SMS: Secondary Site Server Processor Utilization Is Always High (234257)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0

This article was previously published under Q234257

SYMPTOMS

On a Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0 Secondary Site Server, one of the following may occur:
  • Processor utilization may be unusually high when the SMS_Executive service is running.
  • The drive with Systems Management Server may fill due to large .clf files in the Sms\Inboxes\Colleval.box directory.
  • Advertisements targeted for a collection go to all resources that were members in the given collection at any time in the past.
  • A backlog of .psd files forms in the Sms\Inboxes\Colleval.box directory on the secondary site server.

CAUSE

The collection evaluator thread at secondary sites improperly processes collection updates.

WORKAROUND

Delete all the files in the Colleval.box directory. The next time the collections are updated at the parent site, the secondary site server will regenerate the contents of the sms_root_directory\Inboxes\Colleval.box directory automatically.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Systems Management Server version 2.0. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. service pack for Systems Management Server version 2.0. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

S E R V P A C K

MORE INFORMATION

When a change or update to a collection occurs, a re-evaluation is triggered at the secondary sites. The collection evaluator thread at the secondary site then builds .clf files to represent collection membership at the secondary site because there is no SQL server database available.

Collection evaluator then appends the updated membership list of a given collection to the existing .clf file for that collection rather than replacing the .clf file. The appending action leaves the previous entries that may or may not still be valid members of the collection in the .clf file. Also, this adds duplicate information to the .clf file, and slows future processing of the .clf file because of increased file size.

Eventually the collection evaluator thread can't process updates as fast as necessary and the collection evaluator develops a backlog of .psd files. When there is a backlog of .psd files, the collection evaluator thread is constantly processing resulting in high CPU utilization by the SMS Executive process.

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/14/2005
Keywords:kbBug kbCollections kbpending kbSoftwareDist KB234257