How to troubleshoot KACE agent installation from a GPO (4299190)

It may become necessary to troubleshoot the GPO installation of the KACE agent.  If the GPO fails to install the KACE agent, it will be necessary to use Group Policy Management Console to attempt to determine the root cause, as the results for a failed GPO are not available from the K1000.

The most common causes of failure when it comes to the GPO for installing the KACE agent are:

• GPO Results state the file source cannot be located
• Component Status shows and attempt to install but received: Fatal Error during installation
• In the report section for Denied GPOs the Group Policy Object shows the reason denied as Empty
• The GPO was created by hand instead of using the GPO tool

After creating the GPO, the below steps should assist with possible troubleshooting.  For best results creating the GPO, please see K1000 Using Group Policy tool to install Kace agent, with full instructions on how to get it installed (156649).

Note:  GPOs should be used only for new installations of the KACE agent.  To upgrade an existing agent, please see: How to Update Agents Using Client Bundles (111219).

To test the newly created GPO:

1. Go to a test PC and login as an administrator
2. Open a cmd prompt and type gpupdate /force.  Please see the screen shot below for an example of what this would look like:

3. Press Y to restart. When the machine comes back online it should be installed.

To review the results of an attempt to install the GPO, use the Group Policy Management Console:

1. Start the Group Policy Management Console.  To do this, click Start, choose Administrative Tools, and then click Group Policy Management Console.
2. Find the Group Policy Results section.
3. Right-click on Group Policy Results and choose Group Policy Results Wizard.
4. Create a new report based only on the test PC.

Below are some examples of possible results:

1. Problem: Component Status shows and attempt to install but received: Fatal Error during installation.
   1. Solution: Create the GPO using the GPO tool in the link above.
   2. Screenshot Example:

2. Problem:  GPO Results state the file source cannot be located.
   1. Solution:  Ensure that the shared folder properties, where the Agent MSI is located, has both domain\Domain Users and domain\Domain Computers with full control included. The typical error here is when configuring the shared folder, only domain\Domain Users will be included by default.
   2. Screenshot Example:  Screenshot is the same as listed in Problem 1 except with the error message "The installation source for this product is not available."

NOTE:  It is suggested to use a network share for housing the MSI and it is not recommended to use the Samba share from the K1000 to house the MSI.

3. ​Problem:  In the report section for Denied GPOs the Group Policy Object is listed and the reason denied is Empty.
   1. Solution:  The PC was not able to locate the msi file due to permissions, it is missing or the object was not assigned a package.
   2. Screenshot Example: