Windows server sp2 on cluster

I need to upgrade a w2k3 cluster to sp2 and researched any potential problems. I found a potential problem with the ms dtc service. I have read a lot of postings and kb´s but no one is 100% clear. The supported solution seems to make the ms dts service a clustered resource even if you don´t need it.


Steps to enable network DTC access
1. Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.
2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
3. Select Application Server, and then click Details.
4. Select Enable network DTC access, and then click OK.
5. Click Next.
6. Click Finish.
7. Restart the computer.

If you are running Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1), you must follow these additional steps:
1. In Control Panel, open "Component services".
2. Expand Component Services, expand Computers, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
3. On the MSDTC tab, click Secuity Configuration under Transaction Configuration, click to select the Network DTC Access check box under Secuity Settings, and then click to select the following check boxes under Transaction Manager Communication: . Allow Inbound . Allow Outbound
4. You cannot select Mutual Authentication Required. Therefore, click to select one of the following check boxes: . Incoming Caller Authentication Required . No Authentication Required Note For more information about these options, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 899191 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899191/) New functionality in the Distributed Transaction Coordinator service in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and in Windows XP Service Pack 2 5. Make sure that the Logon Account is set to NTAUTHORITY\NetworkService.
6. Click OK. A message box explains that the MS DTC Service will be stopped and restarted, and that all dependent services will also be stopped and restarted. Click Yes. Note If this is a Majority Node Set (MNS) cluster, do not use the MNS resource as the storage device for MS DTC. MS DTC requires a storage resource such as a physical disk.
7. Restart the computer.This section documents how to install MS DTC through Cluster Administrator on all nodes in a cluster. You only have to install the MS DTC once in Cluster Administrator and MSDTC will be configured on all nodes in the cluster. You do not have to install MS DTC manually on each node.

1. Start Cluster Administrator. To do so: a. Click Start, and then point to All Programs b. In Administrative Tools, click Cluster Administrator.
2. Create a Group Named "MSDTC Group" that contains a Physical Disk, Network Name, and an IP Address. To do so: a. In the File Menu select New, and then click Group. The New Group Wizard is available. b. Follow the instructions that the New Group Wizard provides to create the MSDTC Group. Note When creating the MS DTC, moving the resource group into a group other than SQL Server or Exchange Server group is highly recommended. Creating the MS DTC resource in its own resource group and assigning it to a separate cluster group keeps the resource highly available. Note If you create the resource in the same cluster group, and if Resource A has failed over, Resource B will also failover. When you create the resouce in a different cluster group, even when Resource A has failed over, the resource B does not failover. Creating Cluster Resouces in the different cluster groups decreases unnecessary failovers of the Cluster Resouces. Important After the new group for MS DTC is created you must create the Network Name, IP address and Physical Disk for Msdtc. You may already have the physical disk resource that can be moved into the new group. After the MS DTC Group is created you must create the IP address resource, Network Name resource and the Physical disk resources. You may already have a physical disk resource that must be moved into the new MS DTC group. 3. Create an IP address resource: a. Right-click the MS DTC group, and then click New\Resource. b. Type a descriptive name such as MSDTC IP Address. c. In Resource Type, click IP Address, click to select the MSDTC Group check box, and then click Next. d. In Possible Owners, click Next unless you do not want MS DTC to run on a particular node. e. In Dependencies, do not add any dependencies, and then click Next. f. In TCP/IP Address Parameters, select the public network, type the unique static IP address for MS DTC, and then click Next. g. Click Finish, and then click OK to confirm that the resource has been created.
4. Create a Network Name resource: a. Right-click the MS DTC group, and then click New\Resource. b. Type a descriptive name such as MSDTC Network name. c. In Resource Type, click Network name, click to select the MSDTC Group check box, and then click Next. d. In Possible Owners, click Next unless you do not want MS DTC to run on a particular node. e. In Dependencies, add the MS DTC IP address as a resource dependency, and then click Next. f. In Name, type the network name for the MS DTC resource, and then click Next. g. Click Finish, and then click OK to confirm that the resource has been created.
5. Create a "Physical disk" resource. Note You may already have a physical disk resource created. If so, you will have to move this physical disk resource into the MS DTC group and go to the next step. a. Right-click the MS DTC group, and then click New\Resource. b. Type a descriptive name such as MSDTC Physical disk. c. In Resource Type, click Physical disk, click to select the MSDTC Group check box, and then click Next. d. In Possible Owners, click Next unless you do not want MS DTC to run on a particular node. e. In Dependencies, do not add any dependencies, and then click Next. f. In Disk Parameters, click the physical disk that you will use for MS DTC. g. Click Finish, and then click OK to confirm that the resource has been created.
6. Right-click the MS DTC Group, and then click New\Resource.
7. Type a name, such as MSDTC Resource.
8. In Resource Type, click to select Distributed Transaction Coordinator, verify that the MSDTC Group is selected, and then click Next.
9. In Possible Owners, click Next unless you do not want MS DTC to run on a particular node. 10. In Dependencies, press and hold the CTRL key on the keyboard, select both the Physical Disk and Network Name that you created in step 2, and then click the Add button.
11. Click Finish, and then click OK to confirm that the resource has been created. Note You should not put the MS DTC resource online before you follow the instructions in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 817064 to enable Network DTC Access.
12. Complete the steps that are documented in Knowledge Base article 817064. 13. Right-click the MSDTC Resource, and then click Bring Online.