Configuring Platform Agents on Microsoft Windows

Every platform agent instance consists of a Windows Service that directly executes the network-processor.exe program. The service name will be Scheduler Platform Agent <instance> and the technical name will be jcs_<instance>.

The installer will create and start this service. Once the installer has finished you can manage this service using one of the following:

Microsoft Windows Service Manager - the services are named Scheduler Platform Agent <instance> 2023_3_0_20231116_14. Access the Service Manager via Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. The string 9_2_8_20210421_14 may differ in your installation as it reflects the internal version number of the platform agent.
Platform Agent Service Manager - also allows you to install and uninstall agents as well as start, stop, and configure existing agents. You can find the Platform Agent Service Manager at [All] Programs > Redwood Platform Agent > Platform Agent Service Manager in the start menu.

The following languages are available in the Platform Agent Service Manager:

English
German

The Platform Agent Service Manager allows you to install, start, stop, configure and uninstall platform agents on the local system. When you start it, it lists the platform agents and displays the Status, Version, as well as the Port used by the platform agents.

Installation

For instructions on how to install a Microsoft Windows platform agent, please consult the Creating a Microsoft Windows Process Server (Advanced) section of the documentation.

Configuration

The Platform Agent Service Manager (servicemanager.exe) allows you to add, remove, stop, start and configure platform agent instances. You can run multiple instances on the same host, providing service to different servers. Multiple instances can share the same installation directory or be installed into different directories, but each instance must have a unique name. The Platform Agent Service Manager will show all instances on the machine.

It shows a list of installed instances of the platform agent, its status, the version, the port it is listening on, and the installation directory.

Start / Stop - Allows you to start or stop a service.
Uninstall - Allows you to delete the selected platform agent service.
Refresh - Refreshes the status of all services.
Install - Allows you to install a new platform agent.
Exit - Quits the program, the platform agent services are not affected.

Each service has a context-menu which allows you to configure the selected platform agent service.

Start / Stop - Allows you to start or stop a service.
Configuration - Allows you to configure the platform agent.
Choose language - Allows you to switch between German and English.
Get support assist file - Generate an XML file which can be useful for troubleshooting issues.
Open local status report - Open a web browser page that shows the platform agent status as reported by the agent.

The configuration dialog is accessed via the context-menu of the instance and allows you to change the port, set the log level and log file as well as generate a new secret. If you change the port or secret you should also update the process server in the central Redwood Server. You can set the following options in the configuration dialog:

Port - Allows you to change the port used by the platform agent.
Log level - Allows you to set the log level of the platform agent.
Logfile - Allows you to specify a log file. Note that the Platform Agent Service Manager cannot validate log file directories which contain substitution parameters. This means that when the path does not exist the Platform Agent Service Manager will not warn you.
Generate secret - Allows you to generate a new secret for the platform agent.
Restart service - The platform agent service will be restarted, by default.

Please see Configuring Platform Agents for more information on the different options for log levels and log files.

Note that the Platform Agent Service Manager cannot validate log file directories which contain substitution parameters. This means that when the path does not exist the Platform Agent Service Manager will not warn you.

Compatibility with Windows Server 2012 and Higher

The Platform Agent Service Manager is compatible with Windows 8, 10, Windows Server 2012, 2016, and 2019, however, on some displays, the fonts will be fuzzy or blurry, by default. Redwood recommends that you disable display scaling on high DPI settings when you experience fuzzy fonts. In Windows 8 and later, you navigate to <install_dir>\agent\bin, C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Redwood\\agent\\bin by default, choose Properties from the context-menu of servicemanager.exe and, on the Compatibility tab, ensure Disable display scaling on high DPI settings is checked.

Procedure

Setting an initial log level on the platform agent

Choose All Programs > Redwood Platform Agent > Platform Agent Service Manager in the Windows start menu.
Choose Configuration from the context-menu of the platform agent you would like to debug.
Enter a log level into the Log Level field.
Enter the full path of the output file into the Logfile field, make sure Restart service is checked, and choose OK.

Result

The platform agent will be restarted and the initial log file will be filled with output corresponding to the log level.

Once the agent is configured successfully by the server it will log to a new logfile, and the logfile will be controlled by the Process Server parameter LogLevel (and no longer by the setting made above).

Example

Setting a log level of Warn on the opsys group of the network-processor and job-processor

Choose All Programs > Redwood Platform Agent > Platform Agent Service Manager in the Windows start menu.
Choose Configure from the context-menu of the platform agent you would like to debug.
Enter network-processor.opsys=Warn;job-processor.opsys=Warn into the Log Level field.
Enter C:\\debug_${ProcessId}.log into the Logfile field, make sure Restart service is checked, and choose OK.

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