Citrix and terminal server best practices for Endpoint Protection
Article ID: 177425
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
This article describes best practices for configuring Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) with Terminal Server and Citrix solutions.
Resolution
The following recommendations apply to Symantec Endpoint Protection version 14.0 and later. It provides information on the best configuration of Symantec Endpoint Protection in Terminal Server and Citrix environments.
Contents
- Scope
- Executive Summary
- What is Windows Terminal Services
- What is Citrix Presentation Server
- Running Symantec Endpoint Protection on Terminal Servers
- Extra considerations for Symantec Endpoint Protection on Citrix products
- Using Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager on Terminal Servers
- Conclusion
- Appendix A: Testing Methodology
- Appendix B: Key Processes on Windows Terminal Services
- Appendix C: Key Processes on Citrix products
- Appendix D: Preventing SmcGui, ProtectionUtilSurrogate and ccApp running for all users
- Appendix E: Tamper Protection
- Appendix F: Changing the Citrix Vendor Daemon Port Number
- Appendix G: Supporting links and information
Scope
This article focuses strictly on providing guidance on how to successfully deploy the Symantec Endpoint Protection 14 protection components to a Microsoft Terminal Server or Citrix Presentation Server. It also provides guidance on recovering from potential issues that may arise during the deployment and a list of useful online resources.
This article does not cover deploying Symantec Endpoint Protection 14 to workstation, other more general administration concerns or Citrix server best practice in general; for guidance on these topics, please refer to the relevant product documentation.
Executive Summary
The aim of this whitepaper is to show that Symantec Endpoint Protection can function correctly on terminal servers and where necessary document any changes required to the Symantec Endpoint Protection architecture in order to improve performance or reliability on those terminal servers. The findings of this white paper are already helping to shape the future direction for SEP functionality on Citrix and Terminal servers.
What is Windows Terminal Services?
The terminal server component of Windows Server allows remote clients and devices to access and use Windows Server desktops and applications. These devices can be Windows, Macintosh or Linux workstations as well as wireless devices, laptops, set top boxes or potentially any device with a network connection. When Terminal Services is activated on a windows server, users can connect to a virtual desktop on the server and all applications are executed on the server, instead of the client device.
Conceptually, the design is similar to using PCAnywhere, VNC or any other remote control product. However, by running a special kernel, a windows terminal server is able to support multiple users connecting to the server simultaneously – each running their own virtual desktop. A single server can potentially support dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands of simultaneous users.
What is Citrix Presentation Server?
Citrix Presentation Server, a member of the Citrix Delivery Center product family, is an end-to-end Windows application delivery system that offers both client-side and server-side application virtualization, for optimal application performance and flexible delivery options. With the secure application architecture, organizations can centralize applications and data in secure data centers, reducing costs of management and support, increasing data security, and ensuring fast, reliable performance.
Presentation Server allows IT departments to deliver secure applications as a service, providing on-demand access to users while affording the flexibility to leverage future application architectures.
Running Symantec Endpoint Protection on Terminal Servers
Symantec Endpoint Protection client will run acceptably on Windows Terminal Servers; however that can be made in order to optimize the overall user experience.
AntiVirus and AntiSpyware protection
The following recommendations should be taken into account:
Configure Auto-Protect to:
- Scan when a file is modified
- Disable network scanning
Centralized Exceptions
Symantec recommends to:
- Exclude the pagefile
- Exclude the print spooler folder
- If the server is a license server, exclude the license server folder and databases
Some server administrators may wish to exclude their users roaming profiles and/or “My Documents” folders from being scanned for security risks. While this will improve performance, Symantec would not recommend this approach – in practice this is generally the location in which security risks are discovered.
Scheduled Scans
If a scheduled scan is required then it should be run out of hours in order to minimise user impact. In addition, ActiveScans when new definitions arrive and startup scans should not be run as they could place unnecessary load on the terminal server during business hours.
Tamper Protection
There are no tamper protection recommendations for a server just running Terminal Services.
