[This article has been obsoleted by our issuing of 0patch Agent version 20.06.18.10800. We've archived it to preserve links pointing to it.]
We're aware of a bug in 0patch Agent version 19.11.15.10650 (current) and earlier versions that causes a sync to fail due to improper encoding of special characters. As agent does its work, it records data on which applications get patched by which patches, and when it syncs, it sends that data to the server to collect statistical data. The problem occurs when a patched application has some special character in its name, because that name then gets improperly encoded and the server rejects the request. This patching statistics then gets deleted on the agent and starts getting collected anew (for the next sync), so a manual sync after a failed sync usually succeeds - but left to itself, and its scheduled once-per-hour syncing, special characters can find their way to the collected statistics within 60 minutes, leading to most automated syncs failing.
This issue affects more users now that we have issued some micropatches that get applied to many processes (some of which may have special characters in their names).
We have already fixed this bug in our source code but to avoid rushing with a release, we decided to issue a micropatch for this issue, which will patch 0patchService.exe and correct the issue until the new agent is released.
Micropatches #439 and #440 address this issue for 0patch Agent version 19.11.15.10650 (current version), and if your agent has synced recently, it already downloaded and applied these micropatches. However, if your agent remains unable to sync, please trigger a manual sync via 0patch Console, and then again if needed. This should get the micropatch applied and fix the problem.
Users with multiple 0patch Agents in their network can use this command on all affected computers to simulate a manual sync:
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\0patch\CallbackKeys\SyncNow /v Counter /t REG_DWORD /d %random%%random% /f
This may also need to be done twice for the most stubbornly stuck agents to sync. If using PowerShell, use $(Get-Random) instead of %random%%random%.
In the meantime, occasionally look at 0patch Console and if it says it hasn't been synced for over 24 hours, trigger a manual sync (and a second one if the first one fails). Enterprise users should log in to 0patch Central and see if any agents haven't synced for a long time.
If your agent's version is older than 19.11.15.10650, you should update it as soon as possible either via 0patch Console or 0patch Central (if you have an Enterprise account). Older versions will soon fall out of support and will stop receiving new patches.
Apologies for the inconvenience.
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