Server pingable but can't RDP or connect to UNC path
Hi, I have a Windows Server 2003 SP2 server which is being used purely as a file server. It's VM with 4GB ram and 2Ghz Dual core CPU. The strange thing it's doing at the moment is almost every morning access to the server is gone. I can ping the server but cannot RDP or UNC to the server using the FQDM or IP Address. If I try to log on at the console there is no login screen. I have checked the event logs but can't find anything strange causing this. If I check the performance stats on VMware it shows me there is CPU and Memory activity but not network activity. This is starting to happen more frequently and the only way I can get access to the server again is to manually reboot it and I am scared I might lose some data if I have to keep doing this.
May 27th, 2010 12:12pm

For testing, leave an RDP session logged on over night. In the morning, when the problem is happening, drop to a command prompt and execute a netstat -an. I have seen this problem when the server has run out of endpoints or ports. I do not have an answer to the question, but this might be a start.
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May 28th, 2010 8:24am

Hi, Based on your description, I understand that you encounter a RDP issue to your server. You may check the following items to troubleshoot this issue. Step 1: Check Terminal Service License ------------------------------------------ Please ensure that the terminal server can contact an activated Terminal Services Licensing server which has enough TS CALs installed. Step 2: Check the Service of Terminal Service is automatic and started ------------------------------------------ Click Start, and Run "Services.msc" without quotes, navigate to Terminal Service item and make sure the Startup Type is automatic and Status is started Step 3: Check the terminal service is listening on the port 3389. ------------------------------------------ Run "netstat -na|findstr 3389" on the terminal server. Which interfaces are 3389 port listening on? Please ensure the firewall does not block the port traffic. Step 4: Add users who need to remote desktop to the Remote Desktop Users group on the terminal server. Step 5: Allow logon through Terminal Services ------------------------------------------ To connect to terminal server properly, users need to be granted the "Allow logon through Terminal Services" right. Logon as administrator, click Start -> Run, type "rsop.msc" in the text box, and click OK. Locate the [Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\User Rights Assignment] item. Check the "Allow log on through Terminal Services" item to see whether this policy is defined. If so, the "Source GPO" column displays the policy that defines this policy. Please ensure "Administrators", "Remote Desktop Users", and any other desired users are granted this right. If it is different, please configure the corresponding policy to grant the permission. Check the "Deny log on through Terminal Services" item to see whether this policy is defined. If so, the "Source GPO" column displays the policy that defines this policy. Please ensure that the user or any user groups that remote user belongs to is not included in this right. If so, please modify the corresponding policy to remove them. Click Start -> Run, type "cmd" in the text box, and click OK. Run the following command to refresh policy: gpupdate /force Wait for a while so that the group policy is replicated and then try to connect to the server again. Step 6: Allow logon to Terminal Server ------------------------------------ To grant a user these permissions, start either the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in or the Local Users And Groups snap-in, open the user’s properties, click the Terminal Services Profile tab, and make sure the check box "Deny this user permissions to logon to Terminal Server" is NOT selected. Step 7: Check TS permission ---------------------------- I understand that you may have checked this setting. Just for your reference, please double check this setting again: Open the Terminal Services Configuration snap-in. Right click the Rdp-Tcp item, and click Properties. In the Permissions tab, click "Advanced". Click the "Default" button to set the permission to the default state. Close the RDP-Tcp Properties dialog. Reopen it to ensure that Remote Desktop Users have "User Access" and "Guest Access" permission, Administrators has Full Control permission, and there are no deny entries. Click OK. Regards, Wilson JiaThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Please click "Mark as Answer" when you get the correct reply to your question.
May 28th, 2010 9:53am

Hi Wilson I have run through the steps you suggested, I just wanted make sure you understand the problem with the server correctly. It's not just the RDP connectivity that goes away, if I try to connect to servers via UNC like \\servername\shared folder\ the connection fails. If I Open my VMware Infrastructure Management Console and connect to the server, I only see the server background but there is no option to press Alt+Gtrl+Del or anything. When I restart the server it goes back to normal. Regards
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June 1st, 2010 12:16pm

