Shavlik NetChk Protect Version History

Shavlik NetChk Protect 6.5 Beta just announced.

Released 8/08/2008

Click here to download the NetChk Protect 6.5 Beta Release

6.1.0.57

Released 5/13/2008

Bug Fixes


• Fixed a bug that prevented deployments from occurring on some systems due to incorrect ACLs on the windows\propatches folder
• Fixed a bug where large patch deployments failed with 'out of memory' messages
• Fixed a bug where 'download all patches' failed to operate
• Fixed an issue where stPatchAssessment.exe continued to run even after all patch scans completed
• Fixed a bug where agent policy creation would crash if passwords were supplied
• Fixed a bug where the version 6.0 dissolving scheduler failed to dissolve when performing remote deployments
• Fixed an error that caused target systems to display a crash for cl5.exe and/or stschedex.exe
• Fixed a bug that prevented 'deploy all missing patches' from operating when selected from scan items in left navigator
• Fixed a bug where sorting or grouping data by download icon or agent status in the Machine Centric View would make the relevant icons disappear
• Fixed a bug where copying a patch group would simply rename the selected patch group
• Fixed a bug where agent policies could not be edited if they were created in earlier versions of the product
• Fixed a bug where agent scan results were not appearing in the Machine Centric View
• Fixed a bug where the Machine Centric View would error when filtering by a large patch group
• Fixed a bug download icons would not appear for some patches after download new Shavlik XML files
• Fixed a bug where cross-domain deployments would fail with a message about invalid credentials
• Reverted behavior back to pre 6.0 functionality so the scan engine will respect both patch group and patch type filters specified in a scan template

6.0.10.640

Released 3/06/2008

Updates


• Modified the database conversion routine during the installation process to address the following issues
  • Corrected a database issue where in some cases it was not possible to remove selected machines from a machine group
  • Corrected a database issue that might prevent deployments from occurring
  • Updated the database conversion process to address an issue where some databases were not successfully converted during the installation process
  Notes: Customers that have successfully installed 6.0 and have not experienced the above issues do not need to to upgrade to this version. Customers who have installed 6.0 and are experiencing the above issues should contact support@shavlik.com to obtain a standalone database repair tool as installing this version on top of an existing version 6 installation will not correct these issues.

6.0.10.636

Released 3/06/2008

Updates


• Modified the database conversion routine during the installation process to address the following issues
  • Corrected a database issue where in some cases it was not possible to remove selected machines from a machine group
  • Corrected a database issue that might prevent deployments from occurring
  • Updated the database conversion process to address an issue where some databases were not successfully converted during the installation process
  Notes: Customers that have successfully installed 6.0 and have not experienced the above issues do not need to to upgrade to this version. Customers who have installed 6.0 and are experiencing the above issues should contact support@shavlik.com to obtain a standalone database repair tool as installing this version on top of an existing version 6 installation will not correct these issues.

6.0.10.636

Released 2/19/2008

Major New Features


• All of the fixes and new features from prior versions and hot fixes, plus
  • Added new Managed Machines view - now called 'Machine Centric View. Provides aggregate status for patch and malware scans which can be sorted by domain, machine, or item. Deployments\remediations may be initiated directly from this screen. The Machine Centric View can group and sort data by any column (drag column header to the leftmost column to group by selected column.)
  • Added Custom Patch Support. Using a wizard-like custom patch editor, define customer products and/or create custom patches for new or existing products. Enables scanning and deployment for custom products and patches alongside publicly supported products and patches.
  • Added Multiple Agent Policy Support. Unique agent policies may be created and applied to distinct groups of machines, including items to scan and remediation, times to scan, and reboot attributes.
  • Added Role-Based Administration. Assign local and/or domain user accounts to one of five NetChk roles: Administrator, Full User, Scan and Report only, Deploy and Report only, and Report only.
  • New Product Support. A complete list of products supported by Shavlik NetChk Protect can be found here: Supported Products in version 6.0

