Summary
This article describes how to troubleshoot a problem in which Active Directory replication fails and generates error -2146893022: “The target principal name is incorrect."
This error occurs when the source domain controller does not decrypt the service ticket that's provided by the destination (target) domain controller.
Top cause:
The destination domain controller receives a service ticket from a Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) that has an old version of the password for the source domain controller.
Top resolution:
- Stop the KDC service on the destination domain controller. To do this, run the following command at a command prompt:
net stop KDC - Start replication on the destination domain controller from the source domain controller by using AD Sites and Services or Repadmin.
- Using repadmin:
Repadmin replicate destinationDC sourceDC DN_of_Domain_NC
For example, if replication is failing on ContosoDC2.contoso.com, run the following command on ContosoDC1.contoso.com:
Repadmin replicate ContosoDC2.contoso.com ContosoDC1.contoso.com "DC=contoso,DC=com"
- Start the Kerberos KDC service on the destination domain controller. To do this, run the following command:
net start KDC
If this doesn't resolve the issue, see the "Resolution" section for an alternative solution in which you use the netdom resetpwd command to reset the computer account password of the source domain controller. If these steps do not resolve the problem, review the rest of this article.
Symptoms
When this problem occurs, you experience one or more of the following symptoms:
- DCDIAG reports that the Active Directory replications test has failed and returned error -2146893022: “The target principal name is incorrect."
[Replications Check,<DC Name>] A recent replication attempt failed:
From <source DC> to <destination DC>
Naming Context: <DN path of directory partition>
The replication generated an error (-2146893022):
The target principal name is incorrect.
The failure occurred at <date> <time>.
The last success occurred at <date> <time>.
<X> failures have occurred since the last success.
- Repadmin.exe reports that a replication attempt failed, and reports a status of -2146893022 (0x80090322).
Repadmin commands that commonly indicate the -2146893022 (0x80090322) status include but are not limited to the following.
- DMIN /REPLSUMREPA
- REPADMIN /SHOWREPL
- REPADMIN /SHOWREPS
- REPADMIN /SYNCALL
Sample output from "REPADMIN /SHOWREPS" and "REPADMIN /SYNCALL" that inidicate the "target principal name is incorrect" error is as follows:
c:\>repadmin /showreps
<site name>\<destination DC>
DC Options: IS_GC
Site Options: (none)
DC object GUID: <NTDS settings object object GUID>
DChttp://bemis/13/Pages/2090913_en-US.aspx invocationID: <invocation ID string>==== INBOUND NEIGHBORS ======================================DC=<DN path for directory partition>
<site name>\<source DC via RPC
DC object GUID: <source DCs ntds settings object object guid>
Last attempt @ <date> <time> failed, result -2146893022 (0x80090322):
The target principal name is incorrect.
<X #> consecutive failure(s).
Last success @ <date> <time>.
c:\>repadmin /syncall /Ade
Syncing all NC's held on localhost.
Syncing partition: DC=<Directory DN path>
CALLBACK MESSAGE: Error contacting server CN=NTDS Settings,CN=<server name>,CN=Servers,CN=<site name>,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=<forest root domain> (network error): -2146893022 (0x80090322): -
The "replicate now" command in Active Directory Sites and Services returns a "The target principal name is incorrect" message.
Right-clicking on the connection object from a source DC and then selecting replicate now fails and returns a "The target principal name is incorrect" message. The on-screen error message is as follows:
Dialog title text: Replicate Now
Dialog message text: The following error occurred during the attempt to contact the domain controller <source DC name>:The target principal name is incorrectButtons in Dialog: OK -
NTDS KCC, NTDS General or Microsoft-Windows-ActiveDirectory_DomainService events that have the -2146893022 status are logged in the directory service event log.
Active Directory events that commonly cite the -2146893022 status include but are not limited to the following.
Event Source
Event ID
Event String
NTDS Replication
1586 The Windows NT 4.0 or earlier replication checkpoint with the PDC emulator master was unsuccessful.
A full synchronization of the security accounts manager (SAM) database to domain controllers running Windows NT 4.0 and earlier might take place if the PDC emulator master role is transferred to the local domain controller before the next successful checkpoint.
NTDS KCC 1925 The attempt to establish a replication link for the following writable directory partition failed.
NTDS KCC
1308
The Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) has detected that successive attempts to replicate with the following domain controller has consistently failed.
Microsoft-Windows-ActiveDirectory_DomainService 1926 The attempt to establish a replication link to a read-only directory partition with the following parameters failed
NTDS Inter-site Messaging
1373 The Intersite Messaging service could not receive any messages for the following service through the following transport. The query for messages failed.
