Failed to configure the service NETLOGON as requested “the wait operation timed out.”

The root problem was that this domain controller had a DNS entry to another domain controller that no longer existed.  It was trying to contact it but couldn’t.  Removing that entry and running dcpromo.exe again solved it.

I discovered one more resaon beyond the obvious permissions problems.  If you put a graphic or something embded in a page, then publish that page but NOT the embeded object (i.e. it’s still draft or unapproved) you’ll get an auth prompt when the page loads.

On a busy (lots of stuff) page it can be tough to find what’s the issue.  The quickest way I’ve found to discover the problem (99% of time an image) is to cancel out of auth prompts, then look for broken stuff on the page.  An image you can right click the broken icon and find the location of it… then jump to that library and check the file.  My bet is it’s never been published.

OK so this blog post explains it well but it has gotten worse since that post a month ago.  Here’s an update and shorter version of what’s going on:

There’s a optional monitoring feature of OCS that many small shops likely won’t install. That’s fine, cus it’s optional right?  Well turns out it’s now required (actually just part of it, the MSMQ service) for a hotfix to successfully install.  That hotfix is now on Microsoft Update and is likely already on your box, WSUS, SCCM, SMS, etc: (KB967831).  The patch is not smart enough to either:

1. Do pre-check’s and prevent install unless you have MSMQ
2. Roll back it’s changes to leave you in a running state
3. Or ignore the fact that you don’t have something optional installed in the first place and just keep patching

So it leaves you a nice broke server to repair in the morning.  Front-End and Edge Services service stopped, with cryptic misleading Event Log messages.  So multiple boxes are down.  Crazy thing is this happens in a “default install” scenario as if no one full tested the patch or something.  I would give a pass for a hotfix, but a MU patch… fail!

Quick fix: install MSMQ (even though you don’t need it unless you setup RtcQmaAgent for OCS Monitoring) via this script (win2003 servers), then re-run the update either via MU or downloading and running it manually.

So far I’ve had one error.

The number of free tapes in the Tape Library Firestreamer Media Changer is less than or equals the threshold value of 40. You must add tape to the library and mark it as free in order to prevent future backups from failing. (ID 3305)

If you get an error about free tape threshold, be aware that DPM seems to have a fixed “free tape” threshold of 20%.  On the Firestreamer Media Changer, since it has 200 tape slots, that number is 40.  The error in DPM itself isn’t an issue assuming you have planned out how many tape file you need (and what size to make them), but if you want to keep your alerts screen clean, be sure to add enough virtual tapes to Firestreamer so that it never dips below 40 free.