Troubleshooting Rapid Release definition updates in Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange

Products

• Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange

Issue/Introduction

You have installed Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE) and wish to update its definitions via the optional Rapid Release feature. (For protection against the latest known mail-bourne threats, the use of Rapid Release definitions is recommended at the mail server rather than just the default certified definitions) You recieve an error when attempting to update virus defintions. 

Typical errors take the form of a message simply saying "FTP Failure".

Resolution

To troubleshoot this issue, it is important to understand how the product works when trying to retrieve Rapid Release definitions. Keep in mind the following key points:

• Ensure that you are running a current release of SMSMSE.  See Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange 7.5.1 and earlier will no longer be able to utilize version 4 (v4) Rapid Release (RR) or Intelligent Updater (IU) definition packages after April 15th, 2016.
• Rapid Release defintions are NOT downloaded with LiveUpdate, but rather with a script that runs an FTP command.  The server must be able to access the internet on port 21.  If FTP communication is blocked or cannot be initiated, the update will fail.
• The script file being launched is named "RapidRelease.bat", which in turn uses FTP command found in a file called "RR". Both files are found in the SMSMSE install directory. (By default, this directory is c:\program files\symantec\SMSMSE\[version number]\server.)
• The actual file being downloaded and used to update the definitions is called "symrapidreleasedefsv5i32.exe". The script will attempt to delete the existing version of this file before downloading a new copy. If this delete fails for any reason, the script will return the "FTP Failure" message. Not being able to delete this file is one of the most common reasons for this error. If this file exists on the system, make sure it can be deleted manually to rule out this possibility.
• If FTP.exe is running, stop this process, delete symrapidreleasedefsv5i32.exe and RapidRelease.bat will now run and update the virus definitions.

Technical Information
If the scripting used to download the Rapid Release definitions has been altered, the information in this document may not apply. Symantec does not support alterations to the "RapidRelease.bat" or "RR" files. If necessary, the original versions of these files can be extracted from the "data1.cab" file, found inside the "server" folder of the SMSMSE install media.