KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub

Q319167: SMS: Custom Hardware Inventory .mif Files Are Placed in Badmifs

Article: Q319167
Product(s): Microsoft Systems Management Server
Version(s): 2.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbsms200
Last Modified: 11-JUN-2002

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Systems Management Server version 2.0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS
========

After you customize the default Sms_def.mof file and change the reporting values
to report more available properties for additional available inventory classes,
the inventory .mif file that is generated may be larger than the site-defined
maximum .mif file size. This .mif file is rejected by the Inventory Data Loader
Server component. Any .mif files that are larger than this maximum size are
placed in the SMS\Inboxes\Dataldr.box\Badmifs folder. An error message that is
similar to the following message may be recorded in the Dataldr.log file:

  Starting the No. 1 machine MIF processing thread, thread ID = 6C4
  Processing file NPFPTHKY.MIF
  ERROR: File size exceeds defined maximum.
  Cannot process MIF NPFPTHKY.MIF, moving it to
  D:\SMS\inboxes\dataldr.box\BADMIFS\NPFPTHKY.MIF
  Finished processing file NPFPTHKY.MIF
  No more machine MIFs to be processed, terminating thread
  Finished processing 1 MIFs

CAUSE
=====

If you report additional inventory information in the Sms_def.mof file, the size
of the inventory .mif file increases. By default, the maximum size of a hardware
inventory .mif file is 5 megabytes (MB). (This is noted in decimal as 5000000.)

WORKAROUND
==========

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems
that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot
guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor
incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

You can specify the maximum size of a hardware inventory .mif file to increase
the default maximum. To do this, change the following registry value:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Components\SMS_INVENTORY_DATA_LOADER\Max
  MIF Size

The value that you specify is the number of bytes that the Data Loader component
will process in a single mif file. You may want to specify the value in decimal
instead of hexadecimal. For example, if you want to change the Max MIF Size
registry value to 10 MB, enter a value of 10000000 (decimal). The default value
is 5 MB.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The default Sms_def.mof file that is included with Systems Management Server
(SMS) 2.0 produces a .mif file that is approximately 100 KB in size. If you
report all of the attributes for all inventory classes, the .mif file that is
produced varies in size depending on the information that is returned.

Subsequent hardware inventories are referred to as "Delta Inventories." These
contain information only for workstations that have changed since the last
hardware inventory. The default Delta .mif file size is approximately 6 KB with
no changes.

Additional query words: prodsms maxmifsize

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbsms200 
Technology        : kbSMSSearch kbSMS200
Version           : :2.0
Issue type        : kbprb

=============================================================================

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.