Error when trying to run Ancile

[Former user]

Hi, I got error when trying to run Ancile on Windows 7:

Import-Module : File \Ancile\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1 cannot be loaded. The file
\Ancile\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1 is not digitally signed. You cannot run this script on the
current system. For more information about running scripts and setting execution policy, see about_Execution_Policies
at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170.

I tried to change the Powershell policy as describe here, but non of the solutions worked.

Any ideas?

[Matthew Linton]

Interesting. Ancile should bypass powereshell signing restrictions when it launches PS scripts with the "-executionpolicy remotesigned" option. It could be that there is something on your system that is preventing scripts from changing execution policies. This could be some security software, anti malware, or GPO settings.

To help debug this, it would be helpful to collect some system information:

1. Navigate to "Ancile\lib"
2. Right click on "debuginfo.cmd"
3. Click on "Run as administrator"
4. Wait for the script to finish.
5. post the log file here.

Double check your execution policy:

1. open a command prompt as an administrator (Right Click on "Start --> All Programs --> accessories --> Command Prompt" and select "Run as administrator").
2. Run the command "powershell -executionpolicy remotesigned -Command get-executionpolicy"
3. Paste the result here.

[sha-265]

Hi, It's too much personal info. If you have specific info you want from this log, tell me and I will provide it. For now I added the PS info from the log:

[Wed 04/05/2017  0:00:28.76] BEGIN POWERSHELL ############################################################ 

Name                           Value                                                                                                                                               
----                           -----                                                                                                                                               
PSVersion                      5.0.10586.117                                                                                                                                       
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}                                                                                                                             
BuildVersion                   10.0.10586.117                                                                                                                                      
CLRVersion                     4.0.30319.42000                                                                                                                                     
WSManStackVersion              3.0                                                                                                                                                 
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3                                                                                                                                                 
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1                                                                                                                                             


[Wed 04/05/2017  0:00:28.99] END POWERSHELL ############################################################ 

And this is the output of the command you told me to run:

C:\Windows\system32>powershell -executionpolicy remotesigned -Command get-executionpolicy
RemoteSigned

[Matthew Linton]

I've looked around a bit and didn't manage to find a specific reason this would happen. I've seen similar behavior caused by various Antivirus, security software, and restrictive Active Directory rules.

Try:

1. Delete your current copy of Ancile
2. Download the latest version (currently 1.10)
3. Enable Debugging in "config.ini" by setting "DEBUG=Y"
4. Run Ancile as an Administrator
5. Look through the log for any errors

[sha-265]

I did all those steps, and I still get this error but only once:

File C:\Users\Bla\Ancile_1.10-1\Ancile_1.10\plugins\uninstall_Updates\UninstallAndHideUpdates.ps1 cannot be loaded. The file 
C:\Users\Bla\Ancile_1.10-1\Ancile_1.10\plugins\uninstall_Updates\UninstallAndHideUpdates.ps1 is not digitally signed. You cannot run this script on the current system. For more 
information about running scripts and setting execution policy, see about_Execution_Policies at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170.
    + CategoryInfo          : SecurityError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnauthorizedAccess

And I checked the execution policy before, and it was set to RemoteSigned.

[Matthew Linton]

Yeah, this is what I expected to see. Since your system is set o remotesigned you shouldn't be seeing this error. If you feel comfortable modifying Ancile you could change the execution policy in the script.

open "plugins\uninstall_Updates\uninstall_Updates.cmd" in a text editor and change lines 50 & 52

FROM:

46   FOR /F "tokens=*" %%i IN ('DIR /B "%UPDATELISTS%" 2^>^> "%LOGFILE%"') DO (
47          ECHO %UPDATEDIR%\%%i >> "%LOGFILE%" 2>&1
48          IF "%DEBUG%"=="Y" (
49              sc query wuauserv >> "%LOGFILE%" 2>&1
50              sc query wuauserv 2>&1 | findstr /I RUNNING >nul 2>&1 && powershell -executionpolicy remotesigned -File "%UPDTDISABLE%" -KBFile "%UPDATEDIR%\%%i" >> "%LOGFILE%" 2>&1
51          ) ELSE (
52              sc query wuauserv 2>&1 | findstr /I RUNNING >nul 2>&1 && powershell -executionpolicy remotesigned -File "%UPDTDISABLE%" -KBFile "%UPDATEDIR%\%%i" >nul 2>&1
53          )
54      )

TO:

46   FOR /F "tokens=*" %%i IN ('DIR /B "%UPDATELISTS%" 2^>^> "%LOGFILE%"') DO (
47          ECHO %UPDATEDIR%\%%i >> "%LOGFILE%" 2>&1
48          IF "%DEBUG%"=="Y" (
49              sc query wuauserv >> "%LOGFILE%" 2>&1
50              sc query wuauserv 2>&1 | findstr /I RUNNING >nul 2>&1 && powershell -executionpolicy Unrestricted -File "%UPDTDISABLE%" -KBFile "%UPDATEDIR%\%%i" >> "%LOGFILE%" 2>&1
51          ) ELSE (
52              sc query wuauserv 2>&1 | findstr /I RUNNING >nul 2>&1 && powershell -executionpolicy Unrestricted -File "%UPDTDISABLE%" -KBFile "%UPDATEDIR%\%%i" >nul 2>&1
53          )
54      )

Although, I don't expect this to actually work. If your system is already set to RemoteSigned then the script should run.

