Troubleshooting artifact database errors with AD FS 2.0

  • Article

Updated: May 5, 2010

Applies To: Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0

The following table provides troubleshooting guidance for the specific error event messages or other issues that you may encounter if you are having problems working with artifact databases in Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0.

Before you begin the troubleshooting process, we recommend that you first try to configure AD FS 2.0 for troubleshooting and check for known common issues that might prevent normal functioning for the Federation Service. For detailed instructions for configuring and performing related system checks, see Configuring Computers for Troubleshooting AD FS 2.0 and Things to Check Before Troubleshooting AD FS 2.0.

Event or symptom Possible cause Resolution

Event ID 286
Cannot connect to the artifact database.

The following are possible causes for this event to occur:

  • During the token issuance, an issued token inside of an artifact message could not be stored in the artifact database.

  • During the artifact resolution, the artifact could not be retrieved from the artifact database.

Also, this event might contain additional details that can be useful for SQL-specific troubleshooting: for example, if permissions or access for the current AD FS 2.0 service identity are not established.

Ensure that the artifact database is configured correctly. Use the Set-ADFSProperties cmdlet with the ArtifactDbConnection parameter (included in the Windows PowerShell cmdlets for AD FS 2.0) to modify the connection string, if necessary. Troubleshoot the connectivity to the artifact database.

For SQL-specific troubleshooting of permissions, see the procedure for verifying that the AD FS 2.0 service user account has permissions to access the configuration store in Things to Check Before Troubleshooting AD FS 2.0. You can reuse the same procedure that is provided there to verify permissions to the artifact store (AdfsArtifactStore) instead of the configuration store (AdfsConfiguration).

Event ID 287
Cannot add the artifact to the artifact database.

The following are possible causes for this event:

  • The artifact database might not be configured correctly.

  • If you are using Windows Internal Database (WID) to store artifacts, and you have a large number of artifacts that require storage (such as more than 100,000), you might have reached the WID database maximum size limit of 4 gigabytes (GB).

See the exception details within the event message for more details about the potential cause of this event.

The following are possible resolutions for this event:

  • Ensure that the artifact database is configured correctly. Troubleshoot the connectivity to the artifact database.

  • If artifact storage has caused WID to reach its maximum size limit, you might need to switch the artifact database option to use SQL Server instead.

Event ID 288
Cannot retrieve the artifact from storage.

Artifact storage in the AD FS 2.0 configuration database might not be configured correctly.

See the exception details within the event message for more details about the potential cause of this event.

Ensure that the artifact storage in the AD FS 2.0 configuration database is configured correctly. Troubleshoot connectivity to the artifact storage in the AD FS 2.0 configuration database.

Event ID 289
Cannot remove the artifact from storage.

See the exception details within the event message for more details about the potential cause of this event.

Ensure that the artifact storage in the AD FS 2.0 configuration database is configured correctly. Troubleshoot connectivity to the artifact storage in the AD FS 2.0 configuration database.

Event ID 290
Cannot set expiration for the artifacts in storage.

See the exception details within the event message for more details about the potential cause of this event.

Ensure that the artifact storage in the AD FS 2.0 configuration database is configured correctly. Troubleshoot connectivity to the artifact storage in the AD FS 2.0 configuration database.