Other New Features, Enhancements, and Bug Fixes
• Added ability to scan systems where the systemdrive share (such as C$ or D$) has been disabled
• The 6.0 installation process will automatically migrate scheduled scans from 5.81 and later consoles
• Added support for deploying Microsoft Office patches and service packs when the Office application is a different language than the Operating System
• Removed support for the JET (MDB) database and included a new SQL database setup tool
• Updated safe reboot to display the countdown window on 64 bit systems
• Udpated safe reboot to display the countdown window on Vista systems
• Updated safe reboot to display the countdown window to the primary Terminal Service session
• Added ability to create a custom timeout period before reports are auto-emailed - to allow for all scan results to be uploaded to the database prior to sending the emailed report
• Improved console performance when launching the Netchk application which is connected to a database with large numbers of scans
• Improved overall PatchPush Tracker performance
• Enhanced report generation process to create large reports faster using less memory
• Added ability to install the application on Windows Server 2008 systems
• Enabled ability for users to see all created distribution servers
• Enabled users to view all email addresses
• Added ability to modify patch agents to only scan for certain patch types - based on registry key setting (2039)
• Modified scan results so domain name will be shown in domain column, rather than OU name, when scanning by OU
• Enhanced log maintenance. Patch scan and remediation logs (hf.log and pm.log) will not be overwritten during each scan or deployment. Logs will grow to a customizable max size (100 meg default) before starting a new log file. Prior log file is saved.
• Fixed a bug where the scan engine failed to retry authentication with the currently logged on credentials when the supplied credentials failed
• Modified scan engine behavior - when scanning for a specific set of patches (patch group), the 'patch type' filter will be disregarded
• Fixed bug where the PatchPush Tracker default listening port would not change when modified in the tools-options dialog
• Corrected safe reboot execution date attributes to respect international date formats
• Corrected an issue where attempting to import machine credentials for a machine group would fail
• Fixed an issue with auto-emailing the Patch Scan Summary report where the report would fail to generate when SQL Server authentication was used with the Shavlik database
• Modified Office Media Path to work whether a trailing backslash was included in the path or not
• Removed International Mode Download Center option as this capability has been fully integrated into the product
• Modified all Shavlik related service names to start with 'Shavlik'
• Fixed an error that occurred when importing large numbers of machine names to a machine group (greater than 10,000 machine names)
• Added support for managing machines names containing multibyte characters

5.9.0.145

released 4/30/2007

New Features:


• All of the fixes and new features from prior versions, plus

  • Added MBSA compatibility. Scan results can be output to MBSA XML format where they can then be viewed in the MBSA console.
  • Added the ability to scan an unlimited number of systems for a limited set of products. The limited set of products are those that are not typically managed via traditional Microsoft technologies such as: Step by Step Interactive Training, Office 2000, ISA Server, and Visual FoxPro (to name a few)
  • Added ability to install a Limited Agent that will perform patch assessment functions for a limited set of products.
  • Added the following new products to the scan engine:

    • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
    • Microsoft Step By Step Interactive Training
    • Microsoft Front Page Server Extensions
    • Microsoft SharePoint Team Services 2002
    • Windows SharePoint Services
    • Microsoft Services for Unix
    • Microsoft Windows Journal Viewer
    • Word Viewer
    • Producer for PowerPoint
    • Visual FoxPro 8.0

    A complete list of products supported by Shavlik NetChk version 5.9 can be found here: Supported Products in version 5.9
  • Changed the patch assessment XML file from hfnetchk6.xml to hfnetchk6b.xml
  • Enhanced the text displayed in the scan status window when launching a scan.

Bug Fixes
• Corrected several bugs related to using SQL Server as the data repository for Shavlik scans
• Fixed a bug report rollup from children to master consoles was not working if the child console was using SQL Server as the data store
• Fixed a bug where the scan engine would slow down when scanning large numbers of systems
• Fixed a bug in report generation when using advanced filters and selecting Service Packs
• Fixed a bug where scheduled scans were not operating with the Shavlik Scheduler (they would only use the Microsoft scheduler)
• Fixed a bug in the Test Deployment function when testing against 32bit Vista systems
• Fixed a bug in the Shavlik Scheduler where CPU would rise to 100% if the scheduler was able to obtain the requested TCP port number
• Fixed a bug where the scan engine was failing to use the supplied proxy credentials
• Fixed a bug where scheduled scans were not functioning when the admin was logged off of the system hosting the NetChk console
• Fixed a bug in report generation for reporting by machine type
• Fixed a bug where several Service Pack entries failed to display download icons
• Fixed a bug where remote console synchronization would fail when missing specific data files

