Distribution Manager does not work correctly after you upgrade a Systems Management Server 2.0 Service Pack 4 or later version site server to Systems Management Server 2003 (883981)

Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit 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 upgrade your site server that is running Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0 Service Pack 4 or later version to SMS 2003, the SMS 2003 Distribution Manager (SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER) may not function correctly. You may find that the inboxes are not created in the \SMS\Inboxes structure.

Additionally, many error messages that are similar to the following may appear in the SMS\Logs\Distmgr.log file:

~Waiting for the inbox manager to create the inboxes, retry in 10 seconds.

$$<SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER><Fri Nov 21 11:06:29.959 2003 Pacific Standard Time><thread=384

Note SMS 2003 supports an upgrade path from SMS 2.0 SP4 or later version. Therefore, this problem should also apply to SMS 2.0 SP4.

CAUSE

This problem typically occurs when you run the Access Control List (ACL) Reset tool (Aclreset.exe) in the SMS 2.0 SP5 site before you upgrade this site to SMS 2003. When you run Aclreset.exe, the SMS Service account permissions are reset at the root of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Inbox Source registry key. However, these permissions are not propagated down to the lower-level registry subkeys.

In this scenario, the SMS 2003 Service account may not have the correct permissions to delete the registry subkey because this subkey is locked. Therefore, this subkey is displayed in Registry Editor as follows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Inbox Source\Lock

RESOLUTION

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. To resolve this problem, grant the SMS Service account Full Control permissions to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Inbox Source subkey. Then, rerun the SMS 2.0 SP5-to-SMS 2003 upgrade operation. To do this, follow the steps that apply to your operating system.

Windows 2000

On the SMS 2.0 SP5 site server computer that cannot be upgraded correctly, click Start, click Run, type regedt32, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Inbox Source
On the Security menu, click Permissions.
In the Permissions for Inbox Source dialog box, click Add.
In the Select Users or Groups dialog box, click the SMS Service account, click Add, and then click OK.
In the Permissions for Inbox Source section, click to select the Full Control check box, and then click OK.
Quit Registry Editor.
Rerun the SMS 2003 upgrade operation.

Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003

On the SMS 2.0 SP5 site server computer that cannot be upgraded correctly, click Start, click Run, type regedt32, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Inbox Source
On the Edit menu, click Permissions.
In the Permissions for Inbox Source dialog box, click Add.
In the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, type the name of the SMS Service account in the Enter the object name to select dialog box. Then, click OK two times.
In the Permissions for Inbox Source section, click to select the Full Control check box, and then click OK.
Quit Registry Editor.
Rerun the SMS 2003 upgrade operation.