Ard task server, tasks idle

I am experience the same as the following link:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=735887
has a resolution ever been found for this? I have a list of computers all marked as idle or active and all machines (30 in total) with tasks just say "idle" <task name> remainds to be installed.
how do I make them install?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=948005
someone else having th same probem.
the task server and admim machine are all RDP3.3 and OSX 10.5.8.
Clients vary, form 10.3.9 to 10.4.11 all using ARD3.2+

Similar Messages

Ard task server, tasks sit idle

Hi guys,
I've seen quite a few unresolved tickets regarding this issue and wondering if anyone has found a fix?
We have 3x licenses of ARD and contain over 400-500 machines so using the same license is not an issue. We are obviously trying to deploy applications using the task server but only two are actually succeeding, these machines being on the same network range while the other 400+ are sitting idle...
Help would be much appreciated!
Thanks.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=948005
someone else having th same probem.
the task server and admim machine are all RDP3.3 and OSX 10.5.8.
Clients vary, form 10.3.9 to 10.4.11 all using ARD3.2+

Ard task server issue: clients always "idle"

Like others I've seen on this list, we're having issues using Task Servers with ARD. I've looked for answers here and elsewhere and tried a number of possible solutions, but nothing I've found yet has solved our continuing, recurring issues.
No matter -how- I configure ARD with Task Servers, jobs always "hang" infinitely with status, "Install Packages: In progress"; "The remaining X computers are currently idle."
Task servers "used" to work for us-- but never quite reliably-- and I can't exactly pin down at what point they've stopped working for us.
It doesn't matter whether I use the "task server on this computer" or any of the network task servers I've set up on our network. I've erased/renamed ARD config files and databases (from the obvious plists to the not-obvious /var/db folders); I've wiped all traces of ARD from my machine and reinstalled; I've reimaged my machine and reinstalled ARD; I've set up ARD on other machines to test-- but consistently, using a Task Server fails to perform. The task doesn't "fail" per se; rather-- it just never gets performed.
Logs on the Task Server -sometimes- have messages like this: "ARDAgent[42915] BUG ALERT!! Client in task list has no entry in Server's client database."
Am glad to share any logs, other things I've tried, or bang around ideas with anyone else who is dealing with or has dealt with this.
Thanks!
Mike Pullen
Computer Tech
School District of Baraboo, WI

In ARD, have you checked to see what time/date your targets are set to report to?
if so, are the targets set to report at a time/day they would be on, awake, and connected to the same network as the ARD computer? On the same line of thought, will the ARD computer be on, awake, and connect to the same network at that time/date? Have you tried forcing an ARD report to run? (you would do this much like how you would test an alarm clock by setting the alarm clock time to be a few minutes ahead of the current time) (remember the client runs the report based on the time on the client)
After forcing a report an auto report, dose sending the task to a few local targets fail?

Task Server - Idle Computers

ARD 3.0 on all machines.
I've been trying to use the task server to install packages on a group of about 200 computers. For most of them it works fine - but for some - the packages never get installed because it says they are Idle.
For one task - I'm installing 2 packages on 45 Intel Macs - and it succeeded on 41 of them and then it just says:
Installing Packages: In progress
The remaining 4 computers are currently idle.
And then on each machine it says:
Idle. "Everywhere.mpkg, Labs.mpkg" remain to be installed.
I've tried restarting them - and people have been using them just fine. Why won't it install on these machines?
Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the reply
I think you might have misunderstood my post slightly, I have a mac mini set up as the task server.
If I run ARD from my MBP and tell it to run tasks from the task server, the tasks will run.
If I go onto the mac mini and tell ARD to run tasks from the local task server, they just hang.
All clients are added to ARD and fully authenticated.
The server isn't limited by 8MB/s it's the network. The macs are all networked into each other with 1Gb/s switches, but that is then linked back into the comms cab on a 100Mb/s port, which then goes back to the main server cabinet on a 1Gb/s link.
The package is the general software for the macs in this room, and in total all the software is about 8gb, it includes CS6, office, iLife and a few other bits n bobs, but it doesnt matter how big the package is it always fails.
If I try and send it using the ARD application on the mac mini, it will work, but sends really slow when i select all 20 macs at once, if i send it to just one mac at once then it sends at full speed, sounds to me like ARD is not very good at multicasting!
I managed to do a work around by queing up the package and sending it to 1 mac at a time, but this seems stupid, and apart from that after it did a few of them the rest failed saying not authenticated, so I had to go back onto the list view for it to reauthenticate.
All in all ARD is just being a pain, and is not doing what it's advertised to do, i'm finding this to be a dissapointing patter with apple server products.

