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Active Directory replication error -2146893022 (0x80090322): The target principal name is incorrect

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This article describes how to troubleshoot a problem in which Active Directory replication fails and generates an error (-2146893022: The target principal name is incorrect).

Applies to:   Windows Server (All supported versions)
Original KB number:   2090913

Note

Home users: This article is only intended for technical support agents and IT professionals. If you're looking for help with a problem, please ask the Microsoft Community.

Summary

This error occurs when the source domain controller doesn't decrypt the service ticket provided by the destination (target) domain controller. The destination domain controller is the domain controller requesting changes.

Top cause

The destination domain controller receives a service ticket from a Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC). And the KDC has an old version of the password for the source domain controller.

Top resolution

  1. Disable the KDC service on the destination domain controller. To do it, run one of the following commands:

    • Command Prompt

      sc config KDC start=Disabled

    • PowerShell

      Set-Service -Name KDC -StartupType Disabled

  2. Restart the domain controller.

  3. Start replication on the destination domain controller from the source domain controller. Use AD Sites and Services or Repadmin.

    Using repadmin:

    Repadmin /replicate destinationDC sourceDC DN_of_Domain_NC

    For example, if replication is failing on ContosoDC2.contoso.com, run the following command on ContosoDC1.contoso.com:

    Repadmin /replicate ContosoDC2.contoso.com ContosoDC1.contoso.com "DC=contoso,DC=com"

  4. Set the KDC service on the destination domain controller back to Automatic by running one of the following commands:

    • Command Prompt

      sc config KDC start=auto

    • PowerShell

      Set-Service -Name KDC -StartupType Auto

  5. Start the KDC service on the destination domain controller by running one of the following commands:

    • Command Prompt

      net start KDC

    • PowerShell

      Start-Service -Name KDC

If it doesn't resolve the issue, see the Resolution section for an alternative solution in which you use the netdom resetpwd command to reset the computer account password of the source domain controller. If these steps don't resolve the problem, review the rest of this article.

Symptoms

When this problem occurs, you experience one or more of the following symptoms:

  • DCDIAG reports that the Active Directory replications test has failed and returned error -2146893022: The target principal name is incorrect.

    [Replications Check,<DC Name>] A recent replication attempt failed:
    From <source DC> to <destination DC>
    Naming Context: <DN path of directory partition>
    The replication generated an error (-2146893022):
    The target principal name is incorrect.
    The failure occurred at <date> <time>.
    The last success occurred at <date> <time>.
    <X> failures have occurred since the last success.

  • Repadmin.exe reports that a replication attempt failed, and reports a status of -2146893022 (0x80090322).

    Repadmin commands that commonly indicate the -2146893022 (0x80090322) status include but aren't limited to the following ones:

    • REPADMIN /REPLSUM

    • REPADMIN /SHOWREPL

    • REPADMIN /SHOWREPS

    • REPADMIN /SYNCALL

      Sample output from REPADMIN /SHOWREPS and REPADMIN /SYNCALL that indicate the target principal name is incorrect error is as follows:

      c:\> repadmin /showreps  
<site name>\<destination DC>
DC Options: IS_GC
Site Options: (none)
DC object GUID: <NTDS settings object object GUID>
DChttp://bemis/13/Pages/2090913_en-US.aspx invocationID: <invocation ID string>

==== INBOUND NEIGHBORS ======================================

DC=<DN path for directory partition>
     <site name>\<source DC via RPC
         DC object GUID: <source DCs ntds settings object object guid>
         Last attempt @ <date> <time> failed, result -2146893022 (0x80090322):
The target principal name is incorrect.
         <X #> consecutive failure(s).
         Last success @ <date> <time>.

c:\> repadmin /syncall /Ade
Syncing all NC's held on localhost.
Syncing partition: DC=<Directory DN path>
CALLBACK MESSAGE: Error contacting server CN=NTDS Settings,CN=<server name>,CN=Servers,CN=<site name>,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=<forest root domain> (network error): -2146893022 (0x80090322):

  • The replicate now command in Active Directory Sites and Services returns the following error message:
    The target principal name is incorrect

    Right-clicking on the connection object from a source DC and then selecting replicate now fails. The on-screen error message is as follows:

    Dialog title text: Replicate Now
    Dialog message text: The following error occurred during the attempt to contact the domain controller <source DC name>:
    The target principal name is incorrect
    Buttons in Dialog: OK

    • NTDS Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC), NTDS General, or Microsoft-Windows-ActiveDirectory_DomainService events that have the -2146893022 status are logged in the directory service event log.

