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Nexthink Library

Virtualization Troubleshooting

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Virtualization Troubleshooting

Latest Version: 1.2.5.0
|
Updated on April 17, 2024
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Configuration

Description

Although virtual desktops and applications may look and feel the same to an end-user, delivering these services can be complex from an IT perspective. And, if something goes wrong, the path to resolution is never simple, resulting in more tickets, longer resolution times and, inevitably, increased costs to your business.

The Virtualization - Troubleshooting pack provides tailored scores, pre-filtered alerts and targeted investigations, allowing you to rapidly—and proactively—identify the scope of an issue for more effective troubleshooting.

The pack provides specific alerts and investigations to hone in on the source of a degraded virtualized environment, as well as remote actions to take the best course of action based on your results. In addition, the pack comes with out-of-the-box Engage campaigns to keep your employees aware of any changes or service degradations in their current landscape.

This pack is key for any IT Support and Virtualization teams looking to rapidly and effectively troubleshoot issues in complex virtual environments to improve employee experience and reduce operational cost.

Screenshots

Versions

  • 1.2.5.0 - 17 Apr 2024 - Changed score run time frequency to daily
  • 1.2.4.0 - 04 Nov 2022 - Updated OS requirements
  • 1.2.3.0 - 22 Jul 2022 - Enhanced documentation and fixed PATH vulnerability in RA "Restart-Device" v3.2.2.0
  • 1.2.2.0 - 12 May 2022 - Minor updates and enhancements
  • 1.2.1.1 - 28 Apr 2022 - Fixed typo in "Install Application" Remote Action
  • 1.2.1.0 - 19 Apr 2022 - Fixed issue with hash validation on "Install Application" Remote Action
  • 1.2.0.0 - 12 Apr 2022 - Removed input parameter and improved installer verification process on "Install Application" Remote Action
  • 1.1.1.0 - 21 Mar 2022 - Added support of urgent campaigns for "Restart Device" Remote Action
  • 1.1.0.0 - 14 Apr 2021 - Updated "Install application" and "Restart Device" Remote Actions description
  • 1.0.0.1 - 13 Apr 2021 - Removing unused investigations
  • 1.0.0.0 - 13 Apr 2021 - Initial release

Content

Campaigns - 4
Categories - 1
Investigations - 3
Remote actions - 4
Restart Windows Device Install application Uninstall application Set Service Information
Scores - 1

Required Products

Nexthink Act
Nexthink Engage

Platforms

Windows 7 and newer

Compatibility

V6.30 and later

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Restart Windows Device

Script Description

Retrieves information if restart is necessary due to too long device uptime or pending reboot, and based on provided input configures restart of target device. Campaign is displayed to enable user immediate restart, or postpone till next script execution. After restart, previously opened user's applications are restored.

Warning: The 'Device Restart' Remote Action restarts devices based on the provided input parameters. Avoid choosing parameters that cause users to be regularly prompted, or forced, to restart their device.

Execution context and suggested scheduling

Run the script as 'interactive user'. The script should be executed every 1 day.

A timeout of 720 seconds is recommended.

Parameters

Label Description
Number Of Days Since Last Reboot Number of days considered as maximum allowed without device restart. Accepted values are (0-60)
Test Pending Restart Test if a reboot is needed. Accepted values are (True/False)
Show Campaign Determines under what circumstances the campaign should be shown. Accepted values are (Always/DuringGracePeriod/OnlyFirstExecution/Never)
Campaign Id Id of a campaign to be presented to user before triggering restart
Postpone Grace Period In Days Number of days provided for user to postpone campaign, verified with hourly precision. Once due date is passed, restart will be scheduled. Accepted values are (1-30)
Restart Delay In Seconds Number of seconds provided as delay before restart is executed. Accepted values are (45-86400)
Campaign Timeout Number of seconds provided before the campaign times out. Accepted values are (60-600). This input will only be taken into account when ShowCampaign input is different from never

Outputs

None.

Further Information

For a deeper understanding of the usage of this Remote Action, read the official Nexthink Documentation here.

ShowCampaign input parameter behaviour:

- Always - The campaign is always shown to the user, and the user can decide if he wants to restart the device (Yes, restart) or if he wants to postpone the campaign (Postpone).

- Never - The campaign is never shown to the user. The device is restarted using the "RestartDelayInSeconds" input parameter. For e.g., if "RestartDelayInSeconds" is set to 300, once the RA is triggered on the device, the device is will restart after 300 seconds.

- OnlyFirstExecution - The campaign is shown only one time to the user, and the user can decide if he wants to restart the device (Yes, restart), or if he wants to postpone the campaign (Postpone). If the user decides to postpone the campaign, and the RA gets triggered another time on the device, this latter will be restarted using the "RestartDelayInSeconds" input parameter.

