Event 51228 is logged in the System log, and changes are not saved to the Metabase.xml file after you make configuration changes in IIS 6 (902161)

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Internet Information Services 6.0 (IIS), after you make configuration changes by using Internet Information Services Manager or a programmatic interface, an error message that is similar to the following is logged in the System log:

Source: IIS Log
Type: Error
Category: Catalog
Event ID: 51228
Description: An error occurred while saving the metabase file. This can happen when the metabase XML file is in use by another program, or if the disk is full. Check for corresponding events in the event log for more details.(null)(null)(null)(null)
ErrorCode : 0x80070020

Additionally, the changes are not saved in the Metabase.xml file that is on the disk.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use one or both of the following methods:

Method 1: Free disk space on the hard disk

If you cannot save the configuration information in the Metabase.xml file because of insufficient disk space, delete unnecessary files on the hard disk to free disk space.

Method 2: Exit the program that has a write lock on the Metabase.xml file

If a program that is running on the computer has a write lock on the Metabase.xml file, exit the program to release the Metabase.xml file.

Note You can use the Filemon.exe or Handle.exe programs to determine the program that has a write lock on the Metabase.xml file. To obtain Filemon.exe or Handler.exe, visit the following Web site:

http://www.sysinternals.com/ProcessesAndThreadsUtilities.html

MORE INFORMATION

When you start IIS, the configuration settings are read from the Metabase.xml file and loaded into the IIS cache. The configuration information that is stored in active memory is also known as the in-memory metabase. When you use Internet Information Services Manager or a programmatic interface to modify the IIS configuration settings, the changes are made to the metabase that is in the IIS cache. The changes that are stored in the IIS cache are written to the Metabase.xml file on the hard disk according to the following rules:

After the first change is written to the metabase in the IIS cache, a timer is started. After two minutes, IIS starts to save the changes to the disk if you made 30 or fewer changes.
If you made more than 30 changes, the write-to-disk procedure is postponed, and the 2-minute timer is restarted.
Changes are written to the Metabase.xml file on the disk if you make 30 or fewer changes during the 2-minute timer cycle.
After the timer is restarted five times, the metabase configuration data in the IIS cache is written to the Metabase.xml file on the disk regardless of the number of changes that you made.