An exception occurred while attempting load task data

Products

IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

A Notification Server a.log is filling up with the following error message:

Log File Name: E:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\Logs\a.log
Priority: 1
Date: 05/15/2008 11:25:44 AM
Tick Count: -1503609031
Host Name: <NS_SERVERNAME>
Process: w3wp.exe (8692)
Thread ID: 6932
Module: AltirisNativeHelper.dll
Source: Altiris.ClientTask.Web.ReportTaskData.Page_Load
Description: An exception occurred while attempting load task data ( Unhandled exception. Type=System.ArgumentNullException Msg=Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: remoteEP Src=System
StackTrace=
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Connect(EndPoint remoteEP)
   at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.EstablishConnection()
   at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.AttempSendRequest(String service, Hashtable input)
   at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.SendRequestI(String service, Hashtable input)
   at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.SendRequest(String service, Hashtable input)
   at Altiris.ClientTask.Web.ReportTaskData.LoadStatusXmlStream()
   at Altiris.ClientTask.Web.ReportTaskData.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) )

Additional information about this error is found in the TaskManagement.log file on the remote task server:

<entry process="CTDataLoad" source="unk" time="5/15/2008 10:32:23 AM" type="Warning" >
   <![CDATA[System.Exception: The web request returned an error: ![CDATA[An exception occurred while attempting to get Client Task Server list. Error: System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: remoteEP
    at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Connect(EndPoint remoteEP)
    at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.EstablishConnection()
    at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.AttempSendRequest(String service, Hashtable input)
    at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.SendRequestI(String service, Hashtable input)
    at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.SendRequest(String service, Hashtable input)
    at Altiris.ClientTask.Web.ReportTaskData.LoadStatusXmlStream()
    at Altiris.ClientTask.Web.ReportTaskData.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)]]
    at Altiris.ClientTask.RemoteApi.RemoteClientTaskReporting.CheckWebResponse(XmlTextReader xr)
    at Altiris.ClientTask.RemoteApi.RemoteClientTaskReporting.SendStatusList(String statusList)
    at Altiris.ClientTask.RemoteApi.RemoteClientTaskReporting.SendStatus()]]>
  </entry>

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Cause

1. The Windows services "Altiris Object Host Service" and/or the "Altiris Task Data Loader" is not working as intended.

2. The Default Application Pool in IIS has run out of memory / resources. If the Notification Server has SP3 plus a Rollup prior to R9 there may be a memory leak caused by the License Refresh method (see Release Notes for R9)

Resolution

1. Identifying which Task Server is causing this issue is the hardest part of resolving this in that the error message gives no indication as to which Task Server is sending these error messages. There is also no indication in the Task Server GUI to help identify the offending server. To track down the offending Task Server, enable logging in IIS and do a search through the IIS logs for the most recent POST entry from a Task Server. An example of what this looks like is as follows:

2008-05-15 15:24:02 W3SVC1 <IP ADDRESS OF NS SERVER> POST /Altiris/ClientTask/ReportTaskData.aspx - 80 - <IP ADDRESS OF TASK SERVER> - 200 0 0

Once the IP address of the Task Server has been established, connect to the server using using Remote Desktop. To confirm you have identified the correct Task Server, open the Windows Services mmc by clicking Start > Run, typing in services and pressing Enter.

Stop the "Altiris Object Host Service" and the "Altiris Task Data Loader".

Back on the Notifiction Server, open the LogViewer and confirm that the flood of messages have stopped. If so, you have correctly identified the offending Task Server. As further confirmation that you have identified the correct Task Server, open the TaskManagment.log and the following error will be displayed:

<entry process="CTDataLoad" source="unk" time="5/15/2008 10:32:23 AM" type="Warning" >
   <![CDATA[System.Exception: The web request returned an error: ![CDATA[An exception occurred while attempting to get Client Task Server list. Error: System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: remoteEP
    at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Connect(EndPoint remoteEP)
    at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.EstablishConnection()
    at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.AttempSendRequest(String service, Hashtable input)
    at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.SendRequestI(String service, Hashtable input)
    at Altiris.Core.Sockets.SecureRemoting.SecureRemotingClient.SendRequest(String service, Hashtable input)
    at Altiris.ClientTask.Web.ReportTaskData.LoadStatusXmlStream()
    at Altiris.ClientTask.Web.ReportTaskData.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)]]
    at Altiris.ClientTask.RemoteApi.RemoteClientTaskReporting.CheckWebResponse(XmlTextReader xr)
    at Altiris.ClientTask.RemoteApi.RemoteClientTaskReporting.SendStatusList(String statusList)
    at Altiris.ClientTask.RemoteApi.RemoteClientTaskReporting.SendStatus()]]>
  </entry>

If you have not found the correct Task Server, it was recently discovered that the Altiris Profiler can be used to capture the IP address of the client machine that is making the bad request. Open Altiris Profiler on the Notification Server, begin a trace and look for the results that are similar to the screenshot below. In the screenshot below the IP address is listed in the userHostAddress field.

Back Once the Task Server has been identified, restart the "Altiris Object Host Service" and the "Altiris Client Task DataLoader" and the problem is resolved.

If restarting the service does not correct the issue, it might be necessary to uninstall the Task Server and then re-install it.

2. Open "Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager" and go to "Application Pools > DefaultAppPool", right click and select "Recycle"

If the errors stop showin in the NS logs then it may be due to a memory leak as previously mentioned.