You could also try setting your global execution policy to unrestricted (Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted), but you'll want to set it back to RemoteSigned after you're done running the script (Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned).

[sha-265]

It worked, I only got warning and had to confirm the run of the script:

Security warning
Run only scripts that you trust. While scripts from the internet can be useful, this script can potentially harm your computer. If you trust this script, use the Unblock-File
cmdlet to allow the script to run without this warning message. Do you want to run C:\Ancile_1.10\plugins\uninstall_Updates\UninstallAndHideUpdates.ps1?
[D] Do not run  [R] Run once  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "D"): r

[Matthew Linton]

Interesting. It looks like I'll have to experiment with running powershell scripts unrestricted and maybe unblocking files

Thanks for your help

[Linda Meyer]

As we discussed earlier in another thread https://bitbucket.org/ancile_development/ancile/issues/24/ancile-suddenly-closes-last-words-in-the, everytime I run Ancile (just checked - still happens in 1.11) I get some red lines with error information in the CMD that do NOT appear in the log file afterwards. Seems similar to the issue described in this thread, so I am posting my update here. Thanks a lot for your great efforts, Matthew!!!

Starting Ancile v1.11

System error 1376 has occurred.

The specified local group does not exist.

Modifying registry key ownership Syncing Windows Time * Create system restore point? (Y/n): n Updating ... modify_Hosts Plugin Import-Module : File D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7+8)\Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1 cannot be loaded. The file D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7+8)\Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1 is not digitally signed. You cannot run this script on the current system. For more information about running scripts and setting execution policy, see about_Execution_Policies at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170. At line:1 char:1 + Import-Module -Name 'D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7 ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : SecurityError: (:) [Import-Module], PSSecurityEx ception + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnauthorizedAccess,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands .ImportModuleCommand Expand-ZipFile : The term 'Expand-ZipFile' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again. At line:1 char:121 + ... Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1'; Expand-ZipFile -ZipFil ... + ~~~~ + CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Expand-ZipFile:String) [], Comm andNotFoundException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

modify_Routing Plugin Import-Module : File D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7+8)\Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1 cannot be loaded. The file D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7+8)\Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1 is not digitally signed. You cannot run this script on the current system. For more information about running scripts and setting execution policy, see about_Execution_Policies at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170. At line:1 char:1 + Import-Module -Name 'D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7 ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : SecurityError: (:) [Import-Module], PSSecurityEx ception + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnauthorizedAccess,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands .ImportModuleCommand Expand-ZipFile : The term 'Expand-ZipFile' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again. At line:1 char:121 + ... Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1'; Expand-ZipFile -ZipFil ... + ~~~~ + CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Expand-ZipFile:String) [], Comm andNotFoundException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

modify_WINFirewall Plugin Import-Module : File D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7+8)\Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1 cannot be loaded. The file D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7+8)\Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1 is not digitally signed. You cannot run this script on the current system. For more information about running scripts and setting execution policy, see about_Execution_Policies at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170. At line:1 char:1 + Import-Module -Name 'D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7 ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : SecurityError: (:) [Import-Module], PSSecurityEx ception + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnauthorizedAccess,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands .ImportModuleCommand Expand-ZipFile : The term 'Expand-ZipFile' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again. At line:1 char:121 + ... Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1'; Expand-ZipFile -ZipFil ... + ~~~~ + CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Expand-ZipFile:String) [], Comm andNotFoundException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

uninstall_Updates Plugin Import-Module : File D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7+8)\Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1 cannot be loaded. The file D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7+8)\Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1 is not digitally signed. You cannot run this script on the current system. For more information about running scripts and setting execution policy, see about_Execution_Policies at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170. At line:1 char:1 + Import-Module -Name 'D:\Portable\Ancile (block windows spying in win7 ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : SecurityError: (:) [Import-Module], PSSecurityEx ception + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnauthorizedAccess,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands .ImportModuleCommand Expand-ZipFile : The term 'Expand-ZipFile' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again. At line:1 char:121 + ... Ancile_1.11\lib\Synchronous-ZipAndUnzip.psm1'; Expand-ZipFile -ZipFil ... + ~~~~ + CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Expand-ZipFile:String) [], Comm andNotFoundException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

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