      Active Directory events that commonly cite the -2146893022 status include but aren't limited to the following ones:

      Event Source Event ID Event String
      NTDS Replication 1586 The Windows NT 4.0 or earlier replication checkpoint with the PDC emulator master was unsuccessful.

      A full synchronization of the security accounts manager (SAM) database to domain controllers running Windows NT 4.0 and earlier might take place if the PDC emulator master role is transferred to the local domain controller before the next successful checkpoint.
      NTDS KCC 1925 The attempt to establish a replication link for the following writable directory partition failed.
      NTDS KCC 1308 The Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) has detected that successive attempts to replicate with the following domain controller has consistently failed.
      Microsoft-Windows-ActiveDirectory_DomainService 1926 The attempt to establish a replication link to a read-only directory partition with the following parameters failed
      NTDS Inter-site Messaging 1373 The Intersite Messaging service could not receive any messages for the following service through the following transport. The query for messages failed.

Cause

The -2146893022\0x80090322\SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL error code isn't an Active Directory error. It may be returned by the following lower layer components for different root causes:

  • RPC
  • Kerberos
  • SSL
  • LSA
  • NTLM

Kerberos errors that are mapped by Windows code to -2146893022\0x80090322\SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL include:

  • KRB_AP_ERR_MODIFIED (0x29/41 decimal/KRB_APP_ERR_MODIFIED)
  • KRB_AP_ERR_BADMATCH (0x24h/36 decimal/"Ticket and authenticator don't match")
  • KRB_AP_ERR_NOT_US (0x23h/35 decimal/"The ticket isn't for us")

Some specific root causes for -2146893022\0x80090322\SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL include:

  • A bad name-to-IP mapping in DNS, WINS, HOST, or LMHOST file. It caused the destination domain controller to connect to the wrong source domain controller in a different Kerberos realm.

  • The KDC and source domain controller have different versions of the source domain controller's computer account password. So the Kerberos target computer (source domain controller) couldn't decrypt Kerberos authentication data sent by the Kerberos client (destination domain controller).

  • The KDC couldn't find a domain to look for the source domain controller's SPN.

  • Authentication data in Kerberos encrypted frames were modified by hardware (including network devices), software, or an attacker.

Resolution

  • Run dcdiag /test:checksecurityerror on the source DC

    SPNs may be missing, invalid, or duplicated due to simple replication latency, especially following promotion, or replication failures.

    Duplicate SPNs may cause bad SPN to name mappings.

    DCDIAG /TEST:CheckSecurityError can check for missing or duplicate SPNs and other errors.

    Run this command on the console of all source domain controllers that fail outbound replication with the SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL error.

    You can check SPN registration against a specific location by using the following syntax:

    dcdiag /test:checksecurityerror replsource:<remote dc>

  • Verify that Kerberos encrypted network traffic reached the intended Kerberos target (name-to-IP mapping)

    Consider the following scenario:

    • Inbound replicating Active Directory destination domain controllers search their local copy of the directory for the objectGUID of the source domain controllers NTDS Settings objects.

    • The domain controllers query the active DNS server for a matching DC GUIDED CNAME record. Then it's mapped to a host A/AAAA record that contains the source domain controller's IP address.

      In this scenario, Active Directory runs a name resolution fallback. It includes queries for fully qualified computer names in DNS or single-label host names in WINS.

      Note

      DNS Servers can also perform WINS lookups in fallback scenarios.

The following situations can all cause a destination domain controller to submit Kerberos-encrypted traffic to the wrong Kerberos target:

  • Stale NTDS Settings objects
  • Bad name-to-IP mappings in DNS and WINS host records
  • Stale entries in HOST files

To check for this condition, either take a network trace or manually verify that name DNS/NetBIOS name queries resolve to the intended target computer.

Method 1: Network trace method (as parsed by Network Monitor 3.3.1641 by having full default parsers enabled)

The following table shows a synopsis of network traffic that occurs when destination DC1 inbound replicates the Active Directory directory from source DC2.

