Microsoft KB Archive/823566

= Feature Pack: SMS Hardware Inventory Agent Does Not Run After the Patch Installation Agent Installs a Patch and Then Restarts the Computer =

Article ID: 823566

Article Last Modified on 10/25/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 Standard Edition

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SYMPTOMS
After the Patch Installation Agent (Patchinstall.exe) installs a patch and then restarts the computer, the Patch Installation Agent may not start the SMS Hardware Inventory Agent, even though it is configured to do so. (For additional information about configuring the Patch Installation Agent, see the &quot;More Information&quot; section later in this article.)



CAUSE
The method that the Patch Installation Agent uses to schedule an Systems Management Server (SMS) hardware inventory scan is not always reliable.



RESOLUTION
A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[LN;CNTACTMS]

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.   Date         Time   Version         Size       File name         Platform -   25-Jul-2003  20:37  1.0.200.124     1,449,984  Patchwiz_enu.exe  X86 25-Jul-2003 20:24  1.0.200.124       245,849  Patchinstall.exe  X86 25-Jul-2003 20:24  1.0.200.124        57,432  Piaresource.dll   X86

Note Because of file dependencies, the most recent hotfix or feature that contains these files may also contain additional files.

How to Install the Hotfix
To install the hotfix, run Setup for the appropriate Patch Wizard, PatchWiz_ XXX .exe (where XXX represents the 3-digit language code). To upgrade to this version, you must remove the existing installation. Setup detects existing installations of the Patch Wizard and prompts you to remove them. When you remove the previous installation, no existing packages are deleted.

To modify and update existing packages and updates with the updated Patchinstall.exe file, follow these steps:
 * 1) In the SMS Administrator Console, click Site Database.
 * 2) On the Action menu, click All Tasks, and then click Distribute Software Updates.
 * 3) Step through the Distribute Software Updates Wizard by clicking Next until you reach the Create an SMS Package, or modify Packages and Updates page.
 * 4) Select the existing package that you want to update, and then continue stepping through the wizard. Modifications are not required to update the package and Distribution Points with the updated version of Patchinstall.exe.
 * 5) Repeat steps 1 through 4 for each package that you want to update.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.



MORE INFORMATION
Patchinstall.exe is included with the SMS Software Update Services Feature Pack.

The updated version of the Patch Installation Agent will schedule the SMS Hardware Inventory Agent to run five minutes after the Patch Installation Agent is finished installing the patch(es) if it is configured to initiate an SMS hardware inventory scan after the next system restart. The earlier version relied on adding a NET START command to the RunOnce registry key.

To configure the Patch Installation Agent to initiate an SMS hardware inventory scan after the next system restart, follow these steps:
 * 1) Run the Distribute Software Updates Wizard.
 * 2) In the Configure Installation Agent Settings dialog box, click to clear the Report inventory changes only when inventory is scheduled check box.
 * 3) Under Detect and postpone system restarts for, click None.

This configuration does three things:
 * It removes the /s switch and the /z switch from the Patchinstall.exe SMS program command line.
 * It instructs Patchinstall.exe to not suppress restarts.
 * It starts the hardware inventory scan after the system is restarted.

Keywords: kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbqfe kbfix kbbug KB823566

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