Which site or package server will a client receive its packages codebases and or task sources from?

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

A common topic received by Symantec Management Platform support engineers is the confusing dilemma where administrators are attempting to identify why specific clients are connecting to specific task server(s) or receiving packages from specific servers. Sometimes the source servers are not in a subnet that is optimal for task activities or receiving package files, especially very large ones, but the clients repeatedly deal with non optimal servers.

Some of the common questions asked are:

• Why are my clients connecting to a Task Server on another subnet or network?
• Why are my clients downloading packages from a Package Server on another subnet or network?
• Why aren't my clients able to download a package? Why are they being given a particular Package Server to download packages from when they ask to download package files?

The Symantec Management Platform Administrators guide gives some guidelines on how to create Sites and assign them to subnets, but it is vague on the subject of "Supernets" and their effect upon client-to-site-server activities.

A Supernet is a subnet that, by nature of its Subnet Mask, encompasses other subnets into them.

For example you may see a subnet object in the list of subnets as follows:
       10.0.0.0/8

You may also see other subnet objects such as 10.0.0.0/16, 10.0.0.0/24.

The hierarchy of these subnets would be displayed in the console as follows:

      10.0.0.0/8
            10.0.0.0/16
                  10.0.0.0/24

As a result, all computers in subnet 10.0.0.0/24 would be part of 10.0.0.0/16 and all computers in subnet 10.0.0.0/16 would be part of subnet 10.0.0.0/8. Therefore if subnet 10.0.0.0/8 was assigned to the site "Enterprise" then all clients and site servers residing in the lower subnets would service all clients in site Enterprise.  

This is sometimes optimal, but most times it is not desired. Therefore it becomes a challenge to detect what Sites, Subnets and Site Servers will be governing clients throughout the subnet hierarchies.

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Resolution

Older SMP Server versions:
Attached is the Sites and Subnet Info.xml document, when imported into your Symantec Management Platform Console, will create a Site and Subnet report. For further instructions on how to import the report, and the usage of the report, please download and read the Sites and Subnets Infor- Report Usage.docx file.

For ITMS 8.6 RU3 (available since 8.5 release) and later:
Refer to the followingdefault reports under "Reports > Notification Server Management > Server > Subnets and Sites Info" are available by default to help to have a better view of Subnets and Sites assignments:

Additional Information

"Is there a way to see which packages have not been downloaded by package servers or to see package-to-package server information?" (KB 150333)