Edit pass

Author: rwestMSFT

docs/linux/sql-server-linux-deploy-pacemaker-cluster.md

@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ title: Deploy a Pacemaker Cluster for SQL Server on Linux
 description: Learn to deploy a Linux Pacemaker cluster for a SQL Server Always On availability group (AG) or failover cluster instance (FCI).
 author: rwestMSFT
 ms.author: randolphwest
-ms.date: 01/02/2026
+ms.reviewer: atsingh
+ms.date: 01/15/2026
 ms.service: sql
 ms.subservice: linux
 ms.topic: install-set-up-deploy
@@ -52,36 +53,42 @@ Use the following syntax to install the packages that make up the high availabil
    sudo subscription-manager list --available
    ```
 
-For RHEL 10, the list command is as follows
-```bash
+   For **RHEL 10**, use the following command:
+
+   ```bash
    sudo subscription-manager repos --list
    ```
 
-From the list of available pools, note the pool ID for the high availability subscription.
+   From the list of available pools, note the pool ID for the high availability subscription.
 
-1. Run the following command to associate RHEL high availability with the subscription.
+1. Run the following command to associate RHEL high availability with the subscription. In this example, `<PoolId>` is the pool ID for the high availability subscription from the previous step.
 
    ```bash
    sudo subscription-manager attach --pool=<PoolID>
    ```
 
-   In this example, *PoolId* is the pool ID for the high availability subscription from the previous step.
-
 1. Enable the repository to use the high availability add-on.
 
-RHEL 7
+   **RHEL 7**
+
    ```bash
    sudo subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-ha-for-rhel-7-server-rpms
    ```
-RHEL 8
+
+   **RHEL 8**
+
    ```bash
    sudo subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-highavailability-rpms
    ```
-RHEL 9
+
+   **RHEL 9**
+
    ```bash
    sudo subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-9-for-x86_64-highavailability-rpms
    ```
-RHEL 10
+
+   **RHEL 10**
+
    ```bash
    sudo subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-10-for-x86_64-highavailability-rpms
    ```
@@ -101,13 +108,13 @@ Install the High Availability pattern in YaST, or install it as part of the main
 
 ### [Ubuntu](#tab/ubuntu)
 
-Ubuntu 20.04
+**Ubuntu 20.04**
 
 ```bash
 sudo apt-get install pacemaker pcs fence-agents resource-agents
 ```
 
-Ubuntu 22.04 and later versions
+**Ubuntu 22.04** and later versions
 
 ```bash
 sudo apt-get install pacemaker pcs fence-agents resource-agents-base resource-agents-common resource-agents-extra
@@ -125,7 +132,7 @@ Pacemaker uses a user named `hacluster` that you create on the distribution. On
    sudo passwd hacluster
    ```
 
-1. On each node that will be part of the Pacemaker cluster, enable and start the `pcsd` service with the following commands (RHEL and Ubuntu):
+1. On each node that will be part of the Pacemaker cluster, enable and start the `pcsd` service with the following commands (RHEL and Ubuntu).
 
    ```bash
    sudo systemctl enable pcsd
@@ -144,7 +151,7 @@ Pacemaker uses a user named `hacluster` that you create on the distribution. On
    sudo systemctl start pacemaker
    ```
 
-   On Ubuntu, you see an error:
+   On Ubuntu, you see the following error.
 
    ```output
    pacemaker Default-Start contains no runlevels, aborting.
@@ -162,28 +169,55 @@ This section describes how to create and configure the cluster for each Linux di
 
 ### [Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)](#tab/rhel)
 
-1. Authorize the nodes:
+1. Authorize the nodes. In these examples, `<NodeX>` is the name of each node.
+
+   **RHEL 7**
+
+   Replace `<password>` with the password for `hacluster`.
 
-RHEL 7
    ```bash
-    sudo pcs cluster auth <Node1 Node2 ... NodeN> -u hacluster -p <password for hacluster>
-    sudo pcs cluster setup --name <PMClusterName> <node1> <node2> <node3>
-    sudo pcs cluster start --all
-    sudo pcs cluster enable --all
+   sudo pcs cluster auth <Node1 Node2 ... NodeN> -u hacluster -p <password>
    ```
 
-   In this example, *NodeX* is the name of the node.
+   **RHEL 8** and later versions
 
