Symantec Management Agent 7.0.8690 (Post- SMP SP5 Release) Information Notes

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Article ID: 180313

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Management Platform (Formerly known as Notification Server)

Issue/Introduction

 

Resolution

Symantec Management Agent 7.0.8690 Information Notes

This document contains the following topics:
  • Introduction
  • Installation
  • Fixed Issues in This Release
  • Known Issues in This Release
NOTE: There is a more updated version of the Symantec Management Agent post 7.0.8690 that should be used. Version 7.0.8690 was a previous version release for the SMP SP5 Point Fixes Rollup (what was called SP5 Rollup version 12). The most current one available for customers is version 7.0.8705 (part of the SP5 Point fixes Rollup version 18), which can be referred on HOWTO36013 if you can upgrade to SMP MR4 yet.
 
Introduction
This Symantec Management Agent release contains fixes that were not part of the regular SMP 7.0 SP5 release cycle. For Symantec Management Platform 7.0 SP5 release notes, see knowledgebase article DOC1956.
The version released with SMP 7.0 SP5 for the Symantec Management Agent is 7.0.8649. This post-SMP 7.0 SP5 release will install version 7.0.8690.
The intended fixes on this Symantec Management Agent release were in general to address crashes, access violations errors, and general agent stability issues. This pointfix agent is to address most of these problems and create a stable agent.
As well, as part of the efforts to improve Symantec Management Agent stability, fixes were made to the Application Metering plugin as well.
Installation
Prerequisites
You need to have installed Symantec Management Platform 7.0 SP5. This Symantec Management Agent version was built against SMP 7.0 SP5 and tested against ITMS 7.0 MR3, as well SMP 7.0 SP5 Point fixes Rollup  (See HOWTO36013 for information on this Rollup).  

Installation Steps (Symantec Management Agent)
  1. Obtain Zip file from Support called “Altiris_Agent_Install_8690_021611.zip”
  2. Extract the files
  3. Copy the AexNSC.exe file contained on the Zip file mentioned above and place it under ‘…\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\x86\NS Client Package\’ directory (you might want to backup the current file first before overwriting it with the new one).
  4. Change the registry on the Notification Server "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Altiris\eXpress\NS Client Package" version string value to "7.0.8690.1690".
  5. Update the Resource Membership via the Symantec Management Console.
  6. Enable the "Symantec Management Agent for Windows - Upgrade" policy.
Note: The tested scenario to upgrade the Altiris Agent (Symantec Management Agent) to the Rollup version is that the client machines should be already in the SP5 version (7.0.8641). If not, you may need to use the AexAgentUtil.exe /reinstall switch if the Agent doesn't want to upgrade.
Installation Steps (Application Metering Plugin)
1.     On the Zip file mentioned above, there is a folder called “AppMetering” which contains two folders, MR2 and MR3. Depending on what version you are, follow the instructions below using the files on the respective folder version.
2.     First, copy(overwrite) “AMAgentSetup.msi” to the following location:
C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\bin\Win32\X86\Inventory\Application Metering\Agent Package.
3.     Next, import “Windows Computers Requiring Application Metering Plug-in Upgrade.xml”
i)      Navigate to following location and import the xml file to update the filter query:
Manage->Filters->Software Filters-> Agent and Plug-in Filters
4.     Last, import “Application Metering Plug-in for Windows Uninstall.xml”
i)      Navigate to the below location and import the xml file which will be used to uninstall the AMAgent:
Settings->All Settings -> Agents/Plug-ins->Discovery And Inventory ->Windows
 
Fixed Issues in This Rollup
The following are a list of fixes contained on this Symantec Management Agent version. If additional information about an issue is available, you can read it by clicking the Article ID link. (Note: N/A = Not Available, TBD = To Be Determined)

Issue
Article ID
Internal ID
Symantec Management Agent
 
 
Agent logon causes high CPU
2159422
NS agent scheduler
1944601
The Agent cannot download a Package Snapshot greater than 4MB from a Package Server via HTTP
1995352*
NS7 speed tests do not appear accurate when compared to NS6
2202925
Address crash in Software Delivery Agent during shutdown
 
2274220
Memory management changes via Coverity Scan
 
2267812
Address an Access Violation with the Symantec Management Agent when a Qualys scan is run on a system
 
2246940
Memory management changes via PVS-Studio static analysis tool on Altiris Agent source code
 
2226789
Address crash in speed test/ping threading
 
2220202
Improved socket handling for Datagram connections
 
TBD
Address crash in Network Communications (Netcomms) during header negotiation
 
2274190
Ensure all agent plugins end (forced to end if they are not shutting down correctly) when shutdown of the agent is requested
 
2274193
Added in additional thread/variable locking in response to agent crash dump analysis
 
2274191
Crash dump collection functionality added in to produce memory dumps.
 
2274192
Architecture change to prevent crashing of entire agent process during plug-in stopping
 
2274189
Inventory Rule Management (IRM) agent locking on rule cache was added to IRM agent getRuleHash()
 
2274187
Software Management Framework Agent
 
 
0kb SoftwareCache.xml file
N/A
2140546
SMF Agent does not handle Maintenance Windows well, and gets into a loop where it chews up massive amounts of CPU and disk IO. NextMaintenanceWindow() does not return the next window.
N/A
2147017
Customers are unable to use maintenance windows. When there are 2 or more policies that remediate at next maintenance window SMF Agent will go into a continuous loop chewing up CPU and disk IO.
N/A
2150570
Managed delivery policies compliance and remediation schedules are ignored during active Maintenance window
N/A
2151760
Detection check for previously executed Managed delivery policies is started once again if some Managed Delivery policy is executed during active Maintenance window
N/A
2151881
Incorrect behavior with schedules on Software Delivery tab if more than 1 schedule is defined for Managed Delivery policy
N/A
2152228
Address several crashes in SMF Agent during shutdown
 
2274213
Memory management changes via Coverity scan
 
2267812
Client Task Agent
 
 
Address several crashes in CT Agent during shutdown
 
2274219
Address CT Agent hang after 24 hours when Task Server list changes
 
2274221
Address Agent crash when running a client task
 
TBD
Implemented Task execution engine improvements
 
2267822
Implemented Client task scheduling agent fixes/improvements
 
2267826
Application Metering Agent
 
 
Access violation error in Application Metering Agent
 
2279218
AMAgent.dll/InventoryRuleAgent.dll causing SMA Instability with faulting module errors: Exception - Access Violation: C0000005 on Windows 7
 
2269937
 
 
 

Known Issues in This Release
The following are known issues for this agent version. If additional information about an issue is available, you can read it by clicking the Article ID link.

Issue
Article ID
Internal ID
The Agent cannot download a Package Snapshot greater than 4MB from a Package Server via HTTP
NOTE: The above fix is a Package Server Agent fix. This only effects downloads where the Package Snapshot is larger than 4Mb.
N/A
2236572*
When the contents of a SWD package changes the SMF agent does not download the new files before subsequent execution of the associated policy.
NOTE: The above issue is a Server Side SMF fix.
 
2236583
Altiris agent crashed unexpectedly with error :Source: ServiceExitMonitor Description: Agent Service plugin terminated due to stop time limit exceeded!
 
2278594
AGENT 8690 is NOT SIGNED
 
 

 
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