KACE Product Support

I've been having the same issue, I have done everything from making a bat file inside of a zip to whatever, most of the fail, a few are ok!  I can make a scrip (offline) and I can push it to most, there are still a small few it does not.  I have a crazy mixed enviroment so I can't afford the time to trouble shoot the computers that don't accept.. its from XP computers, to 32 and 64bit Win7's.  I did make sure that simple sharing was off, and EVEN the firewall, still no go!!! any ideas yet?

 

When I come across this I usually forget to select all the Operating Systems the software can be deployed to from the Inventory>Software>TitleX page. Ensure that your smart labels target the machines you wish to deploy to. Also ensure that your anti-virus or anti-executable platform has an exception made for the software you're installing. I hope this helps!

 

Try using configure manually and specifying the full install command (ex. setup.exe /qn or msiexec /i setup.msi). In most of my cases, I end up creating a zipped MI, and put all of my commands in a setup.bat file. Then I can just specify setup.bat with configure manually.

Do you have any user messages enabled? If so, you may want to change the execute to "Execute while user logged in". If nobody is logged in to receive the message, the MI will not be happy (I forget if it fails, or just waits).

Once the software is installed, does the school of computers label no longer apply (not sure if it is a smart label or a manually applied label)? I ask because if the label will still be valid, the MI will keep trying to install, even though the software is already installed. In my case, I end up with one or two labels per software. If all my users need the software, I create one label, M_NeedSoftwareX, which applies if the software isn't installed. If only a select set of users need the software, I create two labels, one I manually apply to indicate which users need the software and a 2nd label to check to see if they have it.

The agent should be ok.

Casey

In my case, it's "CoWriter 6.02". However, the machines don't have any previous version.

I'm using the labels:

IP Contains "10.17." for any PC on the 10.17 subnet
Software Titles DOES NOT contain "cowriter"


This shows any PC without any version of the software installed, which is what I want.

I just tried this after hours, and it has 191 machines in the building without the software. It's killing the network right now - pc's pinging 600ms, and timing out. Gigabit network...no onsite repository, but 300MB per machine shouldn't kill the network - especially since it's not all at once, right? And it's been 2 hours since I told it to deploy, and pc's are still pinging really high, with only 17 machines left to run.

The machines all say FAILED. However, I believe it installs correctly.

(if I do one big "RUN NOW" on the building - would it kill the network as much?) Once it says FAILED, it shouldn't be doing anything since it's 1 attempt, right? Then why is 17 machines killing the network? The file size is only 300MB.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/119117/Capture.PNG

EDIT - nope...it didn't install on them. Not sure what the problem is - sometimes it installs, sometimes it doesn't. I don't get it. If I do a RUN NOW, it'll work fine.

sfigg,

I'd like to know why they are failing. Have you looked into the Windows Event Logs on these machines to see if there is any log of the attempt/install? Have you enabled debug logging on any of the machines and then attempted the install? What is your Agent Run/Inventory Interval? To clarify, is this a Managed Install, or a Script? r2

ORIGINAL: sfigg
So if I do a managed install to this label with 1 attempt, it'll keep trying? Or is it if I do a managed install to this label with 3 attempts, it'll attempt it on all 3 even though it has already installed on it?

With an MI set to 1 it will try once and if it fails will move from the "To Install" list to the "Failed Managed Installs" list. It will not try again. Setting it to 0 will make it keep trying until installed. Once installed or failed, it stops trying to install that version.

A hidden feature is if the install attempt limit has been reached, it can be reset by simply hitting "Save" on that MI's detail page.

This is a mangaed install. I don't have 100% admin rights to the K1000 - so I can't check specific inventory intervals...but I believe it's every 2 hours.

Not sure why they aren't installing - I don't really see anything in the event logs for it. Some failed, and some passed. (they all showed failed - but upon re-checkin, some are still failed, and some are installed fine).

So I guess my problem is two-fold:

1) why are some failing, others not? They are all XP machines in same building, same model, etc.
2) Is it normal to have the network be bogged down by a 300MB file like this? 191 machines, and not all are getting it at the same time. On a gigabit switch, it should only take seconds to push out to a machine.

Yes, I have a managed install that fails on pretty much 95% of them.

