How to Update Windows Server Failover Cluster Nodes Safely
Applies to: Windows Server 2025 / 2022 / 2019 / 2016 / 2012 R2 / 2012 / 2008 R2 / 2008 / 2003 Updating a Windows Server Failover Cluster should be done one node at a time so clustered workloads remain available while each node is patched and restarted. The basic method is simple: drain roles from a node, pause it, install updates, restart it, validate it, and then return it to the cluster. The original version of this article covered service packs on Windows Server 2003, 2008, and 2008 R2. Current Windows Server versions use the same rolling-maintenance idea, but modern Failover Clustering also provides Cluster-Aware Updating (CAU) to automate much of the process. In This Article 1. Before You Start 2. Manual Rolling Update Process 3. Cluster-Aware Updating…
