The Altiris service stops and will not restart with the error message: "Root Element is missing".

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

The Altiris service stops and will not restart with the error message that is found in the Windows Event Viewer's Application log:

The AeXSvc process terminated due to an unhandled exception. Details: System.Xml.XmlException: Root element is missing.

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Cause

The CoreSettings.config file is either empty or has become corrupt.

Resolution

Replace the Coresettings.config file with its backup; if the backup is not corrupted:

1. Stop all Altiris Services.
2. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server and open the CoreSettings.config file in a notepad.
3. Check to see if the file is empty or have high ASCII characters scattered through the file. If either is true do the following:
       a. Open the CoreSettings.config.backup file and verify that it is not corrupt.
       b. Rename the original CoreSettings.config file to CoreSettings.config.old
       c. Rename the CoreSettings.config.backup file to CoreSettings.config
4. Close any files that are still open
5. Try to start the Altiris Services.
6. Reattempt to started Solution application again within the management platform.