In many Enterprise scenarios, the primary user for SCVMM is often the person who actually installed the SCVMM Server. By default, this person has the Administrator User Role in SCVMM and has permission, among other things, to launch the SCVMM Admin Console.
What happens when the Active Directory (AD) account used to install SCVMM is deleted, whether by accident or on purpose? Luckily, any domain account that was in the Local Administrators group on the server at the time of the SCVMM Server installation was automatically added to the Administrator User Role as part of the install process, and will still have full access to SCVMM. Anyone else will encounter Error 1604 when the Admin Console is launched:
Error 1604: You cannot access Virtual Machine Manager server %ServerName%. Contact the Virtual Machine Manager administrator to verify that your account is a member of a valid user role and then try the operation again.
At this point there only a couple of options: Find a user whose account was in the local Administrators group on the SCVMM Server at the time of install: an SCVMM Administrator User Role member. They will be able to log into the Admin Console and add your domain account to the Administrator User Role so you will have full rights. The other option is to uninstall and reinstall SCVMM.
Option 1: Hunt down an Admin
On many workstations, the only Local Admin is the owner of that Server. Another account will be added to that group only by a deliberate effort on the part of the original Admin or possibly Group Policy. In many instances, Option 1 is not going to be an option at all.
· View the Local Admin group and contact members to determine if they were a member of the Local Admin group prior to installation. Any current member of Domain Admin group will be able to accomplish this as well, but the process of engaging a Domain Admin will vary from company to company.
· Have the Admin user launch SCVMM and go to ADMINISTRATION and the USER ROLES category.
· In the center pane, under PROFILE TYPE: ADMINISTRATOR, select ADMINISTRATOR, right-click and select PROPERTIES.
· In the Properties, on the MEMBERS tab, ADD the new users to the role.
Option 2: Uninstall and Reinstall
A quick and easy method to start over is to uninstall and reinstall SCVMM. However, all the ramifications of the decision to uninstall should be considered BEFORE uninstalling SCVMM. Virtual Machines on Hosts will be unaffected, but any investment in customization, templates, etc. will be lost and need to be recreated. All files in the SCVMM Library will remain intact. If SCVMM is strictly being used to manage Hosts and their existing Virtual Machines, a reinstall is a more viable option.
Best Choice: Plan Ahead
Neither Option 1 nor Option 2 seems ideal, but if Error 1604 is encountered there may be little choice in the situation. Below are some Best Practices that will help avoid Error 1604 and having to pick the less painful of two potentially painful choices.
Add potential SCVMM Administrator User Accounts to the Local Admin group on the Server that will be the SCVMM Server PRIOR to installation of SCVMM. Any accounts that are in the Local Admin group prior to installation will automatically be added to the Administrator User Role.
Or
Immediately after installation of SCVMM, add at least one other user account to the Administrator User Role using the methods described in Option 1. Ideally, this person would still be a Local Admin on the VMM Server machine and all Hosts. This is best accomplished by group membership.
It is a good idea to document your SCVMM installation with information that pertains specifically to your environment. Documentation can range from pre-installation decisions through adding Hosts. The documentation on TechNet has a section on Planning and Deployment of SCVMM. Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 also offers the Problem Steps Recorder, which is not only a great tool for troubleshooting, but an incredibly easy way to document your SCVMM installation.
Steve Bucci | Senior Support Engineer
