ZENworks Patch Management HTTP error (503)

Document ID:3297334
Creation Date:11-Oct-2006
Modified Date:16-Mar-2012

Environment

Novell ZENworks Patch Management - Powered by PatchLink

Situation

Error is seen in the Application Event Viewer. No PDP is being used.

Agent: Registration Failure. Unable to make first contact with http://.Verify the URL is correct for the Host and try again. If it is, attempt to contact the host from the workstation to verify the host name can be resolved by the DNS.

Resolution

1. Check Add/Remove Programs an the ZENworks Patch management Server and remove the URL SCAN Tool.

2. If you are using a Corporate Proxy Server to get outside the firewall. Make sure that the Local PLUS server is able to get out.

3. If problem is found setting up or installing agents to use a PDP. Follow the steps below for a resolution.

Additional Information

Unable to install the PatchLink Agent to use Proxy to a PDP, and the error is seen in the C:\Program Files\PatchLink\Update Agent\Patch Management Agent.log:

Head failed: Head request failed. Error is 0. An HTTP error (503) occurred contacting . The gateway is currently unavailable or temporarily overloaded. Try again at a later time. Error Code: 4361 (0x00001109). Host=1109 HTTP Error=503

RESOLUTION

Ensure that the PDP server is setup to resolve to the PLUS DNS, using one of the following methods:

1. Reinstall PDP using the FQDN (host, domain name and top level domain) for PLUS. For example, plus1.domain.com.

2. Create a DNS entry for the PLUS on your Domain Name Server.

3. Create a DNS entry for the PLUS in the local hosts file on the PDP server (instructions follow).

The Hosts File Solution

The hosts file solution involves two steps: 1. adding an entry for PLUS to the local hosts file and modifying the PDP configuration file to point to the local hosts file. This process may be performed manually, on each individual PDP server, or 2. the procedure can be automated by using a VB script deployed via a custom package from your PLUS.

Step 1: Manually Edit Local Hosts File and PDP Configuration File

1. On the PDP server, browse to %WINDIR%\system32\drivers\etc\.

2. Use a text editor such as Notepad to open the hosts file.

3. Edit the file to include an entry for PLUS. The following sample hosts file contains the required entries to resolve the FQDN or host name for a server named plus01 on the patchlink.com domain.

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com
# source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com
# x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost
190.166.2.70 plus01
190.166.2.70 plus01.novell.com

4. Save the changes.

Step 2: Edit the PDP Configuration File

1. Browse to %Program Files%\Patchlink\Distribution Point\etc\.

2. Use a text editor such as Notepad to open the squid.conf file.

3. Add the following entry to the install created settings section, replacing %WINDIR% with the appropriate drive and directory name (typically, C:\Windows or C:\WinNT):

hosts_file %WINDIR%/system32/drivers/etc/hosts

This entry forces the PDP server to use the local hosts file to resolve to the PatchLink Update Server.

4. Restart the PatchLink_Distribution service.

Download and Edit a VB Script for Deployment via PatchLink Update
This procedure uses a VB script to perform the following actions on each PDP server that receives the package:

Modifies squid.conf with the correct hosts file path
Creates a folder in C:\Program Files\Patchlink\Distribution Point\etc called bakup with a backup copy of the current squid.conf
Adds the PLUS FQDN, NetBIOS or machine name, and IP address to the hosts file
Stops and starts the PatchLink_Distribution service

Perform the following steps to download and edit the VB script then deploy the script to each PDP server:

1. Download the squidconfmod.zip file.

2. Extract the Zip file to the desired location.

3. Use Notepad to open the squidconfmod.vbs file.

4. Change the values within double quotes for the following variables in the HOST SECTION:

strPlusHost2 ="plusserver.patchlink.com"' add your FQDN here
strPlusHost = "plusserver"'add your NetBios or Machine name here
intIpAddr = "192.168.100.1"' add your IP address here

5. Save your changes.

6. Run the VB script on one of your PDP servers and verify that you are now able to resolve to the PLUS.

7. Use PatchLinks Knowledgebase Article 198 as a reference to create a custom package to deploy the script to all machines running the ZPM PatchLink Distribution Point software.

Formerly known as TID# 10094901