SMP coresettings.config file empty, invalid or corrupt

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

The coresettings.config file for Notification Server/Symantec Management Platform is empty (filled with white space), invalid or corrupt.

You notice this by the Altiris Service (AeXSvc.exe) crashing immediately upon starting, or the Altiris services taking a long time to start, entering a hung starting state and then failing to start by timing out:

Service failed to start

Exception Error

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Cause

Corruption of the coresettings.config file due to environmental reasons, such as a server crash, power outage, lack of disk space, out of memory, etc.

Resolution

A good step to perform if there seems to be other system issues after a server crash/outage would be to re-register the .NET Framework.

The normal recommendation would be that you restore the coresettings.config from a backup or from the coresettings.config.backup file. However at times this might not be possible. If this is not possible you should be successful in following the steps as outlined below. Please note, that the coresettings.config files were provided for specific build versions of SMP. If you do not see the specific version for your installation you can try one that most closely matches. If this does not work, please call support and we might be able to provide you with a coresettings.config file template for your particular installed version.

 Instructions on modifying and configuring the coresettings.config file

1. Make sure -ALL- Altiris services are stopped (Including the Altiris Support Service)
2. Place/copy the coresettings.config file in C:\ProgramData\Symantec\SMP\Settings folder
3. Modify/edit the coresettings.config file values for the following two items
   • In <customSetting key="DbServer" type="local" value="SQLSERVERNAME" /> substitute SQLSERVERNAME with the name of your SQL server. If the SQL Server uses an instance that is non default you can do SQLSERVERNAME\INSTANCENAME.
   • In <customSetting key="DbCatalog" type="local" value="Symantec_CMDB_DATABASENAME" /> substitute Symantec_CMDB_DATABASENAME with the name of the database you are using. This could be the (default) of Symantec_CMDB but may be something other. You might want to check by connecting to the databse with something like SQL Management Studio, etc.
4. Run AeXConfig /db to configure the database settings. An example would be AeXConfig /db dbserver:SQLSERVERNAME dbname:Symantec_CMDB_DATABASENAME dbusername: dbpassword: dbtimeout:1600
   • Please note that you want to keep the dbusername: and dbpassword: options blank/unset if using the AppID/windows authentication to connect to SQL. If you use a SQL account such as sa or another sql server account you can specify it here. Specifying a windows/active directory account here is not a valid option.
5. Run AeXConfig /svcid user:DOMAIN\username password:PASSWORD
   • Supply the accountname as DOMAIN\username and the password for the Application Identity account. This is the account that the Altiris services are meant to run under.
6. Add the proper values for the following settings:
   • <customSettings key="OwnerNSGuid" type="local" value="{GUID.EN_US}" />. Add the GUID that is currently in use on your database. Run the following query to obtain the GUID in use:
     select osns.Id as [Server ID], vtns.guid as [Server GUID]

     from OriginNSSourceNS osns

     join vThisNS vtns on vtns.Guid = osns.OriginNSGuid

     and vtns.Guid = osns.SourceNSGuid
   • <customSettings key="NSResourceGuid" type="local" value="{GUID.EN_US}" />. Add the GUID that is currently assigned to your SMP under the Symantec Management Agent (open the SMA window on the system tray for your SMP).
7. Restart IIS and the Altiris Services.

At this point you should be able to start up the Altiris services successfully. If you cannot, please make sure that you followed all the above steps and make note of any changes in the startup/errors that may have been caused by the changes made.

Beware, that other settings such as default e-mail settings that are contained in the coresettings.config file will have changed. Please take steps to check all your custom settings and make sure they reflect the correct values in your environment.