The SPNs that Virtual Server requires are not registered in Active Directory when you try to install Virtual Server 2005 on a Windows-based domain controller

When you try to install Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 on a domain controller that is running Microsoft Windows, the service principal names (SPNs) that Virtual Server requires are not registered in Active Directory.

This issue occurs because the Network Service account that Virtual Server uses does not have permission to write the SPNs to Active Directory. Therefore, the SPN for vssrvc/NetBIOS_Name and vssrvc/Fully_Qualified_Domain_Name are not registered in Active Directory.

You can safely ignore this error if the SPNs are already registered in Active Directory. To determine whether the SPNs have been registered, you can use the Setspn command at the command prompt, for example:

setspn -L NetBIOS_Name

If the SPN's have been registered in Active Directory, the following output is displayed:

vssrvc/NetBIOS_Name
vssrvc/Fully_Qualified_Domain_Name
vmrc/NetBIOS_Name:VMRC_Port
vmrc/Fully_Qualified_Domain_Name:VMRC_Port

If the SPNs have are not registered in Active Directory, you can use Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) Edit or Set spn at the command prompt to manually register the SPNs. To do this, follow these steps:

Warning If you use the ADSI Edit snap-in, the LDP utility, or any other LDAP version 3 client, and you incorrectly modify the attributes of Active Directory objects, you can cause serious problems. These problems may require you to reinstall Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, or both Windows and Exchange. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that occur if you incorrectly modify Active Directory object attributes can be solved. Modify these attributes at your own risk.

1. Install the Windows Server 2003 Support Tools. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Insert the Windows Server 2003 product CD into the CD drive.
   2. Click Start, click Run, and then click Browse.
   3. Locate the CD_Drive:\Support\Tools folder.
   4. In the Files of Type list, click All Files.
   5. Click SUPTOOLS.MSI, click Open, and then click OK.
   6. Follow the directions in the Windows Support Tools Setup Wizard.
2. Click Start, click Run, type adsiedit.msc, and then click OK.
3. In ADSI Edit, expand Domain, Your_Domain_Name, expand DC=Domain_Name,DC=Root, and then click OU=Domain Controllers.
4. In the results pane, right-click the name of the domain controller where Virtual Server is installed, and then click Properties.
5. In the Attributes list, click servicePrincipalName, and then click Edit.
6. In the Value to add box, type vssrvc/Netbios_Name, and then click Add.
7. In the Value to add box, type vssrvc/Fully_Qualified_Domain_Name, click Add, and then click OK.
8. In the Value to add box, type vmrc/NetBIOS_Name:VMRC_Port, click Add, and then click OK
9. In the Value to add box, type vmrc/Fully_Qualified_Domain_Name:VMRC_Port, click Add, and then click OK.

Alternatively, use the setspn command to modify the SPNs. For example, run commands that resemble the following at the command prompt:

• setspn /A vssrvc/Netbios_Name Netbios_Name
• setspn /A vssrvc/Fully_Qualified_Domain_NameNetbios_Name
• setspn /A vmrc/Netbios_Name:Vmrc_Port Netbios_Name
• setspn /A vmrc/Fully_Qualified_Domain_Name:Vmrc_Port Netbios_Name