I also have a script that basically does the same thing - I have scripts for most of my programs just so I can push it out instantly if I want to instead of waiting for a check-in. I just tried pushing it out via RUN NOW to 186 machines...96 succeeded and it must have frozen - because the network is pinging high again, and the rest are still pending/running.

sfigg,

If the Windows Event Logs aren't showing you anything (Weird!), then you can enable Agent Debug Logging to get *some* information about the MI (download, unzip, command run). That might help you. Some potential differences between MIs and Scripts: Managed Installs run as Local System Account, whereas you can specify a different account in an (online) Script, if you like. Also, since Scripts allow multiple steps, you may be running the script differently (in some seemingly small way, perhaps?) than the MI. Finally, it would be worth a few minutes of your time to engage whomever DOES have admin access to your KBox to determine if you have some sort of performance-related issue. Perhaps, too many functions at any one time. Debugging logs can help with some of this troubleshooting. r2

Yeah I'll have to dig around more.

Upon looking at the pc's a bit, I think the issue may be that the installs failed because they were at the login screen. I don't understand why some MSIs would fail at the login screen if the KBOX allows it to run there.

sfigg,

Some apps DO NOT like to be installed when there is NO user logged in. r2

Do you have an install message set on your MI? I used to set my MIs to install anytime, but noticed that if a user wasn't logged in to recieve the message it would fail. I changed my install window to be while a user was logged in, and that problem went away.

Casey

A couple of things that I have noticed, inventory would finish and the managed install would start, but until inventory runs again, it does not show up as successfully installed. We have most of ours set to 3 attempts, so not sure how it would behave when set at 1 attempt, but that may be why you are getting a failed install even if the software is there on next inventory.

Also, if patches get applied to the software and that causes it to show up as a different entry in the inventory than what you originally had the managed install associated with, it will attempt to install the original version again. As an example, when Office 2010 SP1 was released, the version of Office 2010 changed, so our machines started attempting to install the initial release of Office 2010. We had to add an item to our smart label to exclude machines that had Office 2010 already in the software title list.

Also, I've tried deploying UltraVNC via MI, and it's failing on most PCs as well - not all, but most. That's what I don't get it - it's not 100% of the machines. It's failed while sitting at the user login screen, but once I login, it will deploy fine if I push it out again. Sometimes when logged in, it'll fail as well.

I mostly do scripts - that seems to work 100% of the time. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here. But I'm under the impression that I should be doing managed installs more than scripts, and I'd like to go that route.

What settings are you using on your MI deployment?

Casey

Settings are:

-use default: /qn /i
-execute anytime (next available)
-assigned to a label (school of computers)
-deploy order 10
-max attempts: 1 (was 5....but it would keep attempting to reinstall).

I just tested deploying to 1 machine, and it said "Not Installed (Attempt 1 of 1)", and when I viewed machine details, it said it was a failed managed installation. However, I waited 5-10mins, refreshed inventory, and it showed it as software that was installed on the machine...but then it was still under the failed installation. Under the distribution, it showed 'installed' after I updated the inventory again.

It's almost as if it's failing the MIs but it's really installing. But the problem is that if the attempts are set higher than 1, it's killing our network trying to deploy 300MB files over and over. Regardless, I'm fine with 1 attempt if it would actually work correct.

On another note, the client is Agent 5.3.47173. Is this problematic? We're fairly new to the K1000 box - we've had it up for like 8 months, but haven't really gotten into it until the past 2 months, and haven't done a lot of managed installs. Just 2 techs really playing around with this now.

If you put all the commands in a setup batch file, won't it display the batch file to the end users? I've tried the manual config as well (msiexec.exe /i setup.msi /qn) and I get the same problems. It's' a manually applied label - This way, I can see who is installed, who isn't.

They would just see a black box, no text. I believe there is a way to prevent it from displaying at all, but it slips my mind at the moment.

With the manual label it will keep installing, even after the application is already installed. That could be the source of the errors, its trying to do an install when the application already exists.

You can also check out the deploy log (C:\ProgramData\Dell\KACE \kdeploy.log) for more info.

Casey

How do I differentiate between smart labels and regular labels? I'm just going off the labels that the other tech has input into kace.

Ok - I've browsed smart labels - and it shows up under smart labels.

