Starting with SMP 7.5 SP1 release, an automatic backup and restore mechanism for Core settings in case of corruption or deletion was added:
CoreSettings.config is located under C:\ProgramData\Symantec\SMP\Settings
- Automatic backup of Core Settings is called CoreSettings.config.backup
- Now added also automatic restore from existing backup in case of accidental corruption
- Followed by "Configuration file restored using backup: ...“ informational message in the NS logs
SIM (Symantec Installation Manager) also creates a backup of this file, called coresettings.config.sim.bak, during major upgrades
Usually, a corruption (or empty file) of this file can be caused by:
- Failure during an upgrade
- Lack of disk space
- Inappropriate saving of the file after manual changes to it
Some side effects of having issues with the coreSettings.config:
- Altiris Services will not start
- Altiris Service service stays in a "starting" state
- AeXConfig.exe fails or will not run/start
- SMP Console will not load
Manually restoring coreSettings.config file if missing or corrupted:
- Stop the Altiris Service from Start > Run > type services.msc.
- Create a copy of "CoreSettings.config.backup" file (under C:\ProgramData\Symantec\SMP\Settings).
- Rename "CoreSettings.config" to "CoreSettings._config" if it is corrupted.
- Rename "CoreSettings.config.backup" to "CoreSettings.config" name.
- Start the Altiris Services.
- Check whether the console is started to open properly.
Note:
Starting with ITMS 8.5 and later, you can also schedule to backup important information like Notification Server Configuration and Software Library files:
Go to Settings>All Settings>Notification Server>Notification Server Settings>Critical Data Backup
