BUG: SCCM 2012 SP1 or R2 Client fails to initialize for up to an hour after installation
The Issue:
Consider the following scenario,
– Upon SCCM 2012 client install, the SMS Agent Host Service (ccmexec.exe) starts to initialize, makes contact with the assigned Management Point and begins retrieving policy.
– The client abruptly stops communication within 5-10 minutes and appears to flush all currently policies and all but basic log activity ceases.
– The SMS Agent Host Service is still running, however starting and stopping the service has no effect nor does rebooting the computer. The agent simply sits quietly.
– In approximately 1 hour the client “wakes up” and contacts the Management Point, registers properly and continues to work without issue from there on out. *Note: Times may vary, I have seen as low as 45 minutes.
After much troubleshooting with Microsoft support it was determined to be a bug when logging into the machine (or being logged into the machine) when the client is initializing the first time. The user policy retrieval appears to be the culprit here!
A very long winded thread about this issue can be found on the technet forums here. 🙂
The Workaround:
Force the client to delay user policy retrieval.
The workaround below was provided by Microsoft support and has been validated by a number of users affected by the issue, including myself):
At present we have a workaround for the issue by setting the following registry
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\CCM\UserPolicyReRequestDelay (REG_DWORD) value: 6,000,000 (decimal).
Please add a step in your Task Sequence to add this registry value.
If you are also facing the issue while trying to install the client manually then please follow these steps
1. Install the client manually
2. Immediately disable and stop the CCMExec service (SMS Agent Host)
3. Set the following registry HKLM\Software\Microsoft\CCM\UserPolicyReRequestDelay (REG_DWORD) value: 6,000,000 (decimal)
4. Enable and set the CCMExec service to automatic
5. Start the CCMExec service
For OS Deployment client installation you can add the following in a Run Command Line task as the first step in the State Restore phase of your Task Sequence:
‘reg add HKLM\Software\Microsoft\CCM /v UserPolicyReRequestDelay /t REG_DWORD /d 6000000’
Important Notes:
This issue does not affect all installs of SCCM 2012. At this time its unknown what causes it in certain implementations.
This issue has been confirmed for HTTPS/PKI and HTTP implementations of SCCM.
This workaround will not work in a Client Push scenario given you do not have the option to add custom registry keys during installation. Until the issue has been resolved by Microsoft, this bug will continue to affect any client push deployments.
I hope this helps others out there who might be suffering from this bug! Unfortunately there is no ETA at the time of this post on a fix. Any questions? Feel free to contact us.
