What does HRESULT 0x8004D02A (XACT_E_PUSH_COMM_FAILURE) mean?

Status / error code:

Category:

Constant name:

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Facility:

Operating System:

Description:

MSDTC could not push the transaction to the destination coordinator.

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XACT_E_ABORTING	XACT_E_PULL_COMM_FAILURE

XACT_E_PUSH_COMM_FAILURE

XACT_E_PUSH_COMM_FAILURE is the failure HRESULT 0x8004D02A (signed decimal -2147168214, unsigned decimal 2147799082). Its severity bit is 1, facility is 4 (FACILITY_ITF), and the facility-specific code field is 0xD02A.

Outbound transaction propagation failed between coordinators

This HRESULT is specific to MSDTC pushing a transaction to the destination transaction manager and failing because of communication problems. The Windows message names likely causes including firewall rules, machine-name resolution, and disabled network transaction support.

AllStat explains that “The MSDTC transaction manager was unable to push the transaction to the destination transaction manager due to communication problems; possible causes include: a firewall is present and it doesn't have an exception for the MSDTC process, the two machines cannot find each other by their NetBIOS names, or the support for network transactions is not enabled for one of the two transaction managers.” The direction named by XACT_E_PUSH_COMM_FAILURE determines which coordinator path should be tested first.

The contract boundary to identify

“Push” identifies direction: the local coordinator is trying to send the transaction to the destination. Bidirectional DTC communication is still relevant, but diagnosis should begin with the local outbound path, destination inbound policy, and the names each coordinator uses for the other.

Likely causes to separate

The destination cannot be resolved by the machine name expected by MSDTC.
RPC endpoint mapper or the DTC service port is blocked on the outbound-to-inbound path.
Destination inbound or local outbound network transaction access is disabled.
Authentication policy, duplicate machine identity, or trust configuration prevents the coordinators from establishing the channel.

Evidence worth preserving

Record source and destination names exactly as resolved from both machines, plus transaction UOW.
Run Test-Dtc from the source toward the destination and retain firewall, security, ping, and propagation results.
Capture MSDTC and RPC events on both hosts at matching UTC times.
Log the first remote resource whose enlistment caused promotion and push.

Diagnostic sequence

Verify forward and reverse name resolution from the coordinator hosts, not only application containers or user sessions.
Confirm local outbound and destination inbound DTC policy with the required authentication mode.
Check endpoint mapper and configured DTC port rules through every firewall between the machines.
Use a minimal distributed transaction test before retesting the full application workflow.

Retry and recovery

Repair the directed communication path, prove propagation with Test-Dtc, and then retry only after reconciling the original transaction. Repeated application retries cannot fix static firewall or name-resolution policy and may create duplicate nontransactional work.

What this HRESULT does not establish

The HRESULT lists possible causes but does not select one. It does not prove the destination database is unavailable, and it does not mean the local transaction manager has disabled all networking.

Difference from nearby transaction results

XACT_E_PULL_COMM_FAILURE is the reverse propagation direction. XACT_E_DEST_TMNOTAVAILABLE names destination coordinator availability without specifically identifying the push communication stage.

Practical scenario

A service promotes a transaction when it opens a resource on another server. Source MSDTC resolves the destination by a short name that the new network segment cannot route. Correct DNS suffix configuration and DTC firewall rules restore the push path; the original request is reconciled before replay.

Guidance for software and telemetry

Include propagation direction in alerts. Pair DTC diagnostics with the exact resource enlistment that triggered promotion so operators do not troubleshoot every database connection indiscriminately.

Official Microsoft references

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