Receiving an error ‘Hyper-V failed to authenticate using Kerberos authentication’ when taking replication? We can help you fix it.

Hyper-V is a virtualization tool from Microsoft. We can create Virtual Machine on x86-64 systems.

At Bobcares, we often receive requests to fix errors related to Hyper-V as a part of our Server Management Services.

Today, let’s analyze the cause of this error and see how our Support Engineers fix it for our customers.

Explore more about Microsoft Kerberos

The Kerberos protocol defines how clients interact with a network authentication service.

It works on tickets to allow nodes communicate over a non-secure network. Also, it helps to prove their identity to one another securely.

Kerberos is one of the fastest authentication method and the commonly used one.

The Kerberos authentication protocol provides a mechanism for mutual authentication.

Causes for “Hyper-V failed to authenticate using Kerberos authentication”

The error appears when trying to enable Hyper-V replica. The common reason is the Kerberos authentication might not be configured properly.

Another reason is the required attributes not being added. The attributes need to be present in both the source and destination server. To resolve the error our Support Engineers add the required attributes.

The sample error looks like:

How we fix “Hyper-V failed to authenticate using Kerberos authentication”

Recently we had a customer who was facing a problem when enabling replication. Now let’s discuss how our Support Engineers fix the error and help the customer.

Configuring the Hyper-V Server’s Service Principal Name Attributes

We open Active Directory Users and Computers and spot the virtual server host.

Then, right-click on the virtual server host and click on properties. Now, properties windows appear and click on the attribute editor tab.

Now click on the ServicePrincipalName(SPN) attribute and then click on the edit button.

We analyze the entries and we add the required entry. If the entries are present and are incorrect then we correct it accordingly.

We enter each attribute value with its corresponding server’s NetBIOS name as well as its FQDN.

Common missing attributes are:

Microsoft Virtual Console Service/ SOURCESERVER
Microsoft Virtual Console Service/ SOURCESERVER.DOMAIN.LOCAL
Microsoft Virtual System Migration Service/ SOURCESERVER
Microsoft Virtual System Migration Service/ SOURCESERVER.DOMAIN.LOCAL
Hyper-V Replica Service/SOURCESERVER
Hyper-V Replica Service/ SOURCESERVER.DOMAIN.LOCAL

We make sure the entries are present in both the source and destination servers.

After that, We enable the replication.

[Need any further assistance with Hyper-V? – We’ll help you with it]

Conclusion

In short, we’ve discussed the causes of the error ‘Hyper-V failed to authenticate using Kerberos authentication’. Also, we’ve discussed how our Support Engineers resolve the error for enabling replication.