The SMS Agent Host service may take as long as 15 minutes to quit on an SMS 2003 Advanced Client (870653)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003


Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

SYMPTOMS

When you log off a Terminal Services session to a Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 Advanced Client, the SMS Agent Host service (Ccmexec.exe) may take as long as 15 minutes to quit. This issue may also occur if you try to manually stop the SMS Agent Host service while you are in a remote session. These symptoms occur only when you are in a remote desktop session.

Additionally, you may see many entries that are similar to the following in the Ccmexec.log file:
<![LOG[Failed to find running shell process]LOG]!><time="09:57:46.047+420" date="06-28-2004" component="CCMEXEC" context="" type="0" thread="75508" file="usertoken.cpp:606">

CAUSE

This issue occurs because the SMS Agent Host service tries to find the Explorer.exe process in session 0. If the SMS Agent Host service does not find the Explorer.exe process, the SMS Agent Host service examines the ShellWaitTime value in the registry. If the ShellWaitTime value is not set, the SMS Agent Host service sets a value of 15 minutes (900 seconds) to give the Explorer.exe process time to start.

WORKAROUND

To decrease the SMS Agent Host service delay, manually set the ShellWaitTime value in the registry of the client computer. To do this, follow these steps on the client computer.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.
  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. Locate the following registry subkey:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\CCM\CcmExec

  3. Right-click CcmExec, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
  4. Type ShellWaitTime as the value name, and then press ENTER.
  5. Double-click the ShellWaitTime value, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
A value of 1 directs the SMS Agent Host service to wait for 1 minute instead of for 15 minutes when it tries to determine whether a user is logged on to the computer.

Note If the client computer is running Windows 2000 and has the Run logon scripts synchronously policy enabled, set ShellWaitTime to a value that exceeds the time that is required for a client to finish running its logon script. For example, if the logon script takes 1 minute to finish, set ShellWaitTime to 2. If you set this value too low, CcmExec may miss user logons. Also, an SMS program may not run if it is configured to run only when a user is logged on.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:3/16/2006
Keywords:kbTermServ kbService kbClient kbtshoot kbPerformance kbRemoting kbinterop kbprb KB870653 kbAudITPRO
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