64 Bit KACE Agent Version 14.0 update preparation for Windows Operating Systems (4375863)

64 Bit KACE Agent Version 14.0 update preparation for Windows Operating Systems

Starting with KACE SMA version 14.0, the KACE Agent for Windows is provided as a 64-bit program.
This article explains the differences from previous versions (13.2 and earlier) and provides guidance for a smooth migration.

When running on 64-bit Windows, the KACE Agent, which is a 32-bit program, behaves as a 32-bit program unless explicitly specified in some system program paths, so user-defined commands and registry operations require corresponding notation.

Example:

• When launching a system command (cmd.exe, cscript.exe, etc.) or a bat file,it is expected that it is launched from C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe. But it actually assumed C:\Windows\Syswow64\cmd.exe (a 32-bit program). [KScript, Managed Installation]
• it is expected that a step which specified something under HKLM\SOFTWARE in the registry, however it actually read something under HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node. [Custom Inventory]
• When reading a file ( under C:\Windows\System32\ ) in a .bat command, the script got error because the file was not found. [KScript]

For more information on this mechanism, please see the following knowledge base. Handling 32-bit redirection on 64-bit Windows (4272388)
Running 32-bit Applications (learn.microsoft.com)
 - Registry Redirector
 - File System Redirector

Redirection of C:\Windows\System32 by 32-bit programs on 64-bit Windows platforms

 

Designation within KACE	13.2 or earlier: The actual path of the file that the agent calls	14.0 and above
Files/commands in C:\Windows\System32 Example: calling to cmd.exe or full path C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe	(32 Bit redirection) Files/commands in C:\Windows\Syswow64	(64 Bit native) Files/commands in C:\Windows\System32
Invocation for C:\Windows\SysNative\cmd.exe	Files/commands in C:\Windows\System32 (64 Bit native)	Not found (error)

Specifying Registry keys in Custom Inventory Rules and Script steps
 

Actual registry path being referenced	Specifying registry key for v13.2 or earlier	Specifying registry key for v14.0+
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MyKey (Path for 32-Bit) Check with reg.exe C:\Windows\System32\reg.exe query HKLM\Software\MyKey /reg:32 or C:\Windows\Syswow64\reg.exe query HKLM\Software\MyKey	HKLM\SOFTWARE\MyKey or HKLM32\SOFTWARE\MyKey	HKLM32\SOFTWARE\MyKey
(64-Bit native) HKLM\SOFTWARE\MyKey Check with reg.exe C:\Windows\System32\reg.exe query HKLM\Software\MyKey or C:\Windows\Syswow64\reg.exe query HKLM\Software\MyKey /reg:64	HKLM64\SOFTWARE\MyKey or  HKLMNAT\SOFTWARE\MyKey	HKLM\SOFTWARE\MyKey or HKLM64\SOFTWARE\MyKey or HKLMNAT\SOFTWARE\MyKey

"HKLM64", "HKLM32", and "HKLMNAT" are KACE-specific notations, but they can be replaced with "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE64", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE32", and "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINENAT" respectively within Custom Inventory or within script steps except of command line parts.
For simplicity, we will use "HKLM..." in this article.

 

NOTE: All existing agent-managed devices are assumed to be 64-bit Windows platforms and 32-bit Windows will not be supported on this article.

 

Reworks of Custom Inventory Rules

Evaluate contents of Custom Inventory Rules based on the following criteria:

• (No action required) The value specified in the registry search for 'HKLM64\SOFTWARE' will remain unchanged and will be referenced even after the agent is updated to v14.0 or later.
• (No action required) The value specified in the registry search 'HKLMNAT\SOFTWARE' will remain unchanged and will be referenced even after the agent is updated to v14.0 or later.
• If you change the settings currently specified in 'HKLM\SOFTWARE' (including 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE'), to 'HKLM32\SOFTWARE', the same values ​​will be referenced even after the agent is updated to v14.0 or later.

Reworking may be necessary in the following cases too:

• Rules like ShellCommand*Return specify a system command.
• Rules like File* or Directory* handle paths that are assumed to be under C:\Windows\System32. 

You can run the following Custom SQL report to extract manually created Software and list the names and inventory rule contents.
SELECT ID ,DISPLAY_NAME ,INVENTORY_RULE FROM SOFTWARE WHERE (ifnull(IS_MANUAL,0 ) = 1) ORDER BY DISPLAY_NAME;

Reference: How to find Software Items created manually (4260597)

In the Administrator UI of v14.0, a new menu (Inventory | Custom Inventory) has been added that allows you to list only items with custom inventory rules.

The above steps can be performed whether the server version is 13.x or 14.0 or later, as long as the device agent is before 14.0 (or later).

