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[Troubleshooting] DirSync FIM Sync Service would not start

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Background

After installing the Directory Synchronization Appliance, Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service would not start. 

Troubleshooting Actions

  • Attempted to start the Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service manually, but it would fail immediately.  The Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service would not timeout; it would just fail immediately.
  • Reviewed file and registry permissions
  • Reviewed Event Log Information (Application and System Event Log)
  • Examined the account that the Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service was running under
    • In the Directory Synchronization Appliance installation, this account is created during the installation
  • Tried restarting the machine
  • Re-Executed the Directory Synchronization Appliance configuration wizard
  • Obtained a Process Monitor (ProcMon) trace while attempting to start the Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service.
    • Compared the trace side-by-side for a baseline Directory Synchronization Appliance
    • In reviewing the Process Monitor (ProcMon) trace side-by-side with a baseline trace, we were able to determine where the process began to diverge from the baseline ("known good") configuration.
      • Identified the following DLL: C:\Windows\System32\AMInit64.dll

 

miiserver.exe RegOpenKey HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe RegQueryValue HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\LoadAppInit_DLLs Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe RegQueryValue HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\RequireSignedAppInit_DLLs Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe RegQueryValue HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\AppInit_DLLs Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe CreateFile C:\Program Files\Windows Azure Active Directory Sync\SYNCBUS\Synchronization Service\Bin\AMINIT64.DLL Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe CreateFile C:\Windows\System32\AMInit64.dll Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe CloseFile C:\Windows\System32\AMInit64.dll Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe CreateFile C:\Windows\System32\AMInit64.dll Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe CreateFileMapping C:\Windows\System32\AMInit64.dll Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe CreateFileMapping C:\Windows\System32\AMInit64.dll Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe CloseFile C:\Windows\System32\AMInit64.dll Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
miiserver.exe RegOpenKey HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SideBySide Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service

 

Cause

A quick search found that this DLL ( C:\Windows\System32\AMInit64.dll ) belongs to a 3rd Party Anti-Virus or Monitoring Software. 

Resolution

  • Utilized a SysInternals Tool called AutoRuns (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx). 
  • AutoRuns allowed us to test deselecting this DLL to disable it.  Once we unchecked the DLL, we were able to successfully start the Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service
  • By utilizing AutoRuns, we were able to show the conflicting software that was preventing the Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service from starting successfully.