5.8.1.136

released 1/30/2007

New Features:


• All of the fixes and new features from prior versions, plus

  • Added NetChk Spyware (in Protect version) including support for non-bizware applications
  • Added ability to do patch management for x64 systems
  • Added ability to manage Windows Vista systems
  • Modified the patch scan engine to enable new product support via XML file updates (vs. new releases of the scan engine)

Bug Fixes
• Fixed a bug in the scan engine where scanning 'only for missing patches' would not return a scan result
• Fixed a bug where a text file containing a list of patches that was linked to a scan template did not function as a patch filter
• Fixed a bug where double reboots might occur in some instances
• Fixed a bug where credentials in nested groups weren't being used

5.8.0.577

released 10/23/2006

New Features:


• All of the fixes and new features from prior versions, plus

  • Added Agent functions to supplement agentless scanning. Deploy agents to frequently disconnected devices (laptops) or other systems where it's not possible to perform agentless patch management. Also added is a centralized patch policy service that can be distributed to agents being managed by remote consoles. See new Agents menu option in the console menu bar for more information.
  • Added enterprise reporting functions. Under tools-options, select a parent console which will receive a copy of all scan and deployment results. Choose replication frequency, etc. Distributed consoles can send all of their data to a specified central console for aggregate reporting across all consoles.
  • Enhanced Report functions. Choose to create reports from a selected console, or across all consoles. Also, new aggregate reports are available to display the most recent results for each machine across all scans performed.
  • New Reports. Two new reports have been added: Machine Status by Patch Count, and Deployment Percentage by Patch
  • Added option to scan domain using browse list only. Under Tools-Options-Scan is a checkbox, that when selected, will scan only those machines that can be viewed by the network browse list, rather than the machines stored in the domain controller machine account list.
  • Added option to control discovery timeout. When scanning for existence of machines (via tcp 139 and 445), the scan engine will timeout after 5 seconds if it hasn't received a response. The Tools-Options-Scan menu provides a connection timeout field that can be adjusted up or down as needed to account for slower bandwidth connections.
  • Added option to disable supersedence. In Tools-Options-Scan menu, a checkbox exists to disable supersedence. When checked, the scan engine will display ALL missing patches, rather than only those that necessary. Superseded missing patches are only display for items where no superseding patch has already been installed.
  • Added option for children consoles or distributed consoles to download XML files, engines, custom files, patches, and service packs from specified upstream Shavlik consoles or distribution servers (rather than each console downloading this data from the vendor websites)
  • Updated scan engine. The 5.8 patch scan engine has been redesigned. As a result, scan times may be up to 30% faster, scans can leverage dependancy data in the XML files for better scan results, and the scan engine can be easily extended to support new products and architectures via XML files updates.
  • Modified default scan templates. Changed name of QuickScan to Security Patch Scan. Removed Full Scan template from new installs (will still be present on previous installs).

Bug Fixes
• Corrected an error when testing credentials against a group of machines where incorrect credentials were supplied
• Fixed a bug where scanning for software distribution patches via a patch group might fail to scan as expected

5.6.0.446

released 4/4/2006

Bug Fixes:


• All of the fixes and new features from 5.6.0.444 plus

  • Fixed a bug where scans would hang or error (91) when the console is behind a proxy server
  • Corrected errors in AutoUpdate and installation where a null database field wasn't being updated properly, causing the application to fail
  • Corrected errors in AutoUpdate and installation where application charting features would fail

5.6.0.444

released 3/30/2006

New Features and Enhancements:


