Environment
Novell ZENworks 10 Configuration Management with Support Pack 3 - 10.3
Situation
PreAgent package fails to install on ZENworks 7.x Desktop Management installed workstations that cannot reach the primary server.
ERROR (on zicon and in Application Event Log):
Cannot proceed because the pre-agent is unable to contact the server to decide on the uninstallation of the existing agent.
Resolution
11.x This is fixed in 11.0 and documented in version 11.2 - see KB 7010044 "ZENworks Configuration Management 11.2 - update information and list of fixes" which can be found at https://www.novell.com/support
This is fixed in version 10.3.2 - see KB 7007237 "ZENworks Configuration Management 10.3.2 - update information and list of fixes" which can be found at https://www.novell.com/support
For 10.3.2, 11.0 and later, use -U for force ZENworks 7 uninstall parameter.
-U: Force uninstall of older ZENworks Desktop Management Agent.
See documentation at https://www.novell.com/documentation/zenworks11/zen11_discovery_deployment/data/bv97pxo.html
Workaround: The device must be able to reach a primary.
Additional Information
Due to the new coexistence functionality, install of ZEN 10.3 agents to existing ZENworks 7 and earlier devices requires contact with the ZENworks 10 primary server zenworks-deployment service.
For more information see
2.0 Coexistence with Other ZENworks Products
In the later versions the error also more clear:
Cannot proceed because the pre-agent is unable to contact the server to decide on the uninstallation of the existing agent. Rerun with the -U switch to force the install.