After installing NS 7.0, unable to access NS Console: An error has occurred that prevents the Symantec Management Console displaying correctly.
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After installing NS 7.0, unable to access NS Console: An error has occurred that prevents the Symantec Management Console displaying correctly.

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Article ID: 176832

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Updated On:

Products

IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

After installing Notification Server 7.0 via Symantec Installation Manager 7.0 (SIM 7.0), the Notification Server Console is not displaying any of its content. It is getting the following message:

Symantec Management Server Error

An error has occurred that prevents the Symantec Management Console displaying correctly.

If this page is shown in place of a page or web part in the Symantec Management Console, navigate back to the page using the menu or tree and continue working. If the problem persists, see your local network administrator.

If this page is shown in place of the Symantec Management Console, one of the following could be the cause:

  • The "Altiris Service" service is not running. Start this service on the server and reload the console.
  • The account used for either the "Altiris Service" or the Notification Server webs is incorrect, disabled or the password for the account has expired. On the Notification Server computer, run "C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\bin\AeXConfig.exe /svcid user:(user name) password:(password)]", substituting the correct installation path if a non-default location was used, to provide a new account.
  • The name of the Notification Server computer has been renamed. The following steps will need to be taken to correct this:
    • If SQL Server is installed on the same machine as the Notification Server:
    • Open the file [NS INSTALL DIRECTORY]\Notification Server\Config\CoreSettings.config, search for the word 'key=DBUser'. Replace the 'value' attribute of the found XML element from the previous server name to the new server name.
    • If account used for either the "Altiris Service" or the Notification Server webs is a local user (i.e. Not a domain user), you will need to update the account to the new name. You can do so by following the 2nd bullet points on this page.
    • Open Registry Editor, browse to the registry key "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Altiris\express\Notification Server\". Find and replace any value that contains the old server name with the new name.
    • Re-push the agent out to all previously managed machines. (#)
    • Run the Windows schedule named "NS.Package Refresh" to re-validate site/package server packages. To get to the Windows schedules, go to 'Start' > 'Control Panel' > 'Scheduled Tasks'.
    • If you have hierarchy set up, you will need to remove and re-add the renamed server to the hierarchy. To do so, go to the "Hierarchy Management" page under the menu "Settings" > "Notification Server" > "Hierarchy".

In both cases, the Symantec Management Server log and the Windows Event log may contain useful information. The Symantec Management Server log can be accessed on the server by running "Start" menu > "All Programs" > "Altiris" > "Diagnostics" > "Altiris Log Viewer".

(#) If the NS hosted computer has yet been renamed, a better alternative would be to point all NS clients to the new server name first. You can do this by going to the menu "Settings" > "Agents/Plug-ins" > "Targeted Agent Settings". For each policy in the list, select the "Advanced" tab and specifies the new server name under the "Alternative URL for accessing NS" section. By doing this, all the clients will work automatically once the NS server has been renamed.

Cause

There are (at present) 2 possible causes for this:

Scenario 1:

 A problem has occurred during the SIM install that causes an improper execution of the AexConfig process.

Scenario 2:

During the initial setup for Notification Server 7.0, customer selected his previous database, from Notification Server 6.0 SP3, instead of creating a new one.
NS 7.0 uses a different scheme in the database. When customer tried to use his previous database, the NS Console found a conflict that caused not to load.
The normal practice from customers that are using NS 6.0 SP3 and then move to NS 7.0 is to create a new database (usually called Symantec_CMDB) and then migrate their previous database (usually called Altiris) using the Migration Tool referenced by SIM 7.0 during initial setup. Then customer should select the data that can be migrated to his new database for NS 7.0.

Resolution

Scenario 1:

If the problem is caused during the SIM install and everything else checks out (Services are up, User account credentials are valid, etc...), then the issue can be resolved by navegating to <Install dir>\Altiris\Notification Server\bin and running Aexconfig.exe /configureall

NOTE:: Aexconfig.exe /configureall should be used with great caution. If the user has already installed & configured the Notification Server, running the /configureall switch will cause the solution settings to revert to their default values.

Scenario 2:

Since the issue is caused by using the incorrect database (using NS 6.0 SP3 database), you can try the following:

1. Open the file [NS INSTALL DIRECTORY]\Notification Server\Config\CoreSettings.config, search for the word 'key=DBCatalog'. Replace the 'value' attribute of the found XML element from the previous database name to the new database name (if it was created previously during original SIM 7.0 setup).
2. If it still doesn't open the NS Console or there is not a new database created during initial setup, try running SIM 7.0 (Start>All Programs>Altiris>Symantec Installation Manager>Symantec Installation Manager) and under Installed Products, look for Symantec Management Platform and click on it and select 'Modify'. Follow the setup steps.


Applies To
Notification Server 7.0
Symantec Installation Manager 7.0

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