SMS: Deleting Computers Fails with "Out Of Locks" Errors (153368)

SYMPTOMS

Deleting a large number of computers from the SMS Administrator tool fails with "out of locks" errors. No computers are deleted, and the following error is displayed:

Couldn't delete all the items.

Error attempting to delete the requested items. Items have been removed from the query result list but not necessarily from the database. Refresh the data to ensure the result is correct.

The following error is displayed in the SQL messages window:

Msg SQL Server has run out of LOCKS. Re-run your command when there are fewer active users, or ask your System Administrator reconfigure SQL Server with more LOCKS.

Msg The rollback transaction request has no corresponding BEGIN TRANSACTION.

CAUSE

All the computers in the query window are locked during a delete. Each lock uses 32 bytes. For example, 10,000 locks uses 320,000 bytes, which are then unavailable for caching the database.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, add more locks in SQL Server. If you must perform a one-time delete of a large number of computers, you can increase the number of locks specifically for the delete operation and then reduce the number of locks later.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Systems Management Server versions 1.0, and 1.1, and 1.2. This problem is not as severe under Systems Management Server version 1.2.