“Some or all identity references could not be translated” error when creating SharePoint 2010 web application.
Posted by lukecostin on April 26, 2012
I ran into a small but annoying issue yesterday while setting up a web application for one of our SharePoint 2010 environments.
The issue in question stated “Some or all identity references could not be translated” when it attempted to set up a web application using the AutoSPinstaller scripts as shown below.
The issue can also occur when you attempt to register an account in the “Managed Account” Central Administration page.
After some investigation, I found that the reason for the issue was that the account name (along with it domain prefix) was exceeding 20 characters, which is the limit for all managed accounts.
If you change the managed account you are using to one below 20 characters (For example, changing the managed account from Domain\ServiceAccount15 to Domain\Servacct15) you should not experience this issue anymore.
