Active Directory replication error 1256: The remote system is not available
This article describes the symptoms, cause, and resolution steps for cases when Active Directory replication fails with error 1256: The remote system is not available.
Applies to: All supported versions of Windows Server
Original KB number: 2200187
Symptoms
The DCDIAG reports that the Active Directory Replications test fails with error 1256: The remote system is not available.
Starting test: Replications
[Replications Check, <Destination DC>] A recent replication attempt failed:
From <source DC> to <destination DC>
Naming Context: <directory partition DN path>
The replication generated an error (1256):
The remote system is not available. For information about network troubleshooting, see Windows Help.
The failure occurred at <date> <time>
The last success occurred at <date> <time>REPADMIN.EXE reports that a replication attempt fails with status 1256. REPADMIN commands that commonly cite the 1256 status include but aren't limited to:
REPADMIN /REPLSUM
REPADMIN /SHOWREPS
REPADMIN /SHOWREPL
REPADMIN /FAILCACHE
Sample output from
REPADMIN /SHOWREPS
depicting inbound replication from LonEMEADC to LonContosoDC failing with The remote system is not available error:Repadmin: running command /showrepl against full DC localhost
London\LONCONTOSODC
DSA Options: IS_GC
Site Options: (none)
DSA object GUID: a29bbfda-8425-4cb9-9c66-8e07d505a5c6
DSA invocationID: d58a6322-6a28-4708-82d3-53b7dcc13c1a==== INBOUND NEIGHBORS ======================================
<snip>
DC=ForestDnsZones,DC=Contoso,DC=com
London\LONEMEADC via RPC
DSA object GUID: cd691606-63d1-4cc8-b77a-055674ba569d
Last attempt @ 2010-06-10 17:35:46 failed, result 1256 (0x4e8):
The remote system is not available. For information about network troubleshooting, see Windows Help.
<#> consecutive failure(s).
Last success @ <date> <time>.New Technology Directory Services (NTDS) KCC, NTDS Replication, or ActiveDirectory_DomainService events with the 1256 status are logged in the directory service event log.
Event Source Event ID Event String NTDS Replication ActiveDirectory_DomainService 1085 * Internal event: Active Directory Domain Services could not synchronize the following directory partition with the directory service at the following network address. NTDS KCC ActiveDirectory_DomainService 1308 The Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) has detected that successive attempts to replicate with the following directory service has consistently failed. Note
Event 1085 is only logged if the NTDS Diagnostics value 5 Replication Events has been set to a value of 1 or higher.
Cause
Replication status 1256 is logged for the following reason:
When the destination DC fails to bind to the source DC using remote procedure call (RPC) a Win32 error code in the Repsfrom status for that partition - usually Schema or Configuration since these partitions are replicated at a higher priority. After an RPC bind failure occurs, a cleanup routine will run to clear the destination DCs queue from that same source DC. This cleanup routine is done to avoid wasting time attempting to replicate with a DC that it can't connect to. Since it doesn't attempt a sync for the partitions that are cleared from the queue, a status 1256 is logged. In a scenario where destination DC replicates Schema, Configuration, and several global catalog (GC) nonwritable partitions from the source DC, the Win32 error status for the Schema and Configuration partitions that caused the RPC bind failure is logged. The destination DC then cancels the pending replication tasks for the remaining partitions and log Win32 error 1256 for the status.
In summary: 1256 is logged as the replication status per partition as a result of the destination DC canceling the sync request from the source DC due to a connectivity failure previously encountered.
Resolution
The Win32 error 1256 shouldn't be the focus of troubleshooting efforts, instead find the replication status that led to the RPC bind failure and then follow the corresponding Troubleshooting Active Directory operations that fail with error... article.
Diagnose Active Directory replication failures.
In order to determine the actual Win32 error to troubleshoot, use one of the following methods:
View
repadmin /showreps
or/showrepl
output on the destination DC- Identify Source DC in the output and list all Win32 status messages per partition
- The Win32 status that is listed that is not a 1256 should be the focus of troubleshooting efforts
Use
repadmin /showrepl * /csv
output:- Filter column K, Last Failure Status: Deselect 0 and (Blanks)
- Filter column C, Destination DSA: Deselect (Select All) and select just the DC where the 1256 status is logged.
- If 1256 is logged on more than one Source DC, Filter column F, Source DSA: Deselect (Select All) and Select just one DC to narrow the focus.
- Column K, Last Failure Status lists the 1256's along with the real Win32 error that led to the RPC bind failure.
In the following example, Win32 error 1722 is logged for the Configuration and Schema partitions and should be the focus of troubleshooting.
B C D E F H I J K Destination DSA Site Destination DSA Naming Context Source DSA Site Source DSA Number of Failures Last Failure Time Last Success Time Last Failure Status London LONCONTOSODC CN=Configuration,DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:35 6/10/2010 14:50 1722 London LONCONTOSODC CN=Schema,CN=Configuration, DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:36 6/10/2010 14:50 1722 London LONCONTOSODC DC=ForestDnsZones,DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:35 6/10/2010 14:50 1256 London LONCONTOSODC DC=corp,DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:35 6/10/2010 14:50 1256 London LONCONTOSODC DC=EMEA,DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:35 6/10/2010 14:54 1256 London LONCONTOSODC DC=apac,DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:35 6/10/2010 14:50 1256 Initiate a manual replication sync between source and destination DCs using
repadmin
.Repadmin /replicate DestinationDC SourceDC <DN of partition reporting status 1256>
This command will require /readonly switch for GC partition or /selsecrets switch if destination is an read-only DC (RODC)repadmin /replicate loncontosodc lonemeadc.emea.contoso.com dc=forestdnszones,dc=contoso,dc=com
DsReplicaSync() failed with status 1722 (0x6ba):
The RPC server is unavailable.
Take note that after manually initiating replication for the partition that the status has changed from 1256 to 1722:
B C D E F H I J K Destination DSA Site Destination DSA Naming Context Source DSA Site Source DSA Number of Failures Last Failure Time Last Success Time Last Failure Status London LONCONTOSODC CN=Configuration,DC=Contoso, DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:35 6/10/2010 14:50 1722 London LONCONTOSODC CN=Schema,CN=Configuration, DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:36 6/10/2010 14:50 1722 London LONCONTOSODC DC=ForestDnsZones, DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 12 6/10/2010 17:46 6/10/2010 14:50 1722 London LONCONTOSODC DC=corp,DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:35 6/10/2010 14:50 1256 London LONCONTOSODC DC=EMEA,DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:35 6/10/2010 14:54 1256 London LONCONTOSODC DC=apac,DC=Contoso,DC=com London LONEMEADC 11 6/10/2010 17:35 6/10/2010 14:50 1256
Data collection
If you need assistance from Microsoft support, we recommend you collect the information by following the steps mentioned in Gather information by using TSS for Active Directory replication issues.
More information
The following articles contain the troubleshooting procedures for errors typically logged with Win32 error 1256:
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