If you click on the label under smart labels, it should give you the SQL criteria for the label. Will it remove itself once the software is installed?

Casey

This is what is on the smart label:

select *, UNIX_TIMESTAMP(now()) - UNIX_TIMESTAMP(LAST_SYNC) as LAST_SYNC_TIME,
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(MACHINE.LAST_SYNC) as LAST_SYNC_SECONDS
from ORG1.MACHINE
LEFT JOIN KBSYS.KUID_ORGANIZATION ON KUID_ORGANIZATION.KUID=MACHINE.KUID LEFT JOIN KBSYS.SMMP_CONNECTION ON SMMP_CONNECTION.KUID = MACHINE.KUID AND KUID_ORGANIZATION.ORGANIZATION_ID = 1
where (( (1 in (select 1 from ORG1.MACHINE M2 where M2.ID = MACHINE.ID and M2.IP like '10.17%' union select 1 from ORG1.MACHINE_NICS where MACHINE.ID = MACHINE_NICS.ID and MACHINE_NICS.IP like '10.17%')) ))

So is it removing the machine after a distribution? Or is it constantly trying to push it out even though it's already on the machine?

It looks like that label just checks to see if the IP address is 10.17.X.X, so it will keep pushing the MI even after it is installed.

Casey

So if I do a managed install to this label with 1 attempt, it'll keep trying? Or is it if I do a managed install to this label with 3 attempts, it'll attempt it on all 3 even though it has already installed on it?

If that's the case, how should I make labels for something like this then?

This is where it gets a bit hazy for me. Hopefully one of the KACE guys will chime in to clarify.

I think that if you set it with 1 attempt (and a label that never goes out of scope), it will run on that one attempt, then 1 attempt again on the next check in, and again forever. If you set it with 3 attempts, as soon as it is successful it will give up for that "set", but on the next check in will start again.

If you only plan to use this label for deployment, you could modify the existing label to check to see if the software title (one of the items in the smart label creation dropdown lists) does not contain the title of your software. As soon as the software is installed (and the PC inventories again) the software title will contain your software, and the label will drop off. In my experience, the easiest way to update a label is to recreate it with the same name, which will overwrite the existing definition.

Casey

Can I get an official response from one of the KACE guys on this? This is a HUGE difference for us if what cmccracken is saying is valid.

sfigg,

So, a couple issues, it seems. First, creating a label that targets machines that need a particular software application (or a particular version of a software application, as in a an upgrade): As Casey suggested, build a Machine Smart Label that checks for the (lack of) presence of the application. Depending on whether the version number shows up in the application title (like Adobe Reader X, for instance), you can do some checking for a specific version. So, as an example:

Software Titles contains Microsoft Office AND
Software Titles does not contain Office % 2010 AND
OS Name contains Windows

In the above example, I'm checking for a previous version of Microsoft Office. Previous to 2010, that is. So, if they have 2003 or 2007, they'll join my label. Since I pointed my MI at that particular label, they'll then get my MI. Assuming it is installed successfully, upon next Inventory, they'll violate the terms of the label and NOT get the MI again.

Without a label: I create an MI for a particular version of a particular application, and point it at a specific machine (or label that does NOT look for app presence), and it installs successfully. Upon next Inventory, the new version of app will show up in Inventory, and the MI will determine that it does NOT need to be installed again.

This is all best-case. Where does your situation deviate and I'll try to help. r2

Thanks for offering clarification and helping to jog my memory Ron. I knew I used "needApplicationX" labels, but I couldn't remember all my reasons and started to get mixed up (and didn't want to give bad advice).

The catch with the labels that don't fall out of scope is the particular version. I remember now getting burned by MS Office, because our installer was for unpatched 2003, and as soon as a patch updated it, the MI came back to reinstall the now "missing" office package.

Casey

Casey,

Yep. That's one reason you might use a Custom Inventory Rule and label based upon it, even if your application already shows up in Inventory. Or, you might only install Adobe Reader X (10.1.2) on machines that have less than X, and use Patching to get your 10.Xs up to 10.1.2. More than one way to skin a cat! r2

If I do a RUN NOW, it'll work fine.

So you also have a script that is the same? Do you mean using the Scripting / Run Now tab?