Fix for event 12344: File Server Resource Manager finished syncing claims from Active Directory (0x8007054b)

A typical eventlog error you may face, is 0x8007054b, The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted.”. At first, I’ve always suspected my network connection causing these errors. But recently I discovered it was my Active Directory schema causing this event. I’m running 2 domain controllers on Windows Server 2012, but another one is still on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Log Name:      Application
Source:        SRMSVC
Event ID:      12344
Level:         Error
Description:
File Server Resource Manager finished syncing claims from Active Directory and encountered errors during the sync (0x8007054b, The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted.)

If you encounter this same event 12344, you have to options:

1. Ignore the event, since it won’t harm anything really
2. Upgrade your Schema.

If you go for option 2, you first need to upgrade your Windows Server 2008 domain controllers to 2012 (at least). Best of course is to upgrade to 2016; this makes you future-proof for the coming years at least.
Then, you need to forestprep your domain:

1.  Log on to Windows Server 2012 as Administrator of your domain
   (Active Directory member server)
2. Copy directory “support\adprep” in the media of Windows Server 2012　to “c:\”
3. Run “c:\adprep\adprep.exe /forestprep”