Task server registration fails with Proxy server

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

Task server cannot see any of the agents and when logs are examined, there are Task server related errors:

Source: Altiris.TaskManagement.ClientTask.*
Description: BaseXmlHttpCallback Exception: System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it 127.0.0.1:50121

Source: Altiris.TaskManagement.ClientTask.*
Description: AltirisAgentSettings.FigureOutCredentials(): Credentials in Agent registry were invalid, or there was an error connecting to the server.

Module: AtrsHost.exe
Source: Altiris.TaskManagement.ClientTask.*
Description: System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an error: (407) Proxy Authentication Required.

Module: AtrsHost.exe
Source: Altiris.TaskManagement.ClientTask.*
Description: Credential check for "********" failed: System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an error: (407) Proxy

Cause

The communication between Notification Server and Agents works with events posted to a web page on the Notification Server via HTTP. As the proxy configuration in this case probably dictates that all HTTP traffic, including internal traffic, goes through the proxy server a proxy access is requested for posting events.

As for proxy settings used, Windows settings (i.e. settings in the Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings > Advanced dialog) are used for Altiris Agents. Proxy settings in the Notification Server apply only to the Notification Server itself.

Suspected environmental issue. Since this particular issue surfaced after changing several factors including both installing Notification Server SP2 and changing proxy server configuration it would probably be quite difficult to reproduce the exact environment which caused the original issue.

Resolution

Task Server Agents started registering after the Proxy server settings in the Internet Settings (i.e in Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings > Advanced) were corrected on Task Server computers and the Notification Server .

Applies To
Notification Server 7.0 SP2 (issue occurred after SP2 upgrade)

Netcache Proxy Server (Proxy authentication details were recently changed)