Network Threat Protection
Although it is not recommended to run Network Threat Protection on terminal servers, it is entirely possible to do so. The default Symantec Endpoint Protection rule set will allow all terminal services functions to work correctly. However, it should be noted that if a custom rule set is created, the following services and ports should be allowed:
|
Process name |
Local Port |
Remote Port |
Inbound/Outbound |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Svchost.exe |
3389 |
1024-5000 |
Inbound |
RDP Connection |
General Information about Symantec Endpoint Protection and user processes
At all times, terminal server administrators should bear in mind that running SEP client on their terminal servers will not protect the client computer from threats. Depending on the terminal solution being used, Symantec has a separate solution for these (most could run SEP, others may require SEP for XP Embedded) and you should discuss the requirement with your Symantec partner, SE or account manager.
Figure 1 - SEP Processes running on Terminal Servers
When running SEP client on terminal servers, you will notice that multiple instances of both SmcGui.exe and ccApp.exe are running. In addition, on 64 bit terminal servers you will also see ProtectionUtilSurrogate.exe running per user. This is normal behaviour and should not cause problems in small deployments or remote administration scenarios. However, under certain circumstances and depending on the number of sessions in use, this can cause the CPU utilization to spike to 100% and large amount of extra memory to be used. Although these processes are required for a fully working SEP client installation, they can be prevented from loading on terminal servers with minimal effect to the end user. For details on how to do this, please see Appendix D.
Although SEP client can be configured to support multiple users with individual policies, in a terminal server environment, this will manifest itself in a different way than would be imagined. If a user is logged onto the console of the server, then all remote users will be given the same policy. If there is no console user, then all users will receive the policy of the first logged in user.
Symantec are working to change this so that the feature works correctly on terminal servers, but this behaviour is expected at this moment in time.
Extra considerations for Symantec Endpoint Protection on Citrix products
As with Windows Terminal services, Symantec Endpoint Protection runs without major issue on Citrix environments as long as all previous recommendations are taken into account. In addition, certain components of the application may however cause issues. These can vary from an incorrectly configured firewall component blocking traffic to the Tamper Protection module causing issues with certain health checking components of Citrix.
In addition to the AntiVirus and AntiSpyware exclusions for standard terminal servers, the following exclusions are recommended for Citrix servers:
- Citrix program files folder
- Citrix configuration database if present on the server
Symantec recommends that the following process is excluded from Tamper Protection on Citrix servers, as it is known to cause problems:
- ctxcpusched.exe – for more details on this process and how to create an exclusion for it, please refer to Appendix E.
As per terminal servers, if you wish to run the SEP firewall on a Citrix server then it is possible to do so without any issue using the default rule set in SEP 14 and beyond. If, however you wish to create a custom rule set for Citrix then the following processes and communications ports should be taken into account:
|
Process name |
Local Port |
Remote Port |
Direction |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Svchost.exe |
TCP/3389 |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
RDP Connection |
|
ntoskrnl.exe |
TCP/80 |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
Default port for unsecured Web Interface web servers and or TCP+HTTP browsing (XML port) and or Citrix Secure Gateway Secure Ticket Authority (STA) unsecured port. |
|
TCP/443 |
Default port for Citrix Secure Gateway, SSL Relay Service, Citrix ICA connections using SSL+HTTPS browsing and secure connections to a Citrix Web Interface web server) This is the only port that is needed to be open on an external firewall for secure connections to a Citrix Presentation Server environment utilizing the Citrix Secure Gateway technology. |
|||
|
Svchost.exe |
TCP/1494 |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
Default ICA port, this can be changed if necessary. This port is not necessary to be open on the external firewall if you will be utilizing Citrix Secure Gateway for Windows. |
|
ImaSrv.exe |
TCP/2512 (on Farm Master) 1024-5000 (on Remote server) |
TCP/1024- 5000 (for Farm Master) TCP/2512 (on Remote Server) |
Inbound |
Citrix server to server communications |
|
ImaSrv.exe |
TCP/2513 |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
Citrix Management Console for Presentation Server 4.0 communication to the Citrix IMA Data Store |
|
lmgrd.exe |
TCP/27000 |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
Citrix Access Suite License Server and the License Manager daemon communicate over this port |
|
CITRIX.exe |
Dynamic by default, but configurable, see Appendix F |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
Citrix Licensing Server wrapper |
|
Svchost.exe |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
TCP/27000 & Dynamic, depends on CITRIX.exe configuration |
Outbound |
Allows Citrix servers to communicate with a Citrix license server |
|
mmc.exe |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Dynamic |
Outbound |
Allows Citrix management console to communicate with Citrix servers |
|
ConfigMgrSvr.exe |
Dynamic |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
Allows Citrix management console to communicate with Citrix servers |
|
Dllhost.exe |
Dynamic |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
Allows Citrix management console to communicate with Citrix servers |
|
Mfcom.exe |
Dynamic |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
Allows Citrix management console to communicate with Citrix servers |
|
SmaService.exe |
Dynamic |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
Allows Citrix management console to communicate with Citrix servers |
|
XTE.exe |
TCP/2598 |
TCP/1024- 5000 |
Inbound |
ICA session w/ Session Reliability client-to-server communications. This port is only used when Session Reliability is enabled. |
In the case of services that use dynamic ports on servers, it is recommended that a host group be used that contains the IP addresses of the Citrix servers in your organization. This group has been pre-created in the provided firewall policy, you simply need to add your Citrix server addresses to it.
