You receive an "A Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator problem prevented connection to the Configuration database" error message when you publish assemblies from BizTalk Server 2004 (839187)

Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

When you work with a Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 project on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer, and you deploy the assemblies to BizTalk Server 2004, you may receive the following error message from Microsoft Visual Studio .NET:

[Microsoft.BizTalk.Deployment.DeploymentException] Cannot open database BizTalkMgmtDb on server [server]. [Microsoft.BizTalk.Deployment.DeploymentException] Cannot open database BizTalkMgmtDb on server [server]. A Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator problem prevented connection to the Configuration database. The transaction has already been implicitly or explicitly committed or aborted

Note In this error message, [server] is a placeholder for the computer that is running Microsoft SQL Server and that houses the BizTalk Management database.

The deployment wizard log file may contain the following log entries:

A Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator problem prevented connection to the Configuration database. The transaction has already been implicitly or explicitly committed or aborted
[Microsoft.BizTalk.Deployment.DeploymentException] Cannot open database BizTalkMgmtDb on server [server].
[Microsoft.BizTalk.Deployment.DeploymentException] Cannot open database BizTalkMgmtDb on server[server].
Command failed with 3 errors and 0 warnings. All actions have been undone and no changes have been made.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because Remote Procedure Call (RPC) security requires that the computer that is running SQL Server 2000 and the BizTalk Server 2004 computer exist in the same Active Directory domain. RPC security is used for Data Transaction Coordinator (DTC) authentication between BizTalk 2004 computers.

WORKAROUND

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To work around this behavior, turn off the RPC security on your Windows Server 2003 computers. To do this, set the DWORD value for the TurnOffRpcSecurity registry value to 1:

Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSDTC\TurnOffRpcSecurity
Note If this subkey does not exist, create this subkey.
On the Edit menu, click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
Quit Registry Editor.

MORE INFORMATION

RPC security is a new DTC feature in Windows Server 2003. When you disable RPC security, the DTC authentication security level for RPC calls goes back to one that is available in Microsoft Windows 2000 Server.

For additional information about BizTalk Server 2004 and SQL Server 2000 in separate domains, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

827805 BUG: MSDTC fails to mutually authenticate when computers do not run in the same domain