An error is returned during the load assignments callback of Task Server

Products

• IT Management Suite
• Task Server

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to change the Task Server Management page within the Notification Server console, the following error appears:

An error was returned during the load assignments callback.  See the Altiris log for more information.

The following errors will appear in the Notification Server logs (a.log):

Priority: 1
Date: 12/20/2006 3:43:28 PM
Tick Count: 628883781
Host Name: NSSERVER
Process: w3wp.exe (2888)
Thread ID: 3804
Module: AltirisNativeHelper.dll
Source: Altiris.NS.ItemManagement.Item.GetName
Description: The specified GUID does not refer to a item (GUID: {fc30cd52-162e-44d3-9207-a438d3d46536})

Priority: 1
Date: 12/20/2006 3:43:28 PM
Tick Count: 628883796
Host Name: NSSERVER
Process: w3wp.exe (2888)
Thread ID: 3804
Module: AltirisNativeHelper.dll
Source: Altiris.ClientTask.UI.XmlCallback.ManageTaskServerAssignments.WriteResponse
Description: Exception while processing task server assignment request ( Unhandled exception.  Type=Altiris.NS.Exceptions.AeXException Msg=The specified GUID does not refer to a item Src=Altiris.NS
StackTrace=
   at Altiris.NS.ItemManagement.Item.GetName(Guid itemGuid)
   at Altiris.ClientTask.Infrastructure.ClientTaskServerAssignment.get_Name()
   at Altiris.ClientTask.Infrastructure.ClientTaskServerAssignment.ToDetailXml(XmlTextWriter wr, String nodeName)
   at Altiris.ClientTask.Infrastructure.ClientTaskServerAssignmentCollection.ToDetailXml(XmlTextWriter wr, String nodeName)
   at Altiris.ClientTask.UI.XmlCallback.ManageTaskServerAssignments.ProcessGetServerAssignments(XmlTextWriter wr)
   at Altiris.ClientTask.UI.XmlCallback.ManageTaskServerAssignments.WriteResponse(HttpRequest request, XmlTextWriter wr) )

Cause

This issue is caused when the Task Server Management page was previously configured to use collections; however, one or more of those collections have been deleted from the Notification Server.

Resolution

To fix this issue, the reference to the deleted collection must be manually removed from the Task Server Management configuration. To do this, export the current configuration, make the necessary modifications, and re-import the modified configuration. These are the steps to follow:

1. Export the current Task Server Management configuration using ImportExportUtil.
   
   ImportExportUtil.exe is a utility included with Notification Server 6.0.6074 (SP3). It is located in the Diagnostics directory in the same path as the Notification Server installation files (%PROGRAMFILES%\Altiris\Diagnostics by default). For more information on ImportExportUtil, see article 2021.
   
   From a command prompt on the Notification Server, navigate to the Diagnostics directory and run the following command:
   
   importexportutil.exe /export {aaff7a60-822e-4a81-9dea-cfb4b0fda228} c:\
2. Make a copy of the .xml file generated by ImportExportUtil.
   
   The command line from the previous step should have created the file c:\TaskServers_ aaff7a60-822e-4a81-9dea-cfb4b0fda228.xml. As a precaution, you should make a copy of this file to retain the original configurations. Rename the copy as TaskServersModified.xml.
3. Modify TaskServersModified.xml to remove the reference to the deleted collection.
   
   Open TaskServersModified.xml using Notepad. The error in the log file will show you which collection reference needs to be deleted. For example, if the error referenced is “The specified GUID does not refer to a item (GUID: {fc30cd52-162e-44d3-9207-a438d3d46536})”, delete the following section of the file and save the changes:
   
   <assignment collectionGuid="fc30cd52-162e-44d3-9207-a438d3d46536">
         <servers />
    </assignment>
   
   Note: Keep in mind that .xml files have both a beginning tag and an ending tag so you must delete everything in between the “assignment” tags for this collection. If there is a mismatch in the XML tags, then the file will no longer be considered valid and will not import in the following step. 
4. Import TaskServersModified.xml using ImportExportUtil.
   
   Assuming that TaskServersModified.xml is located on the root of C:\, use the following command to import the file back into the Notification Server:
   
   Importexportutil.exe /import c:\TaskServersModified.xml
5. Refresh the Notification Server console to verify that the Task Servers Management page will now open correctly.

__________________

If more than one collection was deleted, then this scenario will continue until each collection guid has been deleted from this file.

Fast method if a large number of collections have been assigned to the Task Server page:

1.  Copy all collection guids from the file into sql, surrounding each one with single quotes, and separating them with commas.
2.  Place the above guids between the open and closed brackets of the following query, and then run the query:

SELECT [Guid],[Name] FROM vCollection WHERE [Guid] IN
(

)

Applies To
Notification Server 6.0.6074 (SP3)
Task Server (Task Management) 6.0.1356