What items to check for when getting "HANDSHAKE error" during a scheduled patching job? (4293859)

Handshake is the process when the agent is trying to download the necessary files used to start the patching process.  The Handshake error is when the necessary files are not able to be downloaded to the client machine from the KACE SMA server.

Note: KACE Agent directories referenced in this article are based on KACE Agent 8.0 and above.  For information about directories on reference to  KACE Agent 7.2 and below see the following article - KACE Agent Directories

•  Communication problem between agent (client) and server (KACE SMA) due to network performance.
•  KACE SMA managing different tasks (deployments and downloads) while executing patching tasks.
• Corrupted agent or authentication problems can lead to handshake errors (CURLE_RECV_ERROR (56) - CURLE_REMOTE_ACCESS_DENIED (9) present kagent.log - C:\ProgramData\Quest\KACE\user\ KAgent.log
• If using replication shares – Replication share may not have all required files for patching or there may be an authentication problem (client machine - cannot access or authenticate replication share)

Here is a list of items to check when troubleshooting HANDSHAKE Error:

• Check Nightly Patch download schedule to make sure it doesn't download patch signature at the same time as the schedule patching job to the client machine.
• Check Replication share setting to make sure the share has read accessible rights to it and make sure all the patching files are updated and replicated over to the share before the start of the patching job. (Check replication share credentials)
• Another important replication share item that requires verification is replication share disk space and additionally check that replication share is fully replicating files (Patches).
• Make sure all the necessary files are downloaded into the appropriate directory on the client side
  • handshake.lst - C:\ProgramData\Quest\KACE\patches\HANDSHAKE.LST 

• The core ospx and checksum files which are the core handshake files are in the program directory Program Directory = C:\Program Files (x86)\Quest\KACE\  or  C:\Program Files\Quest\KACE\ Windows dependency files named windependencies.ospx
  • Windows Applications named winapplications.ospx
  • Windows Security named winsecuritydefinitions.ospx

​Note: Failure to download any of these files or any component of the patching engine failure to download such as PatchLinkWrapper.dll

• PatchLinkWrapper.dll - C:\Program Files (x86)\Quest\KACE\ or C:\Program Files\Quest\KACE\

• If all necessary files are downloaded but handshake error still present, try the following:
• To troubleshoot those files let’s do the following:
• From the Data Directory lets delete everything in the Patch folder - C:\ProgramData\Quest\KACE\patches

From the Program Directory delete each of the .OSPX and .CHECKSUM files - C:\Program Files (x86)\Quest\KACE\ or C:\Program Files\Quest\KACE\

• Reinstall Kace agent, it can be corrupted or kagent.log may show curl error messages (CURLE_RECV_ERROR (56) - CURLE_REMOTE_ACCESS_DENIED (9) present kagent.log - C:\ProgramData\Quest\KACE\user\ KAgent.log)

Additional OSPX and checksum troubleshooting

Run CMD as admin CD C:\Program Files (x86)\Quest\KACE\ or C:\Program Files\Quest\KACE\ - run LM.detection_x64 /l 4 /f KACEtest.txt

This file (KACEtest.txt) can be shared with Kace Tech Support for additional troubleshooting and research of the issue.

About OSPX and checksum files: The core ospx and checksum files which are the core handshake files are in the program directory along with LM.Detection_x64.exe (on X86 systems LM.Detection)which is the executable that kicks off detection. Originally these files are downloaded in the form of filename.checksum as the following example.
This is then turned into the patches.ospx file and the checksum ending inserted into a new file called pacthes.ospx.checksum

So for the winapplications.ospx 1a9a165b96a102ae6c474afa2214dbc2 file the result would be, in your
C:\Program Files (x86)\Quest\KACE\ directory the following two files

winapplications.ospx
winapplications.ospx.checksum

The content of the checksum file would be 1a9a165b96a102ae6c474afa2214dbc2 and this value would need to match the checksum loaded in the HANDSHAKE file located at C:\programdata\Quest\KACE\Patches\HANDSHAKE.LST

This HANDSHAKE list file contains the name of the core files that the client must download in order for handshake to be successful. They will vary depending on subscription choices but will contain the following files: windependencies.ospx, winapplications.ospx and winsecuritydefinitions.ospx.

Special Note for Kace 6.3 or lower versions: Check Nightly Backup Schedule to make sure it doesn't start the same time as the schedule patching job to the client machine because the server will be inaccessible. Note: this is no longer applicable in 6.4+ versions as the nightly backups do not take the appliance offline starting with 6.4.