Use > Server Automation > Manage the Server Agent > Run server communication tests

Run server communication tests

This section describes how to assess the communication between the SA core and your managed servers.

See also Troubleshoot server communication tests.

Note
The communication test is not available on VMware ESXi servers because SA does not install a server agent on ESXi servers. You can determine if an ESXi server is reachable from its virtualization service by selecting the server and selecting the Virtualization view. The Virtualization view displays the virtualization service managing the ESXi server and its connection state. For more information about virtual servers, see the SA Use section.

About server communication tests

Sometimes a server agent can become unreachable and the SA core cannot communicate with the agent. To identify managed servers that have unreachable agents, the SA core runs periodic communication tests with all managed servers and saves the results. You can check the reachability of agents by looking at the server’s Properties or by viewing the current agent reachability status for all managed servers since the last communication test was run.

You can also manually run communication tests on one or more servers. When the test finishes, the results for each server are displayed. In some cases, the failure of one test might prevent other tests from being executed.

The results of each communication test job are saved under the Jobs and Sessions tab. You can search and view the results of previously run communication tests.

The communication test works by testing communication and data exchange between the specific components of the SA core and each managed server. To manage servers, the core needs to be able to communicate with the server agent on each managed server.

Types of server communication tests

The communication test performs the following diagnostic tests:

  • AGT Test (Command Engine to Agent Communication) - Tests if the SA core can communicate with the SA agent running on the server.
  • CRP Test (Crypto Match) - Tests the encryption and security of the connection between the SA core and the managed server. Checks that the agent’s SSL cryptographic files are valid.
  • CE Test (Agent to Command Engine Communication) - Tests if the server can retrieve commands to be executed from the SA core.
  • DAE Test (Agent to Data Access Engine) - Tests if the server can retrieve its stored device information from the SA core.
  • SWR Test (Agent to Software Repository Communication) - Tests if the server can retrieve software and patches from the SA core.
  • MID Test (Machine ID Match) - Verifies that the server's machine ID is the same as the machine ID stored in the SA core.

Running server communication tests - SA Client

You can run communication tests on one or more managed servers.

  1. In the SA Client, select the Devices tab.
  2. In the navigation pane, select one or more servers.
  3. Either select the Actions menu or right click and select Run > Communication Test. This runs the communication test on the selected servers and displays the results in a separate Run Communication Test screen.
  4. Optionally select the Run in Background button. This closes the Run Communication Test screen and redisplays it when the test completes.
  5. If any tests fail, see Troubleshoot server communication tests.

Communication test results

The icons shown in the following figure indicate the success or failure of agent

reachability test. For more information, see Troubleshoot server communication tests.

Agent reachability status icons

Status icons Test results
  The communication test passed. The server is reachable.
or The communication test did not execute. This is typically because one of the other tests failed.
or The communication test failed. The server is unreachable
or The communication test is still running.

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