• Spyware
  • Added client-side spyware active protection
  • Added ability to remove Layered Service Provider (LSP) spyware signatures
  • Added ability to quarantine spyware
  • Added ability to rollback spyware remediations
  • Added ability to control spyware quarantine retention time and file size
  • Added ability to view remediated spyware signatures in the spyware scan results and reports
  • Added active protection tab to Tools-Manage Machines display properties window
  • Improved the spyware scan engine scan time
  • Added configuration option in Tools-options for spyware scan timeout
• Console
  • Added scan-type dialog prompt when launching scans from main page
  • Added configuration option in Tools-options for connection timeout when enumerating machines during a scan
  • Added ability for the console to use the Shavlik scheduler for scheduled tasks
  • Added maintenance expiration dates to Help-about window
  • Added popup dialogs to alert user about upcoming maintenance expiration
  • Updated the Shavlik Scheduled Tasks Manager interface
  • Added ability to cancel or reschedule scheduled tasks via the Shavlik scheduled tasks manager interface
  • Updated the SQL Updater Tool to work with SQL 2005 databases

Bug Fixes:


• Spyware
  • Fixed bug where the spyware scan engine might consume 100% CPU upon machine restart
  • Fixed bug where spyware scan engine would fail to operate on a target machine with limited memory
  • Fixed bug where the spyware scan engine would fail to detect cookies
  • Fixed bug where the spyware scan engine might automatically restart upon machine restart
  • Updated the spyware scan engine CPU throttling algorithm
  • Fixed bug where a file shortcut with a '$' symbol in the name was not being removed during a spyware remediation
  • Reduced the time to schedule spyware remediation when remediating multiple machines at the same time
• Patch
  • Includes updates from the SKB2687 scan engine hotfix
  • Fixed bug where the patch scan engine might fail during the patch import process
  • Fixed bug where the patch scan engine might cease to operate during large network scans
  • Fixed bug where canceling a patch scan would fail to show scan results for those machines that had completed scanning
  • Fixed bug where Products under Patch Information would fail to expand when selecting the '+' symbol
  • Fixed bug where the netchk patch service might cause the deployment process to hang at the 'building enforcement files' window
  • Fixed bug where the patch push tracker might fail and display 'Parameter is Incorrect'
  • Fixed bug where CSV export from Condensed Patch Listing report was showing null results
  • Fixed bug where some 32 bit systems were being detected as 64 bit systems during a patch scan
  • Fixed bug where commandline patch scan output in CSV and TSV format included line breaks in the middle of an individual entry
  • Fixed bug in patch scanning that may have caused a patch to be reported as effectively installed instead of explicitly installed
  • Fixed bug in patch deployment that may have caused a patch to be reported as effectively installed instead of explicitly installed
• Console
  • Fixed bug where the Shavlik scheduler would fail to use the custom install directory.
  • Fixed bug where recurring scheduled scans might fail to launch
  • Fixed bug where remediation\deployment would fail to a machine with a single quote in the machine name
  • Fixed bug where 'deploy at next reboot' might fail to launch
  • Fixed bug where deployment notifications with special characters would not work properly on French language systems
  • Fixed bugs relating to scheduled tasks and different time zones on the console and the target machine
  • Fixed bug where machine names might be cropped in some email notifications
  • Fixed bug where spyware.cab file was downloaded on every patch and spyware scan
  • Fixed bug where the Shavlik scheduler service was not stopped and/or removed after a patch deployment or spyware scan or remediation, as configued via Tools-options
  • Fixed bug where creation of new scan templates were not defaulting to the 'Quickscan' template settings
  • Fixed bug where proxy settings were not being properly determined when proxy settings were set to use 'automatic configuration'

5.5.1.754

released 11/21/2005

Bug Fixes:


• Corrected an issue where deploying patches via the Summary By Patch view would deploy patches to all machines whether the patch was needed or not
• Corrected an issue where scheduled reboots using SafeReboot would occur before the scheduled time
• Extended the spyware scan console timout value from 10 minutes to 40 minutes. Also added a registry key value to the console machine to control this timeout. To modify this value, go to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Shavlik\HFNetChkPro4\GUI\Options and change the 'SpyWait' decimal value to the number of minutes you'd like to use for the scan wait process
• Fixed a crash when testing credentials associated with a machine group where both IP addresses and IP ranges where specified
• Updated the spyware scan engine to better handle low resource environments on client machines
• Enhanced the handling of sensitive information when this information was decrypted in memory

5.5

released 08/31/2005

New Features and Enhancements:


