Security Compliance

Top 10 Patch Manager customer issues

This article lists the top ten Patch Manager issues reported by SolarWinds customers and provides troubleshooting procedures you can perform to resolve each issue.

First published date

10/18/2018 8:10 PM

Last published date

10/18/2018 8:10 PM

Overview

This article provides a list of the most frequent issues customers experience with Patch Manager.

Product section

Patch Manager

Resolution

Listed below are the top ten issues experienced by customers. Click the heading in each issue to access a related KB article.

1. Configure Patch Manager with WSUS for first-time use after installing the product

This article describes how to:

Add WSUS
Configure Inventory
Run the Server Publishing Wizard
Configure GPO
Implement Catalog and Synchronization

2. Ox800b0109 error when deploying third-party updates to client systems

See: Error when deploying third-party updates to client systems

This article addresses an 0x800b0109 error that displays when you attempt to deploy an update to a machine (typically seen from an endpoint device)

This error can be caused by one of the following issues:

The WSUS Publishing certificate is not installed in the client system.
The Group Policy setting Allow signed content from intranet Microsoft update service location is not enabled for this client system.

3. Publish third party updates

This article describes how to:

Manage publishing servers
Import and export catalogs
Create and publish software packages
Manage third-party packages
Auto-publish third-party updates to WSUS

Also see the following articles:

4. Configuring inventory and running reports

In Patch Manager, you can run WSUS and configuration management reports.

WSUS Reports

This report includes the patching level and percentages of installed and failed patches. The WSUS Inventory task updates this information.

Configuration Management Reports

This reports includes application installs (not Microsoft patches) and other machine-level census data (such as networking statistics, operating system information, files and registry). The Managed Computers Inventory populates this data in the Patch Manager Database.

5. Update not available error message in Patch Manager

Why is this update showing as Not Applicable? It should be installed.

This error is caused by a rules failure as defined in the package. Either the rule was made incorrectly or (and much more likely) the computer is not applicable based on the prerequisite or applicability rules evaluating as False.

Also see Adobe Update catalog displays as Not Applicable in Patch Manager .

6. Troubleshoot "Access Denied" errors in Patch Manager

This article helps you troubleshoot Access Denied error messages when trying to connect Patch Manager to a remote computer. These errors occur when deploying updates to remote computers or executing other tasks on a remote computer (for example, when opening Computer Explorer).

This issue can manifest itself in a number of ways, generating “access denied” or “request for principal permission failed” errors.

When you troubleshoot this error, be sure to check:

User Account Control (UAC)
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) settings

Additionally, consider using the BUILT IN local administrator account or disable UAC.

7. Troubleshoot "Invalid Namespace" Errors - server or managed clients

This article includes procedures for troubleshooting Invalid namespace errors from either the Patch Manager server or managed clients. Basically, this error message means that the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Providers are not accessible by the server or not present on the clients.

Invalid namespace can also be caused by:

Running the WSUS Server Publishing Wizard or Verification Wizard
Error 6 Access Denied issues

8. EminentWare Data Grid Server service not started - RPC error

When you launch the Patch Manager Administrator Console, the following RPC error may display in the console:

This error displays because the Emminentware Data Grid Server Serve did not start. If you start the service, you may receive one of the following errors:

Error 1064: displays if you made changes to the service account running the Eminentware DataGrid Service. See Troubleshoot Patch Manager error 1064
Error 1053: displays when you experience issues with connecting to the Microsoft^® SQL Server^® database. These issues can include permissions, networking, services on the server, configuration, and so on. See EminentWare Data Grid Server service does not start and generates error 1053

9. Unable to manage remote clients (networking issues)

If the task errors out, the status will typically contain details about the issue. To troubleshoot this issue:

Be sure you can ping from the Patch Manager Server to the client machine.
Check for firewalls blocking ports (for example, Windows, A/V, physical, and so on).
Check the Credential Ring for a Domain Admin account
Verify general WMI connectivity.
Verify the SolarWinds WMI providers are installed and match the Patch Manager server version.

10. API Mismatch error

See: Unable to publish packages from Patch Manager to the WSUS server

This error can be caused by a patching level or operating system mismatch.

Patching level mismatch

When you publish your updates, you can select the following options:

Verify WSUS version compatibility
Required signing certificate is distributed

If you select these options, the wizard will display a client and server API mismatch (for example, version 6.3.XXXX versus 6.3.YYYY). If this issue occurs, make sure that the Patch Manager and WSUS servers have the latest Microsoft updates. If you see a 3.X API version versus a 6.X version, you may have an operating system mismatch.

Operating system mismatch

This error can occur when you are running two dissimilar Microsoft^® Windows Server^® operating systems in your deployment. For example, your deployment could have the Patch Manager server running Windows Server 2012 and the WSUS server running Windows Server 2008.

When you publish your updates and select the Verify WSUS version compatibility and Required signing certificate is distributed options, Patch Manager displays the client and server API mismatch (such as version 3.X API version versus a 6.X version). If this issue occurs, install an Automation Server role or resolve the OS mismatch. See Install and configure an Automation Server for WSUS .

Error codes and patches for WSUS servers

This article contains information regarding error codes and patches for WSUS servers.

Disclaimer: Please note, any content posted herein is provided as a suggestion or recommendation to you for your internal use. This is not part of the SolarWinds software or documentation that you purchased from SolarWinds, and the information set forth herein may come from third parties. Your organization should internally review and assess to what extent, if any, such custom scripts or recommendations will be incorporated into your environment. You elect to use third-party content at your own risk, and you will be solely responsible for the incorporation of the same if any.