How do I resolve the “invalid identifier” issue and ensure a unique device ID for a Windows device?
Applicable Products
HDP for PC/VM
HDP PC Agent
Starting from version 2.3.1, the product previously known as HDP has been renamed to HDP for PC/VM.
Starting from version 1.3.0, the product previously known as NetBak PC Agent has been renamed to HDP PC Agent.
Scenario
You cannot add an inventory for your Windows PC or Windows server in HDP for PC/VM and you receive the error message "invalid identifier"
Background
HDP for PC/VM generates and assigns a device identifier to every Windows device added to HDP for PC/VM. Device identifiers allow HDP for PC/VM to uniquely identify each Windows device. Device identifiers are generated using the BIOS UUID of each device and must be unique among your HDP for PC/VM inventories. If two Windows devices have the same BIOS UUID, their generated device identifiers may be the same and HDP for PC/VM will be unable to uniquely identify either device. In this case, HDP for PC/VM will not allow you to create an inventory for the device with the duplicate device identifier, and you will receive the error message "invalid identifier" when trying to add the inventory.
Additionally, if your Windows devices has any of the following BIOS UUID's, HDP for PC/VM will be unable to generate a unique device identifier (to view your device's BIOS UUD, see How to check the UUID of your Windows device below):
- 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
- FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF
- 03000200-0400-0500-0006-000700080009
Solution
If your device has a duplicate or invalid BIOS UUID, you will see a prompt indicating that the device does not have a valid identifier.
To resolve this issue and successfully sign into HDP PC Agent, your PC needs a unique device identifier. You can create a unique device identifier by doing one of the following:
- Click Yes to allow HDP PC Agent to automatically generate a unique device identifier.
- Click No to abort the sign in process, open Windows PowerShell, enter the following shell commands to manually set a device identifier created by you:
New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\QNAP\HDP" -Name EnableSystemProductIdFailover -PropertyType DWORD -Value 1
New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\QNAP\HDP" -Name SystemProductId -PropertyType String -Value "$(New-Guid)"Where "New-Guid" is your custom device indentifier.
After generating a unique device identifier, open HDP PC Agent and try singing in again.
How to check the UUID of your Windows device
You can retrieve the BIOS UUID of your windows device using the following command in Windows PowerShell：
(Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystemProduct).UUIDIf your the BIOS UUID of your device is either missing or one of the following numbers listed below, then HDP for PC/VM will be unable to generate a unique device identifier and you will receive the error message "invalid identifier":
- 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
- FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF
- 03000200-0400-0500-0006-000700080009
You may be able to change your device's BIOS UUID by contacting your hardware vendor, but you can also manually set a unique device identifier by performing the solution given above.
