UPHClean and other profile ramblings : 2.0

New UPHClean beta build

rcaron — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:27:26 GMT

Hi there!

Good news -- I'm releasing an updated beta build today. It fixes machine hangs and crashes that could occur with build 2.0.48.0.

The 32 bit plaform bits are here and for 64 bit platforms here.

If you find any problem with this build please email the details to uphclean@microsoft.com or post them here.

Thank you all for your patience in waiting for updated beta bits.

Robin

When will UPHClean v2.0 be done?

rcaron — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:58:00 GMT

UPHClean v2.0 has been in beta for an extended period. Over 3,000 people have received the beta bits. There have been enough reports of computers hanging and crashing to prevent release. Further beta builds are needed to insure that those remaining problems are resolved. Once ship quality is achieved a release date will be selected. Based on my current work load and experience with past projects I expect that will at least 6 more months before final release.

Group Policy Administrative Template To Manage 2.0 Beta Settings

rcaron — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:18:00 GMT

Here is an administrative template to make it easier to manage the file remapping settings available with UPHClean v2.0.

Thank you Kevin Henriksen for this contribution.

UPHClean v2.0 beta

rcaron — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:39:00 GMT

So you want to try out the UPHClean v2.0 beta? Very good because that is what this post is about!

The current beta build installs on Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. A future build will install on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

To get the full benefit of UPHClean you should set the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UPHClean\Parameters\SHARING_VIOLATION_REMAP to 1. This setting allows UPHClean to act on problems caused by application holding on to files after logoff. When this happens you may see profile folders left behind and/or creation of profile folders with names username.domain, username.000, username.001, etc. Do this after installation is done.

Remember it is beta code. Others who have tested it have reported crashes or hangs. It has been rare but keep that in mind when you decide what testing to do with it. UPHClean v2.0 will be released once the current build does not cause crashing/hanging. I will announce later beta bits through this blog.

The 32 bit plaform bits are here and for 64 bit platforms here.

I appreciate any feedback you have on this release.

UPHClean v2.0

rcaron — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:18:00 GMT

UPHClean v2.0 is a new version that tries to help with the following scenarios:

Timing fix

In v1.6 there is a timing issue with where the profile unload process stopped trying to unload the user profile hive before UPHClean finished its work. UPHClean finished its release of user profile hive handles but Winlogon had already proceeded without unloading the profile causing it to report a profile hive unload failure. This is now addressed by having Winlogon waiting until UPHClean has finished all of its work before proceeding.

Open file handles

Apart open registry handles that UPHClean v1.6 deals with open file handles to the user profile can have a bad influence on the profile load and unload process. Open references to profile files prevent the profile load and unload process from reconciling (copying files) from and to the roaming profile location. This prevents the deletion of the locally cached profile. Other symptoms of this is if the same user logs in again he or she gets a new profile with a name like username.000, username.001 etc.

UPHClean v2.0 takes care of these by releasing the handle to user profile files when the profile is unloaded. This is not without risk. Since UPHClean removes access to files or directories data that was cached by the application for the file is lost. This could cause the process to fail because it cannot read from the file. During testing this has not been found to be true but there is still a chance that it could happen. This is the reason why the file handle remap feature is disabled by default.

To enable the feature you have to set the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UPHClean\Parameters
SHARING_VIOLATION_REMAP REG_DWORD 0X00000001

Without enabling the remapping feature UPHClean automatically detects sharing violation during the user logoff and retries the failed operation for a small amount of time. You can control the amount of time using the SHARING_VIOLATION_DELAY value. This value is specified in millisecond and has a default value of 1000 millisecond.

File permissions

In some cases a program might change file permissions or creates a new file/folder within the profile but incorrect permissions. This may leave the profile load/unload process unable to copy it or delete it. To resolve the issue you have to take ownership first before you can delete the file or folder. UPHClean takes care of those situations.

Real world problems

Here are actual scenarios that UPHClean v2.0 resolves:

VMware hgfs.dat
VMware creates the hgfs.dat file in profile folder for the first user that logs in and keeps it open. When using roaming profiles you get a problem with that. (read VMware FAQ1317 for a solution)
SUN Java (JRE)
In some cases SUN Java creates a folder called hsperfdata<username> with file permissions only set to the user and can not be removed by the system without taking ownership. SUN say’s this is by design (bug id 5042659)
Microsoft Internet explorer cookies and favorites
Favorites and cookie files sometimes excide more than 255 chars and can only be deleted through the command line
Also suspects for open file handles causing sharing violation
SAP SapGui (SapWorkDir), Imprivata SSO, Indexing Software, Virus scanner etc.

It will be supported on Windows 2000 (all versions), Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008. It will be available for 32 bit and 64 bit platforms. There are beta bit available for 32 and 64 bit platforms for all Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.