FIX: An update is available that enables support for 32-bit SNA applications on 64-bit versions of Host Integration Server 2010

Software update information

This update is included in cumulative update package 2 for Host Integration Server 2010.

For more information about how to obtain the cumulative update package, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:After you apply this update, you can install 32-bit SNA applications on 64-bit versions of Host Integration Server 2010. The following are the categories of 32-bit SNA applications that are supported:

• 3270 emulators
• Logical unit applications (LUA) (RUI and SLI applications)
• APPC applications
• CPI-C applications
• 5250 emulators

Support for the following 32-bit SNA applications on 64-bit versions of Host Integration Server 2010 is not included after you apply this cumulative update:

• Session Integrator (SI) applications
• SNA Print Server Data Filter DLLs

Additional Information

After you apply this update, the 32-bit versions of the SNA APIs are installed in the %SNARootWow64% folder. For example, they are installed in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Host Integration Server 2010\SysWOW64 folder. The Host Integration Server 2010 Setup program adds "%SNARootWow64%" to the end of the PATH statement. If there are 32-bit SNA applications installed on the system that include any files that have the same name as the Host Integration Server SNA APIs (such as Wappc32.dll, Winrui32.dll, and so on) the 32-bit SNA application may not always run. This can occur if the PATH statement lists the path of the SNA application before the %SNARootWow64% folder. In these cases, you may want to change the PATH statement to have the %SNARootWow64% folder and %SNARoot% folder listed before the SNA application folder.

If you have enabled the Run resource location component as an application option on an HIS 2010 client system, you may find that a 32-bit SNA application (such as a 3270 Emulator) may not connect to an HIS server system. The error returned to the user when this problem occurs will vary, depending on the SNA application being used. The error may resemble one of the following:

ERROR - Reading SNA Server configuration. Error on the local end of the RPC.

The problem does not occur if the HIS 2010 client can connect to the HIS server by using Microsoft Networking (Named Pipes). If Microsoft Networking (Named Pipes) is disabled on the HIS servers or the network or firewall configuration prevents the use of Named Pipes, the HIS client will not connect to the HIS server because it cannot locate the correct registry key to enable the TCP/IP transport that the HIS client usually uses to connect to HIS servers by using TCP/IP sockets. 

The 64-bit HIS client tries to read the following registry key to determine the network transports it can use to connect to HIS servers when a 32-bit SNA application is installed:

The Transports parameter does not exist at this registry location. So, the HIS client uses the Microsoft Networking (Named Pipes) transport (snalm.dll) by default.

The following are two workarounds for this problem:

First, you can disable the Run resource location component as an application option on the affected HIS 2010 client systems. This lets the SnaBase process run as a Windows service, which causes the HIS client to locate the available transports registry parameter under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SnaBase\Parameters\Transports.

The second workaround is to add the following registry parameter to allow the HIS 2010 client to connect to HIS servers by using TCP/IP sockets when the Run resource location component as an application option is enabled.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Start Registry Editor. To do this, click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\SnaBase\Parameters
   
3. On the Edit menu, click New, and then click Multi-String Value.
4. Type Transports, and then press Enter.
5. Right-click Transports, and then click Modify.
6. Type SNAIP.DLL, press Enter, and then click OK.
7. Exit Registry Editor.