It should be noted that administrators will only see multiple instances of SmcGui.exe, ccApp.exe, and ProtectionUtilSurrogate.exe if they are publishing a full server desktop via Citrix. If published applications are used solely then there will be no multiple instances of these processes and there is no requirement to follow the steps in Appendix D.
Using Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager on Terminal Servers
While it is possible to run the Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager on a terminal server, it is not recommended if the terminal server is to be hosting a large number of terminal sessions due to the performance overhead of the Manager services, particularly when updating definitions and running the Java console.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be seen that Symantec Endpoint Protection client will work on terminal and Citrix servers when installed “out of the box.” However, there are a number of product and configuration optimizations that can be made in order to drastically improve reliability and performance in this particular environment.
Future versions of Symantec Endpoint Protection are already in development and there are many changes being made to the code to provide better optimization in terminal services environments. Until these enhancements are realized, the steps in this whitepaper will provide the same performance benefits.
All the steps in this whitepaper have already been performed on several large Citrix deployments on Symantec customer sites and all participants have been extremely impressed at the performance benefits that these modifications bring about.
Appendix A: Testing Methodology
During the authoring of this whitepaper, the following environment was built:
Figure 2 - Terminal Services Testing Environment
- CITRIX32 – a 32 bit Windows 2003 Server running Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 – member of the farm “Citrix Farm”
- CITRIX64 – a 64 bit Windows 2003 Server running Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 – member of the farm “Citrix Farm”
- WTS32 – a 32 bit Windows 2003 Server running Terminal Services in application mode
- WTS64 – a 64 bit Windows 2003 Server running Terminal Services in application mode
- SYMDC – a 32 bit Windows 2003 Domain Controller for the Domain: SYMCTEST
- SEPM – a 32 bit Windows 2003 Member Server running Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager
- XPCLIENT – a 32 bit Windows XP Client Computer, running ICA Client and Remote Desktop
As can be seen from the diagram above, a domain “SYMCTEST” was established – all servers and clients were members of this domain during testing. Both Citrix servers were joined to the same Citrix Farm – “CitrixFarm.” CITRIX64 served as the Farm master. For the purpose of testing, anonymous access to Citrix applications was configured. Common business applications, such as Microsoft Word and Excel were installed onto the Citrix servers and were published through the Citrix Web Interface. In addition, a full desktop was also published.
Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager was installed onto the server “SEPM.” Packages were then created for servers and deployed from the console. The Windows firewall was turned off on all servers, as the SEP firewall was used, initially with the default firewall policy from 14 and later with a custom-developed policy.
Using the client XPCLIENT, multiple remote desktop sessions were established to each Windows Terminal Server, and performance and task manager processes were observed. In the same way, 10 anonymous sessions were established to each Citrix server – separate tests were performed for published applications and the published desktop. In both cases, the task manager was observed from a console connection.
Changes were then made to the clients on the servers and re-testing was performed to see the difference in performance and processes that were loaded. Each change was made separately, then tested.
