Error Message "Target Principal Name is Incorrect" When Manually Replicating Data Between Domain Controllers (288167)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP1
This article was previously published under Q288167

SYMPTOMS

When you use the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in to manually replicate data between Windows 2000 domain controllers, you may receive one of the following error messages:
The Target Principal Name is incorrect

-or-

Access is denied
In addition, the following event ID messages may be logged in the system log:
Event Source: Netlogon
Event Category: None Event ID: 3210
User: N/A Event Description:
Failed to authenticate with \\DOMAINDC, a Windows NT domain controller fordomain DOMAIN.

-and-

Event Source: Netlogon
Event ID: 5722
Event Category: None User: N/A Event Description:
The session setup from the computer 1 failed to authenticate. The name of the account referenced in the security database is 2. The following error occurred: n3

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, first determine which domain controller is the current primary domain controller (PDC) Emulator operations master role holder. To do this, use either of the following methods:
  • Install the Netdom.exe utility from Windows 2000 Support Tools, and then run the following command:

    netdom query fsmo

  • Start the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, right-click the domain, and then click Operations Masters. Click the PDC tab; the current role holder is displayed in the Operations Master window. On this tab, you can change the operations master role to the current computer in the second window (if this computer is not the current holder).
  • Use the Ntdsutil.exe utility (that is included in Windows 2000), and the Resource Kit command-line utility. However, these interfaces are recommended for more advanced users.
For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

234790 How to Find FSMO Role Holders

On domain controllers that are experiencing this issue, disable the Kerberos Key Distribution Center service (KDC). To do so:
  1. Click Start, point to Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
  2. Double-click KDC, set the startup type to Disabled, and then restart the computer.
After the computer restarts, use the Netdom utility to reset the secure channels between these domain controllers and the PDC Emulator operations master role holder. To do so, run the following command from the domain controllers other than the PDC Emulator operations master role holder:

netdom resetpwd /server:server_name /userd:domain_name\administrator /passwordd:administrator_password

Where server_name is the name of the server that is the PDC Emulator operations master role holder.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260575 How to Use Netdom.exe to Reset Machine Account Passwords

After you reset the secure channel, restart the domain controllers. Even if you attempt to reset the secure channel using the Netdom utility, and the command does not complete successfully, proceed with the restart process.

If only the PDC Emulator operations master role holder is running, the KDC forces the other domain controllers to resynchronize with this computer, instead of issuing themselves a new Kerberos ticket.

After the computers have finished restarting, start the Services program, restart the KDC service, and then attempt replication again.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

If there are multiple domain controllers in the domain, the error message that you receive when this issue occurs varies depending on which way replication is being attempted, and if one of the domain controllers that is involved is also the PDC Emulator operations master role holder.

In some cases, when you use the net view \\computername to attempt to connect to the domain controller that has the PDC Emulator operations master role from another domain controller, you may receive an "Access denied" error message. However, if you use the Internet protocol (IP) address, the command may succeed.

When this problem occurs, numerous errors may be reported in the event logs. These errors vary depending on any of the following conditions:
  • The domain controller was not fully functional before the problem occurred.
  • The domain controller did not successfully completed the Active Directory Installation Wizard process.
  • The Sysvol folder on the domain controller was not shared out.
  • The domain controller did not have the full file structure under the Domain_name folder and the Policies folder that is located in %SystemRoot%\Sysvol\Sysvol\Domain_name\Policies.
The following event is an example of an event that may be reported:
Event ID: 3034
Type: Warning
Source: MRxSmb
Description: The redirector was unable to initialize security context or query context attributes.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/22/2003
Keywords:kbenv kberrmsg kbprb KB288167
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