• Name changed from Shavlik HFNetChkPro to Shavlik NetChk Protect. The Protect name is used when both Anti-Spyware and Patch Management are installed on the same console. If only the patch product is licensed, it will still reflect 'Shavlik HFNetChkPro' or 'Shavlik NetChk Patch'. If only Spyware is licensed, it will display 'Shavlik NetChk Spyware'. If both products are licensed, it will display 'Shavlik NetChk Protect'.
• Added anti-spyware scanning and remediation
• The default installation behavior for patch deployment has been changed in this release. By default, the patch deployment process will install the Shavlik Scheduler Service on each machine being patched. This scheduler service replaces the need to use the MS Task Scheduler. (The Shavlik Scheduler Service is more robust than the MS Task Scheduler and will run jobs that it may have missed when the machine was turned off. This service is also more reliable than the MS Task Scheduler when it comes to launching tasks on Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 systems.) By default, the Shavlik Scheduler Service will remain installed and running on remote systems - even after patches have been installed. The persistent state allows for faster patch deployments in the future. If you wish, you may configure the console to remove the Shavlik Scheduler Service after each deployment task is complete, or you may instruct the console to use the MS Task Scheduler rather than the Shavlik Scheduler Service. These configuration options are located under Tools-Options-General-Scheduling.
• The default Shavlik NetChk Spyware scan function also uses the Shavlik Scheduler Service to initiate scans of remote systems. The Shavlik Scheduler Service will be installed on all machines during the spyware scan. This is known as the 'Dissolving Service Scan'. The alternate option is known as the 'Network Scan' and can be chosen in the spyware scan template. The Shavlik Scheduler Service associated with the Dissolving Service Scan can be configured to automatically remove the service when the scan is done, via Tools-Options-General-Scheduling.
• Includes updates from SKB1956 scan engine hotfix
  • The E-Mail alerting and reporting functions have been fixed and should now operate as expected.
  • Fixed error where auto-deploy after a scheduled scan was not functioning.
  • General GUI navigation speed has been improved when viewing large scan results and when creating new or viewing existing scan or deployment templates.
  • Corrected errors with report generation.
  • Fixed option to scan for and deploy using patchtype 'Shavlik Security Agents'.
  • Corrected errors that occurred when updating machine properties.
  • Corrected error that prevented machines from being removed from the Ignore Items section of a machine group.

Bug Fixes:


• Reporting
  • Fixed an query in the report engine that would display one machine's results multiple times in the Detailed Scan Summary report

5.1

released 06/09/2005

New Features and Enhancements:


• The scan engine can now scan up to 256 machines concurrently. This feature is available to Shavlik HFNetChkPro 5 Plus customers
• The scan engine has been updated to include support for the following products
  • Firefox 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4
  • Real Networks RealPlayer 10, 10.5
  • Adobe Acrobat 4, 5, 6, 7
  • Acrobat Reader 4, 5, 6, 7
  • Acrobat Distiller 4, 5, 6, 7
  • Acrobat Elements 4, 5, 6, 7
  • Internet Explorer 7
  • SQL 2005
  • .NET Framework 2.0
  • Windows Server Update Services
• Includes updates from SKB1744 scan engine hotfix
  • Supports faster scanning from Windows 2003 SP1 consoles. The engine has been updated to use a new XML parser engine that works with WS03 SP1
  • Supports scanning from a Windows XP SP2 console.
  • Differentiates between MSDE and SQL Server 2000. This will allow for proper installation of MSDE and SQL Service Pack 4.
  • Supports detection of MSXML 3 SP7. This engine removes the 'SP5 is more recent than SP7' messages that were displayed when scanning an MSXML 3 SP7 system.
  • Supports detection of MDAC 2.8 SP1. This engine removes the 'Gold is more recent than SP1' messages that were displayed when scanning a system with MDAC 2.8 SP1.

