Question:

How can I use the Collector Reporter on versions below 6.21? (Windows and Mac)

Answer:

Following the steps, you can run collector reporter on a Windows device or Mac device.

Steps:

Collector Reporter for Windows

Nexthink Collector Reporter is a troubleshooting tool for the Nexthink Collector which runs on Windows and creates a debug report.

Please follow the steps below to use the Collector Reporter:

  1. Download the file nxtreporter-[version].zip attached to this article. 

  2. Transfer/copy the downloaded ZIP file to a temporary folder and unzip it using "nexthink" as password.  You will get three executable files:

    • nxtreporter.exe

    • nxtreporter64.exe

    • nxtreporter.cmd 

  3. Set the Collector in debug mode: 

    • Option 1: Using control Panel Extension  You can use the NExthink Collector's control Panel extension (installed by default). Go to the Control Panel and double click on the Nexthink Collector icon, click on the "General" tab and set the "Logging mode" to "Debug".

  • Option 2: Using Windows Command line  Run a CMD as administrator to set Debug mode (logmode=2)

    nxtcfg /s logmode=2
    CODE

    Set back to Silent mode once done running nxtreporter (logmode=0)

    nxtcfg /s logmode=0
    CODE

4. Reboot the device. If you cannot reboot it (e.g. it is a server), you can restart Collector by running the following command: 

nxtcfg /restart
CODE

5. Once the Device/Collector has been restarted, wait 5 minutes after logging into Windows, to let the Collector do its initial tasks. 

6. Reproduce the issue (in case of a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD), make sure you have enabled a kernel memory dump in Windows as documented here ). 

7. Wait 15 minutes to be sure we'll have all the logs required.  
OPTIONAL: If the problem you want to report systematically causes computer crashes (STOP messages or spontaneous reboots), do reproduce the problem as many times as it is necessary for the CrashGuard feature to become active. 

8. Double-click on nxtreporter.cmd and the script will select the right executable for your system. The output (nxtreporter.zip) will be generated on the Desktop. 

9. On the device, disable the Collector debug mode (Please consult step 3) and reboot. 

10.

Open a case using http://support.nexthink.com and attach the file "nxtreporter.zip" to the case.

Print jobs information (Windows only)

In case you want to verify the print-jobs information the Collector is going to report to the Engine, please follow these steps:

  1. Unzip the nxtreporter-[version].zip file 

  2. Copy the extracted files to a folder e.g. C:/Temp 

  3. Run the following command (with Admin privileges): 

    nxtreporter.cmd -p
    CODE

    or 

    C:/Temp: nxtreporter.cmd --show-print-events
    CODE

    Example:

  4. The tool shall wait for the print events to be captured, reproduce the scenario 

  5. Once the necessary print requests are made, press any key on the command prompt for the tool to continue reporting further 

  6. You will see the message: “Do you wish to generate a full system report? <y/n>" 

  7. Select your option 

  8. The output (nxtreporter-[machinename].zip) will be generated on the desktop

Profiling information (Windows only)

If we request you to measure the performance of the Collector we will provide you the right version of the profiling file according to the specific version of the Collector you are using and ask you to go through the following steps:

  1. Unzip the nxtreporter-[version].zip file 

  2. Copy the extracted files to a folder e.g. C:/Temp 

  3. Also, copy the ‘Profiling-x.x.x.x.zip’ to C:/Temp 

  4. Run the following command(with Admin privileges): 

    nxtreporter.cmd -k C:\Temp\Profiling-x.x.x.x.zip
    CODE

    Here the –k option is the new profiling option (the long form is –kernrate). The kernrate will be launched in the background profiling the collector components:

  5. To stop Kernrate press CTRL+C in the reporter window itself. You will need to enter y to save the logs.

This will terminate all instances of Kernrate, collect the logs and zip them to the desktop.

Collector Reporter for Mac

If you are using a Mac Device with the Collector for Mac installed on it, you will find the Collector Reporter for Mac included inside the Collector installer package (dmg).

Before running the Reporter utility, please set logging mode to 'Verbose'.

  1. Edit the Collector config file (/Library/Application Support/Nexthink/config.plist) as root 

  2. Replace this line:

     <string>Silent</string>
    CODE

    with:

     <string>Verbose</string>
    CODE

  3. Reboot the machine

Once rebooted, search for the file name reporter and follow the steps to execute it:

  1. Copy the file reporter from the Collector installer package to your Desktop 

  2. Open the Terminal 

  3. Execute the script with Admin privileges with:

    sudo ./reporter
    CODE

  4. The file Nexthink_Reporter.zip will be generated in the directory where the script was executed (Desktop) 

  5. Once obtained, remember to set back debug mode to Silent.

Information gathered

You can find here the list of items the Collector Reporter gathers from the system.

It is the Customer’s responsibility to ensure that these files do not contain Personal Data as Nexthink does not require Personal Data to provide its Support services. Customers are requested to anonymize all files before sending them to Nexthink.

nxtreporter.zip