Remote Assistance Not Connecting on Some Clients

[REDACTED]

By default, Windows Firewall is turned off on our machines and I verified that it is off on the machines we're using.  I disabled all of the Avast shields while testing to no avail.  I've confirmed that the issue is happening on both our Windows 7 and XP machines.

[Chad-bisd]

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Avast! client?  I know it may not be a final solution, but it might help determine the underlying problem.

[REDACTED]

Yep, we did.  Uninstalling and reinstalling the EPS client resulted in the same error.  It was only when we uninstalled the EPS client and installed the free version did we get it to work.  Sadly, after uninstalling the free client and installing EPS again, we're back to the error.

Interestingly, some of our machines that were working a week ago are now starting to throw the same error.  It's rare that we find a machine in our environment that is working now.

[Chad-bisd]

Have you look at the log file for remote assistance to see if it may shed some light?

C:\ProgramData\AVAST Software\Avast\log\aralog.log

I'm not sure if Avast! logs to the event logs of the system, so check their also. Maybe another even being thrown around the time you try and fail to remote assistance.

[REDACTED]

You might be on to something here.  Here's the output of that log file right when I tried a remote assistance session.  It seems your thoughts on the certificate might be on point.  Now - what to do to fix?   

Code: [Select]

2015-03-02 10:43:19,553: [ARA_DLL] INFO - Wks: WKSServer  ARAWksBase::ThreadProcedure - entry point
2015-03-02 10:43:19,678: [ARA_DLL] ERROR - ARASSLSocket::VerifyPeerCertificate - Verification of the peer certificate failed, 
2015-03-02 10:43:19,678: [ARA_DLL] ERROR - Wks: WKSServer  - ARAWksBase::DoError - Local error 0x1000e occurs
2015-03-02 10:43:19,678: [ARA_DLL] INFO - Wks: WKSServer  - The session has been teminated
2015-03-02 10:43:19,678: [ARA_DLL] INFO - External Abort of Current Session is requested
2015-03-02 10:43:19,678: [ARA_DLL] WARN - StopStandaloneServer: Server is already stopped
2015-03-02 10:43:19,679: [ARA_DLL] INFO - External Abort of Current Session is requested
2015-03-02 10:43:19,679: [ARA_DLL] WARN - StopStandaloneServer: Server is already stopped

[Chad-bisd]

You might check your non-working machines to see if they have this update installed KB3004394

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/12/microsoft-withdraws-bad-windows-7-update-that-broke-future-windows-7-updates/

[REDACTED]

I did have that update installed on a broken machine.  I removed the update and rebooted, but the issue remains.  The log shows the same error.

[Chad-bisd]

Did you: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3024777

[REDACTED]

Yep, I removed the "bad" update and ran the KB fix you linked to no avail.  If this was an issue with Windows Updates fouling up certificates, I would think the Free version of Avast would have the same issue (which it does not).

Additionally, that Windows Update only applied to Windows 7 and above - our Windows XP machines are exhibiting the same issue.

[Chad-bisd]

It would depend on the certificate each one uses.  If you open MMC, Go to File-> Add Snap-In, Select Certificates, then do Machine Account, This machine, you can see all the certificates the machine trusts.  You can also go through the same produce, but choose service account, and select the avast related stuff, and check those certificates.  I'm no expert on certificates, but I can usually muddle my way through.  On my systems, I can't seem to find much that is helpful.

[REDACTED]

I want to say thanks for all of your help thus far.  We'd certainly be in worse shape if you haven't been here to lend a hand.  Unfortunately, I looked through the certificates on a test machine but have no idea what I'm looking for or where to begin troubleshooting as the error in the log is a bit ambiguous. 

As a further troubleshooting step, we recreated a client installer from our AEA server and uninstalled/reinstalled the client using this updated installer in the hopes that that would fix the issue but it has not.  All in all, I'd say the problem exists on about 80% of the machines we have spot checked, and the number seems to be growing every day - we're becoming hard pressed to find a machine that is still working.

I had hoped to get this problem resolved without having to pay $2/seat enterprise support as it seems like it should be a simple fix, but I'm afraid we might not have any other choice.

[REDACTED]

FYI to all experiencing this problem - I emailed the EDU Support folks at Avast yesterday inquiring about support options for this issue.  Their response is below:

This issue is due to a bug and requires a program fix or update in which case our developers are discussing methods as this issue has been intermittent and it's my understanding this feature may not be possible to fix due to the current program and requires a new update.

WE do hope to have this fixed soon but it will be some time.

I do apologize for the inconvenience and will discuss it with our developers soon.

Hopefully they'll come out with a program update soon!