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Error: 'GetDomainsList: The server is not operational' When Trying to Retrieve Active Directory Domains

Author: Luis Fernandes Updated

Overview

This article describes the error and its resolution when MailArchiver fails to query Active Directory.

The issue is observed in larger environments only. GFI Archiver services start and GFI Archiver runs smoothly for some hours/days.

However, at some point, users cannot log into the web page anymore. They are presented with a login screen, but even when entering the correct username and password, the login fails. Restarting the GFI Archiver Core service resolves the issue for a while.

The error is logged in one of the following debug log files beginning at the same time when the issue starts:

  • ..\Core\Debuglogs\AdaEngineADDSHostplugin1.log
  • ..\Core\Debuglogs\AdaEngineADDSHostplugin2.log
  • ..\Core\Debuglogs\DirectoryEngineAD.log

2012-11-17,20:05:31,129,1,"#000015B0","#0000000D","warning","DirectoryEngineAD","Warning: GetDomainsList: The server is not operational.

Environment

  • GFI Archiver 2013, 2012, 2011
  • Active Directory

Root Cause

GFI Archiver cannot successfully connect to the Active Directory domain.

Resolution

Note: This procedure requires to edit files manually. If edited incorrectly it can leave the server in a non-operational state. Please keep backups of any file which is edited throughout this article before saving any changes to them.

This solution is only available in GFI Archiver 2013 R2 build 20131111 or newer. Ensure that this or a newer build is installed before applying this solution:

  1. Stop the GFI Archiver services.
  2. Open the folder ..\InstallationFolder\Core\Data 
  3. Open the following file in Notepad: product.config
  4. Add the following line after the line that reads <appSettings>: <add key="DomainCacheTTL" value="-1" />
  5. Save the file.
  6. Start the GFI Archiver services.

Notes

  • The error can also be due to network issues itself. Please ensure that there are no Active Directory or network issues which cause this and refer to: Error: 'The Server Is Not Operational' and Server Not Operational Error. If there are no AD/network issues causing this, escalate with a set of TS files showing the above error.
  • When upgrading to a newer version of GFI Archiver, installation files mentioned in this procedure will be overwritten with default versions making the changes void and ineffective. It is therefore suggested to keep a record of this procedure and follow it once again directly after upgrading to keep this functionality intact.