In a testing environment, a client had no issue in setting up a connection to a supported LDAP environment through User Profile Synchronization. In an identical copy of this environment, however, the client kept running into an error message displaying “Unable to process Create message”. This error is accompanied with an Event Log entry with the most important part “Retrieve schema failed”:
Log Name: Application
Source: Forefront Identity Manager
Event ID: 3
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Description:
Microsoft.ResourceManagement: System.InvalidOperationException: Retrieve schema failed
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Utilities.ExceptionManager.ThrowException(Exception exception)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.ActionProcessor.SyncConfigActionProcessor.Create(String typeName, IList`1 createParameters, Guid creator, Guid cause)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.ActionProcessor.SyncConfigActionProcessor.ProcessInputRequest(RequestType request)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.ActionProcessor.ActionDispatcher.ProcessInputRequest(RequestType request)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.ExecuteAction(RequestType request)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.ExecuteAction[ResponseBodyType](RequestType request)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.DispatchRequest[ResponseBodyType](RequestType request, Guid requestIdentifier, Object redispatchSingleInstanceKey)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.DispatchRequest[ResponseBodyType](RequestType request)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.ResourceManagementService.Create(Message request)
Event Xml:3
2
0
0x80000000000000
100167
ApplicationMicrosoft.ResourceManagement: System.InvalidOperationException: Retrieve schema failed
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Utilities.ExceptionManager.ThrowException(Exception exception)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.ActionProcessor.SyncConfigActionProcessor.Create(String typeName, IList`1 createParameters, Guid creator, Guid cause)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.ActionProcessor.SyncConfigActionProcessor.ProcessInputRequest(RequestType request)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.ActionProcessor.ActionDispatcher.ProcessInputRequest(RequestType request)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.ExecuteAction(RequestType request)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.ExecuteAction[ResponseBodyType](RequestType request)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.DispatchRequest[ResponseBodyType](RequestType request, Guid requestIdentifier, Object redispatchSingleInstanceKey)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.DispatchRequest[ResponseBodyType](RequestType request)
at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.ResourceManagementService.Create(Message request)
We didn’t have any access to the LDAP part of our stack and the people who did have access ensured us they saw no issues on their end.
After checking patch levels, user rights and provisioning the service on a second server we still had the same error.
When moving the service back to the first Application server, the service would hang at provisioning.
And that’s where this procedure came in:
http://sharepoint.tejic.com/2011/10/07/user-profile-synchronization-service-stuck-on-starting/
After performing the above, not only did we manage to start the User Profile Synchronization service again through SharePoint Central Admin, but also managed to set up the LDAP connection and import user profiles.
Basically, if all else fails, try to delete and recreate the User Profile Synchronization Service Application.
The source of the problem maybe lies within this blog post by Norman Bauer. I was not around the first time the engineer tried to set up this connection, and he might have had another error indicating a rights issue which he fixed, but then was blocked using the same connection name as before. If you need to follow documentation with fixed and set connection names, you do not have the opportunity to change names to your liking and will keep getting stuck on issues like these.
In my case, the problem was: The account I logged-in to configure User Profile Sync was not a Farm Administrator account!
Followed this troubleshooting guide, which lists all possible causes and solutions:
http://www.sharepointdiary.com/2012/09/user-profile-synchronization-service-stuck-at-starting.html#ixzz2aXArH7zX