Fix SCCM Console Performance Counter Exceptions Error

This post covers the solution to performance counter exceptions error that is logged in SMSAdminUI.log when the SCCM console is launched. The SCCM console fails to connect to the site, and the error is performance counter ‘# exceptions’ was not found.

Recently, I came across an issue where a newly installed SCCM console was unable to connect to the site. This was astonishing because you wouldn’t expect this error when you perform a fresh installation of SCCM.

Launching the Configuration Manager console shows cannot connect to the site. This is a typical error and there are multiple solutions associated with this error. Typically, the solutions are listed in the console itself.

The Configuration Manager console cannot connect to the Configuration Manager site database.

• This computer has network connectivity to the SMS Provider computer.
• Your user account has Remote Activation permission on the Configuration Manager site server and the SMS Provider computer.
• The Configuration Manager console version is supported by the site server.
• You are assigned to at least one role-based administration security role.
• You have the following WMI permissions to the Root\SMS and Root\SMS\site_sitecode namespaces: Execute Methods, Provider Write, Enable Account, and Remote Enable.

You must verify each of the solutions suggested above. In most cases, you should be able to resolve the issue but sometimes, the issue could be something else. In such cases, you must perform some advanced troubleshooting.

Fix SCCM Console Performance Counter Exceptions Error

If you encounter the SCCM console fails to connect to the site error, you must first review the SMSAdminUI.log file. In my case, the SMSAdminUI.log had the performance counter exceptions ‘# ‘ was not found errors.

The SMSAdminUI.log file records the information about the operation of the Configuration Manager console. SCCM admin console log files are located in %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminConsole\AdminUILog on the system running the console.

In the SMSAdminUI.log file, the following performance counter exceptions errors were logged.

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.SmsConnectionException\r\nRegistry key 'Software\Microsoft\ConfigMgr10\AdminUI\QueryProcessors\wql' not found\r\n   at Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.AdminConsole.ConsoleConfig.GetConnectionManagerRegistration(String connectionManagerInstance)
 at Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.AdminConsole.SmsSiteConnectionNode.CreateConnectionManagerInstance(String connectionManagerInstance, IConsoleConfig settings)
 at Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.AdminConsole.SmsSiteConnectionNode.GetConnectionManagerInstance(String connectionManagerInstance)
 at Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.AdminConsole.SmsSiteConnectionNode.CreateConnectionManagerInstance(String connectionManagerInstance, IConsoleConfig settings)\r\n No details are available for this error.\r\n
 The performance counter '# images' was not found
 The performance counter '# result objects in memory' was not found
 The performance counter '# exceptions' was not found
 The performance counter '# exceptions' was not found
 The performance counter '# exceptions' was not found
 The performance counter '# images' was not found
 The performance counter '# images' was not found
 The performance counter '# exceptions' was not found

The reason we encounter the performance counter exceptions errors in SmsAdminUI.log is due to the performance counters being corrupt. The performance counters are collected and used by services and applications. If they are installed incorrectly or with improper permissions, performance counters cannot be loaded, and services or applications cannot collect or interpret the data.

Apart from the above errors, you see a common line repeated in the log file which is No details are available for this error. It’s a bit surprising to see this line, but it doesn’t help much in troubleshooting this issue.

To fix the corrupt performance counter exceptions errors, you must run the lodctr /R command. This command rebuilds the perf registry strings and info from scratch based on the current registry settings and backup INI files.

Launch the command prompt as administrator and run lodctr /R on the computer that has performance counter exceptions errors.

Info : Successfully rebuilt performance counter setting from system backup store.

After you have run the above command, reinstall the SCCM console, and you shouldn’t see any performance counter exceptions anymore.