When some of our servers were migrated to Windows Server 2008 the tasks for those servers stopped working in Automate 6.  We saw that v6 would not work for 2008 so we purchased v7.  Now that v7 has been installed and the tasks imported from v6 nothing has changed.  Here's what is happening:

The task copies files from the server Automate is housed on (Server 2003) to another server (Server 2008) using unc address.  The task fails when running from the steps and from the Task Administrator.

If I manually connect to the unc address in windows explorer I can then get the task to run successfully from the steps of the task.  However, it still fails when running from the Task Administrator. 

When logged off it of course fails.  It wasn't until the target servers were moved to Server 2008 that these tasks started failing - we have verified that the task user has been given the proper security rights.  The service user has been set using the same user account as before.  What are we missing?

 

The error it gives in the Task Administrator is: (Step #1) No files copied.

When running from the steps before manually connecting to the resource, the error is: (Step 1) Could not create folder path.  (Step 1) No files copied.

Hi Michael,

Are both the Default User and Service User specified in the Task Administrator options? Are they the same user, or at least both have sufficient permissions on the target location?

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- Rick Johnson
Network Automation

Both are specified in the options.  Originally the service user was set to the user that has the security rights on the target server and the default user was set as a local administrator account (local to the AutoMate server).  This setup worked for all tasks before moving to server 08.  The tasks that interact with other servers (non 2008) still work just fine.  I just tried setting the default user to the same as the service user but that did not change the errors.

Hi Michael,

One other thing to check, under the Logon tab of the task properties in the Task Administrator, make sure that the box titled 'Run with highest privileges' is checked.

If that is already set, or that does not improve the result could you try specifying the domain administrator account for both the service and default user?

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- Rick Johnson
Network Automation

The 'Run with highest privileges' is already set on all our tasks.

I had the network admin enter the domain admin account for both service and default user and got the same error.

Hi Michael,

I know you had already stated you are copying from a local machine to a UNC location. Can you double-check that no mapped drives are being referenced?

Would you be able to export your task and attach it to a reply?

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- Rick Johnson
Network Automation

No mapped drives being referenced.  AML attached.

Hi Michael,

If you specify the filename (or *.* as the filename) for the destination, does it work for you?

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- Rick Johnson
Network Automation

I have tried both *.* and a specific filename, neither works.

Hi Michael,

I set up an envorinment to match yours, and the task executed properly from both Task Administrator and Task Builder. I did not specify any default or service user. Both machines were logged in with an account that had admin permissions, freshly rebooted. I did not need to pre-connect to validate the network connection.

It may be possible that my environment does not match yours - but it may also be something specific to your environment that has not become apparent yet. Try leaving the Service and Default users blank and see if you have any beter result.
If not, we should probably do a remote session with you if that is permissible, and in that event would you please send an email to support@networkautomation.com with your availbility?

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- Rick Johnson
Network Automation

Wndows 2008 is very sensitive on security issues especially when trying to access files from a remote server. You normally have to add the specific user under te Properties ----> Security ---> Edit --> Add for the folder.

I've found it works best to create a share to the folder you want to use. I'm copying files between Windows 2003 & Windows 2008 without problems, but it did take some time sorting out all the security.

I've done some more testing and found out something that may point to the issue.  The server that AM7 is running on is not on the domain.  This has not been an issue in the past, but 2008 R2 may have something new that it does with regards to non-domain accts.  When I installed a copy of AM7 on a domain pc I was able to get the same task to work.  That may also be why I can get the task to run from the steps after I have opened/logged in the destination from an explorer window (on the non-domain server).  Is there anything on the 2008 server that we can set or modify to change the way it accepts/denies non-domain accounts?

You can do it by folder as I described it. You should be able to do it by drive as well.
Just add domain\everyone to the access list where domain = your domain name

I never could get it to work on that server and eventually gave up to try something else.  I now have AM7 on a domain server, imported the tasks over exactly and it all runs fine.