There was an error while running 'ldifde.exe' to import the schema file

Question

When trying to PrepareSchema for exchange 2019 we are getting an error

[09/13/2022 01:36:39.0440] [1] 0. ErrorRecord: Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.TaskException: There was an error while running 'ldifde.exe' to import the schema file 'C:\Windows\Temp\ExchangeSetup\Setup\Data\PostExchange2003_schema0.ldf'. The error code is: 8224. More details can be found in the error file: 'C:\Users\adm\AppData\Local\Temp\2\ldif.err'

ldif.err

Entry DN: CN=ms-Exch-ELC-Expiry-Action,CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=corp,DC=local
Add error on entry starting on line 1: Operations Error

The server side error is: 0x21a2 The FSMO role ownership could not be verified because its directory partition has not replicated successfully with at least one replication partner.

The extended server error is:

000021A2: SvcErr: DSID-030A0B6B, problem 5012 (DIR_ERROR), data 8610

An error has occurred in the program

Domain and forest level are 2012 R2

When running repadmin /syncall /AdeP

All partitions are showing

CALLBACK MESSAGE: SyncAll Finished.
SyncAll terminated with no errors.

Dcdiag

dcdiag error

  Starting test: Replications  
     [Replications Check,DC1] A recent replication attempt failed:  
        From DC2 to DC1  
        Naming Context: DC=ForestDnsZones,DC=corp,DC=local  
        The replication generated an error (8524):  
        The DSA operation is unable to proceed because of a DNS lookup failure.  
        The failure occurred at 2022-09-12 21:28:48.  
        The last success occurred at 2022-09-12 20:11:59.  
        1 failures have occurred since the last success.  
        The guid-based DNS name  
        f61504e0-520f-4f8d-b4ac-cf613a66ff48._msdcs.corp.local  
        is not registered on one or more DNS servers.  
     [Replications Check,DC1] A recent replication attempt failed:  
        From DC2 to DC1  
        Naming Context: DC=DomainDnsZones,DC=corp,DC=local  
        The replication generated an error (8524):  
        The DSA operation is unable to proceed because of a DNS lookup failure.

Answer 1

Make sure all Domain Controllers are reachable.
Remove any orphaned domain controllers.
Try running on the domain controller itself, holding the schema master.

Answer 2

Hi @nettech ,
According to the error code 8224, it indicates the main cause is a replication issue with the domain controllers in the environment.
Please refer to the following methods to check whether there are any domain controllers in your environment that are offline or deactivated:

1.Open “Active Directory Sites and Services” , expand all the sites and look at the server names .
2.Check whether there are any old DCs in the list.
3.Delete all the stale Domain Controllers
4.Delete stale Name Servers from DNS properties
5.Reboot all DC's in the site
Finally, try running Prepareschema command on Exchange Server again to see if the error is changed.

In addition , I also search for an official documentation about the error id 8524. It can also be caused by an expired DC or an expired NTDS. You could refer to the following links for troubleshooting:
Active Directory Replication fails with Win32 error 8524 - Windows Server | Microsoft Learn

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