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Hardware inventory fails and the SMSexec.exe process shows high sustained CPU utilization

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This article helps you fix an issue where the hardware inventory process in Configuration Manager fails and the SMSexec.exe process shows high sustained CPU utilization.

Original product version:   Configuration Manager
Original KB number:   2488396

Symptom

When using Configuration Manager, processing of hardware inventory (.MIF files) fails and the SMSexec.exe process shows high sustained CPU utilization. Also, MIF files backlog in the inboxes\auth\dataldr.box\process folder:

The NextGroupKey value in the ArchitectureMap table will be unusually high (> 20,000).

The following query can be used to examine the value of the NextGroupKey:

select NextGroupKey from ArchitectureMap where ArchitectureKey = 5

If SQLTracing is enabled on the site server, you will see the following messages repeated:

SQL>>> select NextGroupKey from ArchitectureMap where ArchitectureKey = 5
SQL>>>>> Done.
SQL>>> update ArchitectureMap set NextGroupKey = NextGroupKey + 1 where ArchitectureKey = 5 and NextGroupKey = 15080
SQL>>>>> Done.

You can enable SQLTracing by setting the following value to 1.

  • On 64-bit systems:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\SMS\Tracing\SQLEnabled

  • On 32-bit systems:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMS\Tracing\SQLEnabled

Cause

This issue can occur if the global No count option is enabled on the SQL Server hosting the Configuration Manager database. If this is enabled, Configuration Manager cannot get the correct rowcount value from SQL Server, and thus it cannot complete the cycle to extend the schema.

Resolution

Disable the No count option and processing will continue normally. The No count option can be found in the SQL Server Management Studio: Properties of the SQL Server > Connections > No count. It should be unchecked.

More information

The No count option isn't enabled by default. Microsoft has not tested Configuration Manager with the SQL Server No count global option enabled and using this option isn't supported. Regardless, you should determine whether other applications that are using the same SQL Server require the No count setting to be enabled before disabling it.