PCNS: Troubleshooting Event ID 6025

  • Article

Overview

You just recently installed and configured the Password Change Notification Service (PCNS) onto your Source Domain Controller(s).  You have configured the Synchronization Service Manager and Management Agents to work with Password Management.  You execute a test and receive an Event ID 6025 in the Application Event Log.

The Event ID 6025 can have a few different messages, which can control how you troubleshoot the Event ID 6025 error message.  Essentially, the Event ID 6025 indicates that the source domain controller is not able to communicate with the Synchronization Service Manager machine. 

One of the very first things to understand about your Password Management Solution is where the Synchronization Service Machine is setup.

  • Is the Synchronization Service Machine a member of the Source Forest or the Target Forest?

The password change notification target could not be authenticated

 

The password change notification target could not be authenticated.



User Action:

This usually happens under the following conditions:

1. The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the target has not been assigned to the Active Directory account used to host the target process.

2. The SPN is assigned to more than one Active Directory account.

3. The SPN is not properly formatted. The SPN must use the fully qualified domain name of the target system.

4. There is more than 5 minutes of time variance between this system and the target system.



Please verify that the SPN configuration and that the clocks on the two systems are synchronized to an authoritative time source.

 

The following iteration of the Event ID 6025 is an indication that there is a problem with the ServicePrincipalName that was configured on the Synchronization Service Account, and configured in the PCNS Configuration Data.

Here is a check list of items to check to isolate and resolve the issue:

  • Validate that the SPN set on the Synchronization Service Account matches exactly to the SPN specified in the PCNS Configuration File. ( Validation Steps )
  • Validate that there are no duplicate SPNs. ( Validation Steps )
    • This would include the Source and Target Forest, if you are setting PCNS up where the Synchronization Service Engine is in the Target Forest.
  • The name of the PCNS Configuration Target is note the same as the machine name for the Synchronization Service machine.
    • If the PCNS Configuration Target name is the same as the name of the machine that the Synchronization Service Engine is installed, an Event ID 6025 can occur. Utilize PCNSCFG –list to validate that the Target Name is unique and not the machine name for the Synchronization Service Engine.

Status 1753: There are no more endpoints available from the endpoint mapper

Password Change Notification Service received an RPC exception attempting to deliver a notification.

The password change notification target could not be contacted.

User Action:

The target server may not be running. Verify that the target server is running.

Additional Details:

Thread ID: 2880

Tracking ID: fd88787d-f2be-4ac6-96a9-e74413c65a0e

User GUID: 6f83f346-bd5d-441d-a1ba-be145499c89b

User: DOMAINNAME\username

Target: PCNS_CONFIGURATION_TARGET_NAME

Delivery Attempts: 1

Queued Notifications: 1

0x000006D9 - There are no more endpoints available from the endpoint mapper.

ProcessID is 3688

System Time is: 10/4/2011 13:26:13:248

Generating component is 2

Status is 1753 - There are no more endpoints available from the endpoint mapper.

Detection location is 501

Flags is 0

NumberOfParameters is 4

Unicode string: ncacn_ip_tcp

Unicode string: FQDN TO SYNCHRONIZATION SERVICE MACHINE

Long val: -647262927

Long val: 382312662

The following iteration of the Event ID 6025 is an indication of the inability to make a successful RPC connection to the Synchronization Server from the Source Domain Controller. The Source Domain Controller is where the Password Change Notification Service (PCNS) is installed.

Here are some focus points for troubleshooting and resolving the 6025 Event ID with a status of 1753. The focus should be around network connectivity, and some PCNS-Password Synchronization configurations.

Status 1747: The authentication service is unknown

 

Log Name: Application

Source: PCNSSVC

Date: 1/17/2013 3:50:48 PM

Event ID: 6025

Task Category: Error

Level: Error

Keywords: Classic

User: N/A

Computer: S324VM-DS03.CDSresource.pvt

Description:

Password Change Notification Service received an RPC exception attempting to deliver a notification.

Thread ID: 1584

Tracking ID: 68202185-6fbe-47f0-a0e7-c7cd50f87cd9

User GUID: 4257a2a1-ed52-402e-8c34-64b349c5b147

User: DOMAIN\FIMSynchronizationServiceAccount

Target: PCNSCFG

Delivery Attempts: 16

Queued Notifications: 1

0x000006D3 - The authentication service is unknown.

ProcessID is 4632

System Time is: 1/17/2013 23:50:48:449

Generating component is 2

Status is 1747 - The authentication service is unknown.

Detection location is 1710

Flags is 0

NumberOfParameters is 1

Long val: 0  

ProcessID is 4632

System Time is: 1/17/2013 23:50:48:449

Generating component is 2

Status is 1747 - The authentication service is unknown.

Detection location is 701

Flags is 0

NumberOfParameters is 2

Long val: 8

Long val: 0

 

This iteration of the Event ID 6025 is an indication that something is invalid with the configuration of the PCNS-Password Synchronization Solution.

Here are some focus areas to help troubleshooting and resolving the 6025 Event ID.

  • Validate that the SPN set on the Synchronization Service Account matches exactly to the SPN specified in the PCNS Configuration File. ( Validation Steps )
  • Validate that there are no duplicate SPNs. ( Validation Steps )
    • This would include the Source and Target Forest, if you are setting PCNS up where the Synchronization Service Engine is in the Target Forest.
  • Validate that the Synchronization Service is a Domain Account and not a Local Account
  • Validate that the Synchronization Service Account running the Synchronization Service Engine is a Domain Account.