ARD Task Server gathering reports even when reporting is disabled

We have noticed lately that at 2am each morning there is a considerable amount of network usage initiated by my task server presumably gathering reports from machines at different sites.
I had recently deleted all my computers in ARD, disabled reporting, and added them back in while making sure not to apply reporting features.
I have dug around in cron, LaunchDaemons, and plist files on the clients and on my task server. On my task server I see a plist that shows reporting is disabled on all the machines. At the client level I do not see anything regarding reporting.
Would it be a good idea to re-send an ard configuration package to all of the clients?
I opened a ticket with Apple, but they won't do anything without having purchased software support.

Hmmm... I seem to have found the plist file that is doing it. I was looking at /Library/Application\ Support/Apple/Remote\ Desktop/ before... looks like /Library/Preferences/com.apple.ARDAgent.plist is the culprit.
This plist is a binary, so I had to use plutil to convert to xml in order to make it human readable. I wonder if I can just hack this file up a bit and re-deploy it to each machine. Or I wonder if it would re-build if I simply remove it from each client. I will need to test to find out, seeing as though the task servers are listed in it, probably not a good idea to remove it all the way.

ARD Task server email notification trouble shooting

I have set up my ARD Task Sever successfully. I am able to push out task from my machine to the task sever. I have set up the default mail script and was able to test it manually by running ./Notify and get an email. When I have a job set up to run I do not get a notification. I set up a simple task (Repair Permissions to test) and was unable to get ARD to send an email.
I took an additional step of changing the notification to changing the mail to go the mail server to where the task server is running. the address would read something like [email protected] Again I was able to test this manually and was able to get an email. Is there an additional file I need to edit or another setting to change to get that notification working?

Hi:
Try using formatDateTime() function if you are using BPEL process.
Try using HTML, it works.

ARD won't accept my Task Server

Hi!
We have three Clients: 2 iMac and a MacBook, alltogether with Mac OS X 10.5.5. Then there's an Mac Pro with Mac OS X 10.5.5 Server.
On each of these computers is ARD running. On the server is also ARD running with the enabled "Use task server on this computer" option.
Now, if I try to set the task server on a client with the IP or FQDN of the server I can see the FQDN of the server for a few seconds in a label under the textbox and suddenly it's gone and the form seems to be resettet.
What is the problem?
Can anyone help me, please?
Thank you!
greets
felix

Hi!
Thank's to your reply! Yes, you're right. It really seems that there has been installed the same copy. Now I know what to do.
greets
felix

Task server - Client running an incompatible version of ARD

Hi all,
I am attempting to configure a Task server for our college. I have ARD running on my admin machine - works perfectly. I have set up a separate license of ARD on one of our xServes to act as a Task server. This can see all the computers on the network.
The problem is that when I go to add the task server (either by IP or FQDN) to my admin Mac I get the following message:
"Client running an incompatible version of Apple Remote Desktop"
Both machines are running 10.5.x and ARD v3.3
Any ideas???

I have done so many things with ARD admins on different systems in the past few weeks that I could be off blatantly wrong on this. However I know I saw the error message at one point & time.
If I remember correctly I had the ARD admin running on my old task server and had not set the client on the old task server to block remote updates/installs. I or one of the other support staff accidentally updated the old Task server's ARD client from 3.2.x to 3.3.1.
I believe the old Task Server continued to run but I received similar errors when trying to bind to it. Once I quit ARD and started it up again it would give me a version compatibility error even though I believe it had just been running. However once I ran software update locally on the server I installed the 3.3 ARD administrator things worked fine again.
If that isn't your problem I would suggest trying to running the installer & updaters on your system again & then on the server.

