Q: I'm trying to run msdtc -install to install the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator, but it isn't working and the service isn't being created. What's wrong?

A: The number one reason I've seen the command

msdtc –install

fail within a command prompt window is that the prompt isn't being run as an Administrator—so the install fails, but you won't receive any error. To install it correctly, click Start, type cmd, then right-click CMD and select Run as Administrator. Then run the command, and it should work. If installation works, you should see a "Distributed Transaction Coordinator" in the Services Control Panel applet.

Another cause for a failure can be certain registry values missing from the registry. Save the content below to msdtc.reg and then run it on the machine where you're having problems. It will create all the necessary registry values, and you can then try the installation again.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMSDTC]
"AllowOnlySecureRpcCalls"=dword:00000001
"FallbackToUnsecureRPCIfNecessary"=dword:00000000
"TurnOffRpcSecurity"=dword:00000000


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMSDTCSecurity]
"AccountName"="NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService"
"DomainControllerState"=dword:00000000
"LuTransactions"=dword:00000001
"NetworkDtcAccess"=dword:00000000
"NetworkDtcAccessAdmin"=dword:00000000
"NetworkDtcAccessClients"=dword:00000000
"NetworkDtcAccessInbound"=dword:00000000
"NetworkDtcAccessOutbound"=dword:00000000
"NetworkDtcAccessTip"=dword:00000000
"NetworkDtcAccessTransactions"=dword:00000000
"XaTransactions"=dword:00000000