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GPMC backup of a GPO fails together with an "Invalid Pointer" error message

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Symptoms

Backup of a Group Policy Object (GPO) fails when you use Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) in Windows Server 2012 R2, and you receive the following error message: 
Invalid Pointer

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Cause

This issue occurs when the Security Descriptor of the GPO that is being backed up contains accounts from multiple domains and there are missing DNS host records for non-SRV-aware clients.

Net Logon registers the following DNS A records to be used by LDAP clients that do not support DNS SRV records (in other words, clients that are non-SRV-aware). Locator does not use these records.

Host (A) Records Registered by Net Logon
Host (A) Resource Record Description
DnsDomainName.Enables a non-SRV-aware client to locate any domain controller in the domain by looking up an A record. A name in this form is returned to the LDAP client through an LDAP referral. A non-SRV-aware client looks up the name, whereas an SRV-aware client looks up the appropriate SRV resource record.
gc._msdcs.DnsForestName.Enables a non-SRV-aware client to locate any global catalog server in the forest by looking up an A record. A name in this form is returned to the LDAP client through an LDAP referral. A non-SRV-aware client looks up this name.

For more information, see How DNS support for Active Directory works.

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Resolution

If DNS is managed manually (static), then you have to add the previously mentioned records in DNS to resolve the problem. 

If DNS records are updated dynamically, check DNS for the previously mentioned records, and make sure that dynamic updates are enabled on the DNS zone. For information about how to troubleshoot DNS dynamic updates, see Troubleshooting dynamic updates.

You can also use a Hosts file on the client upon which GPMC is running. Specifically, you can add a record for the domain names (for example, contoso.com) and the IP address of a domain controller to the file. 

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Keywords: kb, kbexpertiseadvanced, kbsurveynew, kbtshoot

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Article Info
Article ID : 3005420
Revision : 1
Created on : 1/7/2017
Published on : 10/16/2014
Exists online : False
Views : 582