Article ID: 979695 - Last Review: April 21, 2010 - Revision: 1.0

Exchange Management Console (EMC) crashes, and you receive an error: "MMC could not create the snap-in"

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SYMPTOMS

When you try to start the Exchange Management Console (EMC) snap-in, you receive the following error message:
MMC could not create the snap-in.
MMC could not create the snap-in. The snap-in might not have been installed correctly.
Name: Exchange Server 2007
CLSID: FX:{76dd58f7-54ba-42e3-a2e0-dbf4b674539f}

Unhandled Exception in Managed Code Snap-in
FX:{76dd58f7-54ba-42e3-a2e0-dbf4b674539f}
Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Exchange.Management.SnapIn.Esm, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. Strong name validation failed. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8013141A)
Exception type: System.IO.FileLoadException
Exception stack trace:
at System.Reflection.Assembly._nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, Assembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection)
at System.Reflection.Assembly.InternalLoad(AssemblyName assemblyRef, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean forIntrospection)
at System.Reflection.Assembly.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean forIntrospection)
at System.Activator.CreateInstance(String assemblyName, String typeName, Boolean ignoreCase, BindingFlags bindingAttr, Binder binder, Object[] args, CultureInfo culture, Object[] activationAttributes, Evidence securityInfo, StackCrawlMark& stackMark)
at System.Activator.CreateInstance(String assemblyName, String typeName)
at System.AppDomain.CreateInstanceAndUnwrap(String assemblyName, String typeName)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Internal.SnapInClient.CreateSnapIn(String assemblyName, String typeName)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Internal.ClassLibraryServices.Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Internal.IClassLibraryServices.CreateSnapIn(String assemblyName, String typeName)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.SnapInInitializationOperation.OnStart()
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.RunningOperationsTable.EnqueueOperation(Operation operation)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.StandAloneComponentData..ctor(SnapInRegistrationInfo info, Int32 bookkeepingId)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Advanced.FrameworkSnapInFactory.Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Advanced.ISnapInFactory.CreateSnapIn(Int32 bookkeepingId, String snapInKey, Object& snapIn)
If you start the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) at a command prompt by running the cmdlet C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin\exshell.psc1, you receive the following error message:
WARNING: The following errors occurred when loading console C:|Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin\exshell.psc1:
Cannot load Windows Powershell snap-in Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Powershell.Admin because of the following error:
Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Powershell.Configuration, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856as364e35' or one of its dependencies. Strong name validation failed. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8013141A)
Command ", ' C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin\exshell.psc1'" could not be executed because some Windows Powershell snap-ins did not load.
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CAUSE

This issue occurs when you install and run an Interim Update (IU). This disables Strong Name validation on the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 server. Strong Name is a technology that was introduced with the .NET Framework for use with managed code. Because Exchange Server 2007 uses managed code, Strong Name must be enabled, or services will fail.
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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, you must re-enable Strong Name validation. To do this, you must use the Strong Name tool (Sn.exe) that is included with the .NET Framework Software Development Kit (SDK).

To do this, open a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER
sn -Vr *
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MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the Strong Name tool (Sn.exe), visit the following Microsoft .NET Framework Tools Web site:
Strong Name Tool (Sn.exe) (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cptools/html/cpgrfstrongnameutilitysnexe.asp)
For more information about the .NET Framework SDK, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
.NET Framework 4 (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/w0x726c2.aspx)
For more information about the .NET Framework security policy model, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site:
Security Policy Model (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ck90k585(vs.71).aspx)
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
302340  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302340/ ) How to create an assembly with a strong name in .NET Framework SDK
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition
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Keywords: 
kbsnapin kbexpertiseinter kbsurveynew kbprb KB979695
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