Agent Push to Mac failed with an error: ERROR=1

Products

• IT Management Suite
• Notification Server Agent for Macintosh (Altiris)

Issue/Introduction

When trying to push the Symantec Management Agent to an OSX/MacOS computer, the push fails and the logs show an entry similar to the following:

INFO: SHA 256 integrity check succeeded.
WARNING: Failed to establish connection with 'https://EXAMPLESERVER:443/Altiris/NS/Agent/ConnectionTest.asp'.
ERROR: Failed to establish connection with Notification Server.
Must provide either install XML in current working directory, 
or run correct bootstrap file with embedded install XML, 
or specify NS/URL parameter.
ERROR=1

Environment

ITMS/Symantec Management Platform 7.x or 8.x
MacOS 10.x

Cause

There are limitations with the configured setting for the server name. MacOS requires a valid SSL certificate for HTTPS communications, and the either the server cannot be reached with the name specified, or the certificate is invalid.

Resolution

All computers, including Windows and Unix/Linux/Macs, use a Communications Profile for configuring the server name. In the Symantec Management Console, check the setting for the server at: Settings > Agents/Plug-ins > All Agents/Plug-ins; Symantec Management Agent > Symantec Management Agent Communication Profiles > (server name). Verify the server name in both the "HTTP communication hosts" and "HTTPS communication hosts" is set to the valid FQDN that can be accessed on the network.

The Agent Push for Macs also uses another setting, found in the Registry. Access the Registry for the Management Server for "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Altiris\eXpress\Notification Server". Look for the key named "PreferredNSHost" and edit it, to be the FQDN that matches the server name (and SSL certificate). After this is changed, restart the "Altiris Service" service, then reload the console. The name of the server in the browser title should be changed to the FQDN just configured.