Smsapm32 Creates Large "Complete" Job Files on Client Computers (271696)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0
  • Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 SP2
This article was previously published under Q271696

SYMPTOMS

Computers that have the Systems Management Server (SMS) Advertised Programs client agent installed may experience sluggish performance, with a lot of memory allocated to Smsapm32.exe (as viewed by using Performance Monitor or Task Manager). Files in the Windows\Ms\Sms\Clicomp\Apa\Data\Complete folder may be large (larger than 10 KB) and contain repeated instances of inactive advertisements.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if both of the following conditions exist:
  • A specific program has more than one Advertisement.
  • One or more of the advertisements has expired.
The Advertised Programs client agent (Smsapm32) improperly writes information about the expiration of an advertised program repeatedly to files in the Complete folder. Smsapm32 uses the information from the files in this folder to identify which advertisements have already run or expired. As the files grow larger, more memory is allocated to track the associated data, and client performance may be reduced.

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 issue, do not create multiple advertisements of the same package/program combination and then subsequently expire one or more of them. Instead, if an advertisement is expired, delete it before creating a new advertisement for the same program.

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

Smsapm32 writes a Complete file to the <Windows>\Ms\Sms\Clicomp\Apa\Data\Complete folder when it has successfully run a program from an advertisement. The Complete file is an indicator that the program ran; it prevents the program from run again. Smsapm32 reads the contents of the Complete folder to determine if the offers available to the client have been run.

Below is a sample instance of inactive advertisement list exhibiting the problem of duplicates, resulting in excessive memory use and processor utilization by SMSAPM32.EXE. Note the duplication of instance data: 

   {
     instance of Advertisement
     {
          AdvertID = "AAA20009";
          ODP = "System";
          Site = "AAA";
     };
     instance of Advertisement
     {
          AdvertID = "AAA20009";
          ODP = "System";
          Site = "AAA";
     };
     instance of Advertisement
     {
          AdvertID = "AAA20009";
          ODP = "System";
          Site = "AAA";
     };
     instance of Advertisement
     {
          AdvertID = "AAA20009";
          ODP = "System";
          Site = "AAA";
     };
     ...

In addition, we may also get multiple ODPKey instances. The following is an excerpt from a complete file with this problem: 

instance of Active Advert List
{
        PackageId = "MS000176";
        instance of ODPKeyList
        {
                instance of ODPKey
                {
                        ODP = "System";
                        Site = "MS0";
                };
                instance of ODPKey
                {
                        ODP = "System";
                        Site = "MS0";
                };
                instance of ODPKey
                {
                        ODP = "System";
                        Site = "MS0";
                };

Note that the multiple instances of ODPKey may also cause high CPU utilization on the client from the SMSAPM32.EXE process, and large amounts of network traffic.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/26/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbBug kbfix kbsms200fix kbsms200preSP3fix kbSoftwareDist KB271696
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.