Cause
The "-2146893022 \ 0x80090322 \ SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL" error code is not an Active Directory error but may be returned by lower layer components, including RPC, Kerberos, SSL, LSA, and NTLM for different root causes.
Kerberos errors that are mapped by Windows code to "-2146893022 \ 0x80090322 \ SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL" include the following:
- KRB_AP_ERR_MODIFIED (0x29 / 41 decimal / KRB_APP_ERR_MODIFIED)
- KRB_AP_ERR_BADMATCH (0x24h / 36 decimal / "Ticket and authenticator don't match")
- KRB_AP_ERR_NOT_US (0x23h / 35 decimal / "The ticket isn't for us")
Some specific root causes for "-2146893022 \ 0x80090322 \ SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL" include the following:
- A bad name-to-IP mapping in DNS, WINS, HOST or LMHOST file caused the destination domain controller to connect to the wrong source domain controller in a different Kerberos realm.
- The Kerberos target computer (source domain controller) could not decrypt Kerberos authentication data that was sent by the Kerberos client (destination domain controller) because the KDC and source domain controller have different versions of the source domain controller's computer account password.
- The KDC could not find a domain to look for the source domain controller's SPN.
- Authentication data in Kerberos encrypted frames were modified by hardware (including network devices), software, or an attacker.
Resolution
Run dcdiag /test:checksecurityerror on the source DC
SPNs may be missing, invalid or duplicated due to simple replication latency, especially following promotion, or replication failures.
Duplicate SPNs may cause bad SPN to name mappings.
DCDIAG /TEST:CheckSecurityError can check for missing / duplicate SPNs and other errors.
Run this command on the console of all source DCs that fail "outbound" replication with the SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL error.
You can check SPN registration against a specific location by using the following syntax:
dcdiag /test:checksecurityerror replsource:<remote dc>
Verify that Kerberos encrypted network traffic reached the intended Kerberos target (name-to-IP mapping)
Consider the following scenario:
- Inbound replicating Active Directory destination domain controllers search their local copy of the directory for the objectGUID of the source DCs NTDS Settings objects.
- The DCs query the active DNS server for a matching DC GUIDED CNAME record that is then mapped to a host "A" / "AAAA" record that contains the source domain controller's IP address.
In this scenario, Active Directory runs a name resolution fallback that includes queries for fully qualified computer names in DNS or single-label hostnames in WINS.
Note DNS Servers can also perform WINS lookups in fallback scenarios.
Stale NTDS Settings objects, bad name-to-IP mappings in DNS and WINS host records, and stale entries in HOST files can all cause a destination domain controller to submit Kerberos-encrypted traffic to the wrong Kerberos target.
To check for this condition, either take a network trace or manually verify that name DNS / NetBIOS name queries resolve to the intended target computer.
Method 1: Network trace method (as parsed by Network Monitor 3.3.1641 by having full default parsers enabled)
The following table shows a synopsis of network traffic that occurs when destination DC1 inbound replicates the Active Directory directory from source DC2.
| F# | SRC | DEST | Protocol | Frame | Comment |
| 1 | DC1 | DC2 | MSRPC | MSRPC:c/o Request: unknown Call=0x5 Opnum=0x3 Context=0x1 Hint=0x90 | Dest DC RPC call to EPM on source DC over 135 |
| 2 | DC2 | DC1 | MSRPC | MSRPC:c/o Response: unknown Call=0x5 Context=0x1 Hint=0xF4 Cancels=0x0 | EPM response to RPC caller |
| 3 | DC1 | DC2 | MSRPC | MSRPC:c/o Bind: UUID{E3514235-4B06-11D1-AB04-00C04FC2DCD2} DRSR(DRSR) Call=0x2 Assoc Grp=0x0 Xmit=0x16D0 Recv=0x16D0 | RPC bind request to E351… service UUID |
| 4 | DC2 | DC1 | MSRPC | MSRPC:c/o Bind Ack: Call=0x2 Assoc Grp=0x9E62 Xmit=0x16D0 Recv=0x16D0 | RPC Bind response |
| 5 | DC1 | KDC | KerberosV5 | KerberosV5:TGS Request Realm: CONTOSO.COM Sname: E3514235-4B06-11D1-AB04-00C04FC2DCD2/6f3f96d3-dfbf-4daf-9236-4d6da6909dd2/contoso.com | TGS request for replication SPN of source DC. This operation will not appear on the wire of destination DC uses self as KDC. |
