008 R2 Clustered Instance

Question

I am trying to remove the active and only node from a SQL Server 2008 R2 failover cluster.

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Everything checks out and then I get this error

 Final result: Failed: see details below
 Exit code (Decimal): -568706566
 Exit facility code: 1562
 Exit error code: 14842
 Exit message: Cannot create a file when that file already exists. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800700B7)
 Start time: 2015年05月30日 16:09:38
 End time: 2015年05月30日 16:10:28
 Requested action: RemoveNode
2015年05月30日 18:47:12 Slp: Sco: Attempting to write hklm registry key SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\MSSQLServer to file C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server100円\Setup Bootstrap\Log20150530円_184438\Registry_SOFTWARE_Wow6432Node_Microsoft_MSSQLServer.reg_
2015年05月30日 18:47:13 Slp: Cannot create a file when that file already exists. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800700B7)
2015年05月30日 18:47:13 Slp: Watson bucket for exception based failure has been created
2015年05月30日 16:10:24 Slp: Error: Action "Microsoft.SqlServer.Configuration.SetupExtension.ValidateFeatureSettingsAction" threw an exception during execution.
2015年05月30日 16:10:24 Slp: Microsoft.SqlServer.Setup.Chainer.Workflow.ActionExecutionException: Cannot create a file when that file already exists. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800700B7) ---> System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x800700B7): Cannot create a file when that file already exists. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800700B7)
2

Any thoughts on what is causing this error?

• user4659: So the solution was adding a passive node to the instance and then removing the passive node and then the remaining active node

Answer 1

I needed to remove an instance that was only installed on one node on a two node cluster. This unwanted instance had never been installed on the second node.

The error in the summary and detail log files stored in Setup Bootstrap sent me in the wrong direction.

I finally resolved the issue by following the following steps.

1. Adding a node to the unwanted instance
2. Move the unwanted instance to the second node
3. Removed the node from the first node
4. Removed the node from the second node

Unwanted instance removed from the cluster.