Checklist: Smart Client cannot establish a reliable communication

Checklist: Smart Client cannot establish a reliable communication

Time estimate: 60 minutes

Please go through all the items in the following checklist. If necessary, confirm any information you cannot verify with the IT department before contacting your local COPA-DATA representative.
Checklist usage: #. [Quick hints] (point refers specific module/product) Point description.
  1. Create a Screenshot of error/warning messages shown and verify if you followed all help instructions correctly.
  2. Make sure that the property ‘Network active’ is enabled in the project network settings and the respective Service Engine server names are correct.
  3. Verify if the Service Engine is running on the computer(s) configured as Service Engine Server(s).
  4. Check if the computer name where the Smart Client is started is shown in the Client list of the Smart Server:
    1. If this is the case, there is an issue with Smart Server <-> Service Engine connectivity.
      Smart Server can't resolve Service Engine hostname, port misconfiguration, encryption setting mismatch etc.
    2. if you can't see the Client Hostname on the Smart Server Client window, there is a connection issue between Smart Client and Smart Server concerning network restrictions, port misconfiguration, tunnelling mismatch etc.
  5. Make sure there are no Firewall or traffic restrictions between Smart Client and Smart Server computers (TCP port 1102) and between Smart Server and Service Engine Servers (TCP port 1100).
  6. Both Smart Server and Smart Client are configured either for TCP or for HTTP tunnelling: 
    HTTP=1 in global_vars.js file
  7. If it is not possible to perform an user action (i.e. screen switch) and/or Diagnosis Viewer displays the message "Screen is not available..." and the network connection is still alive (e.g. new alarms are still displayed in the alarm message list screen: 
    It is likely that on the Smart Client computer the Service Engine files have been deleted from %temp%\zenWebCli folder due to inactivity or browser settings. 
    In this case, restarting the Smart Client resolves temporarily the issue as the files are downloaded again upon the new browser session.
    1. To resolve the issue permanently, change the [PATH] section in the Smart Client zenon configuration file ( %CD_SYSTEM%zenon6.ini) so that WEB_PROJECT_PATH= uses a different folder. E.g. 'WEB_PROJECT_PATH=C:\SmartClient'.
      Restart Smart Client after you have made the changes. 
In Smart Server computer(s):
  1. If you can't reach the Smart Client website:
    1. Verify if Internet Information Services (IIS) is installed and running.
    2. Check if the Web site data is present. C:\Inetpub\wwwconfig including ‘zenon’ folder is configured and IIS is started.
  2. Verify if the Smart Server is properly licensed and started.
    3. You can find all license details of zenon Software Platform products in License Manager (in zenon Startup Tool > Tools).
    Take care of the existing Licensing options of the Smart Server.  You can find more information in product documentation.
  3. Verify that the allowed maximum number of Smart Clients to connect to the Smart Server has not been reached.
  4. Verify: 
    1. The parameters in the global_vars.js configuration file:
      These must be valid in terms of syntax (quotes, semicolons, etc.), IP, computer, and inserted project names.
    2. The server names used:
      These must match the settings in Engineering Studio (project network settings).
  5. Verify that Network/Domain name resolution works for communication between Smart Server(s) and Service Engine Server(s).
    6. Ping commands between Smart Server(s) and Service Engine Server(s) are successful in both directions using computers hostname/FQDN.
  6. Verify that Smart Server can reach Smart Client computer via ping command.
    7. Smart Client can be reached by ping commands executed from the Smart Server computer using IP/hostname/FQDN.

