Hello,

I'm using VisualCron Beta 5.2.2. I have defined an SSH Connection with authentication type of Public Key. I have also chosen the private key for it to use. I set up an SSH task that uses that connection and simply touches a file, e.g., /usr/bin/touch /home/user/newfile.

The problem is that the SSH connection never occurs and never times out. The task claims to be running and it can't be stopped unless I start/stop the VisualCron service. I also checked on the SSH server and there is no record of any login attempt.

What can I do to troubleshoot this?

Thanks for any tips!

What does stderror and stdoutput columns say? Please turn on Extended debugging in server settings.

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I turned on extended debugging, ran the task and found that the VisualCron service crashed and restarted. Here is output from event viewer:

An unhandled error has occured (please send the information below to support@visualcron.com):

Server version: 5.2.2.25006 - (2009-07-12)
Protocol: 5.1.3
OS: Windows2003


System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at WGdYjsMfxE0AE3e8hp.TMQKGRWvX5HX4kwCXN.OaFVluTOf(ConnectionClass )
at WGdYjsMfxE0AE3e8hp.TMQKGRWvX5HX4kwCXN.7OSuCfDpE(ConnectionClass , Boolean )
at WGdYjsMfxE0AE3e8hp.TMQKGRWvX5HX4kwCXN.p8CiKwBLW(String , Boolean )
at peFTFWX6LYL7Glq2Dtk.EU1ZUiXUo6uvTIMT7Wf.Run()
at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(Object state)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp .




EventType clr20r3, P1 visualcronservice.exe, P2 5.2.2.25006, P3 4a63186b, P4 visualcronservice, P5 5.2.2.25006, P6 4a63186b, P7 f8a, P8 67a, P9 system.nullreferenceexception, P10 NIL.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp .


So, as a result there is no STDOUT or STDERR output as the task never really completes.

Is it possible that you can share your connection settings with support@visualcron.com and we will track it down right away.

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Is it possible that you can share your connection settings with support@visualcron.com and we will track it down right away.

Sure. What info would you like emailed over?

Please export your settings from VisualCron and send it to support@visualcron.com

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Please export your settings from VisualCron and send it to support@visualcron.com

Okay I just emailed it over.

We could not reproduce it directly. Does it crash when not using a key file?

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I see that you are using a username - that is not really needed when using public key authentication?

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We could not reproduce it directly. Does it crash when not using a key file?

Okay I changed it to password authentication and that works fine. The task was able to login and run a command to touch a 'newfile'. The problem is that our production SSH servers only allow key-based authentication so this has to work with logging in using public keys.

When using public key auth. - do you use a password for that public key or not?

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I see that you are using a username - that is not really needed when using public key authentication?

It is needed as that's how the SSH server knows which user's keyfile to verify against.

When using public key auth. - do you use a password for that public key or not?

Not using a passford for that private key. We've been using the same key for years and generated it using Puttygen.

I see the STDOUT when the task succeeded is:

Server key received (RSA). Fingerprint is 41:c6:00:d0:a3:34:60:6c:8a:0a:da:8e:ba:9a:1d:4a
Authentication succeeded
Connection started
Server: OpenSSH_5.1p1 Debian-5
Version: SSHv2
PublicKey algorithm: 1
Kex algorithm: 3
Block algorithm: 16
Compression algorithm: 2
MAC algorithm: 7
Shell connection closed
SSH connection closed

But, when we run it with public key auth none of that STDOUT is captured. I think that may clue us into the problem. Any way to capture that output before it crashes?

Can you please uninstall current version and test this version: http://neteject.com/VisualCron5.exe 

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Can you please uninstall current version and test this version: http://neteject.com/VisualCron5.exe 

Uninstalled current, attempted to install the one you linked to and got the following error during install:

Source file not found: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\VisualCron3\Infragistics2.Win.UltraWinDock.v8.2.dll. Verify that the file exists and that you can access it.

Clicking 'Try Again' fails and I verified that the file does not exist in that path.

Sorry, one more try:

http://neteject.com/VisualCron5-2.exe 

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Sorry, one more try:

http://neteject.com/VisualCron5-2.exe 

No problem...that version works! I can successfully connect using key based auth and run commands. Excellent. Will this fix go into a beta that I can test? This server is a beta server anyways so I'd like to try an official beta release.

This functionality is key for us and is the only reason why we haven't migrated certain production level jobs over to VisualCron. So I'm encouraged that this is working now and look forward to to seeing it in a stable release so we can use it in production. Any ideas when this might be?

Thank you for your help.

Thanks for the feedback. We will release it this weekend in beta forum.

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