SMS: Available Programs Manager Cannot Process More Than 11 Advertisements for the Same Program (262312)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 SP2
This article was previously published under Q262312

SYMPTOMS

After a client computer receives more than 11 advertisements from the same program, the Offer Data Provider stops responding (hangs). No new offers are received until the next reboot, at which point the Offer Data Provider stops responding again. This behavior is repeated until the number of advertisements to the program is reduced.

CAUSE

This problem can occur because the Offer Data Providers merge the program details and associated offers and then send this information by using an anonymous pipe IPC connection to Available Programs Manager for processing. If the number of advertisements is greater than 11, the required buffer size exceeds 4 kilobytes (KB). The anonymous pipe is created with a default buffer size of 4 KB, but the IPC mechanism is configured to transmit blocks up to 6,000 bytes, so an attempt is made to transmit a buffer that is greater than 4 KB in a single block. The problem is that the WriteFile is blocked after 4 KB has been sent because the pipe is effectively full. The WriteFile is blocked indefinitely until a read is performed on the other end of the pipe. However, a read does not occur until it is signaled that the write is finished, which does not happen until the WriteFile completes, and WriteFile does not complete until it has transmitted the entire buffer. This results in the Offer Data Provider hanging.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Systems Management Server version 2.0. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

236325 How to Obtain the Latest Systems Management Server 2.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Systems Management Server version 2.0 and 2.0 SP1"/> This problem was first corrected in Systems Management Server version 2.0 Service Pack 2..

MORE INFORMATION

The client that is requesting the pipe connection passes its message size in the connection request. The server then allocates a pipe with a buffer size that permits the client to send the entire message at one time, but the server will deny a pipe connection to the client if its message size is greater than 64 KB. With this increase in the size of the buffer, it now permits a little over 100 advertisements per program.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/14/2005
Keywords:kbBug kbsms200fix kbsms200sp2fix KB262312
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