Event Monitor Could Not Be Contacted

 

Symptoms

Attempting to trigger a task or run a task manually using the Automate Task Administrator fails at Step 0 with error "Could not contact the Automate Event Monitor."

Reason 
When a task is set to run interactively, the Task Service attempts to contact another Automate application called the Automate Event Monitor. This applications runs in the system tray with process name AMEM.exe. Normally the presence of the Event Monitor can be revealed by looking for the Automate icon near the system clock. However, it is possible to not see the icon while the Event Monitor is running if the icon has been turned off in the Automate System Options. If the Task Service cannot contact the Event Monitor, the task will failed with "Could not contact the Automate Event Monitor."

Some possible reasons for the error:

The Event Monitor is not running
If the process AMEM.exe does not appear in the Windows Task Manager, then the Event Monitor is not running and the Task Service will be unable to run tasks as the interactive user. During installation, Automate writes an entry in the registry that causes the Event Monitor to start automatically when a user logs on. If this does not exist or is removed, the Event Monitor would need to be started manually before the Task Service can run interactive tasks.

Automate is running on a Terminal Services client
Automate supports running the Event Monitor on a Terminal Services enabled machine's console (i.e. the Terminal Services Server machine). The Event Monitor will not run on a Terminal Services session. Therefore, interactive tasks will only run on the console and only if the console machine is logged on. If an attempt is made to manually run a task through the Task Administrator on the Terminal Services client, the task will fail at Step 0.

Communication between the Task Service and Event Monitor is being blocked
Automate uses named pipes to communicate between the Task Service and the Event Monitor. If another process is blocking this kind of connection (e.g. anti-virus, anti-spyware or firewall software), the Task Service will not be able to communicate task start and task end requests to the Event Monitor.

More Information

In the problem persists after investigating these issues, please contact Network Automation Technical Support assistance.

Applies To: Automate 5, Automate 6