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Q190059: PRB: Certificate Server Fails to Start After Unattended Installa

Article: Q190059
Product(s): Internet Information Server
Version(s): winnt:1.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbOPK kbSBK
Last Modified: 28-JUN-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Certificate Server version 1.0 
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IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry.
Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it
if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the
"Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a
Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS
========

After an unattended installation of the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack, including
Certificate Server version 1.0, the Certificate Authority service fails to
start. The following application event log entry is generated:

  Source: CertSvc
  Event ID: 17
  Description: "The Certificate Server did not start: Unable to initialize the
  database connection for CA COMPUTERNAME. The error code is 0xffffffff."

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may
require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that
problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use
Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And
Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete
Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in
Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If
you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk
(ERD).

To work around this problem, run the following REGEDIT or REGINI script to create
the "CertSrv" ODBC data source after the unattended Setup completes and you have
restarted the server.

Please note that the path specified in the "Driver" and "DBQ" entries must be
adjusted according to the actual configuration.

REGEDIT script file (CERTSRV.REG):

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\odbc.ini\CertSrv]
"Driver"="C:\\WINNT\\System32\\odbcjt32.dll"
"DBQ"="C:\\WINNT\\System32\\CertLog\\certsrv.mdb"
"DriverId"=dword:00000019
"SafeTransactions"=dword:00000000
"UID"="Admin"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\odbc.ini\CertSrv\Engines\Jet]
"ImplicitCommitSync"="Yes"
"Threads"=dword:00000003
"UserCommitSync"="Yes"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\odbc.ini\ODBC Data Sources]
"CertSrv"="Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)"

The Regedit.exe utility is included with Windows NT Server 4.0. It can be run in
silent mode by using the /S command-line option. A sample command line is:

  REGEDIT /S C:\CERTSRV.REG

REGINI script file:

  \Registry\Machine\SOFTWARE\ODBC\odbc.ini

  CertSrv
  Driver = C:\WINNT\System32\odbcjt32.dll
  DBQ = C:\WINNT\System32\CertLog\certsrv.mdb
  DriverId = REG_DWORD 0x00000019
  SafeTransactions = REG_DWORD 0x00000000
  UID = Admin
  Engines
  Jet
  ImplicitCommitSync = Yes
  Threads = REG_DWORD 0x00000003
  UserCommitSync = Yes
  ODBC Data Sources
  CertSrv = Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)

Regini.exe is a utility to manipulate the registry either locally or remotely
using a script file. This utility is included with the Windows NT Server
Resource Kit.

CAUSE
=====

The problem is caused by the unattended Setup program not adding the required
ODBC data source for the Certificate Server database.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Certificate Server version 1.0.

Additional query words: ntop iis certsrv certsvc Unattended Setup

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbOPK kbSBK 
Technology        : kbCertServSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbCertServ100
Version           : winnt:1.0
Issue type        : kbprb
Solution Type     : kbpending

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