Matthew Cooper's community posts

Thanks Conrad. Looking at my distributions, I can see that I never built a 7.2.x installer. I was using a 7.1.1.0 then upgrading the host via the viewer.

To clarify, once the host is installed and has taken its first connection, will subsequent host upgrades not trigger this message popup?

Matthew

I have begun upgrading my hosts to the new 7.5.1.0 version, I also run a self hosted server which is now at version 3.4.1.0.

In this process I have created new MSI and silent installers via the MSI Configurator.
I am running on a PRO licence.

I have just started to notice that when I install a fresh 7.5.1.0 via the silent installer, upon connection, I see the right hand corner "You have installed Remote Utilities..." message as attached.

Reading from here; https://www.remoteutilities.com/support/docs/first-connection-warning/
Is it the case that the behaviour has changed with this new version? I have not seen that popup since my evaluation days, the PRO licence always removed that message from appearing.

This message is an issue for us. We roll out RU on dozens of machines, and we may not connect to them for potentially weeks or months into the future. Some of these machines are customer devices, others are headless servers with no mouse and keyboard.

Matthew

Thank you Conrad. Good to know there is a way to fix it.

I look forward to the fix for this.

Matthew

I did not take part in the beta testing for 7.5.10 but I have now updated my Viewer / Server and a small selection of hosts.

My issue so far is with the viewer.

I have a structure where my hosts are separated into multiple folders in my address book.

When switching between the folders, the right hand window does not refresh until I mouse over the list. This is happening on 3 different PCs all Windows 10.
To illustrate:
Address Folder structure;
-Folder1
  HostA
  HostB
  HostC
-Folder2
  HostX
  HostY
  HostZ

When I open the viewer, and click on Folder1, I see HostA, B and C in the right hand window.
When I then click on the Folder2 icon, I still see HostA, B and C in the right hand window. I place my mouse over HostsA, and it updates to HostX, same process for the remaining hosts in the list.

In case of relevance, the settings I modify in the viewer from defaults are:

View > Details
Tools > Options > View
Use Group View - off
Show Add connection button - off
Updat thumbnails - off
Show advanced hint window - off
Notify me when connection is online - off
Tools > Options > Remote Screen
Tabbed view - off


Is this a known issue?

Matthew

For me, so far on my test site, I have not had any hosts go offline, but I also have not spotted any restart events in the host log. So either the new 7.2.20 update is more stable in this regard, or my luck has changed.

This site has 6 hosts all running on Server 2019 and Server 2022

@Conrad, could you advise what the host log entry would look like if the software restarts itself? I can then do a thorough search and see if it has taken place.

Matthew

I am out of the office today, I will check when I can. I had a thought about this though.

Is this restart going to be logged anywhere? If not. It will need to be in order to be sure it has helped.

Matthew

Hi Conrad, am I correct in my interpretation that this script simply changes the parameters on the Recover tab for the RManService [Remote Utilities - Host]?

It looks as though it is setting the service to run rutserv.exe -restart on the first and second failure, and nothing on subsequent failures.

I had previously set these to 'Restart the Service' upon failure, with no effect.

Matthew

I had considered this too. The security software running on our endpoints is varied. The majority run either Emsisoft [www.emsisoft.com] or Webroot [www.webroot.com].

We have a small number of machines that run customer choice software - Norton, TrendMicro and some with just plain Windows Defender.

I have created exceptions in Emsisoft and Webroot previously as a precaution, I did not see any change. With the other systems, I have not created any exceptions.

I have now updated all the servers [8] on a single site to the new 7.2.10 host and disabled the RUM. I have also enabled the local logging on these machines. I have not yet updated the self hosted server version. Does that need to be done in order to test the new version effectively?

Matthew

Hi Conrad

For me, no, the issue of the host going offline does not coincide with a reboot of the machine. It can go offline at any time. That is why I have the task setup to check the service hourly.

Matthew

Hi Pauline

Yes, what I call the RUM is a series of scheduled tasks that check for and or restart the rmanservice on the host machine.

There is no need for you to provide support on this. That system is only there to assist with keeping RU working. I see you routinely respond to this issue asking for host logs, however, I am yet to see any real solution to the issue. You often point at windows updates, but for us, even machines with Windows Update disabled, these issues still occur.
My point above was that without these scheduled tasks, Remote Utilities is so unreliable it cannot be considered a long term remote support solution on its own. I am not alone in this experience. Shane has given up, as per his post above. I have a handful of hosts on the same LAN as the Self Hosted Server that connect via local IP and they too go offline in this same way.

I have previously posted a laundry list of issues that are ongoing as of 7.1.7.0
https://www.remoteutilities.com/support/forums/messages/forum1/message10215/1977-is-it-just-me


My opinion is that if RU is loosing customers to a system such as VNC, then you should take that very seriously.
I have nothing against VNC, but by comparison it is a very very basic remote access platform, and no full featured paid software should be seeing its customers heading that way.


The RU software potential is incredible. It has all the bones of an unbeatable platform in its versatility. What it lacks is reliable function. If users cannot reliably hit connect, and reach their target host systems, then it is all for nothing. I don't know about others here, but for me, when my customer calls and needs support, if I have to tell them to wait as my remote access will not let me connect, that defeats the purpose. My RUM goes a long way towards making the software reliable, but it is far from a perfect solution.

Matthew