1.	Check the prerequisites for Shopping
2.	Check the known problems
3.	Check the user notifications in the Shopping website
4.	Run the Shopping Administrator diagnostics
5.	Create a technical report for Shopping

 

 

1. Check the prerequisites for Shopping

The following frameworks should be present prior to installing Shopping:

1. .NET framework v1.1
2. IIS (preferably 6.0) with .NET server extension and ASP.net.
3. Microsoft SQL Server SP3 and above

Shopping runs with the following versions of SMS:

1. SMS 2.0 SP4 and above.

Note: Shopping will only support SMS Licensing on SMS 2003.

Back to Top

2. Check the known problems

To do this you should read the readme.txt file included with the Shopping installation. This includes late breaking news, and details on any known problems.

 

3. Check the user notifications in the Shopping website

Shopping runs diagnostic tests whenever a client logs onto the Shopping website. Some of this information is relayed directly to the user when they log on, to set their expectation of how any tests that failed will affect their ability to shop for applications. This section describes the possible errors that can be encountered what they imply for the user and how they can be resolved.

The Shopping home page showing notifications

 

Shopping Notifications

Here we describe the possible notifications and what they mean in terms of being able to Shop for Applications. In the picture shown above the following notifications are displayed:

1. Email Address: Missing email address in AD or an invalid AD Server was specified while installing Shopping.
   The location for the AD Server can be changed via the Shopping Admin Console. While this error applies the user will be unable to receive email notifications.
2. A valid manager was not found. Missing manager data in AD for the user or an invalid AD Server was specified while installing Shopping.
   The location for the AD Server can be changed via the Shopping Admin Console. While this error applies the user will be unable to shop for applications that require manager approval.
3. System was unable to retrieve Workstation details.
   This notification could be shown for any of the following reasons:
   
   1. The SMS Client is not installed on the Shopper's machine.
   2. The Hardware inventory data is not up to date or the record is obsolete.
      Update the collection membership and confirm that all the data for the machine is NOT obsolete in SMS, perform a Hardware Inventory Policy Update and try again.
4. The Assigned Site for the machine is not registered with Shopping or is null for the entry in SMS Hardware Inventory.
   The user will be unable to view and shop for SMS based applications.

Back to Top

 

4. Run the Shopping Administrator diagnostics

If you are registered in the Admin-Account parameter in the Shopping Web Preferences - either as the sole named account or as a member account in the named group - you will be able to view the Shopping Admin pages, please refer to The Shopping Administrator's Guide, Appendix A - Web Preferences and Connection Settings, System configuration options for more details on accessing the Shopping Admin pages.

The Shopping Admin Page

The picture above shows the main Shopping Admin page. This page gives details on the components for Shopping, this information can be useful for 1E when tracking down problems.

Diagnostics

Clicking on the Diagnostics shown on the left-hand side of the Admin Page displays the System Diagnostics page. The following picture shows a successful set of diagnostics tests.

The System Diagnostics page

The following picture shows what is displayed when the tests fail. If you have managed to log onto the Shopping website at all, the first two tests for the Database Connection and Database Version should always succeed. The remaining four tests provide information on the current status for SMS WMI Connection, the Active Directory LDAP Access, SMTP Server Connection and Central Service Mailbox access.

A set of failed diagnostic tests

Viewing recent log file entries

You can view the latest 100 lines of the current Shopping Log file by clicking on the View Log File option on the left-hand side of the Admin pages. The following picture shows the result of clicking on the View Log File option.

The Shopping Log file

If you need to view the whole file, or gather the older log files for forwarding on to 1E, these are located in the directories for the Shopping Website. To get the log files go to the machine where the Shopping Central is installed and locate the logs directory in Inetpub/wwwroot/Shopping/Logs.

The current log file is called Shopping.log. A new file is created each day and the old one saved with a name that references the date.

Back to Top

 

5. Creating a technical report for Shopping

The first thing that should be included in the technical report is the Shopping logfile. To help determine the cause of technical problems associated with using the Shopping application, Shopping keeps a logfile of all its settings and interactions. By default this logfile is called "Shopping.log" and is contained in the following directory:

Inetpub/wwwroot/Shopping/Logs

A new file is created each day and the old one saved with a name that uses the date. You should send all the logfiles from the days relevant to the problem.

The technical report should also contain the following information:

1. Version number of Shopping.
2. The OS, version number and patch level the machine is running.

You should then use the information you have gathered (and take note of the location of any log files) to fill out the Support Form.

Back to Top