New Logo and upcoming release.

[Steve C.]

I agree 100%. My associate and I were thrown for a loop yesterday when the update spun us in circles for two hours with 4 servers. This is a like said above, a huge PITA. 

[Steve C.]

The version switching is crazy. Back and forth all day long. Beginning to wonder if I was wrong to nix Teamviewer. Why is Citrix making this harder for us, not easier?

[Steve C.]

Glenn Dobson 
When can we expect some of the issues mentioned above to be fixed. I sometimes run 3-4 sessions at once, and this version switching back and forth knocks those sessions out, which we can't have. Can I opt for 818 only without version switching so I can keep continuity?  Why would the new 857 version not allow us to see non-857 remote machines without downgrading back and forth to 818? Please let us know asap, because without having multiple sessions open as an IT Pro, this thing is really worthless right now. 

[CTXSupport]

It has had an impact on me being able to connect from differing versions with a single client.  It was a release, so there was some amount of development work that went into that.  I love GoToAssist and I've used it since beta, as well as recommended it to many customers.  The issue I referenced has been the biggest pain point I've had to contend with for a LONG time.

[CTXSupport]

I'm pretty sure it used to initiate an update on the client, but then they had an issue with the update failing, leaving the remote inaccessible.  I just don't understand why they can't make the newer expert backwards compatible.

[Steve C.]

But leaving us as sacrificial lambs bouncing back and forth all day between versions is a major PITA. Why can't the Expert version be backwards compatible with previous installed unattended Clients? We can't run multi-sessions of un-attended anymore in Expert which defeats its purpose and is causing us to lose time Glenn. Thats really unacceptable when as IT Pro's we have to be seamlessly engaged 24/7. Now workflow is completely turned around on us, because of this change. One Expert version, regardless of Client installs is the answer. Please help us, stop hurting us.

[CTXSupport]

I've managed to get around this issue using Sandboxie, but it is still annoying all the same.  Just use Sandboxie and install the 818 in the "virtual box" and be sure to use that version when you see the remote hasn't updated.  You can also use this to use multiple monitors.  I've successfully used this to run GTA in 8 separate windows.

[CTXSupport]

Sandboxie will do 1 virtual box for free (nagware).  To do more than 1 isolated session, you'd need to buy a license, which is inexpensive, and quite useful for many other purposes.

[GlennD]

Hi,

Unattended Support computers poll our server for updates:

• when the computer/software starts up, 
• once every 24 hours

If the Unattended computer finds there is a new version it will download and install it automatically. If your account has been updated and you connect to an Unattended computer before it has checked for a new version, your Technician software will switch back to the version that Unattended computer is currently running and then connect.

In the past we would trigger the Unattended computer to update to match the Technician, however if something went wrong with the forced update (typically the service didn't restart), the Technician was left with an Unattended computer Offline. Because of this it was decided that it was better to change the behavior and have the Technician's software switch version instead, so that the Unattended computer could self update and remain online. Obviously the problem with that is if the Technician is trying to connect to multiple computers but only some of them have updated already, they will be constantly switching versions, which is also less than ideal.

The ability to control when updates are applied was added so that Technician's could have more control over the process, and set their Unattended computers to a specific build until they were ready to update:

• Frequent Updates: This setting "subscribes"
  the account to receive beta builds, which will
  allow users to try out new features and tools
  before they are released to the general public.
  These beta builds are never released as default
  builds. Whenever a new beta build is released,
  users with this setting will automatically have
  their application updated. 
• Regular Updates (default): This setting leaves
  the account at the default level (i.e., same as
  not having the "Customer Update Settings"
  check box selected). Whenever a new default
  build is released, users with this setting will
  automatically have their application updated
  to the new default build (not including beta
  builds). 
• Infrequent Updates: This setting prevents
  applications from being automatically updated
  to a newer build, even if it is a default build.
  Administrators can select a specific version and
  build so that users with this setting will not be
  updated unless their selected build is retired,
  at which point they will automatically have
  their version updated to the newest default
  build.

Trying to upgrade everyone as quickly as possible also has it's downfalls as too many computers polling and downloading at the same time can overwhelm the system, which is what happened yesterday.

Making the Technician's software backwards compatible is probably the next best step in trying to improve this process, but as I'm not a developer I have no idea how difficult that will be with our existing infrastructure. I expect that it would involve a number of changes to the back end systems as well in order to support it.

[oohgodyeah]

@Glenn, you state that Unattended clients update every 24 hours.  I have 30+ clients that are online and still showing version 818 at 2:29pm Pacific.  What specific time of day was the GoToAssist Remote Support v2.4 (build 857) pushed out to all clients?