ARD 3 Task Server Access

I have a server set up with ARD 3 to be used as a Task Server. I have the proper check boxes set in ARD Preferences to allow access to that box. I installed ARD application on my laptop and am trying to set it up to talk to the task server. I am being prompted for a name/password and for the life of me cant figure out what it wants.
I tried ARD with the random password generated
I tried my Local Admin account and password
I tried the Servers Local Admin account and password
Do I need to create a new user on the server for this task?
I scoured the admin docs and have not seen any specific reference to task server in this capacity....HELP 8-)
-Mike
PowerMac G5, Mackbook Pro, 20" iMac Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I can verify that 2 distinct serial numbers do work 8-)...my other licenses came in today, I updated the Serial number on the server with the copy purchased for the server, and I installed another copy on my test admin machine using the one for myself, 2 distinct serial numbers....works as advertised, the only thing I needed to do was enter the name and password of an ARD user after picking the task server in the admin set-up.
Works like a charm. My remaining question is. exactly what privs in ARD agent does an account need to have enabled to allow it to be used as an authentication account to activate an admin client to use that task server?
-Mike

Can't connect to ARD task server

I've got ARD 3.2 installed on my machine (Dual 2.3GHz G5, os 10.4.11) and am trying to setup my server as an ARD Task Server (Dual 2.3 GHz G5, OS 10.5.4)
Everything is setup, the correct ports are open, but when I try and authenticate into the task server (preferences > Task Server > Use remote Task Server), it seems to accept my credentials for a second, then switches the option in the preference back to "Use Task Server on this computer".
If the credentials were wrong, I would just get an "invalid password" error. But the creds are correct, the password dialog box closes and the preference automatically changes back.
Any ideas? I've tried completely reinstalling ARD 3.2 (latest version to date) on both machines, and in fact, I get the same error connecting to other test Task Servers at our office.
thanks!

That is correct. If you want to run a task server separate from your normal ARD administration system, you must purchase two copies of ARD. ARD will check for duplicate serial numbers and will fail to work properly unless each copy of the admin application has a unique number. "Unlimited" only applies to the number of client workstations you can have in the list of managed computers; it does not apply to how many systems on which you can install the adminstration application.
It will of course be up to you whether it's worth it to purchase a second copy to have a standalone task server. For some, it makes managing things much easier and so is worth the cost, but for others it's not.

How to deactivate the ARD Task-Server ?

Everytime I startup ARD 3.4 on my home Mac, the Task-Server configuration window will open, asking for the address of the remote Mac OS X Server of my office, with is not permanently connected to my Mac.
How can I deactivate this prompting startup window ?
Thanks in advance for infos !

Thanks for your answer.
I already choose this in Preferences and the radio button is marked, but the strange behaviour persists. Which preferences file is responsible for the task server settings ?

ARD Task Server

I have a separate license for ARD that I utilize as a task service on an Xserve. Whenever I log out of the Xserve, the ARD task service stops running. The ARD manual hints that the task server will continue to run. An Apple SE stated that it should continue to run after I log out.
Although counterintuitive, should the ARD task service continue to run after I log out? If so, by what magic is this accomplished?

Well phooey. I'm not sure what's worse; finding that an issue can't be resolved or resolving an issue, but not knowing why.
Anywho, the task server is now running after user log out. The only change I made was to upgrade the ARD software to 3.3.1. Prior to this, I loaded, uninstalled and reloaded 2.2+.
This, of course, doesn't explain "why". It just resolves the problem. Bummer.
Thank you for your responses. I do now understand a bit more about the process at least.

