Symptoms
When you install MicrosoftSQL Server 2008 on a Windows Server 2008-based cluster, the cluster validation rule of the setup process may fail. Additionally, you may receive the following error message:

Error : “Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) cluster verification errors” failed. The cluster either has not been verified or there are errors or failures in the verification report. Refer to KB953748 or SQL server books online for more information”The setup log filemay contain a message that resembles the following:

2008-05-20 05:27:18 Slp: Evaluating rule: Cluster_VerifyForErrors
2008-05-20 05:27:18 Slp: Rule running on machine: SQLNode_Name
2008-05-20 05:27:18 Slp: Rule evaluation done: Failed
2008-05-20 05:27:18 Slp: Rule evaluation message: The cluster either has not been verified or there are errors or failures in the verification report.For example, the setup log file (Detail.txt) may be located in the following folder:
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20090316_112604For a successful validation, the rule will have an entry that resembles the following:
Computer_name: Cluster_VerifyForErrors: Passed
Resolution
The validation process may fail under various conditions. When this issue occurs, you must perform a manual validation to make sure that the hardware configuration is correct before you try any workaround that is mentioned in this article. You can use the references that are mentioned in the “References” section for more information about how to validate clusters in Windows Server 2008-based environments. This helps prevent additional problems that you may experience in the future, if you use the workaround when underlying problems actually exist.