Exchange Management Console pointing to wrong server “The attempt to connect to http://server.domain.com/PowerShell using "Kerberos" authentication failed”

199 days ago by 27

I came across this error during an Exchange 2010 Unified Messaging deployment. The EMC would not connect:

"The attempt to connect to http://server.domain.com/PowerShell using "Kerberos" authentication failed: connecting to remote server failed with the following error message : The WinRM client cannot complete the operation within the time specified.  Check if the machine name is valid and is reachable over the network and firewall exception for Windows Remote Management service is enabled.  For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic."

There are various blog posts on the internet around how to fix the connectivity problem to the server, but in this case the server EMC was pointing to had been decommissioned properly and was no longer listed in AD. EMS would connect fine to a different working server.

In my case I had to take two actions to fixed it.

Close EMC

Under C:\users\<specific user>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\MMC\Exchange Management Console\ there is a config file. Delete it

In the registry under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Exchangeserver\v14\AdminTools\NodeStructureSettings delete the value NodeStructureSettings

Only after both of these are done, did the EMC correctly rediscover an active Exchange 2010 server. If one or there other is done, the incorrect server information is retained.

Also as a workaround I could add a “new” Exchange forest and connect, but I wanted to actually fix the issue.

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Tom Arbuthnot is a consultant at Modality Systems providing planning, design and deployment of all aspects of Microsoft Unified Communications and integration with existing enterprise telephony environments. Before joining Modality, Tom worked for a leading Cisco Unified Communications Partner where he gained a good understanding of the Cisco UC proposition and a unique perspective on the relative benefits of the Microsoft offering. Tom is a Microsoft MVP for Lync and is actively involved in the global Unified Communications community via twitter, Microsoft Technet Forums and Lync’d Up blog. He holds a BSc degree in Management from Loughborough University as well as various technical certifications including Cisco CCNA Voice and Lync 2010 MCIPT.

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27 Responses to “Exchange Management Console pointing to wrong server “The attempt to connect to http://server.domain.com/PowerShell using "Kerberos" authentication failed””

  1. wrx7m says:
    29/11/2011 at 8:50 pm

    DUDE!!!! Thank you so much for this! I was going around in circles thinking that it was IIS or DNS. I ran the EMC troubleshooter and it came back without any errors. I have no idea why, but I get more corrupt profiles on this server than I have in my whole life. hal the time when I do a standard reboot, I get the nice message telling me that my profile is running in temp mode or whatever and I have to delete the registry key so it will allow me to create a new profile upon login.

    Reply
    • Tom Arbuthnot says:
      29/11/2011 at 8:57 pm

      Your welcome. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Always nice to know the blog posts are helping people.

      Reply
  2. Elias says:
    07/12/2011 at 9:10 pm

    Tom,
    The above fixed my EMC and it launches now, but the Shell still gets the same error. Any ideas?

    Reply
    • Tom Arbuthnot says:
      07/12/2011 at 9:16 pm

      Hi there, Nothing comes to mind off hand, can you start a thread on technet forums with the details. That is the best place to go. I will try to take a look there too.

      Reply
  3. Ashwin frankie says:
    20/12/2011 at 9:13 am

    I had the same problem and followed this post and the problem is now resolved.

    Thank you kindly for this fix.

    Reply
  4. Mark DeRosia says:
    22/12/2011 at 10:50 pm

    This fixed the issue for me after searching for 2 hours. Thank you much for posting this. What a pain this was.

    Thanks again

    Reply
  5. BaTor says:
    29/12/2011 at 8:27 am

    Thanks a lot. This post helped me a lot!!!

    Reply
  6. Matt says:
    02/02/2012 at 3:26 am

    Thanks a lot dude. Your quick fix did it!!!!!

    Reply
  7. Matt H says:
    06/02/2012 at 2:47 pm

    Another thank you!!!

    Reply
  8. Chuck Finley says:
    07/02/2012 at 4:22 pm

    Outstanding Sir, out standing in the rain….. Hooah. Saved me a ton of time after a “server” rename to match the previous technicians certificate subject alternate names :) Kudos and thanks…..

    Reply
  9. Wehnke Botha says:
    22/02/2012 at 7:15 am

    Unfortunately I was not as lucky as the above readers, my problem persists – been going though plenty troubleshooting guides from TechNet and the like, and about to pull my hair outta my skull.
    Any further ideas would be appreciated !

    Reply
  10. Wehnke Botha says:
    22/02/2012 at 11:57 am

    I am actually going through some more guides – Technet thread will be next – what a pain !
    Also unable to open the Exchange Management Console for some reason..
    Will keep digging, but omw im getting short of temper now :’(

    Reply
  11. Botha Thiart says:
    06/03/2012 at 2:49 pm

    Thanks. Worked for me on server 2008 r2 standard and exchange 2010 sp2. will post a link to this on my blog if you dont mind. thanks

    Reply
  12. Bunny Mack says:
    09/03/2012 at 6:02 pm

    This help me too. EMC in my DR site was trying to connected to a server in Production site when the it was not accessable.

    My EMS worked fine.

    Thanks

    Reply
  13. Jan Schutter says:
    19/03/2012 at 12:33 am

    Spot on! After removing an Exchange 2010 server I couldn’t start the Exchange management console on the other server (failed to connect to the removed server). This post fixed the issue!
    Many thanks!

    Reply
  14. Gary E says:
    09/05/2012 at 8:10 pm

    Your article saved me a ton of frustration. I banged my head on the wall for a couple of hours trying to figure out why my console kept pointing to a server that had been decomissioned.

    I even opened a trouble ticket with MS and the Exchange Engineering team had no clue. I can’t necessarily blame them. Exchange is such a monster and this particular issue appears to be uncommon.

    In any case, it’s a long shot but if you ever find yourself in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. I will buy you a beer.

    Reply
    • Tom Arbuthnot says:
      14/05/2012 at 6:42 am

      Thanks for the comment

      My favourite comments are the ones that offer me beer :-)

      All the best

      Tom

      Reply
  15. Sunny says:
    15/05/2012 at 10:22 am

    Heyyy !! I had the same error. I perfromed the above operation but its not resolved .. Help me out please!! When again reconnet my EMC I get the same error again :S :S

    Reply
    • Tom Arbuthnot says:
      17/05/2012 at 6:43 pm

      Does the CP work in another server? Prob best to post a thread on Technet Forums and I’ll try to take a look. Thanks

      Reply

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