Group Policy Results Wizard

Having a problem getting this to run. When I get to the "Select the computer
...." screen and select the computer (either by manually typing it in or by
using the browse button to locate it on the domain), everytime I click Next I
get the following:

"Group Policy Error
Failed to connect to domain\pc due to the error listed below. Ensure that
the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service is enabled on the target
computer, and consult the event log of the target computer for further
details"

The WMI service IS enabled and started on all clients though. And there are
NO errors or anything related to Group Policy on the target machines.

Any ideas???

 

Hi,
I'm not positive on this but this is my best guess and if I'm wrong, you can
change back my recommendations easily.

If these computers are XP SP2, you may not be able to reach the WMI with the
default firewall settings. You will want to modify the Firewall GPO. Kind
of ironic eh? Under the domain in the GP Mngt mmc, edit the GPO "Small
Business Server Windows Firewall" (not Small Business Server Internet
Connection Firewall - it's for pre SP1 clients). Edit Computer
Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > Network Connections >
Windows Firewall > Domain Profile > Windows Firewall: All Remote
Administration Exceptions. You will want to enable and add the IP address
of the server to the "...from:" text box.

Let me know if that works.

--
Regards,
Mark Crall
Systems Engineer
Charlotte Tech Care Team / Carolina VoIP
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Charlotte SBS Group Leader - www.sbs-charlotte.com
Direct: (704) 248-8328 x33

If you think installing patches and security updates is expensive, try not
installing them...

 

Mark,

Thanks for your reply. Makes sense I guess, but as you say, a little odd
that you have to set this option in group policy before a component of group
policy works

I have made the change on the policy you specified, then carried out a
"gpupdate" on both the server and the client I was trying to connect to. But
the error is still apparent.

I'm guessing a need to reboot the server, or the client, or both for the
change to take effect properly do you think?

 

Yes, sorry. You can do a command line gpupdate /force or a reboot on the
client.

--
Regards,
Mark Crall
Systems Engineer
Charlotte Tech Care Team / Carolina VoIP
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Charlotte SBS Group Leader - www.sbs-charlotte.com
Direct: (704) 248-8328 x33

If you think installing patches and security updates is expensive, try not
installing them...

 

An after-thought here. A shorter way to test if the firewall is the issue
before you go editing GPOs would be to stop the firewall service on the
workstation and try running the GPO results wizard.

--
Regards,
Mark Crall
Systems Engineer
Charlotte Tech Care Team / Carolina VoIP
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Charlotte SBS Group Leader - www.sbs-charlotte.com
Direct: (704) 248-8328 x33

If you think installing patches and security updates is expensive, try not
installing them...

 

Mark,

Thanks for your recent suggestions.

I have since rebooted both the server and a few of the clients, and also
carried out a gpupdate / force aswell just in case. Today I have also tried
switching off the Windows Firewall on one of the clients, and then trying to
run the wizard again.

But I get the same error each and every time (about WMI).

Any further ideas? Just seems odd that the tool isn't working for any client
other than itself.

Hope you can help further.

 

I remember having this same error some time ago. I can't remember exactly
what solved it but I believe that I updated our server with the latest MS
updates and took care of it. I don't remember seeing any one particular
update talk about this specifically but one of them fixed it.
Sorry it's not that much help.

 

Jason,

Thanks for your reply.
I actually run WSUS on my domain so would expect most updates to applied
anyway. Unless I've missed some update pack or roll up along the way
somewhere.

 

Hi Ripley,
Back from a short vacation.

Sorry I've not been of much help. I guess we can rule out Windows
firewall...

I'm afraid I'm at a loss on this one. My troubleshooting is always to think
about the obvious. Assuming this is a WMI connectivity issue you may want
to consult the following articles for testing.

http://www.fpschultze.de/modules/smartfaq/faq.php?faqid=79

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/help/wmi.mspx#E2C

If you can't reach the WMI from the server you will want to try to reach it
from another workstation. If you can reach it, you have an issue with your
server that is well beyond me.

Mark

--
Regards,
Mark Crall
Systems Engineer
Charlotte Tech Care Team / Carolina VoIP
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Charlotte SBS Group Leader - www.sbs-charlotte.com
Direct: (704) 248-8328 x33

If you think installing patches and security updates is expensive, try not
installing them...

 

Mark,

Thanks for your reply. I found one of those links very helpful and ended up
downloading and running the WMI Diagnostic tool on my laptop. It reported
that WMI was working correctly. However, the server still gives the same
error whenever I try to run the Group Policy Results Wizard.

Very strange .... oh well.

Thanks for trying anyway. Much appreciated.