Lights-Out on WHS 2011 and WHS v1 Service Pack 2 Public Beta

Martin has been in touch to say that he has released a public beta of Service Pack 2 for his Lights-Out add-in for both WHS v1 and WHS 2011.

Release Notes for Public Beta of Service Pack 2 for Lights-Out
A public beta is available for all user of Lights-Out on WHS 2011 and WHS v1. Please read these instructions carefully because SP2 introduces some functional changes.

Download
WHS v1 http://www.homeserve…r1.5.1.1618.msi

WHS 2011 http://www.homeserve…1.5.1.1618.wssx

Installation
Important: Always uninstall any existing version first!
Close WHS Console/Dashboard and download the beta version
Install beta and open WHS Console/Dashboard again

Changed handling of Gateways or Repeaters
Problem: Devices connected via a router (or a repeater or VPN gateway) are not visible to the Lights-Out network scanner because for each IP address we always get the same gateway MAC address. Manually added devices with fixed IP addresses sometimes lost the IP address because Lights-Out wrongly detected an IP address conflict and changed that fixed IP address to 0.0.0.0.
Service pack 2 addresses this problem with two changes: Manually added devices are marked with a “fixed IP flag” and are no longer changed to 0.0.0.0 on a conflict.
The second change is a new flag for routers (and repeaters or gateways). Setting this flag in the device properties (Lights-Out computers tab) allows Lights-Out to handle manually added devices with a fixed IP.
If you have a setup, where devices are connect via a repeater or router, assign a fixed IP address and add these devices manually in Lights-Out. Then run the network scanner and Lights-Out should automatically find and mark the router (or repeater/gateway).

User Action instead of Standby or Shutdown
Service pack 2 introduces a new user action. When you select “User Action” in Lights-Out settings, a new text box is displayed where you can enter a command file. The command or batch file can run several actions but must end with a standby or a shut down! You can use the internal shutdown.exe command or you can use psshutdown from the Sysinternals Suite. If you use psshutdown.exe then the first parameter has to be /accepteula, otherwise the command file blocks. Always use a zero time span to run the command immediately!
A standby looks like this:
psshutdown /accepteula /d /t 0

Other changes since 1.5.1 Build 1555

• Fixed MAC detection on server for bridged server NICs
• Fixed WHS v1 console crash after clicking on error link in monitored sources
• Fixed unwanted client standby when client was started from shut down for a backup
• Fixed problem with wake-up on client when no IPv4 route is available
• Fixed remote access detection after IIS reset
• Fixed handling of IP clients without a MAC
• Fixed problem with incomplete or damaged xml data files
• Changed internal structure of services (both server and client) to fix start-up problems
• Changed handling of IP and MAC detection for WHS clients
• Added new option for devices which act as router or repeater
• Added a user action to run a user defined command instead of standby
• Added handling of additional routers or gateways
• Added client command line application
• Added handling (starting) of dependent services on server resume