Solution maps

(1) DISK SPACE

To inspect and address any issues with Disk Space

1. View disk statistics:

   • From the Control Center, click Status > Hosts. Use the Hardware Information and Hardware Status tabs to see total disk space and current usage.

   • From the command line, type system-stats disk_used and system-stats disk_free

2. If disk space is in short supply, you have the following options to free disk space:

   • Delete content informational and content quarantine incidents

   • Delete spam message quarantine items

   • Delete backups in the local backup store

   • Delete excess log and message audit log data

3. For a comprehensive list of options for clearing disk space see the recommended resolution for File write error and Clear disk space checklist.

4. After resolving the current disk shortage, reconfigure Symantec Brightmail Gateway to store less data to prevent this issue in the future. You can also configure alerts to notify you when disk space is low.

   • To limit the amount of log data stored: Administration > Settings > Logs > [Database Log Storage Limits]

   • To set up alerts: Administration > Settings > Alerts > Disk Space

(2) MEMORY ISSUES

To inspect and address any issues with memory consumption

1. View memory statistics:

   • From the Control Center, click Status > Hosts to see memory used and memory free.

   • From the command line, type sys-info. See Adding additional Scanners for a full set of memory related commands.

2. If free memory or free swap are low relative to total memory and swap, restart the Brightmail engine and the MTA.

   To restart the Brightmail engine from either the Control Center:

   • Click Administration > Configuration. Check the Host you want to restart and click Edit. Check the Brightmail Engine and click Stop. Click Start.

   To restart the MTA service from either the Control Center or the command line interface:

   • From the Control Center, click Administration > Configuration. Check the Host you want to restart and click Edit. Check MTA and click Stop. Click Start.

   • From the command line, type: service mta restart

Additionally you may try the following to offset memory drain:

• Add an additional Scanner to help deal with heavy load. See Adding additional Scanners.

• Limit message size accepted by the MTA to minimize memory usage. See Setting limits on nested files

• Limit queue size. You can set the maximum size for each message queue and decide whether to defer messages when the queue is full on the SMTP Advanced Settings page.

  See Troubleshooting the message queue

(3) CONFIGURATION CHANGES

Address configuration changes that may be impacting performance negatively

1. Check performance after each reconfiguration.

2. Continue to change configurations until performance improves.

3. The following reconfigurations can save space:

   • Decrease log levels and retention

   • Decrease message audit log retention

   • Schedule more frequent log expunger runs

   • Decrease the amount of report data collected

   • Reduce the report data retention levels

   • Increase the frequency of report expunger runs

   • Decrease content incident folder size limits

   • Increase the frequency of incident expunger runs

   • Impose spam quarantine threshold limits or decrease them if they are in effect already

   • Decrease spam quarantine retention limits

   • Increase the frequency of spam quarantine expunger runs

   • Impose a suspect virus quarantine limit or decreasing it if it is already in effect

   • Delete any large unused resource record data or scale back the extent of resource record data

   Note:
   Complete instructions for performing any of the tasks recommended above can be found in the Administrator's Guide. Go to: http://www.symantec.com/business/support/overview.jsp?pid=53991.

   Under Common Topics, select Documentation and click Administrator's Guide. This opens a PDF file which covers all the features of the Symantec Brightmail Gateway product. Use the built in search options for locating a configuration task.

(4) UPDATE TO LATEST RELEASE

Upgrade to the latest version of the appliance software

Bug fixes and performance improvements over time can result in better utilization of memory and disk resources.

NOTE: Symantec Brightmail Gateway mail appliances are not supported to run in a version mismatched state. When planning for system updates, you should plan on bringing all your systems from a previous release to the same newer release before you attempt any manipulation of the system configuration.

1. Log into the Control Center and select Administration > Hosts > Version > Updates

2. Select the Host for which the error occurred and update your appliance to the latest appliance version.

3. Repeat this update process for all hosts in your installation.

   For further instructions on how to perform an upgrade, see How to upgrade a Symantec Mail Security Appliance.

   See Release Notes for the latest Symantec Brightmail Gateway version available at: http://www.symantec.com/business/support/overview.jsp?pid=53991. Under Documentation click Release Notes.

(5) DIAGNOSTICS

If, after upgrade, file write errors continue to occur, perform a diagnostics dump and contact Symantec Enterprise customer service

1. Login to the admin command line interface and utilize the diagnostics command to generate a normal diagnostics tarball following the usage statement for the command.

2. Type "help diagnostics" for information on how to use the diagnostics command.