Troubleshooting Service Agents

If you are having problems installing an Agent, check the following:

•Does the ADMIN$ share exist on the Agent machine?
When installing an Agent from the ELM Server, the ELM Server will attempt to connect to the ADMIN$ share on the Agent machine so that the Agent executable can be copied to the %SYSTEMROOT% folder on the Agent. If the ADMIN$ does not exist, re-create it. If this is not an option, follow the procedure for manually installing an Agent detailed below.

•Do you have good name resolution between the ELM Server and Agent?
Can you ping the Agent by name from the ELM Server? Can you ping the ELM Server by name from the Agent? Are you able to do a NET VIEW on each system from the other system? ELM can use NetBIOS or host name resolution.

•Are there any firewalls between the ELM Server and this Agent?
Are you able to Telnet from the Agent computer to the appropriate port on the ELM Server? By default, ELM Servers listen on TCP port 1251.

•Does a Netstat -ban -p tcp on the Agent computer show it listening on the appropriate port?
If you run this command on the Agent computer when the TNT Agent service is stopped, does it show something else listening on port 1253 (or the configured Agent port)? If the Agent is in a DMZ or a firewall environment, you may use the ELM setup package to install the Agent remotely.

•Does a Netstat -ban -p tcp on the ELM Server computer show it listening on the appropriate port?
If you run this command on the ELM Server computer when the ELM Server service is stopped, does it show something else listening on port 1251 (or the configured ELM Server port)?

•Do you have administrative rights on the Agent machine?
Only Administrators can connect to the ADMIN$ share and install a new service. When you attempt to install an Agent, ELM will try to use your existing credentials to authenticate to the Agent machine. If authentication fails, you will be presented with a Connect As dialog box, which can be used to specify alternate credentials (e.g., local administrator username and password.)

Note
The Connect As dialog box does not support blank passwords. If you do not enter a password, the connection will fail. To workaround this limitation, go to a command prompt on the ELM Server machine and make a connection to the IPC$ share on the Agent machine using the following syntax:
 
 net use \\SERVERNAME\IPC$ /user:ABCDE\12345
 
where:
 SERVERNAME is the name of the Agent machine
 ABCDE is the name of the domain or machine containing the account you're using
 12345 is the name of the account with administrative rights on SERVER
 
To remove the connection, use the command:
 
 net use \\SERVERNAME\IPC$ /d
 
where:
 SERVERNAME is the name of the Agent machine

•Are there any services in a Stop Pending or Start Pending state on the Agent?
This may prevent ELM from installing an Agent service. You can check service status details in the Windows Service Control Manager tool. If you see any Start Pending or Stop Pending services, you must see them at a stable state (Running or Stopped) before you can install the Agent service.

•Have any special security modifications been made to the Agent system?
These include things like restrictive registry or NTFS permissions, revoking of user rights assignments, and the removal of the ADMIN$ share.

If none of these solutions resolve your issue, please contact TNT Software's Product Support Group for assistance.

Manual Agent Installation

If the Agent you want to monitor is on the other side of a firewall, in a DMZ environment, or located in an environment that restricts the use of NetBIOS and RPC endpoint ports, you can use the Setup package to install an Agent on the remote system and then use the Agent UI to register the Agent with the ELM Server and select monitor items for the Agent. You'll want to pay particular attention to steps 9 and 11 below, as the TCP ports chosen will need to be open on your firewall in the appropriate direction.

To install a Service Agent using Setup:

1.Copy the ELM Setup package to the target computer and execute the file to begin the install.

2.The Installation Welcome screen will appear. Click Next to continue.

3.The License Agreement screen will appear. Read the license agreement and indicate your acceptance of its terms by selecting I accept the license agreement. Click Next to continue.

4.The Select Features screen will appear:

•Click Server and choose Entire feature will be unavailable.

•Click Console and choose Entire feature will be unavailable.

•Click Agent and choose Will be installed on local hard drive.

•Click Advisor and choose Entire feature will be unavailable.

7.Click Next to continue, and then Install to initiate installation.

The Agent executable and support files will be installed. When the installation has completed, the Register Server Computer Wizard will launch.

8.In the Name field, enter the host name, IP address or fully-qualified domain name for the ELM Server you want to register. If desired, click the Browse button to browse the network for the ELM Server you want to register.  

9.In the Port field for the ELM Server, enter the TCP port on which the ELM Server is listening. By default, ELM Servers listen on TCP port 1251. In the Port field for the Service Agent, enter the TCP port on which the Service Agent should listen. By default, ELM Service Agents listen on TCP port 1253.

10.Click Next to continue. You will be prompted to authenticate to the ELM Server computer next. Enter the Username using the pattern domainname\username.

11.In the Licenses dialog, select the type of monitoring that you want to have ELM licensed for, such as System Class I. Click Next to continue.

12.The Agent Categories dialog box will appear. Put a check in the box to the left of each Category you want to assign to this Agent. You can view the properties of any Category by right-clicking the Category and selecting Properties.

13.Click Finish to save the Agent settings and ELM Server registration.

14.When installation completes, a success dialog is displayed. Click Finished to close the dialog.

To Uninstall a Service Agent That Was Installed Using Setup:

1.Open the Control Panel and double-click Add/Remove Programs.

2.Select the ELM Enterprise Manager program, and click the Change button.

3.Select Remove and proceed through the Wizard.

4.If there are other ELM components installed on this system and you do not want to remove them, select Modify and continue through the Wizard. When the component dialog is shown, change the Service Agent from Will be installed on local hard drive to Entire feature will be unavailable. Then, complete the Wizard to remove it.

5.When uninstall completes, a success dialog is displayed.  Click Finished to close the dialog.