Tech Tip : Microsoft Hotfix Changes Niagara HostId

Date:             Oct 28, 2011
Product:       NiagaraAX and Niagara R2
Revision:      All 32-bit versions of Niagara Software installed on x64 versions of Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2

Problem

HostId changes on Supervisor or Engineering Workstation after applying Microsoft Windows Updates. Microsoft recently released a hotfix for an issue that affects machines running x64 versions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, described in knowledge base article 2603229.

The Windows registry contains entries to designate the organization and owner name that correspond to the computer. Each of these registry entries has a 32-bit and 64-bit version. Prior to applying the hotfix, when the OS was installed and setup for the first time, only the 64-bit version of the registry entries were written, leaving the 32-bit registry entries at the factory default value.

Niagara HostIds are generated from multiple pieces of information gathered from the registry and hardware components of the host platform. The changes made by this Microsoft hotfix will cause the HostID to change on Windows 7 x64 or Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 machines running 32-bit Niagara AX or R2 software.

Solution

There are two possible solutions to the issue.

First Option

"Undo" the hotfix by importing the attached registry file. To do this, download RegisteredOwnerOrgToMicrosoft.reg to the desktop of the Windows platform and double click to execute. When prompted by Windows, allow the registry changes to be made. This is viewed as a temporary fix that could be overridden by future Windows Updates.

Second Option

The second solution is to install new nre.dll and licenseCheck.exe files to the <Niagara Home>/bin folder (where "Niagara Home" is the location where the Niagara software is installed). Select the download version below that corresponds to the Niagara version in use. Once downloaded follow these instructions:

1. Stop any running station using Workbench's Platform Application Director on the platform to be patched.
2. Exit Workbench if running on the platform to be patched.
3. Start a Niagara Command Line (<Niagara Home>/bin/console.exe) from the desktop of the platform to be patched.
4. Execute the command: plat uninstalldaemon
5. Copy the downloaded versions of nre.dll and licenseCheck.exe files to the <Niagara Home>/bin folder. Overwrite the existing files.
6. From the Niagara Command Line (<Niagara Home>/bin/console.exe) execute: plat installdaemon
7. Start Workbench.
8. Open a platform connection to the patched platform.
9. Using the Application Director, start the station.

Using this patch, the original license should function with or without the KB 2603229 hotfix.

• AX-3.4 Niagara_3.4.zip
• AX-3.5 Niagara_3.5.zip
• AX-3.6 Niagara_3.6.zip

Legal

Information and/or specifications published here are current as of the date of publication of this document. Tridium, Inc. reserves the right to change or modify specifications without prior notice. The latest product specifications can be found by contacting our corporate headquarters, Richmond, Virginia. Products or features contained herein are covered by one or more U.S. or foreign patents. This document may be copied by parties who are authorized to distribute Tridium products in connection with distribution of those products, subject to the contracts that authorize such distribution. It may not otherwise, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form without prior written consent from Tridium, Inc. Complete confidentiality, trademark, copyright and patent notifications can be found at: http://www.tridium.com/galleries/SignUp/Confidentiality.pdf

JACE, Niagara Framework, Niagara AX Framework and the Sedona Framework are trademarks of Tridium, Inc.

(c)Copyright 2011 Tridium Inc. All Rights Reserved

3951 Westerre Parkway, Suite 350 Richmond, VA 23233

Weather Service: Keeping Up With New Weather Servers

Date:             Oct 06, 2011
Product:       Weather Service in Ax Station
Revision:      3.4.46, 3.5.34, 3.6.31 and earlier

Problem

The Niagara Weather Service relies on The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NWS) for accurate forecast, current condition, and weather advisory data. Occasionally the NWS experiences server outages due to maintenance or network issues. This causes the Niagara Weather Service to no longer be able to receive weather data. During the week of September 26th the NWS relocated their forecasted data web service, causing the Niagara Weather Service to be unable to access forecasted weather conditions. At the same time server maintenance on the systems providing current weather conditions caused the NWS to provide outdated weather information.

A Niagara station with a Weather Service that is attempting to connect to the old NWS forecasted conditions addresses will see the following error message in the Application Director of the host:

  WARNING [10:04:20 30-Sep-11 EDT][weather] Updating forecast failed for WeatherReport
  javax.baja.sys.BajaException: 404 Not Found
   at com.tridium.weather.nws.NwsForecastReader.getFeed(NwsForecastReader.java)
   at com.tridium.weather.nws.NwsForecastReader.getFeed(NwsForecastReader.java)
   at com.tridium.weather.nws.NwsForecastReader.getFeed(NwsForecastReader.java)
   at com.tridium.weather.nws.NwsForecastReader.getForecast(NwsForecastReader.java)
   at com.tridium.weather.nws.BNwsWeatherProvider.updateReport(BNwsWeatherProvider.java)
   at javax.baja.weather.BWeatherReport.doUpdateWeatherReport(BWeatherReport.java)
   at auto.javax_baja_weather_BWeatherReport.invoke(AutoGenerated)
   at com.tridium.sys.schema.ComponentSlotMap.invoke(ComponentSlotMap.java)
   at com.tridium.sys.engine.EngineUtil.doInvoke(EngineUtil.java)
   at javax.baja.sys.BComponent.doInvoke(BComponent.java)
   at javax.baja.util.Invocation.run(Invocation.java)
   at javax.baja.util.Worker.process(Worker.java)
   at javax.baja.util.Worker$Processor.run(Worker.java)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:823)

The National Weather service also deprecated the current conditions feeds previously retrieved from the www.nws.noaa.gov servers. These have been replaced with feeds at www.weather.gov. A Niagara station with a Weather Service that is attempting to connect to the old NWS current conditions server will retrieve outdated information. There will be no error or indication of a failure.

Solution

New weather.jar files have been created that will now connect to the most current address of the NWS forecast, current conditions, and advisory servers. The new module should also correctly handle future redirects if the NWS updates their server addresses in the future.

The modules have been packaged in zip files that contain the version in the file name. Download the appropriate weather module below, unzip and extract to the modules folder of your Niagara installation:

3.4.67.3 weather.jar (zipped) 
3.5.39.5 weather.jar (zipped) 
3.6.37.4 weather.jar (zipped) 

Legal

Information and/or specifications published here are current as of the date of publication of this document. Tridium, Inc. reserves the right to change or modify specifications without prior notice. The latest product specifications can be found by contacting our corporate headquarters, Richmond, Virginia. Products or features contained herein are covered by one or more U.S. or foreign patents. This document may be copied by parties who are authorized to distribute Tridium products in connection with distribution of those products, subject to the contracts that authorize such distribution. It may not otherwise, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form without prior written consent from Tridium, Inc. Complete confidentiality, trademark, copyright and patent notifications can be found at: http://www.tridium.com/galleries/SignUp/Confidentiality.pdf

JACE, Niagara Framework, Niagara AX Framework and the Sedona Framework are trademarks of Tridium, Inc.

(c)Copyright 2011 Tridium Inc. All Rights Reserved

3951 Westerre Parkway, Suite 350 Richmond, VA 23233

Phone: 804.747.4771 Fax: 804.747.5204