SMS Site to Site Communication May Lock Out Service Account

When a child site attempts to communicate with its parent site, it incorrectly tries to use the Systems Management Server service account before using the LAN sender account, which may be different.

The following situation may cause the child site to actually disable the Systems Management Server service account being used by the parent site:

1. The parent site exists in domain A and the child site is in domain B; there are no trust relationships.
2. The Systems Management Server service account has the same name but different passwords in each domain.
3. When the child site tries to communicate with the parent site by connecting to the parent site's SMS_SITE share, it attempts to connect with its Systems Management Server service account.
4. If the "Account Lockout" option is enabled in domain A, this may result in the Systems Management Server service account in domain A being disabled. This would essentially cripple the parent site.

To work around this problem, do any one of the following:

• Use Systems Management Server service accounts that do not have the same name. Or, if the service accounts need to have the same name, make certain that the passwords match.
• Disable the "Account Lockout" option in the Account (under User Manager, go to Policies, and then Account).
• Create a trust relationship so that the parent site's domain trusts the child site's domain.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Systems Management Server version 1.2. A supported fix is now available, but is not fully regression-tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Service Pack that contains this fix. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information.