Task Server Problem and Load Balancing

Hello
I am trying to use ARD to adminstrate the 100 or so macs in my college.
I have a few issues.
I am running ARD as a task server on a mac mini setup as a server. To use ARD I remote onto the mac mini and use ARD from there.
If I try and send an install package using the task server on the mac mini, the task will just hang, saying that the targetted computers are idle. If I use the ARD tool on our departments MBP and run it from the task sequence on the mac mini, it will work, but it's a stupid way of doing it as ARD pulls the install files down over the network to the MBP to send them back to the mac mini. Also ARD has started crashing everytime I attempt this now anyway.
The reason I have been trying to run this from the task server rather than just from the ARD application is because of the second problem. If I send a package or group of packages to a single mac, it will send it at full speed, pretty much saturating the speed of the connection the mac is connected to, in this case about 8MB/S. If I select multiple macs the speed tanks, usually less than 1MB/S, this means sending a 4GB package to 20 macs takes 3 days, obviously not ideal.
Anyone else experienced similar problems and found a way around them?
thanks

Thanks for the reply
I think you might have misunderstood my post slightly, I have a mac mini set up as the task server.
If I run ARD from my MBP and tell it to run tasks from the task server, the tasks will run.
If I go onto the mac mini and tell ARD to run tasks from the local task server, they just hang.
All clients are added to ARD and fully authenticated.
The server isn't limited by 8MB/s it's the network. The macs are all networked into each other with 1Gb/s switches, but that is then linked back into the comms cab on a 100Mb/s port, which then goes back to the main server cabinet on a 1Gb/s link.
The package is the general software for the macs in this room, and in total all the software is about 8gb, it includes CS6, office, iLife and a few other bits n bobs, but it doesnt matter how big the package is it always fails.
If I try and send it using the ARD application on the mac mini, it will work, but sends really slow when i select all 20 macs at once, if i send it to just one mac at once then it sends at full speed, sounds to me like ARD is not very good at multicasting!
I managed to do a work around by queing up the package and sending it to 1 mac at a time, but this seems stupid, and apart from that after it did a few of them the rest failed saying not authenticated, so I had to go back onto the list view for it to reauthenticate.
All in all ARD is just being a pain, and is not doing what it's advertised to do, i'm finding this to be a dissapointing patter with apple server products.

Task Server unresponsive

I'm using ARD 3 on an Xserve with Mac OS X Server 10.6.3. I'm finding that when I run package installs using "From the Task Server on this computer," many times the package never gets installed. It simply says "Client Idle."
I've checked Activity Monitor and the ARDAgent is still active, so it seems the TS is still running -- but it's not doing anything. Has anyone found a way to restart the Task Server, or wake it up? If I install the package immediately, it works just fine.
Thanks!
David

its not that there is a lag it just doesn't come up. When I am not in full screen it works just as normal as it did when I had Mountain Lion. This computer is only 4 months old (retina). It is as if it does not recognize that I want to do anything on the Dock. It is driving me up a wall I am about to go back to mountain lion if there is not solution.

Can I have one task server upload to another task server?

Hello all!
I'm looking for a way to use ARD Task server to monitor multiple different locations without choking my connection to my main server.
Ideally, what I would like to do, is have an organizations client machines report to a local task server, and then have that task server report to one central task server. I deal with multiple different organizations that all have similar setups and owuld like to create a central repository of reports (on the systems AND server) all through ARD task server. Keeping the reports from different organizations seperate will be key.
Thinking this through, it has ocurred to me to simply have everything report back to my main task server and keep them all grouped by IP/Organization name, but am not comfortable with multiple (at least 150-200) machines all sending reports back to one central server. I'd rather have all of the reports go to the organizations local server, and then have that server send out all of the info to the main TS. Is this possible?
For example, 10 machines +1 server at site A. These 10 machines all report to to the local server at site A. The server at site A then sends those reports to "my server" at a data center for me to review. I have 10 sites that I would like to have this process happen with, all reporting to one main task server where I can then connect to and review the generated reports for each organization.

Would love to hear if anyone has any solutions for this as well! I'm in the same boat: I have multiple client networks, that I would love to monitor on my ARD Task Server.

Ard task server, tasks idle

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