SharePoint 2013 – Distributed Cache stuck on Starting

I have added a new cache host to a SharePoint 2013 farm using the Add-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance cmdlet.  However, in Central Administration the service shows that it is stuck on Starting.  If I use the Get-SPServiceInstance cmdlet then I can see that it is still provisioning:

Get-SPServiceInstance | ? {($_.service.tostring()) -eq “SPDistributedCacheService Name=AppFabricCachingService”} | select Server, Status

I tried to fix this by removing the service instance and adding it again, but that didn’t work.  However, I found that it did work after installing the latest cumulative update for AppFabric 1.1 – here are the steps:

1. Gracefully stop the Distributed Cache Service instance:

Stop-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance – Graceful

2. Remove the Distributed Cache Service instance:

Remove-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance

3. Install Cumulative Update 5 for AppFabric 1.1 on all servers in the farm

4. Create the new instance:

Add-SPDistributedCacheServiceInstance

5. Start the new service in Central Administration