Troubleshooting agent and probe install issues

We recommend reviewing the following areas if the agent or probe installation fails.

For further troubleshooting and solution options, visit N-ableMe and search for agent and probe installation issues. If these options do not resolve your issues, contact N-able technical support.

Activation information issues

The agent or probe installation requires the correct activation information to install and may fail where the incorrect customer name, customer ID or activation key was used. If the installation fails, verify correct information was entered.

Click Administration > Customers in the dashboard to review and verify the customer name and ID.

License limit issues

Each server has a licence limit and once this is met, any additional agent or probe installations will fail until this limit is increased. To revise your license limit, contact your applicable Service Organization or N-able sales representative.

Service privilege issues

Probe installation failures can occur if the selected installation account lacks "Logon as Service" privileges. To fix this issue, either manually assign "Logon as Service" privileges to the selected installation account or choose a different account that already has these privileges for probe installation.

Additional steps include:

  • Verify the account you are using has the appropriate administrative rights.
  • Run the .MSI file (if available) as the domain administrator. Right-click on the .MSI file and select Run As... to start the installer as the domain administrator.

  • Check with your network administrator to find out if a Group Policy is in place that could prevent the installation process.

Server communication issues

Agent or probe installations may fail if the installer cannot communicate with the central server.

If the agent or probe is configured to use the N-able N-central server's FQDN, use a PING command to verify that the server's address correctly resolves.

If the target device can resolve the N-able N-central server's FQDN, verify that you can navigate to the N-able N-central server in a browser and sign in. Test access to both HTTP on port 80 and HTTPS on port 443.

If you can navigate to the N-able N-central server in a browser and sign in, but the agent or probe installer still cannot access the N-able N-central server, there may be problems with the proxy or with proxy settings. Review your browser's proxy settings to confirm the information is correct.

WMI connectivity issues

WMI communication issues with the domain controller during the installation of a probe depends on your environment's configuration.

A common issue arises when the Windows probe fails to discover devices because the credentials supplied during installation do not belong to a Domain Administrator account. Please verify and ensure that the Domain Administrator username and password are used.

Error: The Wizard was interrupted...

A corrupt WMI or another issue communication with the local WMI may result in the following error during the installation process:

"The wizard was interrupted before Windows agent could be completely installed."

The Windows Event log will log an error for the Microsoft Installer (MSIEXEC) and/or the Windows agent installer. If you find this information, add this information to the case for Technical Support to investigate.

Certain root-causes of this issue have been resolved in Service Pack 1 for 6.7 and again in 7.0.

  1. Ensure that %SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem is in the path in the environment variables of the system.
  2. Reboot the server to ensure that no other installations are pending or stalled.
  3. The WMI Repository may be corrupt. Check to verify access to the following:
    1. Click Start, then Run and type: wbemtest.
    2. Click the Connect button.
    3. In the Namespace enter: root\cimv2
    4. Click Connect and click the Query button.
    5. Select the WQL Query option and type: select * from Win32_PhysicalMemory
  4. If you are unable to query the WMI or the issue persists, re-sync the WMI by doing the following:
    • For Windows 2000 Servers, run the following commands at an MS-DOS prompt on the machine being monitored:
      • winmgmt /clearadap
      • winmgmt /kill
      • winmgmt /unregserver
      • winmgmt /regserver
      • winmgmt /resyncperf
      • For Windows 2003 Servers:
      • wmiadap.exe /c
      • wmiadap.exe /f
      • lodctr /R
    • For Windows 2008 Servers:
      • winmgmt /salvagerepository

Error: Could not establish remote connection. Resource: ADMIN$

This issue may occur when one or more of the following conditions are true:

  • There are network connectivity problems.
  • There are name resolution issues with, for example, Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) or Domain Name System (DNS).
  • The Remote Registry service is disabled on the client computer.
  • The Microsoft Windows Server 2003 firewall is blocking communications between the probe and the target device.
  • The Server service on the client is not started.
  • File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is not installed on the client computer.

  • Verify the "Windows Software Probe" Windows Service is running with Domain Admin credentials. If your credentials have changed, follow the section for password reset in: Probe troubleshooting

To manually verify that the ADMIN$ share is accessible:

  1. Log onto the Windows probe with the same credentials that the probe is running.
  2. Click Start > Run
  3. Type: \\<devicename>\ADMIN$ where <devicename> is the device having the issue's DNS name or IP.

You should be able to browse files within ADMIN$ share. If prompted for password to connect to ADMIN$, the user you have logged on as does not have Privileges to access ADMIN$

Error: Access denied when connecting to : 192.168.1.100, Namespace = root\cimv2, UserName =DOMAIN\administrator

This error is indicative of an issue connecting with the device's WMI repository to gather information or install an agent. Verify that the IP address of the device is correct. You could simply be connecting to the wrong IP address.

  1. Click Start > Run and type: wbemtest.
  2. Click Connect.
  3. In the Namespace enter \\IP Address of the target Device\root\cimv2.
  4. Enter the credentials your probe is using.
  5. Click Connect.

If this cannot connect, the issue is that the credentials the probe is using does not have access to the WMI namespace on the target device.

If this is the case, ensure the probe is using a domain admin account, by reinstalling the probe with its activation key and provide the new credentials during the installation. If that does not correct the issue, then the target device does not have any record of this account and it can be pushed by a group policy or can be done manually on each device using the steps below on the target device.

  1. Click Start > Run.
  2. Type DCOMCNFG and click OK.
  3. Click No for any warning screens that appear unless it is the User Access Control (UAC) prompt.
  4. Double-click Component Services, then double-click Computers.
  5. Right-click on My Computer and click Properties.
  6. Select the COM Security (Default Security) tab.
  7. In the Access Permissions section, click Edit Default.
  8. Make sure that both "Self" and "System" are listed in the dialog with Local and Remote Access.
    1. Add the probe's user account, if applicable. You will need to set their permissions to both Local and Remote Access.
    2. Click OK to return to the COM Security Tab.
  9. In the Launch Permissions section, click Edit Limits.
  10. Make sure that both "Anonymous Logon" and "Everyone" are listed in the dialog.
    1. Add the probe's user account, if applicable. You will need to set their permissions to both Local and Remote Access.
    2. Click OK to return to the COM Security Tab.
  11. Close the Component Services dialog.
  12. Click the Default Protocols tab and verify that "Connection-Oriented TCP/IP" is at the top of the list. Click on the Move Up option if it isn't or click on Add and then Choose Connection-Oriented TCP/IP if it is missing.
  13. Remove any datagram protocols (UDP/IP, IPX, etc) with the permission of the customer.
  14. Click OK to exit the My Computer Properties window.
  15. Click Start and click Run.
  16. Type WMIMGMT.MSC and press Enter.
  17. Right-Click WMI Control (Local) and select Properties.
  18. Under the Security tab, expand the Root folder and select CIMV2. Click on the Security button.
  19. Ensure that the probe's and the Administrator's credentials are listed with Full Access.
  20. Repeat for the SecurityCenter folder.
  21. Click OK and exit out of the wmimgmt.msc console.