Microsoft KB Archive/814878

= PRB: Postback Fails If CMS Server Keys Are Not Synchronized =

Article ID: 814878

Article Last Modified on 8/19/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Content Management Server 2002
 * Microsoft Content Management Server 2001 Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Content Management Server 2001 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++ 3.0
 * Microsoft Content Management Server 2001 Developer Edition

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SYMPTOMS
If you try to perform a data postback to a Content Management Server (CMS) Web cluster, and there is more than one CMS server set up in the cluster, the data postback to the server may fail. The cluster is joined by Microsoft Application Center with the affinity setting set to none.



CAUSE
This issue occurs because the machine keys for the CMS servers in the Web farm are not synchronized.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, you must synchronize the machine keys for the CMS servers by using the ManageKey.exe utility. To do so, follow these steps:
 * 1) Select the server that will be the master server.
 * 2) On the master server, double-click the ManageKey.exe file that is located in the  \Server\Bin folder.
 * 3) Export the machine key.
 * 4) Import the machine key to each server in the Web farm or Web cluster. To do so, run the ManageKey.exe utility on each server.
 * 5) After you import the machine key to the server, restart the server.



STATUS
This behavior is by design.



MORE INFORMATION
To maintain state in a Web farm, CMS requires a machine key that is the same on each machine. This key is embedded in each request for CMS resources. If this key is different on each computer, CMS cannot correctly interpret the request. If CMS cannot interpret the request, postback failures and broken images may result.

Keywords: kbprb KB814878

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