Troubleshooting Windows patching

Unable to download shavlik metadata

The shavlik metadata may not be downloaded due to the following reasons:

• Files are not available at the shavlik site
• Firewall has blocked access to shavlik URLs

Steps for debugging the shavlik downloader

To enable DEBUG logging, add the following text to appserver.cf file:

ACL issues: Windows Helper Server cannot be reached or access is not authorized

For information about creating an ACL template or ACL policy and controlling server access with agent ACLs, see Managing-access.

Patch object cannot be added or updated due to an RBAC issue

To create Patching Jobs and deploy patches, the patch administrator must be assigned a role that includes the necessary RBAC permissions. For more information, see RBAC-permissions-for-patch-management.

Windows Hotfix Patch is not found in the Catalog

For steps on troubleshooting this issue, see Why a Windows Hotfix Patch is not found in the Catalog.

File a ticket with BMC Support and provide the information from the following logs:

• Patch Analysis Job log
• rscd.log from file server and target

Turning on debug tracing for cl5.exe

To validate the payload, the shavlik engine runs the cl5.exe tool on the target. If this tool is not working properly, you can turn on tracing, using the following command:

CL5.exe 2097197 1 <Log Directory>

The customary value for maximum log size is 5000000. This command writes some values to the registry.

To turn off CL5 tracing, use the following command:

CL5.exe 2097197 0

You can refer to the following article in the knowledge base for steps on troubleshooting this issue:
Windows Patch Analysis or Catalog Update Job error: Unable to load the shavlik scan engine dll
If your issue is still not resolved, file a ticket with BMC Support and provide the information from the following logs:

• Patch Analysis Job log
• rscd.log and Trace.txt from target

Results are not passed back to the Application Server

File a ticket with BMC Support and provide the information from the following logs:

• Patch Analysis Job log
• rscd.log and Trace.txt from target
• appserver.log

For information about troubleshooting this case, see Why a Windows Patch Analysis Job can report an unexpected patch as missing.

You can also refer to the following articles in the BMC knowledge base:

• Windows Patch Deploy Job error: Could not load patch details file
• Patch Analysis or Deploy error: Unable to load the shavlik packager engine dll
• Windows Patch Analysis error: Difference in results with and without using Include filter (whitelist)

For information about troubleshooting this case, see Why a Windows Patch Analysis Job does not report a missing expected patch.

BMC Server Automation analysis does not match with other third-party patch solutions

For more information about troubleshooting this case, see Why Windows Patch Analysis Job Results can conflict with 3rd-party Vendors.