| 6 | KDC | DC1 | KerberosV5 | KerberosV5:TGS Response Cname: CONTOSO-DC1$ | TGS response to destination DC contoso-dc1. This operation will not appear on the wire of destination DC uses self as KDC. |
| 7 | DC1 | DC2 | MSRPC | MSRPC:c/o Alter Cont: UUID{E3514235-4B06-11D1-AB04-00C04FC2DCD2} DRSR(DRSR) Call=0x2 | AP request |
| 8 | DC2 | DC1 | MSRPC | MSRPC:c/o Alter Cont Resp: Call=0x2 Assoc Grp=0x9E62 Xmit=0x16D0 Recv=0x16D0 | AP response. |
| Drilldown on Frame 7 | Drilldown on Frame 8 | Comments. |
| MSRPC MSRPC:c/o Alter Cont: UUID{E3514235-4B06-11D1-AB04-00C04FC2DCD2} DRSR(DRSR) Call=0x2 | MSRPC:c/o Alter Cont Resp: Call=0x2 Assoc Grp=0xC3EA43 Xmit=0x16D0 Recv=0x16D0 | DC1 connects to AD Replication Service on DC2 over the port returned by the EPM on DC2. |
| Ipv4: Src = x.x.x.245, Dest = x.x.x.35, Next Protocol = TCP, Packet ID =, Total IP Length = 0 | Ipv4: Src = x.x.x.35, Dest = x.x.x.245, Next Protocol = TCP, Packet ID = 31546, Total IP Length = 278 | Verify that AD replication source DC (referred to here as the “Dest” computer in 1st column and “Src” computer in column 2 “owns’ the IP address cited in the trace (x.x.x.35 in this example). |
| Ticket: Realm: CONTOSO.COM, Sname: E3514235-4B06-11D1-AB04-00C04FC2DCD2/6f3f96d3-dfbf-4daf-9236-4d6da6909dd2/contoso.com | ErrorCode: KRB_AP_ERR_MODIFIED (41) | In column 1, note the realm of the target Kerberos realm as “contoso.com” followed by the source DCs Replication SPN (“Sname”) which consists of the Active Directory replication service UUID (E351…) concatenated with object GUID of the source DCs NTDS Settings object. ping 6f3f96d3-dfbf-4daf-9236-4d6da6909dd2._msdcs.contoso.com In the reply shown in column 2, focus on the “Sname” field and verify that it contains the hostname of the AD replication source DC. |
Method 2: Name-to-IP mapping verification (without using a network trace)
From the console of the Source DC:
| Command | Comment |
| IPCONFIG /ALL |MORE | Note IP address of NIC used by destination DCs |
| REPADMIN /SHOWREPS |MORE | Note value of “DSA Object GUID” which denotes the object GUID for the source DCs NTDS Settings Object in the source DCs copy of active Directory |
From the Console of the destination DC
| Command | Comment |
| IPCONFIG /ALL |MORE | Note the primary, secondary and any tertiary DNS Servers configured that the destination DC could query during DNS lookups. |
| REPADMIN /SHOWREPS |MORE | In the “Inbound Neighbors” section of the repadmin output, locate the replication status where the destination DC replicates a common partition from the source DC in question. |
| IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS | Clear the DNS Client cache |
| Start ->Run -> Notepad %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts | Check for host-to-IP mappings referencing the source DCs single label or fully qualified DNS name. Remove if present. Save changes to HOST file. |
| NSLOOKUP –type=CNAME <object guid of source DCs NTDS Settings object>._msdcs.<forest root DNS name> <primary DNS Server IP | Verify that IP returned matches the IP address of target DC listed above recorded from the console of the source DC. |
| nslookup -type=A+AAAA <FQDN of source DC> <DNS Server IP> | Check for duplicate host "A" records on all DNS Server IPs configured on the destination DC. |
| nbtstat -A <IP address of DNS Server IP returned by nslookup> | Should return name of the source DC. |
Note A replication request that's directed to a non-domain controller (because of a bad name-to-IP mapping) or a domain controller that doesn't currently have the E351... service UUID registered with the endpoint mapper returns error 1753: "There are no more endpoints available with the endpoint mapper."
The Kerberos target cannot decrypt Kerberos authenticated data because of to a password mismatch
This condition can occur if the password for the source domain controller differs between the KDC and source domain controller's copy of the Active Directory directory. The destination domain controller's copy of the source domain controller computer account password may be stale if it's not using itself as the KDC.
Replication failures can prevent domain controllers from having a current password values for domain controllers in a given domain.
Every domain controller runs the KDC service for their domain realm. For same realm transactions, a destination domain controller favors getting Kerberos tickets from itself. However, it may get a ticket from a remote domain controller. Referrals are used to get Kerberos tickets from other realms.
