Products Affected

All products in the ELM family, versions 5.x, 6.x

Introduction

Installing a Service Agent is a relatively easy procedure that is usually trouble-free. If you are having problems installing an Agent, some things that you can check are listed below.

What to Check

  • 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 SYSTEM32 folder on the Agent. If the ADMIN$ does not exist, re-create it. If this is not an option, refer to Knowledge Base Article on installing the service agent using the setup package.
  • 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, the ELM Enterprise Manager Server listens on 1251, the Agent listens on port 1253. Using TELNET try connecting from the Server to the Agent using the command telnet 1251 then press return several times. If connected the server will display version information. Next try connecting to the ELM Agent using the command telnet 1253 then press return several times. If connected the agent will display version information.
  • Does a “Netstat -ban -p tcp” command on the ELM Server show it listening on the appropriate port?
    If you run this command on the Agent, does it show something else listening on port 1253 on the Agent? If the Agent is in a DMZ or a firewall environment, you can use the ELM setup package to install the Agent remotely.
  • 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 first try to use your existing credentials to authenticate you 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 get around this limitation, go to a command prompt on the ELM Server machine and make a connection to the IPC$ share on the Agent machine. You can use the following syntax:

    • net use \\SERVER\IPC$ /user:Domain\Username
    • SERVER is the name of the Agent machine
    • Domain is the name of the domain or machine containing the account you’re using
    • Username is the name of the account with administrative rights
  • 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 Windows Service Control Manager or use a command-line utility such as sc.exe to check this. It’s usage is:

    • sc query ‘service name‘
      For Example: sc query remoteregistry
  • 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 as previously mentioned, the removal of the ADMIN$ share.

If none of these solutions resolves your issue, please contact TNT Software’s Product Support Engineers for assistance.

Revision: 1.2

Last Modified: 12/1/2010

Last Reviewed: 12/1/2010

Article Type: Troubleshooting