Once the process and AntiVirus and AntiSpyware optimization were complete, work was started on the firewall ruleset, with an initial ruleset being put in place that allowed all communication to and from the domain controller and blocked and logged all further traffic. Rules were then created per each block rule that allowed the Citrix and Terminal Server processes until there were no more blocked requests related to Citrix or Terminal Services processes. All tests were then re-run with this new ruleset in use to confirm overall functionality. In addition, Citrix farm administration tasks were also performed from each Citrix server to ensure that server to server communications were still working correctly.
Once all performance changes and testing had been completed, functionality tests were run against the SEP clients running on the servers to prove that core functionality had not been affected by the changes put in place. Virus detections still occurred and users were notified, clients were able to be managed from the management console, and would accept commands and update content and policies successfully.
Appendix B: Key Processes on Windows Terminal Services
The following additional processes can be seen running on a Windows terminal server running SEP Client:
|
Process name |
Per User |
Vendor |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Smc.exe |
No |
Symantec |
Symantec Management Component – connects SEP client to SEPM |
|
SmcGui.exe |
Yes |
Symantec |
Provides the tray icon for SEP and monitors network traffic |
|
ccApp.exe |
Yes |
Symantec |
Provides email scanning for SEP client |
|
ccSvcHost.exe |
No |
Symantec |
Event Manager component |
|
SymCorpUI.exe |
Only when opened |
Symantec |
The Symantec Endpoint Protection client GUI |
|
Lserver.exe |
No |
Microsoft |
Terminal Server Licensing component (if server is a license server) |
In addition, on 64 bit servers, the following processes are present:
|
Process name |
Per User |
Vendor |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
ProtectionUtilSurrogate.exe |
Yes |
Symantec |
This component allows the 64 bit SmcGui process to access 32bit processes, such as RtvScan and SymCorpUI |
Appendix C: Key Processes on Citrix products
The following additional processes may be seen running on a Windows terminal server running Citrix Presentation Server & SEP Client:
|
Process name |
Per User |
Vendor |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Smc.exe |
No |
Symantec |
Symantec Management Component – connects SEP client to SEPM |
|
SmcGui.exe |
Yes |
Symantec |
Provides the tray icon for SEP and monitors network traffic |
|
ccApp.exe |
Yes |
Symantec |
Provides email scanning for SEP client |
|
ccSvcHost.exe |
No |
Symantec |
Event Manager component |
|
SymCorpUI.exe |
Only when opened |
Symantec |
The Symantec Endpoint Protection client GUI |
|
Lserver.exe |
No |
Microsoft |
Terminal Server Licensing component (if server is a license server) |
|
CITRIX.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix License Server wrapper (if server is a Citrix License Server) |
|
CdfSvc.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Diagnostic Facility COM Server – manages diagnostic facility tracing when used to diagnose problems with the Citrix server |
|
cdmsvc.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Handles the mapping of client drives and peripherals within ICA sessions |
|
Citrix_GTLicensingProv.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Provides information and notifications regarding licensing events on the license server (if server is a Citrix License Server) |
|
ConfigMgrSvr.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix Configuration Management Server |
|
CpSvc.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix Print Manager Service – handles the creation of printers and driver usage within Citrix sessions |
|
ctxcpusched.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix CPU Utilization Mgmt/Resource Mgmt – Used in Enterprise and Platinum editions to manage server resource consumption |
|
CtxSFOSvc.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix Virtual Memory Optimisation – Used in Enterprise and Platinum editions to rebase DLL’s in order to free up server memory |
|
ctxwmisvc.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix WMI Service – used to provide the Citrix WMI classes for information and management purposes |
|
encsvc.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix Encryption Service – Handles encryption between the client device and the Citrix server |
|
HCAService.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix Health Monitoring and Recovery – Provides health monitoring and recovery services in the event problems occur |
|
icabar.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix Systems Toolbar |
|
IMAAdvanceSrv.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix Services Manager - Allows the components of Presentation server to interact with the operating system |
|