F# SRC DEST Protocol Frame Comment
1 DC1 DC2 MSRPC MSRPC:c/o Request: unknown Call=0x5 Opnum=0x3 Context=0x1 Hint=0x90 Dest DC RPC call to EPM on source DC over 135
2 DC2 DC1 MSRPC MSRPC:c/o Response: unknown Call=0x5 Context=0x1 Hint=0xF4 Cancels=0x0 EPM response to RPC caller
3 DC1 DC2 MSRPC MSRPC:c/o Bind: UUID{E3514235-4B06-11D1-AB04-00C04FC2DCD2} DRSR(DRSR) Call=0x2 Assoc Grp=0x0 Xmit=0x16D0 Recv=0x16D0 RPC bind request to E351... service UUID
4 DC2 DC1 MSRPC MSRPC:c/o Bind Ack: Call=0x2 Assoc Grp=0x9E62 Xmit=0x16D0 Recv=0x16D0 RPC Bind response
5 DC1 KDC KerberosV5 KerberosV5:TGS Request Realm: CONTOSO.COM Sname: E3514235-4B06-11D1-AB04-00C04FC2DCD2/6f3f96d3-dfbf-4daf-9236-4d6da6909dd2/contoso.com TGS request for replication SPN of source DC. This operation will not appear on the wire of destination DC uses self as KDC.
6 KDC DC1 KerberosV5 KerberosV5:TGS Response Cname: CONTOSO-DC1$ TGS response to destination DC contoso-dc1. This operation will not appear on the wire of destination DC uses self as KDC.
7 DC1 DC2 MSRPC MSRPC:c/o Alter Cont: UUID{E3514235-4B06-11D1-AB04-00C04FC2DCD2} DRSR(DRSR) Call=0x2 AP request
8 DC2 DC1 MSRPC MSRPC:c/o Alter Cont Resp: Call=0x2 Assoc Grp=0x9E62 Xmit=0x16D0 Recv=0x16D0 AP response.
Drilldown on Frame 7 Drilldown on Frame 8 Comments
MSRPC MSRPC:c/o Alter Cont: UUID{E3514235-4B06-11D1-AB04-00C04FC2DCD2} DRSR(DRSR) Call=0x2 MSRPC:c/o Alter Cont Resp: Call=0x2 Assoc Grp=0xC3EA43 Xmit=0x16D0 Recv=0x16D0 DC1 connects to AD Replication Service on DC2 over the port returned by the EPM on DC2.
Ipv4: Src = x.x.x.245, Dest = x.x.x.35, Next Protocol = TCP, Packet ID =, Total IP Length = 0 Ipv4: Src = x.x.x.35, Dest = x.x.x.245, Next Protocol = TCP, Packet ID = 31546, Total IP Length = 278 Verify that AD replication source DC (referred to as the Dest computer in the first column and Src computer in column 2 owns the IP address cited in the trace. It's x.x.x.35 in this example.
Ticket: Realm: CONTOSO.COM, Sname: E3514235-4B06-11D1-AB04-00C04FC2DCD2/6f3f96d3-dfbf-4daf-9236-4d6da6909dd2/contoso.com ErrorCode: KRB_AP_ERR_MODIFIED (41)

Realm: <verify that realm returned by the source DC matches the Kerberos realm intended by the destination DC>.

Sname: <verify that the sName in the AP response matches contains the hostname of the intended source DC and NOT another DC that the destination incorrectly resolved to due to a bad name-to-ip mapping problem>.		 In column 1, note the realm of the target Kerberos realm as contoso.com followed by the source domain controllers Replication SPN (Sname) which consists of the Active Directory replication service UUID (E351...) concatenated with object GUID of the source domain controllers NTDS Settings object.

The GUIDED value 6f3f96d3-dfbf-4daf-9236-4d6da6909dd2 to the right of the E351... replication service UUID is the Object GUID for the source domain controllers NTDS settings object. It's currently defined in the destination domain controllers copy of Active Directory. Verify that this object GUID matches the value in the DSA Object GUID field when repadmin /showreps is run from the console of the source DC.

