SEP for Mac installer or related tools fail to run with various errors
Article ID: 163806
Updated On: 04-02-2025
Products
Issue/Introduction
The Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) installer or other Symantec tools fail to run on macOS 10.12 "Sierra" or later.
You may see one of the following errors:
- Installation Failed
- Symantec Endpoint Protection has failed to install
- The application "Symantec Endpoint Protection Installer" can't be opened.
See Additional Information for a full list of related errors.
Environment
- Symantec Endpoint Protection
- macOS 10.12 "Sierra" or newer
Cause
These errors may be caused by a macOS security feature that assigns extended attributes ("com.apple.quarantine") to any file that has been downloaded from a network site or has been moved from its original download location ("App Translocation").
Other circumstances may have altered macOS file attributes or permissions settings.
Possible causes of these symptoms:
- The installer was downloaded from a network location
- The file was moved from its original download location
- The zip archive was decompressed on a different file system (i.e. Windows) before copying it to Mac
Resolution
Reset the extended attributes and permission settings for the affected files.
For example, for "Symantec Endpoint Protection Installer" and "Additional Resources" in "SEP" folder of the user's desktop, open a Terminal window and run the following commands:
sudo xattr -rc "~/Desktop/SEP"
sudo chmod -R 755 "~/Desktop/SEP"
Next, retry the installer or tool.
NOTE: If doing the above on a macOS 15.3.x (Sequoia) M2 Pro machine and a repeat uninstall using the RemoveSymantecMacFiles.command tool still fails with the below:
...
29:95: execution error: Finder got an error: The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have the necessary permission. (-5000)
Failed to remove /Applications/Symantec Endpoint Protection.app.
com.broadcom.mes.systemextension.systemextension
com.broadcom.mes.systemextension.systemextension is systemextension
SystemExtensionName: com.broadcom.mes.systemextension
find com.broadcom.mes.systemextension need to be uninstall in /Applications/Symantec Endpoint Protection.app
Failed to remove /Applications/Symantec Endpoint Protection.app.
remove /Applications/Symantec Endpoint Protection.app failed!
...
Then you'll need to "disable" the Symantec System Extension before running the RemoveSymantecMacFiles.command script again. In testing, when the Symantec System Extension is still "enabled" even during uninstall, this will block the tool from completing the uninstall.
Note: If the above path syntax does not work, try using the "cd" command to navigate to the appropriate parent folder (remove quotes for folder names that do not contain spaces) before trying the commands.
For example:
sudo xattr -rc <parent folder name>
Additional Information
See the full list of potential errors below:
- Installation Failed
Your installer is either corrupt or missing important resources.
Please try again later or contact Support. - Symantec Endpoint Protection has failed to install
The installer encountered an error that caused the installation to fail
Contact your IT Administrator for assistance - "The application "Symantec Endpoint Protection Installer" can't be opened."
- "... cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer ...
macOS cannot verify that this app is free from malware."
- "Install Failed: Invalid Symantec Endpoint Protection Package ...
Please make sure latest package is downloaded to /Users/[username]/Downloads" - "It seems like something went wrong with the installation of the product"
- When using the Installer's Tools menu->Create remote deployment package:
"Remote deployment package creation closing ...
Error creating package. Refer to console log for details." - The file "RemoveSymantecMacFiles.command" could not be executed because you do not have appropriate access privileges.
To view or change access privileges, select the file in the Finder and choose File > Get info.
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