In the process of deploying an SCCM distribution point, I encountered this error:
ERROR DPConnection::ConnectWMI() – Failed to connect to Hostname.domain.local. error = 0x800706ba
A quick search tells me that error code means RPC Server Unavailable. So, I start testing WMI connectivity with Wbemtest (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/system-center/configuration-manager-2003/cc180684(v=technet.10)?redirectedfrom=MSDN) and was able to connect to the remote WMI using my credentials. Running the same test using the SCCM service account returns the same RPC Server Unavailable error I found in the SCCM logs.
I couldn’t figure out how the RPC server would be accessible for one user, and unavailable for another. On a whim, I tried to connect wbemtest using an account that didn’t have appropriate permission, and that immediately returned an “Access Denied” error.
Clearly something was up with the account that SCCM was using for the WMI connection. So, I tried to log to a computer with that account and immediately knew what the problem was. The login returned an error that the password had expired. Once I disabled password expiration I was able to connect to WMI via wbemtest and SCCM was able to install the distribution point.
So, lesson learned. RPC Server Unavailable can reflect unsuccessful authentication, not just connectivity problems.
Shane Skriletz , PEI
