SMS: Invalid Pointer Causes Low-rights Client Installation to Fail (262856)

SYMPTOMS

When a non-administrative user installs the Systems Management Server 2.0 client on a Windows NT 4.0 system via the logon installation method, installation fails and no client components are installed. When this behavior occurs, the following error is present in the Wn_logon.log:

ASSIGNMENT ***************************************
Before adding new sites, there are 1 site keys and 0 sites in the site list
   Site Key #0: "XXX"
Some sites in the registry are not assigned
Assessing assignment state from "\SITES\XXX"
Calling GetAccessiblePath with \SITES\XXX\ 
GetAccessiblePath failed for NAL path \SITES\XXX\. Error = 0x80004003
Warning: Unable to Check Assignment for site "XXX" - Invalid pointer
After adding any new sites, there are 1 site keys and 0 sites in the site list
   Site Key #0: "XXX" 
Not writing Site List data back to the registry (no new sites)
Client is not assigned to any sites - finished.
 STATUS CALLBACK -  -
ReWriteSitesRegistry returning 28931
Finished CliEx processing.
Unloading CliEx.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because the logged on user is not able to create registry entries under the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT registry hive. As a result, Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) components are not installed correctly and the client installation cannot be completed.

RESOLUTION

On the system experiencing this problem, verify the Interactive Group has the following permissions on HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and all its subkeys:

Query Value
Set Value
Create Subkey
Enumerate Subkeys
Notify
Delete
Read Control

NOTE: These are the default permissions for the Interactive Group, but may have been changed by an administrator for security purposes.

MORE INFORMATION

When the Systems Management Server client core components are installed, several Nal.dll files must be registered under the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT registry hive. If these files are not registered, NAL is unable to resolve paths on behalf of System Management Server client components, resulting in failure to install the client.