ARL download failed, how does the backend work?

[bleepie]

Dear Flexera community,

We have a FNMS processing server and a FNMS web server. On the processing server we want to download the ARL and place it onto the web server. This fails, and according to the logs, it failed. The logs say:

Failed to download ARL from (source) to (webserver)

The webserver cannot communicate with the internet. The processing server can only communicate with the URL where the ARL is located and also with the webserver (and other FNMS servers). It is in our understanding that the file is downloaded to the processing server, before it is moved to the web server automatically. But when reading the logs it looks like the processing server only initiates the download, but the actual download is from source to web server directly without it ever saving on the processing server. Is this correct or not?

Thanks in advance. 

[ChrisG]

The phrase "Failed to download ARL" is not one I immediately recognize as appearing in logs generated by FlexNet Manager Suite. What log are you seeing this in?

The ARL .cab file is normally downloaded by and processed on the processing server. The file doesn't need to go on to the web server, and there is nothing built in to FlexNet Manager Suite that would try to "move" the file from one server to another. Once the file is downloaded, the MgsImportRecognition.exe process running on the processing server unpacks the .cab file and runs SQL scripts that it contains in order to load the ARL content into the compliance database.

[bleepie]

Hi Chris,

I saw it in the MgsImportRecognition log file (on the proc server I believe) on the screen of my colleague. My colleage is out of the office right now and I am not sure where this logfile is located. If you can provide me the logfiles location I can provide the exact content.

[ChrisG]

Look under the C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Compliance\Logging\Content directory on the processing server for logging related to the ARL update process.

[bleepie]

Nevermind, I found it myself. I have replaced the URL with X's except for one number:

2021-11-21 01:05:37,408 [.RecognitionImportTool] [ERROR] Failed to download the file 'https://www.managesoft.com/support/Compliance/RecognitionAfter82.cab' to '\\XXX77XXXXXXXX.XX.XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.XX\DataImport\Content\ARL\RecognitionAfter82.cab'.

The server 77 is the Web Server, but this log is located on the Proc Server, which is number 76 and not 77. This log makes me believe the proc server is trying to move or download on the Web Server instead of the Proc server.

[bleepie]

@ChrisGmanaged to find it, see my reply above.

[ChrisG]

Ahh, I see. It looks like your processing server is configured so that various content will be put in the \\XXX77XXXXXXXX.XX.XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.XX\DataImport file share on your web server. That probably isn't strictly needed for the library content, but may be needed for other content which is shared between the two servers (such as files uploaded through the web UI containing data to be imported).

So in this configuration, you are correct that the downloaded ARL .cab file would not physically sit on the filesystem of the processing server.

[bleepie]

@ChrisG 

The proc server is only allowed to communicate with the managesoft site where the ARL file is located. The web server can only communicate with other FNMS servers including the proc server. The web server cannot communicate with the internet. According to my colleage, the file is downloaded onto the proc server, is processed there and then moved to the web server. However, I believe (according to the logs) that he might be wrong, as is states that the file cannot be downloaded to the web server. What do you think is happening here?

[ChrisG]

Your colleague is pretty close, but I'd describe it like this: the ARL cab file is downloaded by the processing server from the Internet, and saved to the file share on the web server. The processing server then reads the file back from the file share, and processes it to load the content into the database.

The most common cause of a download failure like shown here would be that the processing server was unable to connect to the https://www.managesoft.com/ web server to download the .cab file. It's possible that a similar error might be reported in the log if the processing server was unable to connect to the file share on the webserver.

Does the logging show any further details that may give insight into exactly what is failing?

For troubleshooting, you could try doing the following in a PowerShell window running as your FlexNet Manager Suite service account user on the processing server:

1. Check access to the ARL download site is working:
   

   Invoke-WebRequest https://www.managesoft.com/support/Compliance/RecognitionAfter82.cab​

2.  Check access to the file share on the web server is working:
   

   dir ​\\XXX77XXXXXXXX.XX.XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.XX\DataImport

[bleepie]

I have also tried the dir command but nothing happens. In the logs however I can see that cleanup tasks on the webserver are successfully completed so I think the connection between the proc and web server is operating fine.

Some additional information that is logged:

• A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond
• 2021-12-16 01:01:46,471 [onImport.ContentImport] [WARN ] RecognitionAfter82.cab download attempt 1 of 5 failed with System.Net.WebException: Unable to connect to the remote server

I'll discuss the above with a colleague later this week, as I have other business to attend to now, thanks for your help so far.