ImaSrv.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix Independent Management Architecture – provides management services within the Citrix farm |
|
lmgrd.exe |
No |
Macrovision Corporation |
Citrix Licensing – Handles allocation of licenses on the license server (if server is a Citrix License Server) |
|
mfcom.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix MFCOM service – Provides COM services which allow remote connections of the management consoles |
|
pnagent.exe |
Yes |
Citrix |
Citrix ICA Client Program Neighbourhood Agent |
|
RadeObj.exe |
Yes |
Citrix |
Citrix Streaming Client Session COM Server |
|
RadeSvc.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix Streaming Service – used in Enterprise and Platinum versions to manage the Citrix Streaming Client when streaming applications |
|
SmaService.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix SMA Service – Monitors the event log and Citrix WMI to raise alerts in the Access Suite console or Access Management console |
|
ssonsvr.exe |
Yes |
Citrix |
Citrix Program Neighbourhood and Single Sign on Agent |
|
Tomcat.exe |
No |
Alexandria Software Consulting |
Citrix License Management Console – provides the web-based interface for licensing administration |
|
wfshell.exe |
Yes |
Citrix |
Citrix WinFrame Shell – seamless windows engine shell |
|
XTE.exe |
No |
Citrix |
Citrix XTE Server - Handles SSL Relay and Session Reliability functionality |
In addition, on 64 bit servers, the following processes are present:
|
Process name |
Per User |
Vendor |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
ProtectionUtilSurrogate.exe |
Yes |
Symantec |
This component allows the 64 bit SmcGui process to access 32bit processes, such as RtvScan and SymCorpUI |
Appendix D: Preventing SmcGui, ProtectionUtilSurrogate and ccApp running for all users
|
Process name |
|---|
|
SmcGui.exe |
|
ProtectionUtilSurrogate.exe |
|
ccApp.exe |
From this point onwards, SmcGui.exe, ProtectionUtilSurrogate.exe (on 64 bit servers) and ccApp.exe no longer load for any new user sessions. There may however still be instances of ccApp.exe already running on the server that have not been closed. You can either kill these tasks from Task Manager or wait for the user to log off – ccApp.exe will close and will not be re-launched at the next logon.
The following is a list of the features that are lost after implementation of this workaround: Disabling ccApp:
- Internet Email Scanning
Disabling SmcGui
- Tray icon and Tray Icon menu
- Open Symantec Endpoint Protection
- Enable/Disable Symantec Endpoint Protection
- Update Policy
- Re-Authenticate User (SNAC Only)
- Firewall and AV status
- Tool Tips
- Balloons
- Firewall prompts (packets will be dropped)
- Creation of a user’s private log directory
- AV Definitions dialogs:
- Definitions out-of-date
- Definitions corrupt
- Definitions missing
- Startup Scans
- Floppy disk detection on shutdown
- Reboot prompts. Reboots will happen without prompting, identical to what happens when there is no logged in user.
- Screen saver detection for firewall rules that use the Screen Saver state
Appendix E: Tamper Protection
In certain circumstances, if SEP is configured to notify the user of Tamper Protection violations, you will see the following dialog box when SEP is installed onto 32-bit Citrix servers. You will not see this notification on 64-bit servers, as Tamper Protection is not supported on 64-bit servers.
Figure 3 - Tamper Protection Alert for Citrix CPU Management process
The Centralized Exceptions policy provided in this article excludes this process from detection. However, in certain cases this exclusion may not work correctly and you will need to exclude it yourself. The only way you can do this is via the management console after detection.
To add the process as described:
- Log on to the SEPM management console with an administrator account.
- Click Policies > Centralized Exceptions.
- If you don’t already have a Centralized Exceptions policy, then either import the one with this whitepaper (follow Appendix F) or create a new one by clicking “Add a Centralized Exceptions Policy.” Give the policy a suitable name and click OK, then click No to assign the policy prompt.
- Click Monitors.
- Click the Logs tab.
- In Log Type, select Application and Device Control.
- In Log Content, select Application Control.
- Click Advanced Settings >>.
- In Event Type, select Tamper Protection.
- Click View Log. You will see a list of Tamper Protection violations.
- Select an appropriate violation, click Add File to Centralized Exceptions policy, and click Start.
- Ensure that the file to be excluded is correct.
- Select all Centralized Exceptions policies you want to add the exception to.
- Click OK.
- Click OK again.
- Click Policies > Centralized Exceptions.
- Double-click the Centralized Exception policy you just added the new exception to. The policy opens.
- In the left pane, click Centralized Exceptions. Confirm the file is listed and has an Action of “Ignore”.