- DuringGracePeriod - If we use this parameter, the RA is going to take into account the PostponeGracePeriodInDays. It means that if we use 7 days as PostponeGracePeriodInDays, the campaign is shown during 7 days to the user. If the user restarts the device in the meantime, the counter is reset and the campaign is not shown anymore. But if the user does not restart the device during the 7 days of grace period, the device will be restarted on the 8th day using the RestartDelayInSeconds input.

Clarification - Postpone button in the campaign does not postpone the restart. It only postpones the campaign i.e. the user could receive the campaign again if the configuration allows it, but the restart is not postponed.

Test Scenarios

PatchPendingInstallation
Test Case .NET Hotfix was just installed
Environment Win7 Pro (multiple languages), Win10 Enterprise 1803 various applications were opened
Results Campaign was displayed, restart notifications were displayed, after restart all applications were restored.
DeviceIsCompliant
Test Case Device recently restarted, no pending hot-fixes
Environment Win7 Pro (multiple languages), Win10 Enterprise 1803
Results Script reported restart was not needed.
DeviceUptimeIsTooLong
Test Case Device was not restarted for longer than provided threshold, no pending hot-fixes
Environment Win7 Pro (multiple languages), Win10 Enterprise 1803
Results Script was processed, restart notifications were displayed, after restart all applications were restored.

Install application

Script Description

Install applications using either the Microsoft Software Installer (MSI) or a custom installer.The Remote Action includes protection layers to provide secure installation method. That includes verification of the hash of the installer to be used or including the hash of the root CA of the installer within the remote action code.

Warning: This Remote Action starts the simultaneous download of the desired installation packages on all targeted devices. Please ensure that the available network capacity is appropriate for the number of targeted devices.

Execution context and suggested scheduling

Run the script as 'local system'. The script should be executed manually.

A timeout of 720 seconds is recommended.

Parameters

Label Description
Maximum Delay In Seconds Maximum random delay set to avoid network overload. Provide number of seconds lower than 600
Installer Source Provide URL or UNC path to retrieve the installer file. Example values: http(s)://domain/folder/installer.exe, \\server\SharedFolder\winrar-x64-571.exe
Installer Hash Provide expected file hash using SHA256 algorithm to verify delivered installer file. E.g. FD820BF82EDBAA4BE20FD3B644A05754D95D71DE60FE79AB983C3318E0697540
Install Parameters Provide optional arguments for the installer (either for .MSI or .EXE). Common parameter prefix and letters or numbers are allowed, such as /quiet, /noreboot, /s, /1, etc. Provide "" if no arguments are needed

Outputs

None.

Restrictions

Further Information

The installer path could be either an UNC path with read access or an URL. The MSI error codes are documented here.
If the application is already installed, it might be re-installed. User settings or application data may be lost.
If targeting a non-MSI-based application, it is frequently necessary to specify additional parameters for a silent install. Please visit official documentation from the application vendor.
Be aware of whether silent install parameters are omitted, the install process may be waiting forever for user action while the remote action terminated before completion. In such case, you need to kill the process before executing the remote action again.
To understand how to configure a network share to work properly with Nexthink Act, please visit this page.
To get the installer hash, type this command on a Windows 10 PowerShell session":" Get-FileHash -Path <PATH_TO_THE_FILE> -Algorithm SHA256.

If a installer hash is not provided, the hash of the root CA must be included within the remote action code. It must be populated as an additional line on TRUSTED_PUBLIC_CAS variable:
'7AF2D8FF9A3EDAC99CA3AE7F8FB4CCABB120C1E292BE0565A67C6F5B417A1AD1' = 'Adobe Acrobat DC Adobe Inc'
'XXXXXXHASHFROMTHEROOTCAFROMTHEINSTALLERMUSTBEINCLUDEDHEREXXXXXXX' = 'Name of the source'}

To obtain the hash of the root ca the following function can be used:

function Get-RootCASignature($ExecutablePath) {
$chain = New-Object -TypeName 'security.cryptography.x509certificates.x509chain'
$chain.Build((Get-AuthenticodeSignature -FilePath $ExecutablePath).SignerCertificate)
$rootCa = $chain.ChainElements | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Certificate -Last 1
$publicKey = ::UTF8.GetBytes($rootCa.GetPublicKeyString())
$hash = ::Create('SHA256').ComputeHash($publicKey)
return ::ToString($hash) -replace '-',
}

Then, run the following command: "Get-RootCASignature -ExecutablePath 'C:\Temp\executable.exe'".

