Object reference not set to an instance of an object error when trying to Check in or deploy a GPO. (4373491)

Object reference not set to an instance of an object error when trying to Check in or deploy a GPO.

When trying to check out a policy and then to check it back in the following error is seen:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

GPO cannot check in the policy, undo checkout, and cannot deploy the policy.

The working copy is created, but even if you try to view a report of the working copy the following error is observed:

System.ServiceModel.FaultException`1[System.ServiceModel.ExceptionDetail]: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. (Fault Detail is equal to An ExceptionDetail, likely created by IncludeExceptionDetailInFaults=true, whose value is:
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at Quest.Avalanche.VersionControl.Implementation.PolicyWorkingCopy.get_GpmDomain()
at Quest.Avalanche.VersionControl.Implementation.PolicyWorkingCopy.get_GpmGpo()
at Quest.Avalanche.ClassLibrary.LiveEnvironment.PolicyBase.GetHtmlSettingsReport(Boolean isCloaked)
at Quest.Avalanche.VersionControl.Workflow.VersionControlled.GetSettingsReport(ControlledObjectInstanceType reportType, Boolean gpoHtmlReport)

You may try to change the GPO status manually in the SQL database and attempt to check out, check in, and deploy again by trying the following steps:

1. Close your GPOADmin server console.
2. Login to SQL Server hosting your GPOADmin database.
3. Backup your GPOADmin database. You may skip this step if you already have one backup taken of this database.
4. Expand the database.
5. Expand Tables.
6. Look for a table called ObjectData, or tblObjectData.
7. Right-click the table and then click on Edit Top 200 Rows.
8. Look for the name of the affected GPO through the list.
9. Once you find the GPO, go to the StatusID column and change the value to number 1
10. Click on any cell from the list so that changes done to StatusID get saved.
11. Exit and logoff from your SQL Server.

Go back to your GPOADmin server and restart your GPOADmin Server service. Once the service is up and running open your GPOADmin console and try to modify and deploy the affected GPO.

Please note that the above steps only work if you are using SQL as your GPOADmin configuration store.

In the event that you have multiple policies with the same name like for example Default Domain Controllers Policy which might be because you manage multiple domain policies with GPOADmin, then you may run the following SQL Query to identify the correct group policy that might be in checkout status. SELECT ObjectData.*, Domains.DomainName FROM ObjectData JOIN Domains ON ObjectData.DomainID = Domains.DomainID Where name = 'Default Domain Controllers Policy' and StatusID = '2' StatusID=2 means that the policy is in checkout status. Once you find the correct policy you may change StatusID=1 which means policy is in available status.