Appendix F: Changing the Citrix Vendor Daemon Port Number
By default, the Citrix vendor daemon uses a dynamically changing port number that changes when the license server or the CitrixLicensing service is restarted.
Consequently, the Citrix vendor daemon port is not specified anywhere. To change the port number, add parameters for the new port number and the path for the options file to the VENDOR CITRIX line in each license file, including the startup license file. The modified syntax in the license file is as follows:
VENDOR CITRIX options=“C:\Program Files\Citrix\Licensing\MyFiles\CITRIX.opt” port=number
When changing the Citrix vendor daemon port number, you must change the number in every license file on the license server and all subsequent license files that you download.
To configure a static port number for the Citrix vendor daemon:
- Logon to the Citrix License Server with an administrative account.
- Browse to the Citrix license server files location (default location is C:\Program Files\Citrix\Licensing\MyFiles).
- Remove the Read Only attribute from all license files on the server, including the startup license file.
- Open a license file with any text editor.
- In the license file, locate the line VENDOR CITRIX.
- Modify the line by appending the following:
options=<the path to the options file> port=<the chosen port number>
Example:VENDOR CITRIX options=“C:\Program Files\Citrix\Licensing\MyFiles\CITRIX.opt” port=27950 - Save the license file—ensure you keep the .lic extension.
- Repeat Steps 4 through 7 for each license file on the license server.
- Restart the CitrixLicensing service. You can also run the lmreread License Administration Command on the license files or force the license server to reread the license files by clicking Update license data on the License Files page of the License Management Console.
Note: If a TCP/IP port number is specified on the VENDOR line, the Citrix vendor daemon may not restart until all the clients close their connections to the vendor daemon.
Appendix G: Supporting links and information
See Citrix Guidelines for Antivirus Software Configuration
In Symantec Endpoint Protection 14, some processes have changed on the client:
- ccApp.exe and Rtvscan.exe are no longer present. Their functionality has been moved into ccSvcHost.exe.
- SmcGui.exe will only be running if the user launches the Symantec Endpoint Protection GUI and it should only be launched for that user session.
- ccSvcHst.exe handles the system tray icon which is supposed to run in every session.
On SEP 14.3 RU1 and newer, the 'Disable the notification tray icon' setting can be enabled to prevent multiple instances of user session processes.
To prevent the process from starting via the 'Disable the notification tray icon' feature:
- Navigate to Clients > Policies tab > General (under Settings) > General Settings tab.
- Under Performance Settings, check the box next to 'Disable the notification area icon'.
- Note: On SEP 14.3 RU1 and newer, when 'Disable the notification area icon' is unchecked, the value of LaunchSMCGui in the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SMC (or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SMC in 14.3 RU5 and later) will be set to "1". If that value is manually changed, it will be overwritten with what is reflected via policy when the client SMC service is restarted. To set this setting on SEP 14.3 RU1 and newer, it must be managed via the policy.
Note: The cloud console (ICDM) currently does NOT have a policy setting for this so follow the SEP 14.3 MP1 and prior steps.
On SEP 14.3 MP1 and prior, the start of these multiple instances can be prevented by modifying the registry value for LaunchSmcGui as described.
To prevent the process from starting by changing the registry value:
- Click Start, Run, type "regedit", and click OK.
- Browse to the SMC key.
In versions SEP 14.3 RU5 and later on 64bit operating systems and all 32bit operating systems the location is:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SMC
In SEP 14.3 RU4 and earlier the location on 64-bit operating systems, is located under Wow6432Node in the registry:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SMC - Find the entry LaunchSmcGui and change it from DWORD 1 to DWORD 0 (add it if it is not already present)
- Stop and Restart SepMasterService by going to Start > Run and run the following commands:
smc -stop
smc -start
Notes:
- If you are unable to modify the listed registry keys, you can temporarily disable Tamper Protection. The previous registry change will need to be reapplied after a successful upgrade of the client.
- SEP 14.0 RTM / 14.0 MP1 have a defect that prevents SEP 14 clients from honoring the LaunchSmcGui 0 registry key value, when correctly set. Multiple instances of ccSvcHst.exe will launch per each user logged onto a Citrix, or Remote Desktop servers. See Persistent per-user ccSvcHst.exe processes prevent graceful session logoff.
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