e2e_appmon: return code -5 when running script

Products

• DX Unified Infrastructure Management (Nimsoft / UIM)
• Unified Infrastructure Management for Mainframe
• CA Unified Infrastructure Management SaaS (Nimsoft / UIM)

Issue/Introduction

The return code for the e2e scripts is returned as -5 by the probe.

A return code of -5 means "Page has not finished to load within the timeout" although the script may be visible as running successfully when inspecting the server.

Considerations Before Making Changes

1. Verify that there's currently only one user logged on

2. Verify that there's only one e2e_starter.exe running

When e2e_appmon starts, it sets a registry key for all users which makes e2e_starter.exe run on every login.

e2e_starter should close when it detects that there's already an e2e_starter running, but in some cases, this check may fail - this will mostly cause profiles to be run on interactive session (or in parallel). Logs of interest would be the e2e_starter.log found in the probe directory.
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For this one customer, their temporary workaround was to deselect  'Alarm on start' errors.

Environment

• Release: DX UIM 20.4, 23.4x or higher
• e2e_appmon 3.01 or higher

Resolution

This solution may be required for Windows Server 2012 R2 x64  and Windows 10 systems:

1. navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system?

2. Change the EnableLUA setting to 0

3. Reboot the server

Alternatively, this step is required for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 (non-R2).

1. Enter secpol.msc to open the machine's Security Settings.

2. You could try disabling one specific setting under User Account Control:

   

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  3. Reboot the server.
  
  Note: See also: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/how-do-i-change-the-behavior-of-user-account-control-by-using-group-policy
  
  Alternative Troubleshooting
  If none of the above works also check the following:
  
  By default e2e probe will logout of the current session and re-login using the authentication credentials provided in the configuration. So, make sure the login credentials are correct.
  
  Error -5 can occur in the following situations:
  

• The user for e2e_appmon probe must be a domain admin account or local user account with local admin privileges and proper access to the e2e directories/files.

• When you view the script run with VNC, make sure you see no security/login banner and/or no pop-up blocker or other extraneous popups, e.g., restore pages. You can try enabling the "Screendump on timeout" in order to observe what is causing an interruption. Note that you can always search the web for workarounds/solutions for specific browser behaviour, for example, how to disable the restore pages popupwindow. Try to avoid having ANY other windows or popups open on the desktop as they may interfere with mouse selection and the script run.

• If the probe cannot execute e2e_starter it means that the probe could not login to the Robot for some reason, or that resources were not present to start the e2e_starter program. You can run the ROB file directly, by launching the TaskExec.exe utility in the Nimsoft\e2e_scripting\bin folder and choosing the profile. Also, be sure to set loglevel 5 in the probe, which will also set the e2e_starter.cfg logging automatically.

• Lastly, inspect the e2e_starter.log file for errors.Most of the time when we see this error something is not allowing e2e_appmon to login/start/stop processes, possibly a Windows dialog/popup box.

• As a last resort, you may have to uninstall then re-install the Nimsoft Robot on the e2e_machine and redeploy the probe. In some case, the final resolution for the -5 return code error and the e2e_starter issues is to disable UAC, then completely uninstall the robot (removing the folders, etc...) and then reinstalling the robot and re-deploying the probes due to permission issues on the applications.