Remote Management Agent causes high utilization

  • 3791285
  • 18-Apr-2007
  • 30-Apr-2012

Environment

Novell ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Support Pack 2 - ZDM6.5 SP2 Remote Management
Novell ZENworks 7 Desktop Management Support Pack 1 - ZDM7 SP1 Remote Management
Upgrade from original Agent Setup.exe v4.00.0000 from ZfD 4 to ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management

Situation

Remote Management Agent causes high utilization.
High CPU utilization in ZenRem32.exe.

Resolution

Fixed in ZENworks 7 Desktop Management Service Pack 1 Interim Release 3a, available at https://download.novell.com

Workaround:
Rename or remove the wolsernt.exe in the C:\Program Files\Novell\ZENworks\RemoteManagement\RMAgent folder of the target machine having the symptom.
In some instances, on the machines that had the original ZENworks 4 setup.exe agent installed on them, the removal of the registry key listed in KB 10077416 (https://support.microfocus.com/kb/doc.php?id=10077416) and then installing the newer agent resolves the problem.
With the ZEN 7 SP1 HotPatch 1 or later the agent install will remove the old ZENworks services that cause this issue.

Additional Information

The existence of the Wake on LAN service from ZfD 4.0.1 (wolsernt.exe) attempts to load using the same port as the Remote Management Service from ZEN 6.5 (ZenRem32.exe) causing a port conflict which results in ZenRem32.exe using a high percentage of CPU.
The ZfD 4x Wake On LAN service (wolsernt.exe) should be removed when the ZEN 6.5 or later Agent is installed.

The Wake on LAN module existed as a separate service (wolsernt.exe) until ZfD 4.x. In ZEN 6.5 and later, this was converted into wolsernt.dll and integrated with Remote Management Agent service (ZenRem32.exe). The problem occurs when both wolsernt.exe and wolsernt.dll are present. The Wake on LAN service (wolsernt.exe) binds to UDP port 1761. The system then loads up Remote Management Agent service (ZenRem32.dll), which in turn invokes Wake on LAN module (wolsernt.dll), which again tries to bind to the same port, leading to port conflict. Since this goes in an infinite loop, it results in a high CPU utilization.

Formerly known as TID# 10096342