PXE Key Match Utility

Products

• Deployment Solution
• Ghost Solution Suite

Issue/Introduction

 Question
Is there any way to verify that the MMAccessKey is correctly authenticating to the DS Security key when the PXE Configuration Utility is authenticating and trying to connect? Is there also any way to re-create the MMAccessKey.ini file if it is lost or corrupted?

Resolution

Answer
Altiris has provided support with a tool that is to be used by support engineers in cases where the PXE Configuration Utility fails to open, and a message appears in the logs that shows that the authentication failed. This tool allows us to check the MMAccessKey against the DS Security key. It also has the ability to regenerate the MMAccessKey in the case the it is lost, or if it is failing and needs to be re-created.

To run this utility run it from a Windows Command prompt on the Deployment Server (it actually needs to be run from the PXE Manager, but this is always the same computer as the Deployment Solution server). from the Command prompt window change tothe folder that contains the PXEKEYMATCH.exe. Then run PXEKEYMATCH.exe from that location.  If you run the utility with no command line parameters it will check the MMAccessKey.ini file against the DS Security key and it will either return back a message that says that they do match, or that they do not match. You can also run the utility with the -sync switch and it will re-create the MMAccessKey.ini file.

Running the utility with the -sync switch will not modify the DS Security key, nor can it re-create that key. If for some reason that key is lost (this could only happen if the registry key was manually deleted) the entire Deployment Solution will need to be reinstalled.

 

When re-creating the MMAccessKey you will need to update the PXEManager.ini file. Before updating that file first stop the PXE Manager Server from the Windows Services list. After that service is stopped you can open up the PXEManager.ini file and make changes. You will need to copy the key from the MMAccessKey.ini file and replace the key found in the PXEManager.ini file (found on the sixth line of that file). Once that file is updated and saved, start the PXE Manager Service back up.

 

The PXE Key Match utility can be found in the TechSup\Windows folder in the eXpress share as of Deployment Server 6.8.  For previous versions, the utility has been attached to this article in the column to the right.