ADWS keeps resetting itself. I get a 1206 Cannot determine if server is a global catalog error in the ADWS logs.

Question

The ADWS service keeps restarting over and over again. The error message is a 1206 in the ADWS server logs.

Active Directory Web Services was unable to determine if the computer is a global catalog server. Seeing this the on all of the DCs at our home site. This causing AD to bounce depending on which DC you hit. In ADUC, when you try to select a domain controller, you can see the DCs ADWS service bouncing because the DCs will report as online for few minutes than unavailable then back online as the service restarts and runs for a few minutes. This impacting almost all of our operations. Any advice would be appreciated...

Answer 1

Hello Lowe, Chip,

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

1.How many Domain Controllers are there in your domain?
2.Did the issue "ADWS keeps resetting itself." occur on only one Domain Controller or all the Domain Controllers in the domain?

From the following two similar threads, it seems if you install any third-part app on Domain Controller, then it may affect ADWS service.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/msdn-technet-forums/5ed95446-612e-4e85-93ea-e9bdbd5ffa4b

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/341044/active-directory-web-services-unable-to-start

Please check if you install any third-part app\program on this problematic Domain Controller.

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,

Daisy Zhou

============================================

If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

Answer 2

7 DCs at two different sites. At our home site 5 DCs, backup site 2 DCs. Only the home site DCs are impacted and only during business hours. We do have some third-party software that we are looking into as the potential cause.