Microsoft KB Archive/904701

= FIX: Users cannot log on to external applications for a long time after an outage causes the ENTSSO service to lose a connection to the SSO credential database =

Article ID: 904701

Article Last Modified on 12/4/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Host Integration Server 2004 Standard Edition

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Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry



SYMPTOMS
Consider the following scenario. In Microsoft Host Integration Server, an outage causes the Enterprise Single Sign-On (ENTSSO) service to lose a connection to the Single Sign-On (SSO) credential database. In this scenario, users cannot log on to external applications for a long time. For example, users cannot log on to IBM Mainframe or IBM iSeries applications.

These logon failures continue even after the outage ends and the SSO credential database is available again. Users may not be able to log on to external applications for a few minutes up to 30 minutes.

When the ENTSSO service cannot connect to the SSO credential database for 5 minutes, the following events are logged to the event log: Event ID: 10515

Source: ENTSSO

Description: Lost contact with the SSO database. Check that the SSO database is available.

Event ID: 10590

Source: ENTSSO

Description: Enterprise Single Sign-On is going offline

When the ENTSSO service detects that the SSO credential database is online, the following event is logged to the event log: Event ID: 10590

Source: ENTSSO

Description: Enterprise Single Sign-On is back online



CAUSE
This problem occurs because a computer that is running Microsoft SQL Server hosts the SSO credential database. The ENTSSO service uses the OLE DB Provider for SQL Server (SQLOLEDB) to connect to the computer that is running SQL Server. By default, Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) adds the OLE DB connections that the ENTSSO service uses to a connection pool. The delay that is mentioned in the &quot;Symptoms&quot; section occurs because of how OLE DB connections are handled in the connection pool after a SQL Server outage occurs.



RESOLUTION
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem, submit a request to Microsoft Online Customer Services to obtain the hotfix. To submit an online request to obtain the hotfix, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6294451

Note If additional issues occur or any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. To create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.   Date         Time   Version    Size     File name 03-Oct-2005 16:45  4.0.129.0   34,304  Entsso.exe 03-Oct-2005 16:45  4.0.129.0   71,168  Infocache.dll 03-Oct-2005 16:45  4.0.129.0   68,096  Ssolookup.dll 03-Oct-2005 16:45  4.0.129.0   81,408  Ssolookupserver.dll 03-Oct-2005 16:45  4.0.129.0   60,928  Ssomappingserver.dll 03-Oct-2005 16:46  4.0.129.0  116,224  Ssopsserver.dll 16-Jun-2005 22:53              28,188  Ssox4.sql Note Because of file dependencies, the most recent fix that contains these files may also contain additional files.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the &quot;Applies to&quot; section.



MORE INFORMATION
This hotfix updates the ENTSSO service to let you disable OLE DB connection pooling. If you disable connection pooling, the problem that is mentioned in the &quot;Symptoms&quot; section does not occur. Instead, the ENTSSO service can detect that the SSO credential database is available within 30 seconds of the database becoming available. The actual time that it takes for the ENTSSO service to reconnect may vary depending on the following conditions:
 * When the last ENTSSO poll occurred
 * The underlying errors that may occur when the database is unavailable

The ENTSSO service polls the SSO credential database every 30 seconds.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To disable connection pooling, follow these steps to add the  registry value:  Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

 

 Right-click ENTSSO, point to New, and then click Key. Type Runtime, and then press ENTER.</li> Right-click Runtime, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.</li> Type DisableConnectionPooling, and then press ENTER.</li> Double-click DisableConnectionPooling, type 1 in the Value box, and then click OK.</li> Quit Registry Editor.</li> Stop and then restart the ENTSSO service.</li></ol>

If the DisableConnectionPooling registry value does not exist or is set to 0, connection pooling will be enabled.

Connection pooling improves performance because creating new connections to a database is time-consuming. Therefore, do not disable connection pooling for the ENTSSO service unless you experience the problem that is mentioned in the &quot;Symptoms&quot; section. If you do not experience the SQL Server outages that cause this problem, you should enable connection pooling.

If you must disable connection pooling and if the external applications that the users access are Host Integration Server 2004 applications, you can reduce the performance effect of the change by applying the update that is described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

905399 Host Integration Server 2004 applications that are configured to use the ENTSSO service do not use the credential cache for SSO lookup requests

Additionally, Microsoft Knowledge Base article 904702 describes a software update that lets you configure a retry interval for the ENTSSO service. You can set this interval for scenarios in which the computer that is running SQL Server and hosting the SSO credential database goes offline. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

904702 Applications that use Enterprise Single Sign-On cannot log on to remote applications if the ENTSSO service cannot communicate with the SSO credential database for 5 or more minutes

Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbqfe kbpubtypekc kbhotfixserver kbhis2004 KB904701

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