As a migration strategy is it possible or feasible to detach a master database in a Microsoft SQL Server cluster and then attaching a different master database's files from another cluster?
The goal is to migrate a cluster from one server to a different one.
Both are SQL Server 2000.
SQLServer can't work without a master database at all as it stores essential configuration information in it (such as the table of databases in the system), so it wouldn't allow you to detach it. However, provided the SQLServers being the exact same version, you'll probably run into no problems if you stop the SQLServer services in both ends, copy the master database files from the one system to another (keep the old ones just in case), and start the services agan. It will be safer if neither server has any other databases in the system.
Detach/attach is quite easily the most dangerous way to "migrate" a user database, never mind a system database.
Why do you think you need to migrate master specifically? It is probably much cleaner and safer to just create a new instance, migrate the things you need from master (logins, etc.), and then backup/restore your user databases.
(And if you have a new server, why on earth is it running SQL Server 2000?)
