Persistent Connection tries to connect directly to the SMP Server in CEM mode(Internet), if SMP Server IP address can be resolved.
Unable to establish persistent communication via CEM Gateway.
source='SMAIO.SSLProxy.Socket' module='AeXNetComms.dll' process='AeXNSAgent.exe'
<![CDATA[[1A:OUT_SRV: D20 -> 12F4, CONN: 48992C18] Connect[12F4] failed, error: The semaphore timeout period has expired (0x00000079)]]>
One of the scenarios reported is as follow:
Using Persistent Connections on a Split Tunnel VPN.
Due to the volume of simultaneous people working remotely we have enabled Split Tunnel on our VPN appliances and added Altiris to the split. This is forcing the laptops to go to CEM directly over the internet rather than using bandwidth on the VPN devices. We have blocked the SMP and each of the Site Servers configured in the CEM policy. The Persistent connection to the SMP of CEM is working. However, the agents are not getting a persistent connection to the Task Server. They are getting a legacy connection.
Symantec Management Platform 8.5 prior to 8.5 RU4
Known Issue.
The agent logs show that neither SMP nor TS persistent connections can be established. The reason is simple - SMP and TS FQDNs can be resolved to IP successfully and the agent assumes it should connect there directly ignoring the gateway even if it cannot connect to the server later.
Our HTTP transport works differently - it tries CEM connection in case the direct connection fails. This is a miss in our websocket implementation that has been bothering clients for a while.
Dev team made the simpler fix (until a more permanent implementation can be done) that works this way:
The disadvantage of the fix that it is required couple of minutes (depending on the websocket timeouts and intervals) for the persistent connection to be established in such scenario on the first attempt.
With the ideal fix the delay at first connection attempt would be equal to websocket connection timeout (1 min), the agent would connect through gateway right away, but that fix would require much more of retesting.
It is a known issue for WebSockets(Persistent Connection) to try to connect to the SMP Server directly when the SMP Servers IP address can be resolved.
The Symantec Management Agent assumes a LAN connection. This has been addressed with our ITMS 8.5 RU4 release.