Managing Volume License Keys
I spotted this little gem of a post while trawling Twitter for something totally unrelated, and realised that I've been looking for a tool like this for a number of years.
The tool in question is the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 2.0, a product which (in a nutshell) makes light work of managing all the keys you get as part of, say, your Technet Plus subscription. You import your keys, and your machines, and the app tracks how many activations you have left on each key as well as showing which machine is running what software.
Great stuff - and don't forget to check out the stack of relevant literature available about VAMT on the Microsoft website.
(Sidebar: Aaron Parker's Stealthpuppy Blog is a great resource, and will probably be the blog that gets me using an RSS Reader one of these days.)
When the Citrix IMA Service fails to start…
... you run, very quickly, as your phone is about to start ringing.
In all seriousness, this one has bitten me on a few separate occasions. Always seems to occur immediately after a reboot, and there's generally no way to replicate it or 'cause' the issue. I've had servers run for weeks without any sign of it, and servers that have it crop up on every restart. Extensive reading of the Citrix and Microsoft KBs has revealed zilch in the way of a permanent fix, with the 'band-aid' being the solution outlined below.
Here's hoping they figure it out soon!
Scenario:
HP BL460c G1, Windows Server 2003 Standard 32-bit w/ Service Pack 2, Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 w/ Rollup Pack 6.
Symptoms:
- Clients are unable to establish an ICA Connection
- Server reports it is unable to connect to a License Server
- Citrix Independent Management Architecture (IMA) Service won't start
- Citrix MFCOM Service (mfcom.exe) is hung in a 'Starting' state (when viewed in the Services MMC)
- Event Log has Error 26005: Could not start IMA Service in CTX_MF_IMA_StartIMAService State = 1
Cause:
The folder "Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Application Data\Microsoft\Crypto" does not exist.
Solution:
- Check the if the above folder exists. If not, create it on the affected server.
(Bootnote: You'll need to ensure you can view Hidden Files and Folders in order to see the NetworkService folder.) - Kill the process 'mfcom.exe' via the Task Manager
- Start the Citrix Independent Management Architecture Service
- Start the Citrix MFCOM Service
- Start the Citrix SMA Service (though, I've noticed this often start up by itself, so you may not have to do this)
Credits to my esteemed colleague Grant for finding the fix.