Agents is running but not reporting

[OutagesIO_Support]

We'll try to see if we can spot anything useful using those agents next week. In the meantime, if you can keep an eye on the app logs and see if you can find us any logging, that's what we really need.

There is one more thing. we could give you a special version of the agent that you could install on some of the machines you've confirmed are doing this.

The agent logs to a file so any problems would be logged even if it's not in the Windows app logs for some reason.

[lp4y]

Yes I think giving me a agent with verbose logs enabled is a good idea, I can deploy that on a few servers.

[lp4y]

Adding agents 129004 and 129038 to this list.

[SBK]

@lp4y
Can you please check your spam folder since the email with logging version has been sent twice to the email you provided in the application

[EchoMin]

We have a custom version ready for you. Just need you to respond to the email we've sent :).

[lp4y]

Sorry, I'm registered with an admin email and I don't check it frequently. I've just replied to you :)

[OutagesIO_Support]

Hi, have you had the chance to install the new agent?

[OutagesIO_Support]

Just checking in. Would love to know how it's going :).

[lp4y]

Hello

I deployed the new Agent only on one server, but I haven't seen the problem again.

What is the difference between v1.76 I am using now and v1.77 ?

[OutagesIO_Support]

Well that's good news. I assume you installed it on a server you were seeing those service problems with.

The v1.77 has some additional updates that we've been working on.

Here's a post about it. About v1.77.2207

The main things are;

-Improved thread management was a core requirement in order to prevent the potential loss of occasional data being sent to dashboard.

-Improved Windows service function to prevent the service from potentially stopping on some Win machines.

-For those using Extended reports, automated speed testing now shows downloads, uploads and latency.

Also, we have lowered our pricing. A subscription to Extended is only $4.00/month for the holidays.

[lp4y]

Today I noticed agent 129006 was online in my tools but it was reporting disconnected from outages.io portal.

I stopped the service, copied the log files.
After restarting the service, the agent is showing online again on your portal.

I looked at the logs and I can access the IP address the agent is trying to connect to from the host so it is not a connectivity issue :

Let me know if you find something interesting.

[OutagesIO_Support]

Hi again,

Thanks for sharing this.

Got the log, (removed the shared url).

Looking at the log, the agent never crashed or stopped so what ever happened doesn't seem to be the agent itself that is stopping but something is preventing it from communicating.

Is it possible that agents are being blocked by something at the network edge or with the provider for some reason or another.

[lp4y]

I don't think something is blocking it on the network, it's a very basic setup.

It really looks like the problem is coming from the agent as it started reporting as soon as I restarted the agent.

[lp4y]

Just noticed that same agent is not reporting again despite the service being running :

Log files just after I stop the agent : link removed

And the agent reported again active on the portal after I start it.

[lp4y]

I don't know if that will help but here are the logs right after I restarted the agent : link removed

[OutagesIO_Support]

In both those logs, the agent just stopped communicating.
It wasn't experiencing a problem internally at least but the service either stopped abruptly or something blocked it so it could not continue.

Really not sure what is happening at this point.

Is there any MS tool you could use to monitor the service so that we could get more information? You said nothing ever shows up in the server logs but we've never seen that happen. Not sure why this is happening either.

If we could get more system logs, that could help find what ever is happening and fix it if we know what it is.

All I can think of is that this version of MS is somehow different than newer versions but we spent months looking at this, making a few changes but now you're still seeing this.

I did a quick search and there are tools for MS that can help find the cause of crashing services/processes.

For example;
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/ask-the-performance-team/what-killed-my-process/ba-p/375329

[lp4y]

I can try that and also share system logs but I would like some guidance (what to export, do I need to put any filter, what to configure with the process monitoring tool, etc)

Also, the process is not crashing or anything, I can see OtmWinClient.exe running. It just need to be restarted to report again. The problem is occurring less frequently than with the previous version of the agent for sure, but it is still happening sometimes.

[OutagesIO_Support]

Hi,

I'm sorry, I don't know how to use it, just something I found on the net doing a quick search.

All MS server products should have tools that help monitor processes to find problems.

The point is that there are tools available that can monitor a process on a deeper level to figure out what is happening.

Really not sure what to suggest. I think I would first suggest that you uninstall the logging version and throw it out since it won't be of any value. Get back to the normal version that you can download from the site and see how that goes.

The logging version isn't meant for long term use anyhow as it has a lot of extra baggage just to try and log what it's doing.

Maybe going back to the standard version on that server will solve the problem since you mentioned this doesn't seem to be happening so much lately with the new version.

[OutagesIO_Support]

It turns out the dev was able to see something in the log you shared and is testing something now.

He says it was very useful so hoping we'll see a fix soon. It takes a while to test but as soon as possible, I'll share the update with you.

[lp4y]

Ok, I'll wait for an updated version