Start and Stop Procedures - Windows

This guide provides detailed procedures for starting and stopping the EPMware Agent on Windows servers, including scheduled tasks, manual processes, and troubleshooting.

Starting the Agent

Method 1: Using Task Scheduler GUI

1. Open Task Scheduler
2. Press Win + R, type taskschd.msc

3. Or search "Task Scheduler" in Start menu

4. Locate the Agent Task

5. Navigate to Task Scheduler Library

6. Find "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

7. Start the Task

8. Right-click the task
9. Select Run
10. Status should change to "Running"

Starting agent from Task Scheduler

Method 2: Using PowerShell

# Start the scheduled task
Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

# Verify it started
Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE" | 
    Select-Object TaskName, State

Method 3: Using Command Prompt

REM Start the scheduled task
schtasks /run /tn "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

REM Check status
schtasks /query /tn "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

Method 4: Manual Cygwin Start

# Open Cygwin Terminal
# Navigate to agent directory
cd /home/Administrator

# Start agent in foreground (for testing)
./ew_target_service.sh

# Start agent in background
./ew_target_service.sh &

# Or with nohup to persist after terminal closes
nohup ./ew_target_service.sh > agent.out 2>&1 &

Verifying Agent Started

After starting, verify the agent is running:

# Check process is running
Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.ProcessName -eq "java"} | 
    Where-Object {$_.CommandLine -like "*epmware-agent*"}

# Check logs for startup
Get-Content C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\logs\agent.log -Tail 20

# Check polling activity
Get-Content C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\logs\agent-poll.log -Tail 5

Expected log output:

2023-11-15 10:00:00 INFO  Starting EPMware Agent v1.7.0
2023-11-15 10:00:01 INFO  Loading configuration from agent.properties
2023-11-15 10:00:02 INFO  Connecting to https://epmware.com
2023-11-15 10:00:03 INFO  Authentication successful
2023-11-15 10:00:04 INFO  Starting polling cycle

Stopping the Agent

Method 1: Stop via Task Scheduler

1. Open Task Scheduler
2. Locate "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"
3. Right-click and select "End"

Process Cleanup

Stopping the scheduled task doesn't always kill the Java process. Always verify and manually terminate if needed.

Method 2: Using PowerShell

# Stop the scheduled task
Stop-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

# Find and stop Java process
$process = Get-Process | Where-Object {
    $_.ProcessName -eq "java" -and 
    $_.CommandLine -like "*epmware-agent*"
}

if ($process) {
    Stop-Process -Id $process.Id -Force
    Write-Host "Agent process stopped (PID: $($process.Id))"
} else {
    Write-Host "Agent process not found"
}

Method 3: Using Command Prompt

REM Stop scheduled task
schtasks /end /tn "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

REM Find Java process
wmic process where "CommandLine like '%epmware-agent%'" get ProcessId

REM Kill process (replace PID with actual process ID)
taskkill /PID [PID] /F

Method 4: Using Task Manager

1. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc)
2. Go to Details tab
3. Find java.exe process
4. Check Command Line column for "epmware-agent"
5. Right-click and select "End Task"

Stopping agent via Task Manager

Clean Stop Script

PowerShell script for clean shutdown:

# clean_stop.ps1
param(
    [int]$Timeout = 30
)

Write-Host "Stopping EPMware Agent..."

# Stop scheduled task
Stop-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Find agent process
$process = Get-Process | Where-Object {
    $_.ProcessName -eq "java" -and 
    $_.CommandLine -like "*epmware-agent*"
}

if ($process) {
    # Try graceful shutdown first
    $process.CloseMainWindow()

    # Wait for process to exit
    $waited = 0
    while (!$process.HasExited -and $waited -lt $Timeout) {
        Start-Sleep -Seconds 1
        $waited++
    }

    # Force kill if still running
    if (!$process.HasExited) {
        Write-Warning "Graceful shutdown failed, forcing termination..."
        Stop-Process -Id $process.Id -Force
    }

    Write-Host "Agent stopped successfully"
} else {
    Write-Host "Agent process not found"
}

# Clean up PID file if exists
$pidFile = "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\agent.pid"
if (Test-Path $pidFile) {
    Remove-Item $pidFile
}

Restarting the Agent

Automated Restart

PowerShell script for restart:

# restart_agent.ps1
Write-Host "Restarting EPMware Agent..."

# Stop agent
& .\clean_stop.ps1

# Wait for complete shutdown
Start-Sleep -Seconds 5

# Start agent
Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

# Verify startup
Start-Sleep -Seconds 10
$running = Get-Process | Where-Object {
    $_.ProcessName -eq "java" -and 
    $_.CommandLine -like "*epmware-agent*"
}

if ($running) {
    Write-Host "Agent restarted successfully (PID: $($running.Id))"
} else {
    Write-Error "Agent failed to start"
}

Restart with Configuration Reload

When configuration changes require restart:

# Stop agent
& .\clean_stop.ps1

# Backup current logs
$timestamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd_HHmmss"
Copy-Item "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\logs\agent.log" `
    "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\logs\agent_$timestamp.log"

# Clear cache if needed
Remove-Item "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\temp\*" -Recurse -Force

# Start with new configuration
Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

Emergency Procedures

Force Stop All Java Processes

Use with Caution

This will stop ALL Java processes, not just the agent.

