A Multi-Master Synchronization (MMS) causes Directory and Resource Administrator (DRA) 7.5 to become (NETIQKB54632)

fact
Directory and Resource Administrator 7.5

symptom
A Multi-Master Synchronization (MMS) causes Directory and Resource Administrator (DRA) 7.5 to become unresponsive and appear to hang.

symptom
Starting the NetIQ Administration service causes DRA 7.5 to become unresponsive for several minutes.

symptom
If DRA 7.5 is installed on a server that is running the Server 2003 or Server 2003 SP1 operating systems, DRA is 'locked' from access to the Assistant Admins (AA) during this period that the registry is being updated.  As a result, DRA is unresponsive and appears to hang during this registry merge process.  The registry merge happens during a MMS and may occur during server startup as well.    A Windows Server 2000 SP4 operating system may process a MMS within 45 seconds while the same process may take 15-20 min on a 2003 or 2003 SP1 server.  This is very apparent when the MMS file sent from the Primary to the Secondary servers is 5 Meg or larger.  The larger the file the longer the delay.

cause
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Server 2003 SP1 have changed the way that registry merges are accomplished and take considerably longer to process updates to the registry than previous operating system versions.

fix

This issue is addressed in NetIQ Directory and Resource Administrator and Exchange Administrator version 7.5 Hotfix 54632.

Hotfix 54632 corrects an issue with the way Directory and Resource Administrator (DRA) handles registry restoration during a Multi-Master Set (MMS) synchronization between primary Administration servers and secondary Administration servers and when you set the NetIQ Administration service to automatically start on secondary Administration servers.

When an MMS synchronization occurs, the primary Administration server exports the registry keys for different modules and transfers these files to computers running as secondary Administration servers. The secondary Administration servers delete the existing registry entries for these modules and restore the registry keys using the files from the primary Administration servers. If the secondary Administration server is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Microsoft Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 and if any of the exported files is large in size, the registry restoration takes a very long time and during this time, the secondary Administration server computer becomes unavailable. Similarly, if the NetIQ Administration service is set to start automatically and if you restart secondary Administration server, the secondary Administration server takes a long time to complete the registry restoration. This hotfix ensures DRA restores the registry one key at a time so that the registry is not completely locked during registry restoration. However, the registry restoration may take a longer time to complete and the NetIQ Administration service will continue to use more than 90% of the CPU during the registry restoration activity.

Note: This hotfix requires DRA version 7.5.

Perform the following steps on each secondary Administration server computer before or after installing this hotfix:

1. Start the Registry Editor interface.
2. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mission Critical Software\OnePoint\Administration\Modules\ServerConfiguration\Refresh.
3. On the Edit menu, click New > DWORD Value.
4. Type MMSRegRestoreType.
   • If the value data for the MMSRegRestoreType value is 0, then the secondary Administration server uses the old registry restoration method.
   • If the value data for the MMSRegRestoreType value is 1, then the secondary Administration server uses the new registry restoration method.
5. To change the value data, select MMSRegRestoreType.
6. On the Edit menu, click Modify and type 0 or 1.

To download and install this hotfix:

1. Close all DRA user interfaces.
2. Run the DRA75000_Hotfix54632.msi file on each secondary Administration server computer.

Hotfix 54632 modifies the EAObjProv.dll file on each computer where you installed a secondary Administration server. By default, these files are located in the Program Files\NetIQ\DRA folder.

For more information, please contact NetIQ Technical Support at https://www.netiq.com/support .

note
Warning: Using the Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. NetIQ Technical Support cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of the Registry Editor can be resolved. Make sure that you back up your Registry prior to making any changes.

Formerly known as NETIQKB54632