Cluster Administrator May Not Connect and Error 53 Message Is Displayed

When you attempt to start the Cluster Administrator tool (Cluadmin.exe), you may receive the following error message: Then when you click OK, you may receive the following error message:

This behavior can occur if the Cluster service is not running on any node in the cluster or if the cluster network name resource is offline.

This behavior can occur even if you are trying to start Cluster Administrator on a node on which you know the Cluster service is installed. Typically, Cluster Administrator prompts you to start the Cluster service if it detects that the Cluster service is not running; however, because you are attempting to connect to a cluster name which is not online on any node, the computer cannot determine when to start the service.

NOTE: If you specify a node name, Cluster Administrator can determine if the service starts. If the service does not start, Cluster Administrator prompts the user to start the service.

To resolve this behavior, verify that the Cluster service is running on at least one node in the cluster. If the service is not running, start it by using the Services tool. You can also attempt to connect to the cluster by specifying one of the nodes, or you can connect to the cluster locally, if you click Run on the Start menu, and then type cluadmin.exe in the Open box.

For additional information about Cluster Administrator switches for connecting to a cluster, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

If the cluster does not start, refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles for information about troubleshooting techniques: