SMS: Client Does Not Use Existing Connection for CAP or DP (226113)

SYMPTOMS

A Systems Management Server (SMS) client does not not use existing connections or mapped drives to Client Access Points (CAPs) or Distribution Points (DPs) when it is attempting to connect to these site systems as documented in the "Systems Management Server Administrators Guide." Existing client connections are not evaluated. Instead, CAPs are randomly selected from the site's CAP list. DPs are randomly selected from the list of valid DPs on a per-package basis.

CAUSE

The client does not have the ability to reuse a mapped drive. The only time a mapped drive is used is when requested by software distribution. From the Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) perspective, a mapped drive is not a visible resource, regardless of context. Only a device-less connection is reused. This behavior is by design.

The client only uses the IPC$ share to ping a server for presence under certain circumstances in which the call to NetServerGetInfo is not working. The connection is made, and then instantly released. This behavior is also by design.

WORKAROUND

Because sites are defined as resources connected by fast, reliable links, this should not be a problem for most environments. The SMS client always assumes that all CAPs and DPs will be accessible over fast, reliable links.

In the rare case in which it is necessary to force a client to go to a particular CAP or DP, the Preferred Distribution Point Selection tool (Prefserv) from the Microsoft BackOffice Resource Kit volume 4.5 may be of use.

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

205406 SMS: Client Access Point and Distribution Point Selection

226115 SMS: Preferred Distribution Point Selection Requires Full Path to Package