Probe Status Service in a failed state

Last Modified

Thu Apr 20 15:00 GMT 2023

Description

This article discusses possible reasons why the Probe Status service is in a failed state and how to address them.

The Probe Status service is the heartbeat of the N-able N-central probe that is sent back to the N-able N-central server. The N-central server expects a heartbeat every 5 minutes. When the N-central server misses 2 heartbeats, the service goes into a failed state.

Environment

  • N-able N-central 10.0 and later

Solution

You can view the probes that are in a failed state from the Service Organization or Customer level.

Click Administration > Probes.

Here are some potential reasons why a probe might be in a failed status and how to fix them:

Probe Manually Stopped

The Windows probe services have been manually stopped by the user. To troubleshoot:

On the remote device, check that the following services are started:

  • Windows Software Probe Maintenance Service

  • Windows Software Probe Service

Password Change

The password that was used during the initial install of the probe has changed, preventing the services from starting. To troubleshoot:

Refer to Change Probe Username and Password to reset the probe password.

Offline Device

The device is offline. To troubleshoot:

Turn the device back on.

IP/FQDN is incorrect

The device has an incorrect IP/FQDN of the N-able N-central server. To troubleshoot:

  1. Select the device from Administration > Probes.

  2. In the System Communications tab, verify that the Endpoint Network Address is correct.

  3. On the remote device, open the C:\Program Files (x86)\N-able Technologies\Windows Software Probe\config\ServerConfig.xml file with Notepad.

  4. Modify the following:

    • <ServerIP>central server IP or FQDN</ServerIP>.-

    • <BackupServerIP>central server IP or FQDN</BackupServerIP>.-

  5. Save the file and restart the Windows Software Probe services listed above.

  6. The device is unable to resolve the FQDN of the N-able N-central server.

    • Verify that you are using a valid FQDN that has been propagated.

    • Verify that the device is using a valid DNS server.

    • Verify that the device can resolve the FQDN of the N-able N-centralserver.

If the above steps do not work: