Unable to determine if the computer '<CLUSTER-NAME>' exists in the domain - New-Cluster cmdlet

Question

I am trying to run the New-Cluster command via staf to create a cluster on (Windows server 2012 R2, having failovercluster role enabled) and PowerShell version is 3.0.

Tried 2 different ways but none of it is working for me. When I am passing session parameter to Invoke-Command, it's able to find New-Cluster cmdlet, but when I try without session, it is not able to find the cmdlet.

Here is the snippet of both methods:

Staf "start shell command" way:
When I use this method, I encounter the error as seen below:
```
staf <Server-IP> process START SHELL COMMAND :187:Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock
```
Error I get is as seen below:

New-Cluster : The term 'New-Cluster' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.

Using PSSESSION way:

staf <Server-IP> process START SHELL  COMMAND :221:$ps = New-PSSession; Invoke-Command -session $ps -ScriptBlock

New-Cluster command executes, but it fails with error as seen below:

New-Cluster : Unable to determine if the computer '<CLUSTER-NAME>' exists in
the domain '<DOMAIN-NAME>'.
&plus; CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (New-Cluster : U...XXXXXXXX'.:String) [], RemoteException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandError
    + PSComputerName        : localhost

An operations error occurred.
At C:\XXXXXX.ps1:7 char:1
&plus; New-Cluster -Name $cluster -Node $nodes -StaticAddress $staticaddress
&plus; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [New-Cluster], ClusterCmdletException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : New-Cluster,Microsoft.FailoverClusters.PowerShell.NewClusterCommand

I don't want to use session parameter, is there any way by which we can use the non-default modules for remote command invocation? Can someone please suggest if I am missing any needed input or please suggest if I should try some other method to attain the expected result.

Did you Import-Module FailoverClusters in the 1st approach? — vonPryz
When I use Import-Module in 1st approach, I get exactly same error as seen in approach 2. i.e.` New-Cluster : Unable to determine if the computer '<ClusterName>' exists in the domain` — Vivek Baviskar
Can you create a cluster via GUI tools? This might be a permissions problem too, refer to cluster troubleshooting. — vonPryz
From GUI it works perfectly fine, also when I execute the cmdlet locally it works as expected. Problem is when I execute same cmdlet via STAF ( using Domain Administrator credentials) it throws error as mentioned in case 2 above. — Vivek Baviskar

Vish Vish · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-22T08:04:14

The main points here are as follows:

The computers which you want to create a WSFC from, must be part of a domain.
Importantly, the New-Cluster command should be run as a user belonging to a domain, instead of a local account.

Run the powershell script as a domain account:

Import-Module FailoverClusters New-Cluster -Name SomeCluster -Node <NodeName>

Unable to determine if the computer '<CLUSTER-NAME>' exists in the domain - New-Cluster cmdlet

1 Answers