The target principal name is incorrect. (-2146893022)

Due to some problem I have to reconfigure my SBS. Now once I had done with all the settings there is a weird problem. I am not able to work on it. When I try to access some files I am getting a error. The error is Error Code: 500 Internal Server Error. The target principal name is incorrect. (-2146893022). What does this error refers to. It is actually very annoying. I had tried to fix the problem but still nothing worked.

What do you means by reconfigure. Did you installed SBS from scratch, or you had upgraded. Or you had done a any changes like installing new updates and new software. I am willing to help but I am not able to understand your issue. It is necessary that you explain each and every problem in detail with the error logs. It looks your server is unable to establish a connection due to which you are getting the error.

First just provide information on the ISA server. Are you using that. You can check that. If ISA server is running then you will need to read the KB article link provided below. I had got exactly the same error. The only different between your and mine issue was ISA server.So just checkout the link and if this is not your issue, then you can search on Microsoft to find out more information on the problem.

Clients receive the "Error Code 500 Internal Server Error" error message when they visit a Web site that you published by using ISA Server, Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway Medium Business Edition, or Windows Essential Business Server 2008

I am getting the issue on SBS R2 Premium. I am not sure about ISA, but I am struggling to fix the issue. I had tired to bypass the installation wizard but somehow it failed with the error. I am looking for some kind of written documents with all settings and configuration. That would be a safer way to deal with the problem. Because there are chances that some wrong configuration can cause the failure and we cannot fix that without knowing it.

The problem can also lie with old settings. Does anyone before has modified anything. In my office different admin works on single server and recently some admins has made changes to the SBS task. That generated a error. We checked inside event log where more description was mentioned about the failure and later on resolved the same. So it is better if you checkout the logs for more information. There can be some associated service which is causing the failure.

There is one easy thing that you can do. Just run Windows Update and then check back. I am sure that will help you. I think you are trying to reset your server settings and faced the issue. Due to some negligence some settings or service caused the error. Going for windows update is one of the best solution that can help you.

The issue lies with SBS Authentication. The error is related to that only. I hope that there will be some kind of software or tool that can scan the server for errors and report us with exact cause. That will help more to troubleshoot the problem. It is not complicated to find out any solution. If you go on technet there you can find out a article that will really help you to deal with the issue. You will need to search the error code there.

Are you trying SBS to SBS migration kind of stuff. I got the error at the time of migration and later on I skipped the process. It is right that if there is a set of documentation that can give us more information on the problem it would help us to deal with the problem. I am also trying to find out some working solution on this error. Till today I had not performed the migration process just to avoid this error.

I got the error when I tried to access OWA on the SBS server. And on that basis I am trying to offer you a solution that would really work. Here you are getting a problem due to ISA which is published on OWA. Some of the people above have replied properly. The issue lies with OWA. You can begin with updating the most recently SP on the server and then see whether it is resolved or not. If you get any error then simply post the complete detail here and then check back.

That is a good advice. I was tried to find out why it appear. But on your assumption things worked out. When I got the error I thought there is some bug with the installation. So I simply re-installed everything from scratch. It took sometime but it was installed properly. There is no error at all. It is comfortable to use. I had created virtual directors for the OWA. But somehow it failed back again. I performed setup on the basis of your advice and it worked.

Check the SBS OWA Web Publishing Rule output file. It will in on your server. You can simply check out the rule settings for the same. It is necessary that the credential option is enabled or else this kind of authentication problem are common.

What about 404 not found. What does refers to and why it appears. I landed into new problem while troubleshooting the target principal error. I made some changes on the authentication properties and now this issue appeared. I even do not remember what I did and there is no way I can restore everything back. It is really very annoying to work on the same. I hope there will be some kind of working solution that would really work.

I had tried a number of different options to deal with the issue. But still did did not find any solution on the same. I am not sure whether the latest service pack is installed in my system or not. It is a bit doubtful. But somehow I also started receiving the 404 error. I am trying to access both from inside and outside the network and getting the same error. So to some extent it has become annoying.

Thanks for all those updates. I am going through number of threads but somehow not able to find out the right solution. But still I think we altogether can figure out the same. I had checked the description of OWA. But somehow it is not accessible through internal as well as through external mode. If that happens then you must simply understand that OWA is corrupted. You will need to find out some way to restore it in IIS.

I got a link on Technet and I hope it can help you. Actually I was getting the problem related to Outlook. I thought it would be worth to share here. Because in the first post the person has just provided incomplete information. The error can appear in various ways. It can be due to authentication or also while using Outlook. So below is a link that you must refer once and then check out. I hope you can find something in it.

You Receive a “Target Principal Name is Incorrect” Certificate Error in Outlook 2007 When Connecting to Either POP3 or IMAP4 on SBS 2008