Symptoms

When using Shavlik Protect, you receive the error pop up stating: "Shavlik Protect Standard cannot fully comunicate with the console service.  Some tasks requiring the console service will be unavailable until the service can be reached."

Cause

When Protect's components try to reach the console service it fails to communicate with the service.

There can be many reasons why this may happen. The steps listed below should help find the root cause of the error and fix it.

Resolution

To fix this error you may need to follow the steps for one of the reasons listed below, or you may need to go through each one. The possible resolutions are listed in order from most common to least common.

If you are using a Proxy for web connections you need to bypass the proxy for local addresses

Here's how to set this:

• On the Protect console system go into Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings.
• Put a check in the box for 'Bypass proxy server for local addresses'.

Note: If you are using a passthrough proxy you may need to enter the proxy information in, set the bypass, save the settings, and then come back in and remove the settings. This has been known to put the bypass into place even for passthrough proxies.

If you are unsure if you are using a proxy, you can try running the below listed commands from a command prompt screen (based on operating system level):

• Windows 7/2008/Vista 32-bit:
  netsh winhttp show proxy
• Windows 7/2008/Vista 64-bit:
  %windir%\SysWOW64\netsh winhttp show proxy
• Windows XP/2003 32-bit:
  proxycfg
• Windows XP/2003 64-bit:
  %windir%\SysWOW64\proxycfg

The Shavlik Protect Console service may be failing to connect to the database, in turn failing to properly start

This will also cause Protect to be unable to communicate with the service. This will usually only happen when using a remote SQL server for your Protect database.

To fix this:

• Close Protect.
• Go to Start > All Programs > Shavlik Protect > Database Setup tool.
• Choose to use your existing database.
• On the Database Configuration screen you will need to provide alternate credentials for the console service connection to the database. You would need to provide an account that has administrative access to the Protect database on the SQL server.

.NET in conjunction with Protect's components are not honoring the settings to bypass a proxy for local addresses.

You can manually enter the bypass for the proxy into the config files for Protect. This works because Protect will look to our config files prior to checking the IE settings or WinHTTP settings for the proxy.

How to do this:

• Locate the files:
  - C:\Program Files\LANDesk\Shavlik Protect\ST.Protect.exe.config
  - C:\Program Files\LANDesk\Shavlik Protect\ST.ServiceHost.exe.config
  Note 1: If you are on a 64 bit system they will be in the Program Files (x86) folder. You may also need to go into your Folder Options > View settings and enable 'Show hidden files, folders, and drives' as well as uncheck the 'Hide extensions for known file types' option.
  Note 2: You should backup these files, before changing, by coping them to a separate folder.
• Modify the "ST.ServiceHost.exe.Config" file, adding the following section within the "configuration" tags, at the bottom of the document:
  <system.net>
  <defaultProxy>
  <proxy proxyaddress="http://**PROXY**:**PORT**" bypassonlocal="true" />
  <bypasslist>
  <add address="127.0.0.1" />
  <add address="**PROTECT_CONSOLE_SYSTEM_NAME**" />
  </bypasslist>
  </defaultProxy>
  </system.net>
• Modify the "ST.Protect.exe.config" file, adding the following section within the existing "system.net" tags:
  <defaultProxy>
  <proxy proxyaddress="http://**PROXY**:**PORT**" bypassonlocal="true" />
  <bypasslist>
  <add address="127.0.0.1" />
  <add address="**PROTECT_CONSOLE_SYSTEM_NAME**" />
  </bypasslist>
  </defaultProxy>
• Make sure to File > Save after updating each of these files. Once this is done make sure to open services.msc, and perform a Restart on the Shavlik Protect Console service. Then you can re-open Protect, and test to see if it works.

Other items worth checking

• Ensure that inbound TCP ports 3121 is allowed on the Protect console system.
• Make sure the Protect console system is able to resolve itself.
• Make sure the hosts file does not contain invalid information. This is located in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

Impact/Risks

• If you edit the information in the config files as mentioned in step three, be aware that you have now hardcoded the information that Protect uses for your proxy.
• If you make changes on your network you may need to go back and edit these files again at a later date.

Affected Product(s)

Shavlik Protect 9.x