Solved: Error In Query

[Matt-CyberGuy]

Afternoon guys,

We've been slowly but surely streamlining how to deploy software to our endpoints and figure out some great scripting for installing MeshAgent on Windows endpoints. But I came across a really odd issue on random systems.

We have a group of systems where the agent just won't install, we get the below error

...Checking for previous installation of "meshagent" [NONE]
...Installing service [ERROR] Error in Query

The above is the result of running the exe with -install or -fullinstall . The oddest thing is if I run it with just the run flag, the agent connects without an issue.

Any ideas?

[krayon007]

What version of windows are you seeing this on?
You can run the command, meshagent -info and it will report what the agent thinks it's running on.

[Matt-CyberGuy]

I’m seeing on Windows 10, 64-bit, build 19042 But we have more than a dozen identical systems that installed without any errors

[krayon007]

Later, I will have some commands for you to try, so we can figure out what is going on with those machines

[Matt-CyberGuy]

Thank you, much appreciated! Also, I don’t know if it matters, but we had meshagent previously installed on these systems, but removed it since we set up a new custom name and directory for the agent to live at. Most systems haven’t had an issue with this.

[krayon007]

Try running this command, it will output more info, and should help pinpoint where it's failing:
MeshAgent -fullinstall --verbose=1

[Matt-CyberGuy]

Thanks, I just ran it on a few systems on different networks, received the same results:

...Checking for previous installation of "meshagent" [NONE]
...Installing service
CoInitializeEx()
CoUninitialize()
CoInitializeEx()
CoUninitialize()
 [ERROR] Error in Query

[krayon007]

If you do MeshAgent -info what does it show for the commit date? That way I know exactly which version of the agent you are using.

[Matt-CyberGuy]

Hmm... it just hangs, but I've pulled it directly from our server that's running 0.9.74

According to other similar systems on the same network that installed fine, this is what shows up in our portal:

From the above working system

Compiled on: 11:25:25, Jan  7 2022
   Commit Hash: 22744773169b32a8b7c4382dba41a897b5c2d63c
   Commit Date: 2022-Jan-6 19:09:37-0800
Using OpenSSL 1.1.1l  24 Aug 2021
Agent ARCHID: 4
Detected OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro - 19043 - x64

[krayon007]

Ok, try running this command (kinda long so may want to cut/paste):
MeshAgent -exec "try{console.log(JSON.stringify(require('win-wmi').query('ROOT\\CIMV2', 'SELECT * FROM Win32_OperatingSystem', ['Caption','BuildNumber'])))}catch(x){console.log(x);};process.exit();"

[Matt-CyberGuy]

Just tried it, it outputs the same as before

Error in Query

[krayon007]

Does this command work on your machine?
wmic OS GET /FORMAT:LIST

[Matt-CyberGuy]

Running from powershell, I get the following:

Node - SALES-AIO-11
System.Management.Automation.RemoteException
ERROR:
System.Management.Automation.RemoteException
Description = Invalid class
System.Management.Automation.RemoteException

---- edit----

I ran the same command above on another system that the agent installed on, LOTS of output

[Matt-CyberGuy]

I got it!!! your command above got me looking into fixing the wmic repository.
I followed the steps in this:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-repair-or-rebuild-the-wmi-repository-on-windows-10

After stopping WMIC, reseting the repository, then letting it rebuild, the above command ran correctly and the meshagent installed without an issue.

Guess I'm gonna have to write this into my onboarding script.

Thank you! This was a big help!!! U guys are the best!

[krayon007]

Interesting! I'm going to modify the code to catch this exception. I never expected this particular query to fail. I may make it save a log entry mentioning the wmi repository, so others with the same issue can resolve it

[Matt-CyberGuy]

For anyone interested, below is a code snippet for fixing the WMI issue from the powershell script I wrote for deploying meshagent. If anyone is interested in the full deployment script, let me know and I can make a new thread with a skeleton script for users to follow.

# Install the remote agent & store the output in a variable
$cmdOutput = .\meshagent.exe -install 

#Determine if installation failed due to wmi issues
if ($cmdOutput -like '*Error in Query*'){
    Write-Host ""
    Write-Host "WMI repository corrupted, attempting to reset and rebuild"
    Write-Host ""
    net stop winmgmt /y
    Winmgmt /resetrepository
    winmgmt /verifyrepository
    Write-Host ""
    .\meshagent.exe -install 
}