Symantec Management Agent (Altiris Agent) push install errors

Products

IT Management Suite Client Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

When pushing the Altiris Agent has failed, you see an error similar to the following samples in the Notification Server Logs or in LogViewer:

Failed to copy Altiris Agent install service.
No network provider accepted the given network path
The network path was not found

These messages are from the same scenario:

SMP Logs: remote service stopped, no log found on remote client
Agent install log: *ERRR InstallService: Failed to download agent installer from URL:http://SMPServer/Altiris/NS/NSCap/Bin/Win32/X86/NS Client Package/AeXNSC.exe

Sample log errors:

Process: aexsvc.exe (280)
Thread ID: XXXX
Module: AltirisNativeHelper.dll
Source: Altiris.NS.Utilities.RemoteServiceMgr
Description: Failed to copy the eXpress Client service to \\XX.XX.XX.XX\ADMIN$\AeXSWDInstSvc.exe. Error:The network path was not found.

NOTE: This type of failure can occur if a client push is currently in progress or has completed but some files are still locked. This problem can typically be solved by rebooting the computer

Process: aexsvc.exe (280)
Thread ID: XXXX
Module: AltirisNativeHelper.dll
Source: Altiris.NS.Utilities.RemoteServiceMgr
Description: Failed to copy the eXpress Client service to \\XX.XX.XX.XX\ADMIN$\AeXSWDInstSvc.exe. Error:The process cannot access the file "\\XX.XX.XX.XX\ADMIN$\AeXSWDInstSvc.exe" because it is being used by another process.

NOTE: This type of failure can occur if a client push is currently in progress or has completed but some files are still locked. This problem can typically be solved by rebooting the computer

Process: aexsvc.exe (280)
Thread ID: XXXX
Module: AltirisNativeHelper.dll
Source: Altiris.NS.Utilities.RemoteServiceMgr
Description: Failed to copy the eXpress Client service to \\XX.XX.XX.XX\ADMIN$\AeXSWDInstSvc.exe. Error:Access to the path "\\XX.XX.XX.XX\ADMIN$\AeXSWDInstSvc.exe" is denied.

SMP Logs

Client push task failed: machine='FQDN', resource=83eb4aec-c4ca-4326-866f-8b2731af444b, taskId=c4ce56ab-ca70-4f3d-e1fc-248079145fcb, remote service stopped, no log found on remote client.
[AeXException @ Altiris.NS.dll]
at Altiris.NS.AgentManagement.ClientPushInstall.ClientPushCoreTask.PushAgentCycle(CodeProfiler, DateTime)
at Altiris.NS.AgentManagement.ClientPushInstall.ClientPushCoreTask.PushAgentToComputer(string, string)

Aexnsc.log - Agent install log

INFO NetworkOperation: Operation 'Direct: Get file' failed.
*ERRR NetworkOperation: Operation 'Direct: Get file' failed.
*ERRR InstallService: Failed to download agent installer from URL:
Url: HTTP://SMPServer:80/Altiris/NS/NSCap/Bin/Win32/X86/NS%20Client%20Package/AeXNSC.exe
Connection path: 3 - Direct: [2610:30:201c:754::89, Manual, Preferred] -> SMPServer [2610:30:201c:754::7e]:80
Connection id: 0.5928
Communication profile id: {016f9ff1-81e2-4344-8b04-ab61306ac293}
Throttling: 0 0 0
Connecton stage: Server connect
Error type: HTTP error
Error code: HTTP status 500: An unexpected condition prevented the server from fulfilling the request (0x8FA101F4)
Error note: 500 Internal Server Error
Connection path id: a0 c5 45 19 e1 38 4e 08 20 15 03 5e 13 0c 35 5d 0d 7c 94 74

Also: Failed to push Symantec Management Agent. Error:1722

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Cause

Agent Push failures can be caused by the following items:

The Admin$ share is not accessible.
Simple file sharing is enabled on XP clients.
DNS is not resolving names correctly.
Windows Firewall is enabled on the client computer (could not ping the client from the Notification Server).
The computer does not have a status of "active" in the console.
Web.config is corrupted which prevents the agent from downloading the AeXNSC.exe

Resolution

At the computer where you want to install the Altiris Agent:
- Verify that the Admin$ share defined and accessible. Right-click the My Computer icon and click Manage. In the Computer Management window, click System Tools > Shared Folder > Shares. In the right pane, verify that the ADMIN$ share is displayed. If it is not, you will have to create it with the shared path C:\Windows.
- Make sure that Simple File Sharing is disabled. Open My Computer and click on Tools > Folder options > View tab, then scroll to the bottom of the list and uncheck the option Use simple file sharing.
- Make sure the Windows Firewall is turned off. Click Start > Control Panel > Security Center. In the Manage security settings for section, click Windows Firewall. When the Windows Firewall window appears, click Off and then click OK.
At the Notification Server, using the credentials that will be used to push out the Altiris Agent:
- Try to access the Admin$ on the client computer by clicking Start > Run and typing \\computername\ADMIN$.
- See if DNS is working properly by pinging the client computer. Open a command window and enter:
  
  ping -a <IP address>
  
  If DNS is working properly, the "-a" should cause the correct Computer Name to be returned as follows:
  
  Pinging <Computer Name> [IP address] with 32 bytes of data.
  
  If the computer cannot be pinged and you cannot access the Admin$ share, it is likely a DNS or firewall issue and will need to be handled by the network admin for the network affected.
For the Web.config issues with the agent downloading the install file, a Repair was needed. The App ID had been changed recently and possibly corrupted the web.config file. We swapped another web.config file from a different SMP, but the App ID was different so this didn't work. A Full Repair was the only way we found to resolve this.

Additional Information

"Automated SMP Agent push fails while manual push works. Error: Failed to open the Service Console Manager on machinexxxx. Return value=0, Error:800706ba" (KB 171947)