SMS: Package That Contains a Long File Name May Not Decompress (267977)

SYMPTOMS

When a package that contains long file names is distributed from a Microsoft Windows 2000-based parent site server to a child site that is running Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Systems Management Server (SMS) Distribution Manager may not decompress the package. In the Distmgr.log file, you may receive the following error message:

Failed to write to the output file, Win32 Error = 13
Cannot decompress package D:\SMSPKG\BD100007.PCK to D:\_S M4YZ5.TMP, CTool return code = 4

Additionally, Distribution Manager may report the following error message:

Message ID: 2321 Message Text: SMS Distribution Manager failed to decompress package BD100007 from D:\SMSPKG\BD100007.PCK to D:\_S M4YZ5.TMP.

CAUSE

This problem can occur when you use the BackupRead function on a computer that is running either Microsoft Windows 2000 Server or Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server. This function returns additional data at the end of a file. The additional data reports that the corresponding BackupWrite function cannot be interpreted when you run the function on a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0-based computer.

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:

288239 SMS: How to Obtain the Latest Systems Management Server 2.0 Service Pack

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods:

Use a Windows NT Server 4.0-based computer to hold the package source files for the SMS package that is being created on a Windows 2000-based site server. After you copy the source files to the Windows NT Server 4.0-based computer and share them on the network, define the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to that share as the package source folder.

-or-
Copy the package to another folder on the same server before you specify the copied folder as the package source folder. When you copy the package files, the extra data is removed from the files (this change is not visible when you use Windows Explorer). After the extra data is removed from the files, the problem no longer occurs.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Systems Management Server 2.0 Service Pack 3.

MORE INFORMATION

You should apply this fix to all sites in the SMS hierarchy. Also, you should re-create any package that has this decompression problem after you apply the fix because the fix works with the way that the package is created and not with the way that the package is decompressed. If you have used one of the workarounds in this article to correct the problem for a package, you do not need to re-create the package.

After you apply this fix to a site, this problem can still occur with a package that contains a certain type of file. If the package source files contain a file with a long file name that is zero (0) bytes in size, the package may not decompress correctly. To resolve this problem:

Open the file, and then save the file in Microsoft Windows Notepad.
Copy the file to another folder, and then copy it back to the original folder.