The NLTEST /DSGETDC:<DNS domain of target domain> /kdc command that's run at an elevated command prompt in close time proximity to a SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL error can be used to quickly identify which KDC a Kerberos client is targeting.
The definitive way to determine which domain controller a Kerberos client got a ticket from is to take a network trace. The lack of Kerberos traffic in a network trace may indicate that the Kerberos client has already acquired tickets, that it's is getting tickets off-the-wire from itself, or that your network trace application is not correvtly parsing Kerberos traffic.
Kerberos tickets for the logged-on user account can be purged at an elevated command prompt by using the KLIST purge command.
Kerberos tickets for the system account that are used by Active Directory replication can be purged without a restart by using KLIST -li 0x3e7 purge.
Domain controllers can be made to use other domain controllers by stopping the KDC service on a local or remote domain controller.
Use REPADIN /SHOWOBJMETA to check for obvious version number differences in password-related attributes (dBCSPwd, UnicodePWD, NtPwdHistory, PwdLastSet, lmPwdHistory) for the source domain controller in the source domain controller's and destination domain controller's copy of the Active Directory directory.
C:\>repadmin /showobjmeta <source DC> <DN path of source DC computer account>
C:\>repadmin /showobjmeta <KDC selected by destination DC> <DN path of source DC computer account>
The netdom resetpwd /server:<DC to direct password change to> /userd:<user name> /passwordd:<password> command that's run at an elevated command prompt on the console of the domain controller that requires a password reset can be used to reset domain controller machine account passwords.
More Information
Troubleshooting specific scenarios
Repro steps for bad host-to-IP mapping that causes the destination domain controller to pull from wrong source
- Promote \\dc1 + \\DC2 + \\DC3 in the contoso.com domain. End-to-end replication occurs without errors.
- Stop the KDC on \\DC1 and \\DC2 to force off-box Kerberos traffic that can be observed in a network trace. End-to-end replication occurs without errors.
- Create a Host file entry for \\DC2 that points to the IP address of a DC in a remote forest to simulate a bad host-to-IP mapping in a host "A" / "AAAA" record or perhaps a stale NTDS Settings object in the destination domain controller's copy of the Active Directory directory.
- Start Active Directory Sites and Services on the console of \\DC1. Right-click \\DC1's inbound connection object from \\DC2 and note the "target account name is incorrect" replication error.
Repro steps for a source domain controller password mismatch between KDC and the source domain controller
- Promote \\dc1 + \\DC2 + \\DC3 in the contoso.com domain. End-to-end replication occurs without error.
- Stop the KDC on \\DC1 and \\DC2 to force off-box Kerberos traffic that can be observed in network trace. End-to-end replication occurs without error.
- Disabling inbound replication on KDC \\DC3 to simulate a replication failure on the KDC.
- Reset the computer account password on \\DC2 three or more times so that \\DC1 and \\DC2 have DC2 current password.
- Start Active Directory Sites and Services on the console of \\DC1. Right-click on \\DC1's inbound connection object from \\DC2 and note the "target account name is incorrect" replication error.
DS RPC client logging
Set NTDS\Diagnostics Loggings\DS RPC Client = 3. Trigger replication. Look for Task Category Event 1962 + 1963. Note the fully qualified cname that is listed in the directory service field. The destination domain controller should be able to ping this record and have the returned address map to the current IP address of the source DC.
Kerberos workflow
The Kerberos workflow includes the following actions:
- Client Computer calls IntializeSecurityContext and specifies the Negotiate security support provider (SSP).
- The client contacts the KDC with its TGT and requests a TGS Ticket for the target domain controller.
- The KDC searches the Global Catalog for a source (either e351 or hostname) in the destination domain controller's realm.
- If the target domain controller is in the destination domain controller's realm, the KDC provides the client a service ticket.
- If the target domain controller is in a different realm, the KDC provides the client a referral ticket.
- The client contacts a KDC in the target domain controller's domain and requests a service ticket.
- If the source domain controller's SPN doesn't exist in the realm, you receive error <insert error>.
- The destination domain controller contacts the target and presents its ticket.
- If the target domain controller owns the name in the ticket and can decrypt it, the authentication works.
- If the target domain controller hosts the RPC server service UUID, the on-wire Kerberos "KRB_AP_ERR_NOT_US" or "KRB_AP_ERR_MODIFIED" error is remapped to the following:
-2146893022 decimal / 0x80090322 / SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL / "The target principal name is incorrect"
For more information, see the Troubleshooting Kerberos Errors white paper.