KNOWN ISSUE: Unable to connect to a pcAnywhere host when nobody is present to approve the connection

Article:TECH42922

Created: 2009-07-14

Updated: 2012-01-10

Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH42922

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Article Type
Technical Solution

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Problem

When attempting to connect to a pcAnywhere Solution 12.5 host, the connection appears to be waiting, and then after a set amount of time the connection is terminated without any message.

Environment

pcAnywhere Solution 12.5.283 with Windows hosts.

The Host Configuration policy option "Require user to approve connection" is enabled as shown here:

Cause

The pcAnywhere Solution host configuration policy was set to "Require user to approve connection". A user was not at the host computer to approve the connection.

With the "Require user to approve connection" feature enabled, there needs to be someone at the host computer to approve the connection by clicking the "Yes" button in the "Remote Connection Attempted" dialog window.

This is occurs whether the computer is at the desktop, locked, or not logged in. The current implementation of this feature restricts administrators or IT / helpdesk users to connect to a computer only if an end-user is present to respond to the prompt, which may not always be possible.

PLEASE NOTE: pcAnywhere versions from 12.5 SP1(build 12.5.415) onwards behave as described below. If you have this version of pcAnywhere or later, but require end users to approve a remote connection, regardless of the state of the host PC (locked, logged out etc) - follow the instructions in TECH138171

Solution

In pcAnywhere Solution 12.5 SP1(build 12.5.415) a new feature was added. This new feature allows connections to computers that have the "Require user to connect" setting enabled even when there is nobody to approve the connection. (To utilize this feature, upgrade pcAnywhere Solution using the Symantec Installation Manager, upgrade the pcAnywhere plug-in on your clients, and update the Host config policy as outlined below.)

There will be two types of users with respect to pcAnywhere Solution, Superuser and Standard user.

Standard user(Default setting)

When connecting to a host with a standard user, the current user on the host computer has the ability to deny a connection with the "Require user to connect" setting enabled. The connection will be terminated after the timeout value has been reached if the connection is not approved by an end-user who is logged in. For computers that are locked or not logged in (Ctrl+Alt+Del screen), the connection will be established after the timeout period.

Superuser

When a connection attempt is made as a Superuser, the user of the host computer does not have the ability to deny the connection. The Remote Control connection is established after the timeout period. This will occur whether the computer is logged in to the desktop, at the logon prompt, or in a locked state.

To enable the Superuser role, add users in the pcAnywhere Settings config file under the Authentication tab. On the Authentication tab of the config policy, click the '+ Add' button, setup your user or group as before, and then check the 'SuperUser' checkbox, as seen below.

When finished selecting a user/group and checking the 'SuperUser' checkbox, click OK to add this user configuration to the host policy. Remember to also click 'Save Changes' on the host config policy page to complete saving your Host and caller configuration.

Supplemental Materials

Value	ETK 1141051
Description	Logged in Etrack (Symantec) database

Legacy ID

48119