This content is published in Microsoft KB 976640

Step 1: Use Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer

// The Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer is a diagnostic tool that you can use to evaluate important configuration settings for computers that either are serving or might serve VMM roles or other VMM functions. The Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer does the following:

  • Scans the hardware and software configurations of the computers that you specify
  • Evaluates these configurations against a set of predefined rules
  • Displays error messages and warnings for any configurations that are not optimal for the VMM role or other VMM functions that you have specified for the computer

System Requirements:

Before you install the Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer, you must download and install the 64-bit version of Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer. To download the MBCASetup64.msi file, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=97952 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=97952)

Note The system requirements for Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer indicate that only Windows Server 2003 is supported. However, the Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer and Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer have been tested and are supported on 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2008.

You must install and run the Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer on the computer that either currently is or will become your VMM 2008 server. To review the system requirements for the VMM 2008 server, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=133516 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=133516)

To download the Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=02d83950-c03d-454e-803b-96d1c1d5be24&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=02d83950-c03d-454e-803b-96d1c1d5be24&displaylang=en)

Step 2: Check required hotfixes

// On any servers that host a VMM role together with Hyper-V or Virtual Server hosts, you apply the following hotfixes:

956589 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956589/ ) Description of the Hyper-V update for issues that may occur when you manage the Hyper-V role on the 64-bit editions of Windows Server 2008 by using SCVMM
956774 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956774/ ) A Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) client cannot handle files that have paths that contain the volume GUID in Windows Server 2008 or in Windows Vista
958124 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958124/ ) A wmiprvse.exe process may leak memory when a WMI notification query is used heavily on a Windows Server 2008-based or Windows Vista-based computer
954563 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/954563/ ) Memory corruption may occur with the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista Service Pack 1
955805 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955805/ ) Certain applications become very slow on a Windows Server 2008-based or Windows Vista S955805-based computer when a certificate with SIA extension is installed

The following are some common error messages that are addressed in these hotfixes:

Error (2911)
Insufficient resources are available to complete this operation on the server.domainname.com server.
(Not enough storage is available to complete this operation (0×8007000E))
Error (2912)
An internal error has occurred trying to contact an agent on the server.domainname.com server.
(No more threads can be created in the system (0×800700A4))
Error (2916)
VMM is unable to complete the request. The connection to the agent server.domainname.com was lost.
(Unknown error (0×80338012))
Error (2915)
The WS-Management Service cannot process the request. Object not found on the server.domainname.com server.
(Unknown error (0×80041002))

In addition to these hotfixes, you must also apply the following hotfix on the VMM server:

961983 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961983/ ) Description of the hotfix rollup package for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008: April 14th, 2009

Step 3: Disable TCP Offloading

// You must disable TCP Offloading in Windows, in the registry, and in any network adapter teaming management software that is being used. You must check all these locations to make sure that TCP Offloading is completely disabled. This operation must be performed on both the VMM server and the host computer.

Locate all network adapters in the registry under the following subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

There are additional subkeys under this subkey that are named with four digits, starting with “0000.” Locate the subkeys that show the physical network adapter names on the details pane. Find the “DriverDesc” value on the details pane. This value should contain the name of a network adapter, such as “HP NC360T PCIe Gigabit Server Adapter.” For each of these subkeys, make the following changes:

Disable all vendor-specific offloading. Set values for any entries that include the word “Offload” to “0″ (disabled). For example, these entries include the following:

Collapse this tableExpand this table
Entry Description
*FlowControl No description available
*IPChecksumOffloadIPv4 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of IPv4 checksums
*TCPChecksumOffloadIPv4 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP Checksum over IPv4 packets
*TCPChecksumOffloadIPv6 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP checksum over IPv6 packets
*UDPChecksumOffloadIPv4 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of UDP Checksum over IPv4 packets
*UDPChecksumOffloadIPv6 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of UDP Checksum over IPv6 packets
*LsoV1IPv4 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the segmentation of large TCP packets over IPv4 for large send offload
*LsoV2IPv4 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the segmentation of large TCP packets over IPv4 for large send offload
*LsoV2IPv6 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the segmentation of large TCP packets over IPv6 for large send offload
*IPsecOffloadV1IPv4 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of IPsec headers over IPv4.
*IPsecOffloadV2 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled IPsec offload version 2 (IPsecOV2).
*IPsecOffloadV2IPv4 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled IPsecOV2 for IPv4 only.
*RSS Receive side scaling
*TCPUDPChecksumOffloadIPv4 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP or UDP checksum over IPv4
*TCPUDPChecksumOffloadIPv6 Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP or UDP checksum over IPv6

To disable TCP Offloading in Windows, use the following registry entry for task offloading for the TCP/IP protocol:

Subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\TCPIP\Parameters
Entry: DisableTaskOffload
Type: REG_DWORD

You can set this registry entry to 1 to disable all task-offloading from the TCP/IP transport.

Many vendors have some forms of offloading capabilities built into their teaming management software. Such offloading can appear in many forms and is usually vendor-specific.

For more information about offloading, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa938424.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa938424.aspx)

Step 4: Check the Svchost.exe process of the Windows Remote Management service

// Virtual Machine Manager depends very much on the Windows Remote Management service for underlying communication. Therefore, the “Not Responding” status is very likely to occur because of an error in the underlying Windows Remote Management communication between the VMM server and the host computer. In this case, the status is “OK” shortly after you restart the host computer. However, the status changes to “Not Responding” after 3 to 4 hours. Additionally, if you stop the Windows Remote Management service at a command prompt, it takes much longer than usual to be completed. Sometimes, it can take up to five minutes to stop.

This problem can occur if the shared Svchost.exe process that hosts the Windows Remote Management service is backed up.

To resolve this problem, configure the Windows Remote Management service to run in a separate Svchost.exe process. To do this, open an elevated command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER.

Note Make sure that you type the command exactly as it appears here. Notice the space after the “=” symbol.

c:\>sc config winrm type= own

If the command is completed successfully, you see the following output:

[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS

Step 5: Check the VMM server computer account

// This problem also occurs because the VMM server computer account is removed from the local Administrators group on the host computer. This setting may be caused by the “Restrictive Groups” Group Policy setting.

For more information about this cause, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

969164 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969164/ ) Virtual Server or Hyper-V host may have a status of “Not Responding” or “Needs Attention” due to Restricted Groups group policy setting

To resolve this problem, move the VMM server and host computers to a new organizational unit (OU) that blocks inheritance of all Group Policy objects.

Step 6: Check for other causes

// Some other causes that are potential causes of this problem include the following:

  • The VMM agent is not running.
  • Some antivirus software is scanning ports or protocols.
VMM accounts membership

// You can put the VMM accounts into the appropriate groups according to the following.

VMM server machine account:

  • The Administrators group on the VMM server and on all host computers
  • The Virtual Machine Manager Servers local group on the VMM server

The account for actions in VMM:

  • The Local Administrators group on the VMM server and on all host computers