Installed Software data missing for some applications - no uninstall string in the registry

Products

• Inventory Solution
• IT Management Suite
• Client Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

Starting with ITMS 8.5, software without an uninstall string is not captured by Inventory. This is due to the requirement to have an uninstall string for valid installed software.

Installed Software data and the Add Remove Programs data will not capture software, omitting them from the results.

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Inventory Solution 8.x

Cause

Misconfigured software installers may omit the uninstall string in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.

Installers can also be packaged to disallow users to uninstall them by removing registry components from the registry.

Resolution

Use this method to inventory these installed applications. the following walk-through provides an example of how to do this:

1. In the Symantec Management Console, go to Manage > Software > browse under All Software > All Software Components.
2. Find the software in the list. Double-click to bring up edit mode.
3. Under the Rules tab, see if a detection rule exists for this software. If so, check to see if it is viable. If not, click the botton to create a new one.
   1. Typical Detection Rules that work well are the Registry Version and Static File Expression.
4. Save the rule and click OK to save the Software Resource.
5. In the console, click on the Policies link in the lower left and browse under Discovery and Inventory.
6. Right-click on Targeted Software Inventory > go to New > and click on New Targeted Software Inventory.
7. Click Select Software and add any software you've configured in the previous steps. Repeat this process for any software needed to be Inventoried.
8. Expand the schedule section. Add a repeating schedule for how often you'd like this inventory to be collected. Note that the inventory is collected by running the detection checks for any software added to the policy.
9. If you'd also like to have it run immediately upon getting the policy, add a second schedule that only runs once with no repeat, with a start time in the past.
10. Enable the policy and click Save changes.
11. It will take time for the systems to get the policy and run it.