Controlling PitStop Server using Command Line Interface from another Server

[matthew.smith]

Hi
I trying to use PitStop Server CLI from another server. To accomplish this, I'm using PsExec to execute commands on another computer. Let me start out by stating that I'm extremely close but can't get exactly what I want to work.
Here's my testing and results so far:
1. I can run the following command on the PitStop Server VM and successfully process a PDF. This works. This is a very simple example of CLI that places a Penguin graphic on each page of a four-page blank PDF.

TEST 1
"C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\PitStopServerCLI.exe" -input "C:\Temp\Blank.pdf" -mutator "C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\Resources\Action Lists\Add\Add Penguin.eal" -output “C:\Temp\BlankWithPenguin.pdf"

Next, I map a file server share that is accessible to the PitStop server over a network connection to J. In this share is another folder named Temp that also contains Blank.pdf. This also works. This is a very simple example of CLI use that places a Penguin graphic on each page of a four-page blank PDF, however, this time, it is accessing the input from J:\Temp and placing the output to J:\Temp.

TEST 2
"C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\PitStopServerCLI.exe" -input "J:\Temp\Blank.pdf" -mutator "C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\Resources\Action Lists\Add\Add Penguin.eal" -output "J:\Temp\BlankWithPenguin.pdf"

Now we'll introduce PsExec into the mix. On the same server we mapped the J share from, will run the following command. It is the same CLI command from the first test that finds and writes to C:\Temp on the PitStop Server. Before this command is the PsExec command that calls out the IP address of the PitStop Server and provides the administrator username and password for authentication. This works and returns Error Code 0. Looking at the PitStop Server we can see the BlankWithPenguin.pdf in C:\Temp as expected. The PsExec command works, has access to the PitStop Server and can authenticate to it to run the command. (So far, so good.)

TEST 3
C:\Drivers\PSTools\PsExec.exe \\10.111.222.33 -u adminuser -p "adminPassword" "C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\PitStopServerCLI.exe" -input "C:\Temp\Blank.pdf" -mutator "C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\Resources\Action Lists\Add\Add Penguin.eal" -output "C:\Temp\BlankWithPenguin.pdf"

Finally, we get to the problem. I take the command from test 3, which worked, and change the input and output to the J drive, which I already checked in test 2 and proved that CLI can access and write to the mapped share with no issue. However, when I run this command, I get the following error returned: "201: The path to the input file is invalid. C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\PitStopServerCLI.exe exited on 10.111.222.33 with error code -1."

TEST 4
C:\Drivers\PSTools\PsExec.exe \\10.111.222.33 -u adminuser -p "adminPassword" "C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\PitStopServerCLI.exe" -input "J:\Temp\Blank.pdf" -mutator "C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\Resources\Action Lists\Add\Add Penguin.eal" -output "J:\Temp\BlankWithPenguin.pdf"

To conclude, I've read through the CLI manual and can't find anything that pertains to my problem. The manual does a good job explaining all the details of the tool, but not really how to access it from another computer. There may be some good information in the Partner documentation and videos, but I'm not allowed to view that. The Error Codes section in 2.2.3 does not go into detail on what the problem 201 as it relates to input files.

Thanks in advance for any insight the forum can offer.

[JimmyHartington]

Could you try with a UNC-path instead of a mapped drive?
So go to the server in question. Choose Network in File Explorer and navigate to the server and folder in question.
Then the path could be something like "\\SERVER-NAME\SHARE-NAME\A\Acme Inc\output"
I have not tried what you are doing. But it gives another way to save the file to a network share.

[loicaigon]

Hey there,

I don't have immediate solutions and a quick search for psExec and mapped drives issues on Googloo reports quite a lot of users in pain.

Then my question is, what are you trying to achieve? Ok of course, you want to process files from computer B to computer A where PitStop Server CLI resides. That I get.

My question is more about that you obviously look for some kind of shared processing across computers. And for that we may have a far better suited solution (and much easier as well), but before I talk about it, I would like to understand better how many computers would interact with the "PitStop Server" computer and how many files would you need to process, like on a yearly basis.

If those are info you don't want to share her, feel free to drop me an email: loica [a] enfocus [d] com
I would really like to challenge your need.

Loic

[matthew.smith]

Could you try with a UNC-path instead of a mapped drive?
So go to the server in question. Choose Network in File Explorer and navigate to the server and folder in question.
Then the path could be something like "\\SERVER-NAME\SHARE-NAME\A\Acme Inc\output"
I have not tried what you are doing. But it gives another way to save the file to a network share.

Tried that already, unfortunately PsExec does not support UNC paths.

[matthew.smith]

Hey there,
I don't have immediate solutions and a quick search for psExec and mapped drives issues on Googloo reports quite a lot of users in pain.
Then my question is, what are you trying to achieve? Ok of course, you want to process files from computer B to computer A where PitStop Server CLI resides. That I get.
My question is more about that you obviously look for some kind of shared processing across computers. And for that we may have a far better suited solution (and much easier as well), but before I talk about it, I would like to understand better how many computers would interact with the "PitStop Server" computer and how many files would you need to process, like on a yearly basis.
If those are info you don't want to share her, feel free to drop me an email: loica [a] enfocus [d] com
I would really like to challenge your need.

Loic

Hi Loic,
I'm using a Prinergy Workflow and instead of relying on Hot Folders to process files through PitStop server, I want to use a remote call in Kodak's Rules-Based Automation (RBA) engine to add printer marks to a multi-page PDF file. I won't bore you with the details of why this is necessary though a separate process and not through Prinergy itself. Suffice to say it's a customer requirement. When the remote call returns, I can look into the output path to find my 'fixed' PDF and continue my RBA automation.
Right now, it would be one computer to start, but two in the future. Installing any tools on the Prinergy Server itself is not an option because it is in a Kodak Managed Azure Cloud tenant, and they don't allow other third-party programs within their managed environment. That's why calling a separate computer is necessary.
For my initial test, we're talking about less than one hundred calls a month, but if I can get a solid solution working, I think this method could be expanded to tons of other use cases. If you would like to continue off-line, you can email me additional info at matthew[d]smith[a]sheridan[d]com.

Thanks for your response.

[loicaigon]

I got in touch, thanks.

[sander]

Finally, we get to the problem. I take the command from test 3, which worked, and change the input and output to the J drive, which I already checked in test 2 and proved that CLI can access and write to the mapped share with no issue. However, when I run this command, I get the following error returned: "201: The path to the input file is invalid. C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\PitStopServerCLI.exe exited on 10.111.222.33 with error code -1."

TEST 4
C:\Drivers\PSTools\PsExec.exe \\10.111.222.33 -u adminuser -p "adminPassword" "C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\PitStopServerCLI.exe" -input "J:\Temp\Blank.pdf" -mutator "C:\Program Files\Enfocus\Enfocus PitStop Server 24\Resources\Action Lists\Add\Add Penguin.eal" -output "J:\Temp\BlankWithPenguin.pdf"

In test 2 you proved the CLI can access and write to the mapped share, this is true for the currently logged on user.

However, when running via PsExec you supply a username and password and J: becomes unavailable. Are you sure the adminuser is the same user as the one that did successful run the CLI command?

Also make sure your user session has to stay open on that server, when the user is logged off there's no more mapped J:

[freddyp]

Can you post a JSON/XML body in Prinergy?

If so, you could post such a body with a link to the input file and the output file to the server that runs PitStop Server. There you have a web server running (NodeJS, PHP, ...) that accepts the body, creates a command line and runs it. You will of course need access to the paths provided in the body, but you do not need PsExec.