Answer
Start by running the following command to determine if the agent service is running and if it is communicating with the NS/SMP server:
aex-sendbasicinv
If it returns anything other than "Basic inventory sent to NS", then there is a problem with the agent service or with communication between the client and the NS/SMP, such as networking, port/firewall blocking, name resolution, etc.
Check to see if the aex-pluginmanag service is running by typing this command in a Linux terminal:
ps –e | grep aex
You should see at least 2 or more aex-pluginmanag services as shown in the screen shot below:
If you do not see the aex-pluginmanag running you can attempt to run the service by running the following command from a command prompt:
sudo /opt/altiris/notification/nsagent/bin/aex-pluginmanager
or
sudo /opt/altiris/notification/nsagent/bin/rcscript start
If sending basic inventory works, try refreshing polcies:
aex-refreshpolicies
Common errors related to refreshing policies deal with timing. It may take several minutes after sending basic inventory the first time for the NS/SMP to update all resource information related to a ULM client. The resource has to be assigned to appropriate collections/targets in order to refresh policies. Otherwise, the NS/SMP does not know what to send to the client.
The log files may provide useful informaton. By default, the logging routines are set to only log errors. If no errors have occured, the logs will be empty. The log level can be changed. See KB# 41821 for further information. To view log information, run the following command from a shell prompt:
aex-diagnostics –log
If there is information in the log you will see something like the following example, with actual error information between the Start Log File Dump and the End Log File Dump header and footer:
=======================
* Start Log File Dump *
=======================
ERRO 2009-05-12 10:45:23.917 *******************errors*********************
=====================
* End Log File Dump *
=====================
Also, please review the related articles listed in the right-hand pane of this kb article.