A ping or nslookup of the source domain controllers fully qualified CNAME concatenated with_msdcs.<forest root DNS name> from the console of the destination DC must return the source domain controllers current IP address:

ping 6f3f96d3-dfbf-4daf-9236-4d6da6909dd2._msdcs.contoso.com

nslookup -type=cname 6f3f96d3-dfbf-4daf-9236-4d6da6909dd2._msdcs.<forest root domain> <DNS Server IP>

In the reply shown in column 2, focus on the Sname field and verify that it contains the hostname of the AD replication source DC.

Bad name-to-IP mappings could cause the destination DC to connect to a DC in an invalid target realm causing the Realm value to be invalid as shown in this case. Bad host-to-IP mappings could cause DC1 to connect to DC3 in the same domain. It would still generate KRB_AP_ERR_MODIFIED, but the realm name in frame 8 would match the realm in frame 7.

Method 2: Name-to-IP mapping verification (without using a network trace)

From the console of the Source domain controller:

Command Comment
IPCONFIG /ALL |MORE Note IP address of NIC used by destination domain controllers
REPADMIN /SHOWREPS |MORE Note value of DSA Object GUID. It denotes the object GUID for the source domain controllers NTDS Settings Object in the source domain controllers copy of active Directory.

From the Console of the destination DC:

Command Comment
IPCONFIG /ALL |MORE Note the primary, secondary and any tertiary DNS Servers configured that the destination DC could query during DNS lookups.
REPADMIN /SHOWREPS |MORE In the Inbound Neighbors section of the repadmin output, locate the replication status where the destination DC replicates a common partition from the source DC in question.

The DSA object GUID listed for the source DC in the replication status section of the report should match the object GUID listed in the /showreps header when run on the console of the source DC.
IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS Clear the DNS Client cache
Start > Run > Notepad
%systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts		 Check for host-to-IP mappings referencing the source domain controllers single label or fully qualified DNS name. Remove if present. Save changes to HOST file.

Run Nbtstat -R (upper case R) to refresh the NetBIOS name cache.
NSLOOKUP -type=CNAME <object guid of source DCs NTDS Settings object>._msdcs.<forest root DNS name> <primary DNS Server IP>

Repeat for each additional DNS Server IP configured on the destination DC.

example: c:\>nslookup -type=cname 8a7baee5-cd81-4c8c-9c0f-b10030574016._msdcs.contoso.com 152.45.42.103		 Verify that IP returned matches the IP address of target DC listed above recorded from the console of the source DC.

Repeat for all DNS Servers IPs configured on destination DC.
nslookup -type=A+AAAA <FQDN of source DC> <DNS Server IP> Check for duplicate host A records on all DNS Server IPs configured on the destination DC.
nbtstat -A <IP address of DNS Server IP returned by nslookup> Should return name of the source DC.

Note

A replication request that's directed to a non-domain controller (because of a bad name-to-IP mapping) or a domain controller that doesn't currently have the E351... service UUID registered with the endpoint mapper returns error 1753: There are no more endpoints available with the endpoint mapper.

The Kerberos target can't decrypt Kerberos authenticated data because of a password mismatch.

This issue can occur if the password for the source domain controller differs between the KDC and source domain controller's copy of the Active Directory directory. The destination domain controller's copy of the source domain controller computer account password may be stale if it's not using itself as the KDC.

Replication failures can prevent domain controllers from having a current password value for domain controllers in a given domain.

Every domain controller runs the KDC service for their domain realm. For same realm transactions, a destination domain controller favors getting Kerberos tickets from itself. However, it may get a ticket from a remote domain controller. Referrals are used to get Kerberos tickets from other realms.

The NLTEST /DSGETDC:<DNS domain of target domain> /kdc command that's run at an elevated command prompt in close time proximity to a SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL error can be used to quickly identify which KDC a Kerberos client is targeting.

The definitive way to determine which domain controller a Kerberos client got a ticket from is to take a network trace. The lack of Kerberos traffic in a network trace may indicate:

  • The Kerberos client has already acquired tickets.
  • It's getting tickets off-the-wire from itself.
  • Your network trace application isn't correctly parsing Kerberos traffic.

Kerberos tickets for the logged-on user account can be purged at an elevated command prompt by using the KLIST purge command.