    While the Smart Client start page is open in the Smart Client, the connection between Smart Client and Smart Server IIS is shown as established when executing the command (run Command Prompt as administrator): 'netstat -a -b | findstr :80'. The HTTP/TCP 80 port is shown as Listening.
    You can find in SIC the list of all active ports and their status in a computer. Check the node Console > netstat -a -b -n.
    Alternatively, Windows Resource Monitor shows live CPU, Memory, Disk and Network information about running processes in an user friendly interface.
    Processes with network activity are listed and can be filtered for best visualization.
    Some of the most relevant information displayed in Network is the active TCP connections (remote/local port and address) and Firewall status.
  7. Smart Server process (zenWebSrv.exe) must be running and listening on the TCP port 1102 (default).
    8. When executing the command (run Command Prompt as administrator) 'netstat -a -b | findstr :1102', TCP 1102 (default) is shown as listening.
    Active connections between Smart Client(s) and Smart Server are listed as established.
    COPA-DATA Services listening ports configuration can be found in zenon Startup Tool:
    Application > Options > Listening ports.
  8. Network Service (zenNetSrv.exe) is running and listening on TCP port 1100 (default).
    9. When executing the command (run Command Prompt as administrator) 'netstat -a -b | findstr :1100 ', TCP 1100 (default) is shown as listening.
    Active connections between Smart Server and Network Service are listed as Established.
  9. Search and follow error instructions in LOGs related with zenWebSrv.exe and zenNetSrv.exe.
    10. All zenon components write in the background messages to joint log file(s) saved in '%programdata%\COPA-DATA\LOG' folder.
    These files can be read and configured with Diagnosis Viewer.

    You can modify the logging level of a component by clicking 'Client Configuration' in 'Settings' menu and after select the respective process name.
    Attention: Set the logging parameters wisely as the time-frame of the LOGs decrease when increasing the detail of the logs written.

    You can also find LOG files in SIC in 'Platform > Versions > Version XXXX > Directories > LogDirectory' folder.
In Smart Client computer(s):
You can use Telnet to go through the next points.
Telnet client installation:  In command prompt (run as administrator) execute the command “Dism /Online /Enable-feature /FeatureName:TelnetClient”.
Interpreting results with Telnet:  If the connection succeeds, a blank screen will show up, meaning that the computer port is open. Conversely, a failed connection will be accompanied by an error message. It can indicate either a closed port or the fact that the indicated remote server is not listening on the provided port.
  1. Verify that the Smart Client can reach Smart Server computer via ping command using the target computer name or FQDN.
  2. [Command Prompt: Telnet [IP/Smart Server hostname or FQDN] 80] It is possible to connect to the Smart Server IIS landing webpage via HTTP/TCP Port 80 (default).
  3. [Command Prompt: Telnet [IP/Smart Server hostname or FQDN] 1102]  It is possible to connect to the Smart Server computer via TCP Port 1102 (default).
  4. [Command Prompt (run as administrator): netstat -a -b | findstr :80] Active connections between Smart Client(s) Internet browser (start page is open and active) and the remote Smart Server IIS HTTP/TCP Port 80 is shown as Established.
  5. [Command Prompt (run as administrator): netstat -a -b | findstr :1102] Active connections between Smart Client(s) and the remote Smart Server (zenWebSrv.exe) via TCP Port 1102 (default) are shown as Established.
  6. Clear the browser cache related with the Smart Client, by deleting the folder 'zenWebCli' and/or '\Low\zenWebCli' from %TEMP% (path).
  7. Searched and followed error instructions in LOGs related with npzenWebCli.dll in Diagnosis Viewer.
  8. If you can't open the Smart Server landing page In Internet Explorer, make sure:
    1. The start page of the Smart Client has been added to a secure zone.
    2. “Protected Mode” is inactive for the network zone selected.
    3. Deactivate Data Execution Prevention (DEP). Follow steps in this documentation page.
If the problem persists after working through this checklist and taking the recommended actions: Please contact your local COPA-DATA representative. Attach a SIC-Reduced Report of the target computer(s) and the result of this checklist. Please include any additional information or comments you feel are relevant.
The System Information Collector is a stand-alone COPA-DATA application. It collects data relevant for troubleshooting about the operating system and the zenon software platform. SIC is installed with zenon. You start SIC via the zenon Startup Tool or Windows Start.