Hi Dewalt, Thank you for your response. Based on your description, we can infer the server is not working properly and this issue lies in VMware program. As it is manufactured by a company independent of Microsoft, we are not the best resource to troubleshoot this issue. I suggest contacting WMware for directly assistance. Thank you for your understanding. Regards, Wilson JiaThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Please click "Mark as Answer" when you get the correct reply to your question.
June 2nd, 2010 12:31pm

I remember having this problem a few times in a non WMware related environment, so I dont think thats what causing it. Hows the disk space on C:\?
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June 2nd, 2010 2:46pm

Hi Jesper Disk Space on the C:\ drive is 40 GB free of the 50 GB Allocated. I agree that this can't be a problem with VMware. Were are running 18 Windows Server 2003 servers on this Blade Center for the last 2 years, all of them on VMware and only this one server is giving me issues. I had the same issue on physical server. But that server had some heavy load : DC, DHCP ,DNS ,Application Server, Exchange server, Print Server, File Server. When I added and additional server and could move some of the roles to the new server the problem was resolved. However the server giving me problems now is used only as a file server and does not have any other roles assigned to it. Regards.
June 3rd, 2010 8:26am

Hiya, Just really trying to remember what the cause of this was when we saw that problem.. Is there anything in your event log regarding the RPC service failing? - I do remember a problem we had with the RPC service suddenly failing and unable to start again until the server was rebooted.. From foggy memory and some good colleauges, we saw that in some cases it was relating to the WinRM service. So we isolated that service and that seemed to help quite alot on stability. running "sc config WinRM type=own" without quotationmarks. The above service tweaking was done with reference to the below post: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2008/01/11/getting-started-with-svchost-exe-troubleshooting.aspx
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June 3rd, 2010 9:38am

Hi Dewalt, Thank you for your response. To isolate other 3rd party software influence, please perform a clean boot of the server to see if the issue continues. You can follow the steps below: Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 To manually perform a clean boot of your computer in Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK. 2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup, and then click to clear the following check boxes: o Process SYSTEM.INI File o Process WIN.INI File o Load Startup Items 3. On the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All. 4. Click OK, and then click Restart to restart your computer. In addition, you may also check if there is any update Display Adapter driver for the server. In some cases, the Display Adapter driver issue might cause RDP connection. Regards, Wilson JiaThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Please click "Mark as Answer" when you get the correct reply to your question.
June 3rd, 2010 10:38am

HI Wilson I'll try your suggestion tonight. The just stopped responding about 10 minutes ago and I had to force a restart again. This issue is so intermittent which makes it really hard to find what is causing it. I'll be checking the event logs now to see if anything happend. Will update as soon as I have something. Regards
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June 3rd, 2010 12:43pm

I have tried your suggestion but the server still keeps hanging. I have decided I'll build a new server, restore the system state from the old one to it and then monitor it to see if it give's me the same issues. Once I am satisfied that the server is stable I will dismount the drives from the old VM and mount them on the new one. Will post the outcome as soon as its done. Regards
June 8th, 2010 9:45am

Is your VM server on a Windows host or ESX host ? If it's about a Windows host and you are using VMware Server, all you have to do is to check if its NIC hasn't some errors. Usually what you have described is caused by a NIC problem. If your host server has two NICs (and it should), activate the second one, give it a new IP and assign this NIC to your VM server. You have to do it from your virtual switch console.
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June 9th, 2010 3:00am

The host is ESX3.5. Should I add another NIC to the VM from the VMware Infrastructure Client, or on the host itself ?
June 9th, 2010 1:29pm

If you are on a ESX, and it is the only VM server that has this problem, you should first try to restore the winsok on the VM server: netsh winsock reset - if Windows 2003 SP1 or more. If you experience the same problem with other servers, yes, activate the second NIC on the ESX server and switch the VMs to this new one from the VM management console.
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June 9th, 2010 3:12pm

Hi All After no success getting the server to run normally I decided to build a new server and mount the virtual hard drives to the new server. At first I build a server 2003 R2 x64 so I would be able add additional memory if I needed to only to end up struggling with the FSRM server for half a day.I then decided to scrap the server and build a new server 2008 R2 x64 machine, installed the FSRM and mounted the drives. The server have been running smoothly and without any issues since. Thanks for all the suggestion.
July 1st, 2010 9:21am

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