How to run CHKDSK /F on a dynamic volume in a cluster dynamic disk group that is controlled by Microsoft Cluster Service, VERITAS Storage Foundation (tm) for Windows HA or VERITAS Cluster Server (tm)

At some point it may be necessary to run CHKDSK /F on a volume in a cluster dynamic disk group to correct any possible problems with the file system on that volume. CHKDSK will require to lock the volume for exclusive use and if it is unable to lock the volume because of open handles,  the system will schedule AUTOCHK to be run the next time the system starts up. Volumes in a cluster dynamic disk group will not be mounted at system startup because the cluster service is responsible for importing the cluster dynamic disk group. This will cause a failed attempt by AUTOCHK as AUTOCHK will attempt to run before any system services startup.

The following procedure will work for all clustering products identified in the title.

1. Close any applications that may have open handles to the volume.

2. Open the cluster management tool, Microsoft Cluster Service will be Cluster Administrator and Storage Foundation for Windows HA or VERITAS Cluster Server will be Cluster Explorer, and take the service group offline that contains the volume that CHKDSK is intended to be run against
    a. For Storage Foundation for Windows HA, you will need to stop Veritas Cluster high availability engine by issuing "hastop -local -force" from the command prompt. Note that this step will not offline any other service groups that may be running on the same node
 

b. For Microsoft Cluster stop Microsoft cluster service by issuing "net stop clussvc" from the command prompt. Note that this step will offline any other cluster groups that may be running on this node. It is therefore recommended that all other cluster groups are moved over to other available cluster nodes
 

3. Open the VERITAS Enterprise Administrator (VEA) tool

4. Under the disk groups object on the left window pane,  right click and select import on the cluster dynamic disk group name that contains the volume against which CHKDSK is intended to be run

5. If the volume has not already been assigned the drive letter, right click on the volume in the VEA, select File System from the context menu, then select Change Drive Letter and Path from the submenu. Assign a drive letter that you will later use to run CHKDSK command on
6. Ensure the drive letter assigned to the volume during previous step is visible through Windows explorer and run CHKDSK from a command prompt window

7. Once the CHKDSK has completed
    a. In VEA, under the disk groups object on the left window pane,  right click and select deport on the cluster dynamic disk group that you just ran CHKDSK on
    b. For Storage Foundation for Windows HA, you will need to start the high availability engine by issuing "hastart" from the command prompt. For Microsoft Cluster you will need to run "net start clussvc" from the command prompt.
    c. Return to the cluster management tool and bring the service group online


Note: This article is a supplement to the Microsoft article https://support.microsoft.com/kb/176970. Review that article for more information about performing this operation on the Quorum resource in a Microsoft Cluster Service environment.