SMS: Expired Systems Management Server Jobs Alter Detailed Job Status (152229)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Systems Management Server 1.0
  • Microsoft Systems Management Server 1.1
This article was previously published under Q152229

SYMPTOMS

Displaying the detailed job status of a Systems Management Server job shows Retrying or Canceled for Workstation entries after a Package Command Manager (PCM) job has expired.

CAUSE

The Systems Management Server despooler incorrectly creates a detailed job status MIF as the result of a PCM job expiry notification received from an Systems Management Server client. In Systems Management Server 1.0, the detailed job status for the Workstation entry is set to Retrying as the result of the job expiry. In Systems Management Server 1.1, the detailed job status for the Workstation entry is set to Canceled.

The expected behavior is to maintain the last reported job status for the workstation.

MORE INFORMATION

An example situation is described below:

A job is created in the Systems Management Server Administrator program to distribute a PCM Package to five clients. The package is only to be offered for two days, therefore the job expiration time is set to two days after the offer date. All five clients receive the package displayed in PCM, three succeed in executing the package successfully on day one, the fourth client fails to execute the package successfully, and the fifth client is unoccupied and never executes the package.

Two days after the package offer date, the package expires. During each polling cycle, PCM on each client checks its Workstation Instruction (WINST) file on its Systems Management Server logon server. It checks for new packages arriving and for packages expiring. On job expiration, the package is removed from the client's PCM window and a despooler instruction is written to the Despoolr.box on the logon server. After the site's despooler processes this instruction, it creates a detailed job status MIF to update the Workstation entry in the job's detailed status. Depending on the version of SMS running on the site, this alters the results displayed for the job status.

For the example above, the following results will be displayed for the detailed job status in Systems Management Server 1.0. 
End of day 1
 - Workstations 1-3 (were successful)     Workstation Job Status = Complete
 - Workstation 4 (failed package)         Workstation Job Status = Retrying
 - Workstation 5 (job never executed)     Workstation Job Status = None

After job expires
 - Workstations 1-3 (were successful)     Workstation Job Status = Retrying

End of day 3
 - Workstation 4 (failed package)         Workstation Job Status = Retrying
 - Workstation 5 (job never executed)     Workstation Job Status = Retrying
NOTE: After the job expiration time, it is no longer possible to determine whether the PCM job was a success, a failure, or did not run at all.

RESOLUTION

Unfortunately the behavior of the despooler component under Systems Management Server versions 1.0 and 1.1 cannot be resolved. The problem is corrected in Systems Management Server version 1.2.

The following workarounds are suggested if you encounter problems determining the current status of package installation for SMS clients.

  • Extend the job expiration date to give enough time to review the job status for each client, where possible.
  • Use a NOIDMIF to report details about the package installation (that is, Complete, Failed), so that a new attribute for the package is displayed for each client detailing the install status.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Systems Management Server versions 1.0 and 1.1. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

The problem is corrected in Systems Management Server version 1.2.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/14/2005
Keywords:kbbug kbDespooler kbnetwork kbPCM kbpending KB152229
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