Issue with duplicated records after a machine is reimaged

[REDACTED]

We are currently testing the viability of Avast for Business (Cloud), and have noticed the following issue - When we re-image a PC that has already had Avast for Business (Cloud) installed on it, and rename the machine, a duplicate record appears under the new name, but the old record still exists (and checks in!). In the instance below, both of the green arrows and blue arrows indicate the same computer (but after an image, and with a different name).

In this particular instance, these two computers are now utilizing 4 licenses, because the old entries are still checking in with the console.



Is there any sort of code implemented that will eventually clean this up? Due to the size of our institution and the rate at which we re-image machines, it is not feasible for us to manually delete the old duplicated entries here.

Thank you.

[xjka79]

Hi,
we don't have this yet, but I as know we have this functionality planned to implement in the future.
Can I ask you how you imagine this function will work best for you? What exactly do you expect and what's your requirements? I would like to hear your suggestions. Thank you.

Regards
JKA

[REDACTED]

Hi,
we don't have this yet, but I as know we have this functionality planned to implement in the future.
Can I ask you how you imagine this function will work best for you? What exactly do you expect and what's your requirements? I would like to hear your suggestions. Thank you.

Regards
JKA

JKA,

Thanks for your response.

I am not sure what identifying characteristics you're using, but for the sake of my examples, I'll use MAC Address. I can think of two different ways that I imagine the solution working:

SOLUTION 1 - This would be the best and most efficient way of fixing the issue

1. When a machine is activated, it is logged in the cloud console using it's MAC address

2. When the machine is reimaged, it still has the same MAC address, so when it's being logged in the cloud console, query to see if an existing, active record with that MAC address exists. If so, simply update the previously existing record to reflect the new changes made (Machine name, domain, OS, etc). This would prevent having to add a whole new record for the same machine. This would also prevent additional licenses from being tied up by the exact same machine.


SOLUTION 2 - This would be less desirable, less efficient, and would waste licenses, but would still work

1. When a machine is activated, it is logged using the MAC address (or whatever other identifying feature you use)

2. If that same machine were reimaged, it would be logged using the same identifier.

3. The new install would continue to check in, while the previous install/entry eventually stops checking in with the server. (In our case, the old entries have not responded since 8/22/2016, while the new entries are continuing to respond.)

4. In the code, you could query to see if there are two (or more) instances/installations with the same MAC address, and if there are, de-activate (to free up the licenses) and delete the entries that are non-responsive. Leaving only the current, active install in the list, using a single license.

Please let me know if you have any other questions about how I imagine this working!

Thank you,
Dan

[REDACTED]

Just a bump, we are going to need a solution for this at some point...

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I am having to deal with problem as well, and it's very frustrating.  I've also had machines randomly start spamming activation requests, even if they were imaged and activated weeks beforehand.  If I don't catch it in time, or if it happens over a weekend, I have to manually delete thousands of activation requests and duplicate records.  When the maximum search results per page is 100 devices, this takes forever.

[REDACTED]

This is still a major problem for us even when we re-image with the same name.  Please fix ASAP!

[REDACTED]

How are you reimaging?

If you are using some sort of SOE, be sure Avast is not included in the image you deploy, and install after loading the machine up and it is renamed.

Its not the pure MAC address it uses as an identifier as far as I know, but a Hardware UUID (which often formed using MAC or SMBIOS and a random number).  You need to be sure you are generating a new ID every time you install, which sysprep does for you.  See if https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=171631.0 helps you at all.

It seems Avast records this UUID on install, so if you try to change it while it is still installed, it remains paired with the old ID in the console.

Probably best to try and remove the PC entry from the console and let Avast uninstall from the PC if possible before reimaging it (don't yell at me, I know it's impractical).

If you are experiencing problems with fresh Windows installs (ie, not using custom image deployment), then I have no idea    Hope it helps though.