KNOWN ISSUE: Maintenance Windows are not adjusting to daylight savings time

Products

• Management Platform (Formerly known as Notification Server)

Issue/Introduction

After daylight savings time (DST) changes occur, any maintenance windows configured to run using server time will be offset by an hour on targeted agent computers.  For example, a maintenance windows configured to use server time starting at 12:00am may reflect on an agent computer starting at 11:00pm after DST changes occur, therefore allowing the agent to execute policies on hour earlier than the configured time.

 

Cause

The scheduling of maintenance windows is stored in the database using a time zone value according to the local date/time configuration on the SMP server; however, after DST changes the time zone offset is not updated within the database.

 

Resolution

This issue is currently under review by Symantec development teams.  There are two workarounds to this issue, both of which involve re-saving the maintenance windows after the change in DST.  Once the maintenance windows are saved in the database with the updated time zone offset, targeted agents will receive the changes after a new configuration policy is received from the SMP server.

Option 1: Manually open each maintenance window within the console and click "Save changes" after the change in DST has occurred on the SMP server.  It is not necessary to modify any configuration within the maintenance window but by clicking on "Save changes" the database will be updated with the correct time zone value.   

Option 2:  Use the attached script to resave all maintenance windows on the SMP server after the change in DST has occurred.  The script can be manually executed through a command prompt or can be scheduled using the Windows Task Scheduler.

To manually run the script:

1. Download the appropriate attachment from this article depending on your version of SMP.
2. Extract all files from the attachment to a local directory on the SMP server.  For example, save the extracted files to C:\DST_Script. Make sure PointFix is not extracted to the Altiris directory (or any subfolder to it).
3. Skip this step if SMP is installed to the default location.  If SMP is installed to a non-default location, edit file MaintenanceWindows.nrf and update the path for Altiris.Web.NS.dll.  Save the updated .nrf file.
4. Log onto the SMP server using a Symantec Administrator account.
5. Execute Install.cmd with administrative privileges (right-click > Run as Administrator).
6. Accept UAC (User Account Control) prompt.
7. Close Install.cmd window once the script process is completed.

When executing Install.cmd, the item GUID for the maintenance windows will be displayed as well as the schedule as it was originally configured in the database and the schedule after the maintenance windows was resaved.  This information repeats for each maintenance window within the currently attached database.

To schedule the execution of the script through the Windows Task Scheduler:

1. Download the appropriate attachment from this article depending on your version of SMP.
2. Extract all files from the attachment to a local directory on the SMP server.  For example, save the extracted files to C:\DST_Script. Make sure PointFix is not extracted to the Altiris directory (or any subfolder to it).
3. Skip this step if SMP is installed to the default location.  If SMP is installed to a non-default location, edit file MaintenanceWindows.nrf and update the path for Altiris.Web.NS.dll.  Save the updated .nrf file.
4. On the SMP server, navigate to the Windows Task Scheduler Library and chose the option to Create Task.
5. In the Create Task General tab:
   1. Provide a Name for the task
   2. Use the option to Run whether use is logged on or not
   3. Select the option to Run with highest privileges
   4. Configure the task to run as the Application Identity user account
6. In the Create Task Triggers tab:
   1. Click the New button to create the schedule.
   2. Select a time appropriate to run after DST changes occur.  For example, if DST begins on March 10 at 2 am (which effectively will move the clock forward to 3 am) set the schedule to run on March 10 at 3:01 am. 
7. In the Create Task Actions tab:
   1. Click the New button to create an action.
   2. From the dropdown box, select Action: Start a program.
   3. For the program/script, browse to NScript.exe (on a default install located at C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\Bin).
   4. Add arguments:  C:\DST_Script\MaintenanceWindows.cs  (referring to the path used in Step 2 above).
8. For the Create Task Conditions and Settings tabs, the default settings will be sufficient
9. Once the new task has been created in the Windows Task Scheduler Library, manually kick off the task to verify it runs.  Within the a.log file, you will find the informational message below indicating that the script has run. 

Priority: 4

Date: 03/1/2013 12:01:28 PM

Tick Count: 91079608

Host Name: SERVER

Process: NScript (5104)

Thread ID: 29

Module: NScript.exe

Source: System.Threading.ExecutionContext.runTryCode

Description: EventLogging thread has started.

 

Applies To

Symantec Management Platform 7.1 SP2