 

Reworks for KScripts

Important: We will make every effort to enable you to continue to use items you have already created, but we cannot guarantee that the same KScript will behave the same on agent versions 13.2 and earlier and 14.0 and later.
If you are unable to understand behavior of enabled KScripts  after updating to agent version 14.0, it is recommended that disabling KScripts and recreating new ones for 14.0 and later (native).
Since there is no need to consider redirection detours for the new version, in most cases you will simply need to re-incorporate the operations that were originally performed by commands during testing

The important part of modifying the KScript is the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE and the file path assuming %WINDIR%\System32. If you
specify HKLM\SOFTWARE in the KACE settings to reference (read and change), or specify SysNative in steps or dependent bat scripts or use variables such as %PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432% to switch operations, you need to be careful.

First, check the steps in the existing KScript task. If you run the following custom SQL report, you can find KScript steps that specify 'SysNative' or dependent files as file paths in the attribute column or referring HKLM\SOFTWARE as the Registry key.

Reporting | Reports | Choose Action | New (SQL), 
And enter a title, select a category, and paste the following query in the SQL area.

SELECT
KT1.ENABLED
,KT1.ID
,KT1.NAME
,SP1.SECTION
,SP1.ATTR_VALUE
FROM KBOT KT1
LEFT JOIN KBOT_VERIFY_STEPS SP1 ON SP1.KBOT_ID=KT1.ID
WHERE KT1.TYPE NOT RLIKE 'system|oval|boot' AND SP1.ATTR_VALUE RLIKE 'SYS|HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.\SOFTWARE|HKLM.\SOFTWARE|KACE_DEPENDENCY_DIR'
ORDER BY 1 DESC,2,SP1.VERIFY_INDEX,SP1.STEP_INDEX;

Break on Columns: ID,NAME

Save it and get output as HTML format.
Then open these script details (Scripting|Scripts) based on the results.
Please evaluate these steps.


The steps to read and modify registry: The path affected by the redirection, 'HKLM\SOFTWARE' (as well as 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE') should be changed to 'HKLM32\SOFTWARE' in the current location, just like in the custom inventory, so that the agent can continue to reference the same key even after updating to v14.0 or higher.

Command path and directory specifications: Parts in steps and script files that explicitly specify SYSNATIVE (C:\Windows\SysNative) will no longer function in agent v14.0 and later.
Commands with SysNative should now modified to the normal system directory specifications (SYS, ${KACE_SYS_DIR}, %WINDIR%/System32) in 14.0 and later.


If you need to continue launching from a 32-bit cmd.exe on 64-bit Windows, you must replace SYS (or ${KACE_SYS_DIR}, %WINDIR%/System32) with C:\Windows\Syswow64 for 14.0 and later.

If it is already structured to attach a bat file as a dependency file and launch it、
- Invoking SysNative\cmd.exe
- Writing SysNative in the file
- Switching process based on variable %PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432% values, etc.

If you find situations like above, please reassess whether you still need that function or mechanism and reconfigure it.
(In many cases, you can simply specify it as you tried in the command prompt on your OS.)

Below is a sample that wraps the startup process with the same KScript to make it work the same on agents prior to 13.2 (32-bit) and agents later than 14.0 (64-bit).

call1314run.bat uploaded to dependency

@echo off
if exist "C:\Windows\SysNative\cmd.exe" goto wowflag
if "%PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%"=="AMD64" goto x64flag
goto end
:wowflag
(Processing for v13.2: Call the command/bat file to be executed from WOW64 mode (32bit). If you want to execute natively, call C:\Windows\SysNative\... )
goto end
:x64flag
(14.0 and above: Call of the command/bat file for native execution. If you want to execute in 32bit, call C:\Windows\Syswow64\...)
goto end
:end

Step "Launch a program..." 
Directory:$(KACE_DEPENDENCY_DIR)
File: call1314.bat

 

Reworks for Managed Installations

• No action is required for those who have an offline installation msi or exe file attached and have specified the "Default installation" option to launch directly with exe or msiexec.
• If the offline installation msi or exe file and a .bat file containing the start command are packaged in a zip file, and "Override default installation" is selected and the start command is set to a bat file, action may be required.

To find out whether a batch file (.bat, .cmd) is specified in the "Full command line", running the following custom report will be useful.

Reporting | Reports | Choose Action | New (SQL), 
And enter a title, select a category, and paste the following query in the SQL area.

SELECT M1.ENABLED,M1.NOTES ,M1.INSTALL_FULL_COMMANDLINE FROM MI M1 WHERE (IFNULL(M1.INSTALL_FULL_COMMANDLINE,'' ) != '' ) ORDER BY 1 DESC;

It is necessary to investigate the contents of the zip file attached to the software item linked to the managed installation.
If you are writing SysNative in a bat file (contents of the zip file attached to the software) specified with a complete command line, or switching processing with the %PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432% variable, please re-evaluate whether that mechanism is necessary.
(Since there is no need to consider detouring with redirection, in most cases it will be just a matter of re-integrating the operations that were originally performed with commands during testing.)