AppSync: Host Rediscovery fails when the AppSync Server Services are restarted

Summary: Authorized_keys2 has been deprecated since 2001 and is not supported for use with AppSync.

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Symptoms



Rediscovery of Unix hosts in AppSync may fail after the AppSync Server Services are restarted, or after the AppSync Server is rebooted. 

The following error is seen in the server logs after the service restart / reboot:

01-16-2018 04:24:18.365 INFO [default task-23] [com.emc.archway.service.unixservice.UnixServiceBean] [<APPSYNC_SERVER>] [] Beginning task for getSettings operation on <UNIX_HOST> task=bfb1beb4-74ec-4ecb-8557-4010ace7c33c
01-16-2018 04:24:18.397 INFO [default task-23] [com.emc.archway.service.sshservice.SecureShellSessionManager] [<APPSYNC_SERVER>] [] Loaded SSH certificate from secure store: ssh-dss
<SSH certificate string>
01-16-2018 04:24:18.865 ERROR [default task-23] [com.emc.archway.service.sshservice.SecureShellSession] [<APPSYNC_SERVER>] [] Error while Connecting to host: <UNIX_HOST>:Auth fail

Cause

The user had specified "authorized_keys2" as the location for storing the keys file.
This can be verified by checking the sshd config file on the host. 

The keys file is used for authentication between the AppSync server and agent. However, AppSync uses the authorized_keys file by design.

Authorized_keys2 has been deprecated since 2001. 

https://www.openssh.com/txt/release-3.0

The initial push of the agent software is successful and subsequent re-discoveries will also be successful. 
The discovery fails after a reboot because the session between the server and agent is dropped. When the AppSync server subsequently tries to authenticate with the agent host on a new session, it cannot find the authorized_keys file in the default location and as a result the discovery fails.

Resolution

There are three possible resolutions to this issue. 
  • Use authorized_keys instead of authorized_keys2. 
This can be changed from the sshd configuration file.
This is the recommended solution since authorized_keys2 is deprecated. 
  • Copy the contents of authorized_keys to the authorized_keys2 file. 
  • Re-push the plugin software to the host.

Affected Products

AppSync

Products

AppSync
Article Properties
Article Number: 000064576
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 18 Sept 2025
Version:  5
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