What does Windows error code 5009 (ERROR_CANT_EVICT_ACTIVE_NODE) mean?

ERROR_CANT_EVICT_ACTIVE_NODE

A cluster node cannot be evicted from the cluster unless the node is down or it is the last node.

ERROR_CANT_EVICT_ACTIVE_NODE is Win32 error 5009 (0x1391) and belongs to Failover clustering node eviction safety.

Troubleshooting steps

• Record target node state.
• Record cluster membership and quorum votes.
• Record roles currently owned by the node.
• Record drain, pause, and communication events.

What to verify

Verify whether the requested node is still active and cannot be evicted unless it is down or is the final node. Check target node state together with cluster membership and quorum votes.

Handling, retry, and recovery

Drain workloads, pause or stop the node according to the maintenance plan, verify quorum, and then use supported eviction.

Practical example

An administrator tries to evict a healthy node hosting roles.

References

• Microsoft: System Error Codes (4000–5999) — reference for error 5009.
• Microsoft: Failover clustering documentation — reference for error 5009.
• Microsoft: Get-ClusterLog — reference for error 5009.
• Microsoft: Troubleshoot unexpected cluster failover — reference for error 5009.