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Title
License Portal Update Fails with "The string was not recognized as a valid DateTime. There is an unknown word starting at index 0." -
Description
When the AppAssure core attempts to contact the license portal this error is generated: "The string was not recognized as a valid DateTime. There is an unknown word starting at index 0."
The full text of the error in the AppRecovery.log file is:
ERROR 2015-06-10T09:17:09 [285] - Replay.Core.Implementation.Licensing.LicenseService ()Phone Home failed with exception.System.FormatException: The string was not recognized as a valid DateTime. There is an unknown word starting at index 0.at System.DateTimeParse.Parse(String s, DateTimeFormatInfo dtfi, DateTimeStyles styles)at Replay.Core.Implementation.Licensing.LicenseService.GetAgentPhoneHomeData(IAgent agent)at System.Linq.Enumerable.WhereSelectArrayIterator`2.MoveNext()at System.Linq.Buffer`1..ctor(IEnumerable`1 source)at System.Linq.Enumerable.ToArray[TSource](IEnumerable`1 source)at Replay.Core.Implementation.Licensing.LicenseService.PhoneHome()The core console may also show the error: "The grace period has expired."
In other cases the error message suggests that the core was unable to determine the gateway.
DEBUG 2016-06-23T08:22:29 [1335] - Replay.Core.Implementation.Licensing.LicenseService ()Attempting to determine gateway by IP addressDEBUG 2016-06-23T08:22:29 [1335] - Replay.Core.Implementation.Licensing.LicenseService ()Found gateway:ERROR 2016-06-23T08:22:29 [1335] - Replay.Core.Implementation.Licensing.LicenseService ()License portal is unreachable.System.ServiceModel.EndpointNotFoundException: There was no endpoint listening at https://services.licenseportal.com/PhoneHome/HeartBeat that could accept the message. This is often caused by an incorrect address or SOAP action. See InnerException, if present, for more details. ---> System.Net.WebException: The remote name could not be resolved: 'services.licenseportal.com'at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetRequestStream(TransportContext& context)at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetRequestStream()at System.ServiceModel.Channels.HttpOutput.WebRequestHttpOutput.GetOutputStream()--- End of inner exception stack trace --The core console also shows the error: "The grace period has expired." -
Cause
This issue is caused by invalid data in the registry, most commonly caused by registry corruption. As the core is attempting to contact the license portal and transmit data, it is unable to access information in the registry. Most commonly, it is unable to access information about an agent.
In the second case, there is probable corruption in core files.
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Resolution
To resolve this issue, start by finding the agent that is causing the license portal update to fail.
- Open C:\AppRecovery.log file with notepad
- Search for the most recent failure "The Core failed to contact the License Portal"
- Just prior to that log entry will be listed the last agent it tried to gather information from. You will see the line: "Attempting to determine IP address by resolving hostname '<agent_hostname>'. Where <agent_hostname> is the name of the agent that it is trying to gather information for
- Since this is the last agent it attempted to get information for before the failure, this is the problem.
Once the problem agent has been found, remove it from the registry:
- Stop the core service
- Open Regedit
- Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AppRecovery\Core\Agents\
- Each agent is listed as a subkey with a unique ID. Find the unique ID that matches with the agent found to be the problem.
- Make a backup of the agent's registry keys
- Delete the agent's registry keys
- Start the core service
The problem should now be resolved. If it continues, there may be more than one agent that had registry corruption. Repeat the steps above to find it and remove it as well.
In the second situation, repairing the installation or upgrading the core software and applying the newest updates may solve the issue.
Once the core is able to contact the license portal without error, reprotect the agent(s) that had to be deleted manually from the registry. Make sure to configure all settings, replication, and virtual standby for the agent as were configured previously.