FIM-TROUBLESHOOTING-PCNS: Event ID: 6025 – Status: 1747

Status 10060: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.

This status is an indication that the Password Change Notification Service (PCNS) is not able to succeed with the RPC connection because the Synchronization Service Manager Console cannot be opened.  The reason for this is there is no user in the FIMSyncAdmins Group.  

Add correct user to the FIMSyncAdmins group.

Additional Troubleshooting Tool Suggestions

If the above information has not assisted in resolving the issue, you can utilize some of the following tools to assist in troubleshooting/isolating the Event ID 6025.

  • Network Monitor 3.4 ( Download )
    • Utilize Network Monitor 3.4 to monitor network traffic. A simultaneous network trace is very beneficial in troubleshooting network related issues. In a PCNS Troubleshooting perspective, executing a network capture on the source domain controller, and the Synchronization Service Engine machine would be a good recommendation. Here are some protocols that will be of interest when reviewing the network capture information:
      • LDAP
      • KERBEROSV5
      • DNS
      • MSRPC
  • NSLookup
    • Utilize NSLookup to test/validate DNS Connectivity.

Appendix

Validate ServicePrincipalName between Synchronization Service Account and PCNS Configuration Data

 

The ServicePrincipalName (SPN) that is set on the Domain Synchronization Service Account needs to match exactly to that specified in the PCNS Configuration Data. The following steps should assist in validating this information. I have found that the easiest way to validate this information, is to dump the information to a text file, and then review the information.

  1. On the Source Domain Controller, Open an Administrative Command-Prompt by right clicking on the command prompt and selecting Run as Administrator.

  2. Change directory to %programfiles%\Microsoft Password Change Notification

  3. In the command-prompt, type the following and then press the ENTER key

    pcnscfg list > pcnscfg.txt

  4. In the command-prompt, type the following and press the ENTER key

    setspn –L <DOMAIN NAME>\SYNCHRONIZATION SERVICE ACCOUNT> > spn.txt

  5. Review both text files to ensure that the ServicePrincipalName (SPN) set on the Domain Synchronization Service Account matches exactly to the Service Principal Name line in the PCNS Configuration information.

  6. If they do not match, you may need to rebuild the information, or modify the information to ensure that the SPNs match.

Validate that Password Synchronization is enabled

This is extremely easy to validate and a common miss when setting up Password Management. Validation can be done through the following steps.

  1. On the Synchronization Service Manager machine, Open the Synchronization Service Manager Console

  2. From the Tools menu, select Options

  3. In the Options dialog, validate the check mark is beside the Enable Password Synchronization.

  4. Click Ok to close the Options Dialog

Firewall

In most cases a firewall between two machines in the same forest/domain normally does not occur. If there is, in most cases it will be that the Windows Firewall is enabled either on the Source Domain Controller and/or the Synchronization Service machine. The necessary ports need to be open in the Windows Firewall, if the intent is to keep the Windows Firewall enabled.

Firewalls are seen to be more of an issue in a Password Management Solution (PCNS-Password Synchronization Solution) between the Synchronization Service machine and the Target forest. Either way, ensure that the correct ports are open to allow communication between the servers.

PCNS does require DNS connectivity, Kerberos Connectivity and RPC Connectivity. RPC connectivity will require an open range of ports for RPC communication. Here is some more information about RPC.

Service

Protocol

Port

Kerberos

TCP/UDP

88

DNS

TCP/UDP

53

Kerberos Change Password

UDP

464

RPC Endpoint mapper

TCP

135

Dynamic RPC ports (PCNS)

TCP

5000-5100

 Validate duplicate SPNs

Duplicate Service Principal Names (SPN) can cause communication problems with the Synchronization Service Machine.  Searching for duplicate SPNs will depend on which Windows Server that you are currently running. 

Duplicate SPNs can be:

  1. The same SPN existing on multiple accounts in the same forest, or
  2. The same SPN existing on an account in the source forest, and in the target forest. 

We have seen #2 when the Synchronization Service Engine is installed in the Target Forest, and PCNS is setup and configured in the Source Forest and the Synchronization Service Account exists in both environments.  In this situation, you will want to use the –Q switch to help see if the SPN exists on both accounts.  It can only exist on one, the account that is being used for the Synchronization Service.

Windows Server 2008: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731241(WS.10).aspx

Query Mode Parameters

Description

Usage

-Q <spn>

Query for existence of SPN

setspn –Q SPN

-X

Query for duplicate SPNs

setspn –X

NOTE: Searching for duplicates, especially forest-wide can take a long period of time and a large amount of memory

 

Windows Server 2003

Recommend to download the SETSPN.EXE update from Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 970536. If the update is installed then the two commands above can be utilized for SPN searches.

 

 Validate Local Security Settings

At a minimum, all Domain Controllers that will be sending password changes must be given Access this computer from the network permissions. It is recommended not to change the default settings of this User Assignment.

 

The Default settings of the Access this computer from the network are:

  • Administrators ( The Local Administrators Group )
  • Everyone
  • Authenticated Users

 

You can validate this setting through the following steps:

  1. Navigate to Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy

  2. Expand Local Policies then select User Rights Assignment

  3. Select Access this computer from the network

  4. View the Properties for Access this computer from the network properties

 

For more information on the Access this computer from the network, review this Microsoft TechNet Document.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc740196(v=WS.10).aspx