-RHEL 8 and later versions
-For RHEL 8 and later versions, you need to authenticate the nodes separately. Manually enter in the username and password for hacluster when prompted.
-```bash
-    sudo pcs host auth <node1> <node2> <node3>
-    sudo pcs cluster setup <PMClusterName> <node1> <node2> <node3>
-    sudo pcs cluster start --all
-    sudo pcs cluster enable --all
+   Manually enter the username and password for `hacluster` when prompted.
+
+   ```bash
+   sudo pcs host auth <Node1> <Node2> <Node3>
+   ```
+
+1. Create the cluster. In this example, `PMClusterName` is the name you assign to the Pacemaker cluster.
+
+   **RHEL 7**
+
+   ```bash
+   sudo pcs cluster setup --name <PMClusterName> <Node1> <Node2> <Node3>
    ```
 
-   In this example, `PMClusterName` is the name you assign to the Pacemaker cluster.
+   **RHEL 8** and later versions
+
+   ```bash
+   sudo pcs cluster setup <PMClusterName> <Node1> <Node2> <Node3>
+   ```
+
+1. Start the cluster on all nodes.
+
+   ```bash
+   sudo pcs cluster start --all
+   ```
+
+1. Enable the cluster to start when the computer starts.
+
+   ```bash
+   sudo pcs cluster enable --all
+   ```
+
+1. Verify the cluster status.
+
+   ```bash
+   sudo pcs status
+   ```
 
 ### [SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)](#tab/sles)
 
@@ -203,13 +237,13 @@ The process for creating a Pacemaker cluster is different on SLES than it is on
 
 1. Finally, you're prompted to configure an IP address for administration. This IP address is optional, but functions similar to the IP address for a Windows Server failover cluster (WSFC). It creates an IP address in the cluster to be used for connecting to it via HA Web Konsole (HAWK). This configuration is also optional.
 
-1. Ensure that the cluster is up and running by issuing:
+1. Ensure that the cluster is up and running.
 
    ```bash
    sudo crm status
    ```
 
-1. Change the `hacluster` password with:
+1. Change the `hacluster` password.
 
    ```bash
    sudo passwd hacluster
@@ -219,21 +253,21 @@ The process for creating a Pacemaker cluster is different on SLES than it is on
 
    :::image type="content" source="media/sql-server-linux-deploy-pacemaker-cluster/image2.png" alt-text="Screenshot of hacluster.":::
 
-1. On another SLES server that will act as a node of the cluster, run:
+1. On another SLES server that will act as a node of the cluster, run the following command:
 
    ```bash
    sudo ha-cluster-join
    ```
 
 1. When prompted, enter the name or IP address of the server that you configured as the first node of the cluster in the previous steps. The server is added as a node to the existing cluster.
 
-1. Verify the node was added:
+1. Verify the node was added.
 
    ```bash
    sudo crm status
    ```
 
-1. Change the `hacluster` password:
+1. Change the `hacluster` password.
 
    ```bash
    sudo passwd hacluster
@@ -243,50 +277,53 @@ The process for creating a Pacemaker cluster is different on SLES than it is on
 
 ### [Ubuntu](#tab/ubuntu)
 
-Configuring Ubuntu is similar to RHEL. However, there's one major difference: installing the Pacemaker packages creates a base configuration for the cluster, and enables and starts `pcsd`. If you try to configure the Pacemaker cluster by following the RHEL instructions exactly, you get an error. To fix this problem, perform the following steps:
+Configuring Ubuntu is similar to RHEL. However, there's one major difference: installing the Pacemaker packages creates a base configuration for the cluster, and enables and starts `pcsd`. If you try to configure the Pacemaker cluster by following the RHEL instructions exactly, you get an error. To fix this problem, perform the following steps.
 
-1. Remove the default Pacemaker configuration from each node:
+1. Remove the default Pacemaker configuration from each node.
 
    ```bash
    sudo pcs cluster destroy
    ```
 
 1. Create the cluster. In this example, `PMClusterName` is the name you assign to the Pacemaker cluster, and `Nodelist` is the list of node names separated by a space.
 
-Ubuntu 20.04
+   **Ubuntu 20.04**
 
    ```bash
    sudo pcs cluster setup --name <PMClusterName Nodelist> --start --all --enable
    ```
 
-Ubuntu 22.04 and later versions
+   **Ubuntu 22.04** and later versions
+
+1. Authorize the nodes. In this example, `NodeX` is the name of the node.
 
-1. Authorize the nodes:
    ```bash
    sudo pcs cluster auth <Node1 Node2 ... NodeN> -u hacluster
    ```
-In this example, NodeX is the name of the node.
 
-2. Create the cluster:
-```bash
+1. Create the cluster. In this example, `PMClusterName` is the name you assign to the Pacemaker cluster, and `Nodelist` is the list of node names separated by a space.
+
+   ```bash
    sudo pcs cluster setup <PMClusterName Nodelist>
    ```
-In this example, PMClusterName is the name you assign to the Pacemaker cluster, and Nodelist is the list of node names separated by a space.
 
-3. Start cluster on all nodes
-```bash
+1. Start the cluster on all nodes.
+
+   ```bash
    sudo pcs cluster setup <PMClusterName Nodelist>
    ```
 
-4. Enable cluster to start on boot
-```bash
-sudo pcs cluster enable --all
-```
+1. Enable the cluster to start when the computer starts.
 
-5. Verify cluster status
-```bash
-sudo pcs status
-```
+   ```bash
+   sudo pcs cluster enable --all
+   ```
+
+1. Verify the cluster status.
+
+   ```bash
+   sudo pcs status
+   ```
 
 ---
 
@@ -324,6 +361,7 @@ sudo systemctl restart mssql-server
 ## Next step
 
 In this tutorial, you learned how to deploy a Pacemaker cluster for SQL Server on Linux. You learned how to:
+
 > [!div class="checklist"]
 > - Install the high availability add-on and install Pacemaker.
 > - Prepare the nodes for Pacemaker (RHEL and Ubuntu only).