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WMI: Process not found (code: PE009) -- PerfCounter: No data to return. (Performance Counter error 0

Votes:

1

This error is being encountered on a new server we've built to replace an old server. On the old server, the sensor works perfectly fine. Here is everything I've checked: OS version is the same - 2008 R2 (replacing physical server with vm) Cisco firewall ACLs are the same (both servers are in the same ACLs) Windows Firewall is turned off Tested using Powershell "Get-Counter" from the PRTG server, while logged in with the account that PRTG runs under: Get-Counter '\Process(*)\% Processor Time' -ComputerName servername Checked GPO results on both - nothing different

What am I missing?

Can someone at PRTG maybe explain EXACTLY how this sensor gets information? i.e. does it use .NET or Powershell or some other command under the hood?

Lastly, is it possible to use CIM, rather than WMI to check something like this?

perfcounter prtg wmi

Created on Apr 8, 2016 5:17:01 PM



Best Answer

Accepted Answer

Votes:

1

We figured out the problem. For some unknown reason, when the server was built by our hosting provider, they added a registry entry to append the PID to processes in PerfMon. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/281884

I found that the old server did not have this registry entry. Once I deleted it on the new server, the sensors started finding the processes.

Created on Apr 12, 2016 4:50:25 PM



7 Replies

Votes:

0

Hi,
The process sensor is a hybrid sensor. Either it gets its data via a WMI query over DCOM/RPC or if this is not possible it will try to get the data via perfcounters.
The WMI Connection can be tested using the WMI Tester. As regarding the perfcounters you can use perfmon, connect to the target host to see if you get any data.
PRTG basically works the same way those both tools do. Do you get correct readings with the WMI Tester/perfmon?
If you are in need to just connect and get data vie e.g. Powershell, you can use the EXE/Script Sensor (Advanced) to do so. It can execute Powershell natively.
Best regards

Created on Apr 11, 2016 2:16:34 PM by Konstantin Wolff [Paessler Support]



Votes:

0

Using the WMI Tester and Perfmon directly from the PRTG server to query the target server both work just fine. So this makes it even stranger that PRTG is failing, if it relies on these same methods. I suppose I can write a custom PS script to do this, but I'd really rather not have to do that for every new server we deploy. What else can we do to troubleshoot this?

Created on Apr 11, 2016 4:43:50 PM



Votes:

0

In this case this might be a permission issue. The Probe service runs with a local SYSTEM account of the machine whereas perfmon and the WMI Tester are executed in the context of your user. You might try changing the account the probe service is running under.
Best regards

Created on Apr 12, 2016 1:11:35 PM by Konstantin Wolff [Paessler Support]



Accepted Answer

Votes:

1

We figured out the problem. For some unknown reason, when the server was built by our hosting provider, they added a registry entry to append the PID to processes in PerfMon. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/281884

I found that the old server did not have this registry entry. Once I deleted it on the new server, the sensors started finding the processes.

Created on Apr 12, 2016 4:50:25 PM



Votes:

0

Thanks for the heads up and sharing your solution!

Created on Apr 13, 2016 11:58:52 AM by Konstantin Wolff [Paessler Support]



Votes:

0

Update - since Microsoft has deleted their KB page, here are the steps:

If Perfmon has been configured to display the PID, Performance Explorer will display the values in the same way.

Perfmon can be configured to display the PID by making a registry change. Making this registry change will display processes in the format of ProcessName_PID instead of ProcessName#1.

Please note, any registry changes are undertaken at your own risk, and a registry backup should be created before making any changes.

The registry change can be made as follows:

Click START | RUN | type: regedit Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\PerfProc\Performance On the Edit menu, click New, and then click DWORD Value. Right-click New Value #1, click Rename, and then type ProcessNameFormat to name the new value. Right-click ProcessNameFormat, and then click Modify. In the Data value box, type one of the following values, and then click OK: 1: Disables PID data. This value is the default value. 2: Enables PID data. Exit Registry Editor.

Created on Jul 14, 2020 10:32:07 PM



Votes:

0

Thank you very much Peter!

Kind regards,
Andreas Günther
Tech Support, Paessler AG

[email protected]

Created on Jul 15, 2020 6:41:08 AM by Andreas Günther [Paessler Support]




Disclaimer: The information in the Paessler Knowledge Base comes without warranty of any kind. Use at your own risk. Before applying any instructions please exercise proper system administrator housekeeping. You must make sure that a proper backup of all your data is available.