An Altiris Agent on a computer that has multiple Network Interface Cards (NICs) stops communicating with Notification Server if the primary NIC becomes unavailable

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

The scenario is as follows:

The computer on which the Altiris Agent is installed has been set up with multiple NICs, each of which allows a clear route to the Notification Server computer. The Altiris Agent selects one of the NICs as the "primary" NIC for all communications with Notification Server.

If the selected NIC becomes unavailable for any reason, the Altiris Agent is not automatically switching over to use an alternate functional NIC as the new "primary".

Once the primary NIC becomes unavailable, the Altiris Agent will fail to carry out any further communication with Notification Server until the Altiris Agent service is restarted.

Note: VPN Adapters often times show up as a separate NIC.

Cause

When a computer has multiple NICs installed, the Altiris Agent chooses the most suitable NIC available for communication with Notification Server. When that NIC becomes unavailable, the Altiris Agent attempts to select another one. However, due to the way the NS Agent is coded, the alternative NICs are ignored and the Altiris Agent continues to try to communicate with the NS over the original NIC

Resolution

You need to restart the Altiris Agent to clear the IP cache that it has stored for Notification Server. The Altiris Agent then starts using the alternate NIC for communicating with Notification Server.

Applies To
Symantec Management Platform 7.0