Test Scenarios

TestInstallersWithWrongHashes
Test Case Trying to install MSI (7 zip, Tortoise Git) and custom installers (WinRAR) from URL and UNC paths whose hashes don't match with the one given as input parameter
Environment VM Windows 10 x64 EN, VM Windows 10 x86 EN, VM Windows 7 x64 FR, VM Windows 7 x64 DE
Results Failure - Installers hashes must match with the one given as input parameter
TestInstallersForx64Architecture
Test Case Trying to install MSI (7 zip) and custom installers (WinRAR) from URL and UNC paths only for x64 architectures
Environment VM Windows 10 x64 EN, VM Windows 10 x86 EN, VM Windows 7 x64 FR, VM Windows 7 x64 DE
Results Failure on the x86 machine and success on the x64 ones
TestMsiInstallersWithRandomParameters
Test Case Trying to install MSI installers (7 zip, Tortoise Git) from URL and UNC paths
Environment VM Windows 10 x64 EN, VM Windows 10 x86 EN, VM Windows 7 x64 FR, VM Windows 7 x64 DE
Results Success - Parameters are ignored when the given installer is MSI
TestWinRARInstallationWithoutParameters
Test Case Trying to install custom installer (WinRAR) from URL and UNC paths without any install parameter
Environment VM Windows 10 x64 EN, VM Windows 10 x86 EN, VM Windows 7 x64 FR, VM Windows 7 x64 DE
Results Failure - As the silent install was omitted, the RA finishes with timeout. In fact, it is necessary to kill the installer manually. Be aware of the install parameters before proceeding
TestWinRARInstallationWithParameters
Test Case Trying to install custom installer (WinRAR) from URL and UNC paths with silent install '/s'
Environment VM Windows 10 x64 EN, VM Windows 10 x86 EN, VM Windows 7 x64 FR, VM Windows 7 x64 DE
Results Success - Installation performed without prompting the user

Uninstall application

Script Description

Uninstalls applications using Microsoft Software Installer or custom uninstaller, depending on the application.

Execution context and suggested scheduling

Run the script as 'interactive user'. In some environments it might be necessary to run as 'local system'. The script should be executed manually.

A timeout of 300 seconds is recommended.

Parameters

Label Description
Application Name Full application name to be uninstalled
Uninstall Parameters If targeting a non-MSI-based application, provide optional options/arguments for the uninstaller. Common option prefixes and letters are allowed, such as /quiet, /noreboot, /s, etc. Depending on the Application vendor, options may be case-sensitive

Outputs

None.

Further Information

As first parameter for this script, type in the full name of the application as it is displayed on Programs and Features menu in Control Panel.
If targeting a non-MSI-based application, it is frequently necessary to specify additional parameters for a silent uninstall. In such case, please visit official documentation from the application vendor.
Be aware that omitting the silent uninstall parameters might cause the un-installation process to be stuck waiting for user interaction, causing a timeout.
Custom un-installation was developed and tested using 7-Zip latest binaries.

Test Scenarios

LogParameterPassed
Test Case Any of msiexec's "log" option variations is passed as uninstallation parameter
Environment VM Windows 10 x86/x64 (Multi-language) (1803/1809/1903)
Results Failure - Log parameter is not permitted due to security considerations. The application is not uninstalled.
SilentParameterPassed
Test Case The /S (silent) option is provided to uninstall the MSI package '7-Zip 19.00 ()'
Environment VM Windows 10 x86/x64 (Multi-language) (1803/1809/1903)
Results Success - Application is uninstalled successfully and no popups are displayed to end user

Set Service Information

Script Description

The script enables the modification of the status and startup type of one or multiple services, which are provided as input. Useful for enforcing the expected status of critical services (e.g. Antivirus, SCCM agent, core business applications, etc.) in accordance with corporate policies.

Execution context and suggested scheduling

Run the script as 'local system'. The script should be executed manually.

A timeout of 120 seconds is recommended.

Parameters

Label Description
Service Name The service (or comma-separated list of services) whose status or startup type will be modified. Service names are case-insensitive
Status Change The action (or comma-separated list of actions) to apply to the status of the specified service (or comma-separated list of services)
Set Start Type To The startup type (or comma-separated list of startup types) to apply to the specified service (or comma-separated list of services)

Outputs

Label Type Description
Updated Service Status StringList Name, status, and startup type of the requested service (or list of services) before and after the change

Restrictions

Further Information

Type "" if you do not wish to change either the status or the startup type of a particular service.
Both action names and startup type names are case-insensitive.
Valid actions: Start, Stop, Restart, Pause, Resume.
Valid startup types: Auto, Auto (Delayed Start), Manual, Disabled.
Find the names of the available services in a device by opening the Services tab of the Task Manager (look under the Name column).
Because of the unpredictable behavior of Windows services, note that your changes may be overwritten.

ADVANCED:
This script requires customization by an expert and needs to be thoroughly tested. The potential impact on your environment might also require sign off from the Security Team.
Please, ensure that you don't stop or disable essential Windows services.