DLU Policy fails with Error: Exception while trying to invoke ZESZid - GetTaggedData function

  • 7023230
  • 31-Jul-2018
  • 21-Nov-2019

Environment

ZENworks Configuration Management 11.4 Policies

Situation

  • DLU policies may randomly fail to apply on device boot
  • User may be prompted to login again immediately after device boot
  • ZESService may be delayed in starting or not started

The following could be seen in the zmd-messages.log:

ERROR:
[DEBUG] [03/02/2018 07:31:14.734] [1536] [ZenworksWindowsService] [13] [user] [dlu policy] [] [Exception in ApplyPolicies :
Exception Details: Exception while trying to invoke ZESZid - GetTaggedData function
   at Novell.Zenworks.PolicyHandlers.DLUPolicy.DLUZIDInterface.GetTaggedData(String owner, String tag, String& value)
...
[ERROR] [03/02/2018 07:31:14.734] [1536] [ZenworksWindowsService] [13] [user] [dlu policy] [POLICYHANDLERS.DLUPolicy.ErrorInEnforcement] [An internal error occurred while enforcing the "Win7 Users DLU(3)" policy.] [Exception while trying to invoke ZESZid - GetTaggedData function]

At the same time of the DLU policy failure, the ZESService is just barely starting. The following is seen in the ZESService startup log Log_<date>_<time>_0001.txt:

[Info              ][03/02/2018 07:31:14.796][2992][ZESService][  4][][OLogToFile, ZES Service Worker Thread][][
OS Version: Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1
OS Edition: Windows 7 Professional
OS EditionID: 11: Win7
OS Arch: 64 bit Workstation
BootType: Restart @ 2018-03-02T07:30:16.9984950-06:00
Process ID: 2992 @ 2018-03-02T07:31:06.9000837-06:00
Logical Process LogID: 733e4cb6-2983-4cfa-b7c5-cea54610dc27
Session ID: 0
Process Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Novell\ZENworks\esm\ZESService.exe, Version: 11.4.2.436
...
[Debug             ][03/02/2018 07:31:14.749][2992][ZESService][  4][][Settings Document, ZES Service Worker Thread][][Writer waiting to write][][][][General]

Resolution

This is fixed in ZENworks 2017 Update 4 - see KB 7023612 "ZENworks Configuration Management 2017 Update 4 update information and list of fixes" which can be found at https://support.microfocus.com/kb/doc.php?id=7023612

If the issue is still happening after upgrading the agent devices to ZENworks 2017 Update 4, do the following:
  1. Create a DWORD registry entry under SOFTWARE\Novell\ZCM\ZenLgn
  2. Name the entry as DLUHelperThreadWaitRetries
  3. Change the value to something higher than 10
  4. Restart the Novell ZENworks Agent Service
  5. Keep increasing this value a little at a time until the issue stops

Cause

The DLU policy process calls into the ZESService for part of it's operation. If the DLU policy process requests this information before the ZESService is fully initialized, this issue can happen.

Status

Reported to Engineering