Steps for prestaging the cluster name account



It is usually simpler if you do not prestage the cluster name account, but instead allow the account to be created and configured automatically when you run the Create Cluster wizard. However, if it is necessary to prestage the cluster name account because of requirements in your organization, use the following procedure.
Membership in the Domain Admins group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477. Note that you can use the same account for this procedure as you will use when creating the cluster.

To prestage a cluster name account
  1. Make sure that you know the name that the cluster will have, and the name of the user account that will be used by the person who creates the cluster. (Note that you can use that account to perform this procedure.)
  2. On a domain controller, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
  3. In the console tree, right-click Computers or the default container in which computer accounts are created in your domain. Computers is located in Active Directory Users and Computers/domain node/Computers.
  4. Click New and then click Computer.
  5. Type the name that will be used for the failover cluster, in other words, the cluster name that will be specified in the Create Cluster wizard, and then click OK.
  6. Right-click the account that you just created, and then click Disable Account. If prompted to confirm your choice, click Yes.
    The account must be disabled so that when the Create Cluster wizard is run, it can confirm that the account it will use for the cluster is not currently in use by an existing computer or cluster in the domain.
  7. On the View menu, make sure that Advanced Features is selected.
    When Advanced Features is selected, you can see the Security tab in the properties of accounts (objects) in Active Directory Users and Computers.
  8. Right-click the folder that you right-clicked in step 3 , and then click Properties.
  9. On the Security tab, click Advanced.
  10. Click Add, click Object Types and make sure that Computers is selected, and then click OK. Then, under Enter the object name to select, type the name of the computer account you just created, and then click OK. If a message appears, saying that you are about to add a disabled object, click OK.
  11. In the Permission Entry dialog box, locate the Create Computer objects and Read All Properties permissions, and make sure that the Allow check box is selected for each one.
    Create Computer objects permission
  12. Click OK until you have returned to the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.
  13. If you are using the same account to perform this procedure as will be used to create the cluster, skip the remaining steps. Otherwise, you must configure permissions so that the user account that will be used to create the cluster has full control of the computer account you just created:
    1. On the View menu, make sure that Advanced Features is selected.
    2. Right-click the computer account you just created, and then click Properties.
    3. On the Security tab, click Add. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
    4. Use the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box to specify the user account that will be used when creating the cluster. Then click OK.
    5. Make sure that the user account that you just added is selected, and then, next to Full Control, select the Allow check box.

      Properties box with Full Control permission
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