FileWave Windows Network Sweeper

What

OccasionallyFileWave Windows Network Sweeper is a troubleshooting bundle for finding Windows clients that are online but not communicating correctly with the FileWave clientsServer, (Windowsthen devices)attempting cana havetargeted anrepair. issueTypical thatcauses prevents them from communicating.  Typically this is related toinclude misconfiguration, user intervention, or a previously failed client upgrade.  This article and associated content gives you a tool and a process for identifying and hopefully remediating issues on remote clients.

When/Why

Periodically runningRun this tool during peak "online" times is a goodnormal practicepeak-online justwindow when you want to seeidentify if there areWindows devices outthat therehave yourecently don'tchecked knowin about.but have Ofsince equal,gone andquiet. similar,A useGroup isPolicy usingdeployment a GPO tocan enforce device enrollment and check-in.in for Thismany article:environments; the Client Deployment via GPO training gives anone example of deployingthat aapproach, clientand viathe GPO,same butgeneral a batch processpattern can be used to performsupport other compliance checks. 

How

OK,Start I am convinced to give thiswith a try,small buttest howgroup dobefore Irunning dothe it,process andagainst area therelarge anyexported pre-requisites?list.

Pre-Requisites:Prerequisites

• BeRun logged into a system (or launch a powershell shell) PowerShell as a user thatwith hasadministrative rights toon allthe devices...target Windows devices, usually a domain admin or an equivalent delegated admin account.
• DevicesThe devices you are trying to "catch"catch must be online,online and on-networkreachable on the network.
• ProcessThe process assumes c$the sharesC$ areadmin share is reachable and forthat device names resolve correctly. Dynamic DNS needs to resolve, dynamic dns must be enabledworking if you are relying on names instead of IP addresses.
• Know yourthe FileWave serverServer FQDN,FQDN and have a propervalid FileWave API token available.
• Have downloadedDownload and unzippedunzip the followingWindows content:Network Sweeper bundle:

Windows Network Sweeper

For ease of instuction, PSTools is included in thisthe download,download butfor itconvenience. You can bealso downloadeddownload the current PSTools package directly at:from Microsoft: PSTools download.

Before using the repair script broadly, confirm that the bundled FileWaveClient.msi is the client version you intend to install, or replace it with the correct installer for your environment. Also review the expected client version in 3_Check_Status.ps1 before treating its status output as authoritative.

Process Overview:Overview

1. Create an inventory query offor Windows devices youthat "haven'thave seennot forchecked ain while".recently. A Icommon likestarting "point is OS Type"Type =Windows, "Windows and Last Connected"Connected within the lastpast 30 days but not within the past 7 days. Adjust (Both of thoseboth date ranges arefor arbitrary).your environment.

2. Make sureSet the query output includesto deviceinclude nameDevice onlyName (alternativelyonly. youYou can export IPsIP addresses from the client view window,view, but I would not recommendavoid using IP addresses from an inventory query,query asin youDHCP-heavy areenvironments likelybecause the address may no longer belong to get the wrongsame client devices in a DHCP environment:device.

3. Export thisthe report'squery dataresults into the offline.txt file included in the zipZIP. file.  (View --> Export Current View is very helpfuluseful for this). this. Remove the header line that hassays "DeiceDevice Name"Name.
4. Run the first powershell1_get_online.ps1 to seetest ifwhich anyexported devices are online.currently (They'llreachable. beReachable devices are written to a text file used by step 2)online.txt.
5. If theredevices are any devices "found", you canfound, run the second powershell script2_repair_clients.ps1 to attempt tothe repairrepair. them.

This powershellscript will attempt to useuses PSExec to copy a batch file over to the client and run itfix_fwclient.bat (detailson ofthe batchtarget in overview video below)device. TheRun last PowerShell script is useful3_Check_Status.ps1 to double-check therepaired devices thatand wereidentify "fixed", to see if they were so.  And thenanything that leavesstill you with a list of devices for possibleneeds manual remediation.

Related Content

• Client Deployment via GPO
• Creating a Superprefs Fileset
• Inventory Queries (Reports)

Digging Deeper

ItThe isdownload probablycontains verythe helpfulscripts toused seein anthis overviewworkflow. Review them before running the bundle in your environment, test against a small set of known devices first, and thiskeep processthe ingenerated motion,online.txt, sooutput.txt, videodouble_check.txt, examplesand follow:still_bad.txt files as your working record for follow-up remediation.

Technical Overview:

Example Usage:

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