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6.6.03 Upgrade Difficulties
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First of all, let me say that I finally got everything working. However, it wasn't all smooth sailing. I guess I must be in the minority, but this upgrade for me was a struggle. Below, I'll describe what happened, and the solutions that worked for me.
1. The upgrade to 6.6.0.2 was flawless. All of my viewers, hosts, and server upgrades went smooth as silk. No problems whatsoever.
2. The following day, I tried upgrading to 6.6.0.3. That's when the wheels fell off.
On my main viewer machine "Windows 7", I tried installing the viewer. Got the errors described in another post. Following the directions in the other post, I tried to uninstall viewer using the Windows Control Panel Programs and Features. This didn't work, as Windows couldn't find the necessary uninstall files. I eventually uninstalled viewer using the uninstall viewer shortcut in the "All Programs"-"Remote Utilities-Viewer" folder, then manually deleting the config_4.xml file. Re-booted machine, then reinstalled viewer. Success !! EXCEPT, General Address book was there but was now empty..... Solved this by restoring a backup from day before... Thank You for this automatic backup feature. Viewer required complete re-configuration, including license key. I guess all of that was in the config file I deleted. OK, viewer is at this point operational, Full Control, File Transfer etc worked fine. Until....
3. Click on RDP file to open rdp connection... Would not work. Got more errors, couldn't open .rdp file.
Every computer in my address book was like this for RDP. Could not even open the file using MS RDP. Opened the files in notepad, and each and every one of my .rdp files were corrupted. Only the top 4-5 lines in the file were visible, and it looked like a foreign language instead of the usual parameters.
I just happened to backup the whole viewer folder before upgrading, in case I wanted to downgrade. At this point, I copied my backups back into the rdp folder. After trying to open another rdp connection, it corrupted that file instantly. I didn't click on any other rdp connections in viewer, until I could figure out what was going on. I finally figured out that the files were being corrupted, as soon as I right click on a connection and select "Properties". Didn't even have to go to the RDP tab. As soon as properties for that connection was selected, bang, the file was corrupted. The only work around I found for this, was to open the properties dialog for the connection, leaving that dialog up while I navigated to my backup, and copy/paste the file back into the rdp folder, then finally closing the properties dialog box. This finally got my RDP connections working, however, I had to do this for each and every one of my connections. Now I feel good about this particular viewer, except I had to do this whole procedure to my other two viewers as well. They all did this exact same thing. One other Win 7 machine and 1 old XP machine.
4. Upd ated RU server, the only problem was, I got the errors about it needing to uninstall the previous version, but the Control Panel uninstall didn't work for that either. Uninstalled using the same procedure as for viewer. Not as painful, but I did have to use a different remote software to get at my RU server to do the work, as the server is in another location.
5. Several of my hosts would not completely install upgrade using the remote install tool. Again, another remote software was used to complete the uninstall-reinstall of the new version.
Finally, I got everything up and running smoothly again. I really do like the new viewer, more accurate online/offline status, search tool, and the ability to se t the connection type for double click in the viewer. This upgrade was nowhere near as easy as the previous upgrade, but I guess it might just be my setup, as I haven't seen any other posts in the forum talking about these problems.
Thanks again Conrad. Still love this software...
Thank you for the details.
This sometimes happens with Windows MSI, when it cannot uninstall properly. There is even a troubleshooter available from Microsoft.This didn't work, as Windows couldn't find the necessary uninstall files.
No problem. They are meant to be a safety net. Even if some day we start to offer a web account, we'll still provide a way to back your data.Thank You for this automatic backup feature.
This was encoding issue in version 6.6.0.2, that's why we were so quick to release the next update. In turn, this encoding issue arose from the IDE environment update used by our development.3. Click on RDP file to open rdp connection... Would not work. Got more errors, couldn't open .rdp file.
Every computer in my address book was like this for RDP. Could not even open the file using MS RDP. Opened the files in notepad, and each and every one of my .rdp files were corrupted. Only the top 4-5 lines in the file were visible, and it looked like a foreign language instead of the usual parameters.
Not sure why this happened. The server should update upon running the installer file, no uninstall is necessary. But that might depend on what previous server version was installed.4. Upd ated RU server, the only problem was, I got the errors about it needing to uninstall the previous version, but the Control Panel uninstall didn't work for that either. Uninstalled using the same procedure as for viewer. Not as painful, but I did have to use a different remote software to get at my RU server to do the work, as the server is in another location.
Starting the next release (e.g. 6.7) you'll be able to update Hosts in one click right from the Viewer. No more using Remote Install tool, well at least for this simple task. The Hosts will communicate with our update server on their own (by your command, of course) and update themselves using the correct installer file. As for Viewer, it will also update in one click - i.e. you click "Update" and the Viewer automatically downloads itself, updates and re-launches. This should eliminate human factor from the update process altogether.5. Several of my hosts would not completely install upgrade using the remote install tool. Again, another remote software was used to complete the uninstall-reinstall of the new version.
It was rather a mix of factors, with the primary issue being that encoding problem in 6.6.0.2. It came as a surprise for us too and in fact this issue ruined version 6.6.0.2 , especially for those who worked with RU Server.Finally, I got everything up and running smoothly again. I really do like the new viewer, more accurate online/offline status, search tool, and the ability to se t the connection type for double click in the viewer. This upgrade was nowhere near as easy as the previous upgrade, but I guess it might just be my setup, as I haven't seen any other posts in the forum talking about these problems.
On the other hand, we try to gradually simplify as many aspects as we can. I already mentioned the simple update system, and another thing yet to come is an online MSI configurator.
Don't hesitate to ask me if you have other questions.
Really love this powerful software package !!!
Thanks.
-Mishael
Did it happen after you upgraded the Hosts? From which version did you upgrade?
1. IF you use the RDP feature of Remote Utilities, then the remote computer at least has that capability.
The idea here is that you can use the native RDP server built into Windows. Which brings up IF #2.
2. IF you have used this feature in RU, then you would need to open a port in the remote computers router, since the RU host is not running. Ideally, you would know how to access this router over the web.
Then you could possibly telnet/SSH into the router to open the port. IF, you don't know the wan IP address to access the router, you could probably get this when your remotes post to your website. Most control panels for the web management allow for logging of all IP addresses that connect to your site, along with other details about the connection.
3. If there is anyone there that could possibly help you out, all you would need to do is get them to download the host from RU, and run it with default settings. On my remotes that wouldn't finish installation, I copied the host msi to the machine, then ran the msi, and it detected that a previous installation needed to finish first, I agreed to that, and it finished the install without problem.
That's about all I can offer. I Hope that it might be of use to you...
Benny
-Yes, it was after I upgraded the Hosts from 6.5.0.8Conrad wrote:
Hello Mishael,
Did it happen after you upgraded the Hosts? From which version did you upgrade?
Benny Tucker,
Thank you for the suggestion, but this will be difficult as I am using a cellular connection with a dynamic IP address. I will continue to look into these methods.
Did you use a custom installer for upgrade or our vanilla installer from the site? If it was custom, could you answer if you selected the "Generate ID" check box on the 3rd step?
i used the vanilla installer from the site. I am using "Internet ID"s though.
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