Microsoft KB Archive/254735

= How to clean up duplicate computer IDs in Systems Management Server =

Article ID: 254735

Article Last Modified on 10/12/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q254735



SUMMARY
This article describes how to find and clean up Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 and Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 clients that use the same unique identifier. The Systems Management Server Unique ID property is used to distinguish Systems Management Server clients. It is important that this value stay unique for each client.

You may have duplicate IDs in your environment if you "clone" workstations that have the Systems Management Server client installed or if you have remnants from a previous Systems Management Server client installation (such as the Sms.ini or Smscfg.ini file).

Duplicate IDs can cause behaviors such as high central processing unit (CPU) usage, incorrect inventory reporting, advertisements run by the wrong clients, and other unexpected events. To help avoid these behaviors, it is important to clean up duplicate IDs as soon as possible if you encounter them.



MORE INFORMATION
To determine if you have duplicate IDs, create a Systems Management Server query based on the following sample query:

select * from sms_g_system_SYSTEM as g INNER JOIN sms_gh_system_SYSTEM as h on g.ResourceId = h.ResourceId where g.Name <> h.Name

When you run this query, you see all of the different computer names that are using the same ID. Note that multiple-boot clients or clients that have been renamed also appear as duplicates. After you find the duplicates, allocate a new ID to these workstations.

You can also run the following query in SQL query analyzer against the SMS site database:

select all g.Domain0,g.InstanceKey,g.Name0,g.MachineID,g.RevisionID,g.SMSID0,g.SystemRole0,g.SystemType0,g.TimeKey,h.Domain0,h.InstanceKey,h.Name0,h.MachineID,h.RevisionID,h.SMSID0,h.SystemRole0,h.SystemType0,h.TimeKey from System_DATA AS g INNER JOIN System_HIST AS h ON g.MachineID = h.MachineID where g.Name0 <> h.Name0

When you run this query, you see all the different computer names that are using the same ID. Note that multiple-boot clients or clients that have been renamed also appear as duplicates.

After you find the duplicates, allocate a new ID to these workstations. There are two methods for allocating a new ID to a client.

Manual method
To manually clean up a client, run the 20clicln.bat file to uninstall the Systems Management Server client. When this process is finished, delete any instance of the Sms.ini or Smscfg.ini file on the workstation. After this is complete, reinstall the client by using normal installation methods. A new ID will be allocated to the client. BR/>

The version of 20CliCln.bat that can be downloaded as part of the SP2 support tools can be run with a command line switch of /scrub which removes the Smscfg.ini file and enable a creation of a new GUID. It does not remove the Sms.ini left over from a SMS 1.2 client.

Software distribution method
If you have numerous computers that need a new Systems Management Server ID, you can use the Microsoft BackOffice Resource Kit 4.5 Newuid.exe utility. Create a package by using the utility with the Newuid.exe /s command, which causes the utility to run silently. You need to create a collection that contains all of the workstations that have a duplicate ID. Use a query based on the following sample query:

select distinct r.Name, r.OperatingSystemNameandVersion, r.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup, r.LastLogonUserDomain, r.LastLogonUserName, r.SMSUniqueIdentifier, r.ResourceId from SMS_R_System as r, SMS_GH_System_SYSTEM as h, SMS_G_System_SYSTEM as g where g.ResourceID = h.ResourceID and g.Name <> h.Name and r.ResourceID = g.ResourceID

Make sure to remove any carriage returns from this query before pasting it into the Edit Query window for this collection. If you do not remove the carriage returns, the query is not saved because of improper syntax.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

234262 Linking a query to a collection membership rule may not work

After you create this collection, you may not see the same number of clients as you did in the first query. This occurs because this query returns only a unique list of duplicate IDs. After you advertise the Newuid.exe package to this collection, all the clients listed in the previous query run the program because these workstations are all sharing the same IDs (the same globally unique identifiers, or GUIDs).

When you run Newuid.exe, use the Newuid.exe /s /allocate command enables the clients to get a new ID and retain client functionality. The /s switch causes the installation to run silently.

Note When the /allocate switch is used, Newuid.exe attempts to run Smsboot1.exe from a logon point. Access to a logon point requires that a user be logged on. If no user is logged on, the GUID that exists is deleted, but a new GUID is not allocated until Smsls.bat or Smsman.exe is executed.

Note You do not receive confirmation that the clients have successfully run the program if you do not use the /allocate switch. After Newuid.exe has been run without the /allocate switch, all client communication with the client access point (CAP) stops until the client either runs Smsls.bat or Smsman.exe or has been reinstalled by using the Microsoft Windows NT Remote Client installation. Client functionality does not return and the new ID is not allocated until the client has used one of these installation methods.

After you have cleaned up the duplicate IDs, purge the inventory history in your database. Use the Delete Aged Inventory History task under Tasks under Database Maintenance in the Systems Management Server console to delete all history older than one day. You can set this value back to its previous value after you have all of your client inventory back and have you have verified that there are no more duplicates in your environment.

By changing the settings for the Database Maintenance Tasks, all data in your database older than one day may be removed. This is fine in many situations, however, if you only have a small percentage of your inventory which is duplicated, this may not be appropriate.

In such a case, use the white paper, Managing Duplicate Microsoft Systems Management Server Unique Identifiers, which may provide a better solution.Note This paper discusses the process of only removing the history information for the duplicate computers, not the entire database.

Additional query words: prodsms 20clicln.bat sms.ini newuid.exe

Keywords: kbclient kbcollections kbconfig kbdatabase kbinfo kbinventory kbquery kbsmsadmin KB254735

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