Microsoft KB Archive/887288

= You receive a &quot;Host Account Manager is unable to communicate with the Windows NT password synchronization service at the current time&quot; error message when you start the Host Account Manager =

Article ID: 887288

Article Last Modified on 11/24/2004

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft SNA Server 4.0 Service Pack 4
 * Microsoft Host Integration Server 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Host Integration Server 2000 Service Pack 1

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SYMPTOMS
When you start the Host Account Manager (Udconfig.exe) program, you may receive the following error message:

Host account manager is unable to communicate with the Windows NT password synchronization service at the current time

No events are logged in the Windows Event Viewer.



CAUSE
This issue occurs when the following conditions are true:
 * The logged-on user is not a member of the host security domain group.
 * The logged-on user tries to start the Host Account Manager.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, add the logged-on user account to the host security domain group.



MORE INFORMATION
When a host security domain is created, a Windows user group is created with the same name. By default, the Domain Users group is added to this group. Additionally, a second group is also created that appends &quot;_Proxy&quot; to the host security domain name for its group name.

For example, if a host security domain was created by using the name &quot;IBMHOST,&quot; the Host Security Domain Wizard will create the following Windows groups:
 * IBMHOST
 * IBMHOST_Proxy

If the Domain User group was removed from the IBMHOST group, no users are configured to use the host security domain that is named IBMHOST. Any user who opens the Host Account Manager would receive the error message that is mentioned in the &quot;Symptoms&quot; section. By default, the Administrator account is a member of the Domain Users group and would receive this error message.

Sometimes, administrators purposely remove the Domain Users group. Then, they assign individual accounts to the host security domain group. Typically, an administrator does this if not all users in the Domain Users group plan to participate in password synchronization or Enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO).

Additional query words: SNA4 HIS2000 Hostsec HSI HSD

Keywords: kbtshoot kbprb KB887288

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