Troubleshooting N-able N-central Scripts and Automation Manager Policies

Solution

The following troubleshooting process is designed to quickly resolve script or Policy errors.

Verify the following to resolve issues with running scripts and distributing software:

1. Is there feedback from the task that was run?
1. At the Service Organization level, identify the task that was run in the Job Status view.
2. Click the Name of the task.
3. Click Status.
4. Review the status logs to determine if they indicate why the failure occurred.

Does PowerShell have Remote Execution rights?

Does the software have its plug-in Windows feature installed? For example, Windows Backup PowerShell Plug-in for Command Line must be added from Windows.

2. Is PowerShell 5.1 installed on the managed devices? (this is required for an Automation Policy or PowerShell script).
1. At the Service Organization or Customer level, navigate to the All Devices view.
2. Click Filter.
3. In the Filter drop-down menu, select Devices without PowerShell 5.1.
4. Select the affected device (or devices).
5. Click Add Scheduled Task.
6. Click Run a Script.
7. Ensure that the Location is From N-able N-central's Script Repository.
8. Select Install PowerShell 5.1 From Microsoft.
9. Run the new script and the targeted devices will have PowerShell 5.1 installed.
10. After 24 hours has passed, verify that the script has functioned properly by filtering the All Devices view again using the Devices without PowerShell 5.1 Filter.

You may be required to install PowerShell 5.1 manually on any devices for which the script did not function properly.

3. When the script was run or software distributed, was the Use Device Credentials option selected? Ensure that the populated device credentials are being used instead of local credentials (which may not provide sufficient access).
4. Are Administrator credentials configured in the Properties tab for all of the target devices? Review the Properties tab of a workstation or server device and verify that Administrator credentials are configured. N-able N-central's scripting uses these credentials when running on host systems.
1. If no credentials are configured, navigate to the Customer/Site level.
2. Click Administration > Defaults > Appliance Settings.
3. Click the Credentials tab.
4. Configure the appropriate User Name and Password.
5. Select Propagate to distribute the credentials to all of the relevant managed devices.

If the managed devices are non-domain based computers, you will need to create an administrator account on each device in order for scripts to function properly. User-level accounts often do not have the access required to run scripts. The appropriate credentials must be configured in the Properties tabs of the relevant devices.

5. Are the required PowerShell command line plugins installed?

Windows Server Backup requires that you add the Windows Feature for Windows Server backup command line processing. You should verify that this has been done.

6. Is Remote Execution enabled for PowerShell?
1. Remote Execution must be enabled in order to allow N-able N-central to run PowerShell commands remotely. To resolve this issue, create a .BAT file with the following contents: PowerShell Set-ExecutionPolicy Remotesigned.
2. Run the batch file through N-able N-central (using the Run Script feature) and this issue should be resolved.
7. Is the N-able N-central Agent that is installed on the device out of date?
1. Navigate to the All Devices view and refer to the Agent Version column to verify the current version of the installed Agents.
2. Compare this to the version of N-able N-central by clicking Help > Version Information in the navigation pane.
3. Select the check box beside the Name of each of the devices that have outdated Agents and click Update Monitoring Software > Upgrade Agent > Now.
8. If a script fails to find a directory or path, from where was the script run?
1. By default, N-able N-central will run scripts from a temporary directory. If the script is required to be run from a specific path, you should use a File Transfer Scheduled Task to put the script in the appropriate directory and then run the script with a batch file.