Bug Fixes:


• Scanning
  • Fixed error where scheduled scans didn't always download the latest available XML data files
  • Fixed error where FullScan was performing security, non-security, tool, and Security Agent patch scans. FullScan will now perform only security update scans (with checksums)
• Deployment
  • Fixed error when performing Test deployments from a SQL database connected console: -2147217900, Invalid column name 'machinename'.; frmViewer muToolsSimulateInstallSpecify_Click()
  • Fixed issue where scheduled scans with autodeployments would not always launch the deployment
  • Fixed issue with Office patch deployments where Office installation requires CD2 or CD3
  • Updated the deployment process to always patch the deployment console LAST, if the deployment console was one of many machines scheduled to receive a deployment
  • Fixed error Method '~' of object '~' failed; frmViewer muPatchesDeploySelectedPatches_Click() when two consoles using the same SQL database are performing deployments at the same time
• User Interface
  • Fixed error: frmViewer m_oPatchPanel_TabChange(TabName=lblTabMissing)
  • Fixed issue when adding a patch comment where patch comment would not display in the lower right patch panel
  • Removed function to "Send Message to..." a remote system
  • Fixed error in Help-About to properly display the number of used licenses
  • Fixed -2147418107: Component: modHFUtilities GotFocus error when browsing scan results
  • Fixed error that displayed when clicking Machines-Machine Properties immediately after completing a scan
• Reports
  • Fixed error in Advanced Report Criteria where 'Exclude IP' was not working properly in some reports
  • Fixed error in Deployment Seat Status to properly display number of used licenses
  • Fixed error in Top Ten Vulnerable Machines report where scan date and time was not displayed
  • Fixed error where not all machines were appearing in the Machine Status report
  • Fixed error in Detailed Scan Summary report where some machines would appear multiple times
  • Fixed error in Machine by Patch report where patch counts weren't being properly displayed
  • Fixed unhandled exception error in report generation when using Advanced Criteria
• EMail
  • Fixed error where pre-deployment notification email did not display the date and time for a scheduled deployment
  • Fixed error where deployments would not complete if multiple post-deployment email reports were selected on a SQL connected console

5.0.1

released 04/07/2005

New Features and Enhancements:


• Support for HF 5.0 Agents
• Support for running the HFNetChk console under Windows XP SP2

Bug Fixes:


• Upgrade
  • Fixed bug where pre-defined e-mail recipients did not appear after an upgrade from version 4.3
  • Fixed bug where the machine entries were not correct after an upgrade from version 4.3
  • Fixed error that occurred when scanning a patch group after upgrading from version 4.3
• Scanning
  • Fixed error that caused scan by criticality to not work correctly
  • Fixed problem when scanning from an XP SP2 console that resulted in "Machine not found" errors.
• Deployment
  • Fixed error where deployments would fail if the machine name could not be resolved to an IP address
  • Fixed error where custom actions associated with a particular patch would not work for non-English patches
  • Fixed error that caused the option to Reboot at the next occurrence of a specified time to always reboot at midnight
  • Fixed error that might cause XP SP2 download to report that the file is unsigned
  • Fixed error that would cause patches to be deployed to more machines in the scan than were selected. This occurred only for certain types of scans and only when selecting machines from specific groups.
  • Fixed error where pushing custom files only pushed to the first machine in a multi-machine deployment
  • Fixed error wwere auto-deploy after a scheduled scan resulted in a copy-only deployment
  • Fixed error where some deployments to Windows NT failed to execute
  • Fixed error where certain valid scheduling parameters resulted in an error saying the deployment is scheduled to occur in the past
• User Interface
  • Fixed problems associated with keyboard navigation
  • The Uninstallable icon now displays for missing patches as well as for installed patches
  • Fixed error that could occur if a deployment template is not selected in the Deployment Configuration dialog
  • Fixed error that occurred when re-entering CLOUC after the initial installation
  • Fixed error that occurred when clicking "Do I need a proxy?" in the Tools|Options dialog
  • Fixed erroneous error message when clicking the "Test Credentials" button for Office media location
  • Fixed error when deleting a deployment template that contains custom actions or Office paths
• Reports
  • Fixed error when selecting Machine Properties in the Advanced Filters
  • Fixed error when viewing a machine that was not scanned
  • Fixed error in Criticality status count
  • Fixed error where Deployment Report sometimes showed the wrong Service Pack name
  • Fixed error in generating reports from a SQL database using SQL authentication
  • Fixed error in Patch Status Detail report regarding the number of machines missing a patch
  • Fixed Service Pack installed count in the Patch Status Summary report
  • Fixed error in the Machine Status report that caused some machines not to be included