Configuration issues with BizTalk Server
So we're running our development environment on a virtual environment and the team that setup the environment setup one Windows 2003 server as a base and then cloned this multiple times. One of these clones became our BizTalk server and another one became our SQL Server.
So .... Install works fine but when trying to run the config wizard we ran into all sorts of problems.
After struggling for hours I found this article http://www.architectingwith.net/2007/08/13/quotWarningTheCIDValuesForBothTestMachinesAreTheSamequot.aspx which details the EXACT same problem.
Turns out the problem stems from the shortcut taken upfront by cloning the machine. The CID of the MSDTC service was the same on the two machines and this was causing all the issues.
A simple uninstall | reinstall of MSDTC as detailed in that article fixed the problem.
Damn; I wish i had found that earlier ... might've saved me some hair!
Lessons learnt
a) Google sooner
b) Don't take shortcuts that might save you an hour or two upfront when it ends up costing you 8 hours further down the line.
Who knows how many of these other little quirks are hanging about under the covers that we'll only find out about after many hours of frustration!?!!?!