Kerberos tickets for the system account that are used by Active Directory replication can be purged without a restart by using KLIST -li 0x3e7 purge.

Domain controllers can be made to use other domain controllers by stopping the KDC service on a local or remote domain controller.

Use REPADMIN /SHOWOBJMETA to check for obvious version number differences in password-related attributes (dBCSPwd, UnicodePWD, NtPwdHistory, PwdLastSet, lmPwdHistory) for the source domain controller in the source domain controller's and destination domain controller's copy of the Active Directory directory.

C:\>repadmin /showobjmeta <source DC> <DN path of source DC computer account>

C:\>repadmin /showobjmeta <KDC selected by destination DC> <DN path of source DC computer account>

The netdom resetpwd /server:<DC to direct password change to> /userd:<user name> /passwordd:<password> command that's run at an elevated command prompt on the console of the domain controller that requires a password reset can be used to reset domain controller machine account passwords.

Troubleshoot specific scenarios

  • Repro steps for bad host-to-IP mapping that causes the destination domain controller to pull from wrong source.

    1. Promote \\dc1 + \\DC2 + \\DC3 in the contoso.com domain. End-to-end replication occurs without errors.

    2. Stop the KDC on \\DC1 and \\DC2 to force off-box Kerberos traffic that can be observed in a network trace. End-to-end replication occurs without errors.

    3. Create a Host file entry for \\DC2 that points to the IP address of a DC in a remote forest. It's to simulate a bad host-to-IP mapping in a host A/AAAA record, or perhaps a stale NTDS Settings object in the destination domain controller's copy of the Active Directory directory.

    4. Start Active Directory Sites and Services on the console of \\DC1. Right-click \\DC1's inbound connection object from \\DC2 and note the target account name is incorrect replication error.

  • Repro steps for a source domain controller password mismatch between KDC and the source domain controller.

    1. Promote \\dc1 + \\DC2 + \\DC3 in the contoso.com domain. End-to-end replication occurs without error.

    2. Stop the KDC on \\DC1 and \\DC2 to force off-box Kerberos traffic that can be observed in network trace. End-to-end replication occurs without error.

    3. Disabling inbound replication on KDC \\DC3 to simulate a replication failure on the KDC.

    4. Reset the computer account password on \\DC2 three or more times so that \\DC1 and \\DC2 both have the current password for \\DC2.

    5. Start Active Directory Sites and Services on the console of \\DC1. Right-click on \\DC1's inbound connection object from \\DC2 and note the target account name is incorrect replication error.

  • DS RPC client logging

    Set NTDS\Diagnostics Loggings\DS RPC Client = 3. Trigger replication. Look for Task Category Event 1962 + 1963. Note the fully qualified cname that's listed in the directory service field. The destination domain controller should be able to ping this record and have the returned address map to the current IP address of the source DC.

  • Kerberos workflow

    The Kerberos workflow includes the following actions:

    • Client Computer calls IntializeSecurityContext function and specifies the Negotiate security support provider (SSP).

    • The client contacts the KDC with its TGT and requests a TGS Ticket for the target domain controller.

    • The KDC searches the Global Catalog for a source (either e351 or hostname) in the destination domain controller's realm.

    • If the target domain controller is in the destination domain controller's realm, the KDC provides the client a service ticket.

    • If the target domain controller is in a different realm, the KDC provides the client a referral ticket.

    • The client contacts a KDC in the target domain controller's domain and requests a service ticket.

    • If the source domain controller's SPN doesn't exist in the realm, you receive a KDC_ERR_S_PRINCIPAL_UNKNOWN error.

    • The destination domain controller contacts the target and presents its ticket.

    • If the target domain controller owns the name in the ticket and can decrypt it, the authentication works.

    • If the target domain controller hosts the RPC server service UUID, the on-wire Kerberos KRB_AP_ERR_NOT_US or KRB_AP_ERR_MODIFIED error is remapped to the following one:

      -2146893022 decimal / 0x80090322 / SEC_E_WRONG_PRINCIPAL / "The target principal name is incorrect"

Data collection

If you need assistance from Microsoft support, we recommend you collect the information by following the steps mentioned in Gather information by using TSS for Active Directory replication issues.