HostChecker won't launch on some stations [ Edited ]

[Tessian]

I was able to provide the Host Checker installer to users by creating a new realm, linking to it on the normal sign in page, and giving everyone access to a Share that had the installers.  Still a huge pain in the butt but it worked... our Support Center was flooded too.

You say you were able to fix it by clearing cookies?  I know we tried that first... standard troubleshooting for any VPN user is to clear out their IE cache.  Were you actually clearing everything out of IE7 (Internet Options ->Delete all under browsing history) or just those 2 specific cookies you mentioned?

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one though... this really caught me off guard.

Message Edited by Tessian on 10-09-2009 06:09 AM

[gmatthews]

I tried both methods for clearing the cookies.  At first, I cleared everything from IE 7 and that worked.  Then I tried just the two cookies and that worked as well.

...Greg

[Blair]

I ran into one strange issue with Hostchecker not completing installation of the components.  It would just hang at the hostchecker component message.  It is a Winxp 64bit system.

I uninstalled and reinstalled all Juniper software on the system with no luck.  It turns out the problem was with the Juniper ActiveX add-on was disabled.  I enabled the component in IE7 and it started working.

I thought it was strange that even an uninstall and reinstall did not correct this.

Oh Well.  At least she is now up and running again.

TNX

Blair.

[Tessian]

Just wanted to let everyone know-- I got confirmation from a JTAC engineer that this is a known bug in 6.4R3 (and it appears 6.5R1) and is supposedly to be fixed in 6.4R4 and 6.5R2.  6.4R4 should be out end of October.

Good to finally have a root cause, even if it is a bug.

[Jickfoo]

What is the root cause? 

[Tessian]

??  A bug in the IVE software is the root cause.  If you're asking for more specifics than that, you'll have to ask JTAC.

[liukkma]

6.4R4 has been out for some time now, so does anyone know if the host checker problems mentioned in this thread are fixed? I have some users having host checker issues and logs only show "no roles" with a mention of host checker failing for some unknown reason. Software version is 6.4R2.

[amonte1]

I recently upgraded from a very stable 6.1R7 to 6.4R4 , just to handle 2008 Active Directory and I've had many of these same issues with my users.  Users login and get denied access with the 'NoRoles" error.  Seems like the process to upgrade the Hostchecker isn't working. I have a special HostChecker realm setup just to test hostchecker. I found that if it fails and the user clicks on 'Try Again"  2 or 3 times it will force the Hostchecker to get installed. It is definitely a pia...

[doncook]

Everything I've been reading here about this problem sounds very much like what our users have also been experiencing - users aren't able to log in and a NoRoles error finds it way into the logs, no rhyme or reason as to why.

Is there more info concerning a fix?  Thanks for your help!

[cbarcellos]

doncook,

1. Take a look at your client's debuglog.log first. If you find nothing there, try using IE vs. FF, or vice versa.
2. Make sure the user has Admin rights so that HC can install. Juniper Install Service (JIS) is an alternative.
3. Uninstall all browser addons. Toolbars, antispyware software, and anything else that is hooked into IE, disable/remove them. This includes all software in IE under Manage addons. 
4. IE launches HostChecker with ActiveX first, then it trys Java if ActiveX fails. FF only uses Java.
5. Try using a machine that has a clean install of windows and IE. You can run a www.belarc.com on both a working and broken system. Compare the two reports and see what software is on each system. Something on the client must be conflicting with or breaking HostChecker.
6. Disable/uninstall antivirus/antispyware. Kaspersky and others have been known to conflict.
7. Try the latest IVE code, 6.5r2 with ESAP 1.5.7.
8. Another test would be to uninstall all Juniper applications from add/remove programs. Next go into the browser and remove all Juniper activeX componets from Manage Addons.