# Emergency stop all Java
Get-Process java | Stop-Process -Force

# Or more targeted
Get-Process | Where {$_.ProcessName -eq "java"} | 
    Where {$_.CommandLine -like "*epmware*"} | 
    Stop-Process -Force

Recovery from Hung Process

# Check for hung process
$process = Get-Process java -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | 
    Where {$_.CommandLine -like "*epmware*"}

if ($process) {
    # Check if responding
    if ($process.Responding) {
        Write-Host "Process is responding"
    } else {
        Write-Warning "Process not responding, forcing termination"
        Stop-Process -Id $process.Id -Force

        # Clean up locks
        Remove-Item "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\*.lock" -Force
        Remove-Item "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\agent.pid" -Force

        # Restart
        Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
        Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"
    }
}

Startup Issues

Agent Won't Start

Troubleshooting checklist:

1. Check Java

   java -version
   $env:JAVA_HOME
   

2. Check Cygwin

   Test-Path "C:\cygwin64\bin\bash.exe"
   

3. Check Permissions

   Get-Acl "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator"
   

4. Check Configuration

   Test-Path "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\agent.properties"
   Get-Content "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\agent.properties"
   

Agent Starts Then Stops

Common causes and solutions:

Issue	Check	Fix
Bad configuration	agent.properties syntax	Fix syntax errors
Network issues	Test connectivity	Check firewall/proxy
Invalid token	REST token validity	Generate new token
Memory issues	Available RAM	Increase heap size

Multiple Instance Prevention

Prevent multiple agent instances:

# Check for existing process before starting
$existing = Get-Process | Where {$_.CommandLine -like "*epmware-agent*"}
if ($existing) {
    Write-Warning "Agent already running (PID: $($existing.Id))"
    exit 1
} else {
    Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"
}

Monitoring Start/Stop Events

Windows Event Log Integration

Log agent events to Windows Event Log:

# Create event source (run once as admin)
New-EventLog -LogName Application -Source "EPMware Agent"

# Log start event
Write-EventLog -LogName Application -Source "EPMware Agent" `
    -EntryType Information -EventId 1000 `
    -Message "EPMware Agent started successfully"

# Log stop event
Write-EventLog -LogName Application -Source "EPMware Agent" `
    -EntryType Information -EventId 1001 `
    -Message "EPMware Agent stopped"

Email Notifications

Send notifications on start/stop:

# Email notification function
function Send-AgentNotification {
    param(
        [string]$Event,
        [string]$Status
    )

    $smtp = "smtp.company.com"
    $from = "epmware-agent@company.com"
    $to = "admin@company.com"
    $subject = "EPMware Agent $Event"
    $body = @"
EPMware Agent $Event
Server: $env:COMPUTERNAME
Time: $(Get-Date)
Status: $Status
"@

    Send-MailMessage -SmtpServer $smtp -From $from -To $to `
        -Subject $subject -Body $body
}

# Use in scripts
Send-AgentNotification -Event "Started" -Status "Success"

Scheduled Maintenance

Scheduled Restart

Configure automatic restart in Task Scheduler:

<!-- Additional trigger for weekly restart -->
<Trigger>
    <Weekly>
        <StartTime>2023-11-15T02:00:00</StartTime>
        <DaysOfWeek>Sunday</DaysOfWeek>
    </Weekly>
</Trigger>

Maintenance Mode

Script to enable maintenance mode:

# maintenance_mode.ps1
param(
    [switch]$Enable,
    [switch]$Disable
)

if ($Enable) {
    # Stop agent
    Stop-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

    # Disable scheduled task
    Disable-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

    # Create maintenance flag
    New-Item -Path "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\MAINTENANCE" -ItemType File

    Write-Host "Maintenance mode enabled"
}

if ($Disable) {
    # Remove maintenance flag
    Remove-Item -Path "C:\cygwin64\home\Administrator\MAINTENANCE" -Force

    # Enable scheduled task
    Enable-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

    # Start agent
    Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName "EPMWARE TARGET AGENT SERVICE"

    Write-Host "Maintenance mode disabled"
}

Best Practices

Start/Stop Guidelines

1. Always Verify - Check process actually started/stopped
2. Clean Shutdown - Allow graceful shutdown when possible
3. Log Activities - Record all start/stop events
4. Monitor Health - Check logs after restart
5. Document Issues - Record any problems encountered

Automation Tips

1. Use Scripts - Automate common procedures
2. Add Logging - Include detailed logging in scripts
3. Error Handling - Include try-catch blocks
4. Notifications - Alert on failures
5. Testing - Test procedures in non-production

Next Steps

• Scheduled Tasks Configuration - Detailed task setup
• Windows Management Overview - Windows management guide
• Agent Logs - Understanding log files
• Troubleshooting - Service issues