SEPM Upgrade Fails with OutOfMemoryError: Java Heap Space

Products

• Endpoint Protection

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to upgrade the Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager (SEPM) to a new release or to the latest version, the upgrade fails without a clear indication of what went wrong.

The Management Server upgrade status may go to 20%.

Initializing..Done
Upgrading Database Schema...
Error occurred

After this it may give the option to view the log file.

Endpoint Protection Manager\tomcat\bin\scmhelper_1652418317061.ini
2022-05-12 22:05:17.123 THREAD 20 INFO: Utility>> runScmHelper: props#1, Command=SetRegistryForSymQual
2022-05-12 22:05:17.123 THREAD 20 INFO: Utility>> runScmHelper: props#2, ErrorCode=0
2022-05-12 22:05:17.123 THREAD 20 INFO: Utility>> runScmHelper: OK!
2022-05-12 22:05:17.123 THREAD 20 INFO: UpgradeFinalPanel> saveStage>> Launching log file...

Checking upgrade-0.log in Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\tomcat\logs will show:

GRAVE: Upgrade.doUpgrade java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space

or

SEVERE: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space

 

Environment

SEP Manager 14.3 +

Cause

The java heap space ran out of memory

Resolution

To resolve this issue, modify the upgrade.bat file to increase the memory allocated for the upgrade.

1. Navigate to Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\bin
2. Right-click upgrade.bat and click edit
3. Find -Xms256m -Xmx1024m on the second line of the .bat file and increase the size (eg Xms2g -Xmx4g)
4. Save the file and close notepad
5. Double-click upgrade.bat

Additional Information

This particular issue was caused by a large number of older unassigned Application and Control policies that were not in use, but that were getting loaded into memory during the migration process.