FlushAgentEvents – Flush NSEs in Agent's Queue
Article ID: 179877
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
When the Notification Server (also known as SMP Server) queues have reached the maximum number of NSEs and the Altiris Agent is directed to back off, the agent will queue its NSE to send at a later time. Over a period of time, it is possible that many agents will have queued NSEs, in the C:\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent\Queue folder, that could overwhelm the Notification Server. It may be useful to disregard all incoming NSEs and also to direct the Altiris Agents to flush their local queues.
The SMP Logs can show the following:
Unable to process client request from: <IP Address>/HEAD/8.6.2184.0 (Unable to process request, 0x80056007)
Environment
ITMS 8.x
Resolution
Step 1: If Time Critical Management > Persistent Connections are enabled, disable them in Notification Server:
Step 2: Enable FlushAgentEvents
NOTE: FlushAgentEvents is also configurable in Core Settings. Beginning in ITMS 8.5 you can view the Core Settings in the Console: Settings > Notification Server > Core Settings.
The registry key FlushAgentEvents (Reg_Dword located under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Altiris > eXpress > Notification Server) controls the ability to flush the local queue for the Altiris Agent. When set to 1, the Notification Server's Event Router will send the Altiris Agent an error response that will activate "flush local queues" on the Altiris Agent side. By default, this value is 0.
NOTE: This registry setting exits only on the Notification Server.
If the FlushAgentEvents registry key does not exist on your Notification Server, you can create it. In REGEDIT, click My Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Altiris > eXpress. Right-click Notification Server, click New, click DWORD Value, type FlushAgentEvents, and press Enter. Change the value to 1 to stop the Altiris Agents from reporting in. Change it back to 0 to have the Altiris Agents report in.
OR
REM Value of 0 Allows Agents to report it.reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Altiris\eXpress\Notification Server" /v "FlushAgentEvents" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Step 3: for the fastest denial, restart the AeXSVC
Step 4: Validate that agents are being rejected by sending Basic Inventory from an (SMP) Agent UI:
Note:
In the Agent logs you should see a log entry like these ones:
Failed to send basic inventory, COM error: The server is currently busy, the pending agent events should be flushed (0x80056007)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 11/8/2023 11:40:28 AM, Tick Count: 11592328 (03:13:12.3280000), Size: 356 B
Process: AeXNSAgent.exe (6536), Thread ID: 10676, Module: AeXNSAgent.exe
Priority: 1, Source: ConfigServer
Operation 'Direct: Head' failed.
Url: HTTPS://<SMPServer.yourdomain.com>:443/altiris/NS/Agent/PostEvent.asp?encrypted=1&priority=1&source=0181849A-8403-4D77-BBDC-251D1C75983A
Connection path: 1* - Direct: [172.XX.XX.153] -> <SMPServer.yourdomain.com> [172.XX.XX.135:443]
Connection id: 80.6536
Communication profile id: {xxxxxxxx-7a71-4222-98d8-6f97d5b9b96b}
Throttling: 0 0 0
Connecton stage: Server connect
Error type: SMP Server error
Error code: The server is currently busy, the pending agent events should be flushed (0x80056007)
Error note: HTTP Status 200: 200 OK
Server SSL connection info:
Server certificate:
Serial number: xx xx xx xx xx 47 4d 10 c3 e2 5d c6 3a d4 28 9f
Thumbprint: xx xx xx xx xx ca c8 24 fb f1 93 3a 44 d6 99 38 e2 e9 0d 6d
Client certificate:
Serial number: N/A
Thumbprint: N/A
Cryptographic protocol: TLS 1.2
Cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
Cipher algorithm: AES
Cipher key length: 256
Hash algorithm:
Hash length: 0
Key exchange algorithm: ECDH
Key length: 384
Client SSL attributes for server connection:
Client certificate:
Serial number: N/A
Thumbprint: N/A
Cryptographic protocol: TLS 1.0, 1.1, 1.2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 11/8/2023 11:40:28 AM, Tick Count: 11592312 (03:13:12.3120000), Size: 1.48 KB
Process: AeXNSAgent.exe (6536), Thread ID: 10676, Module: AeXNetComms.dll
Priority: 1, Source: NetworkOperation
Step 5: Set this setting back to "0" after 24-48 hours.
Additional Information
Feedback
