Symantec Management Agent failing to uninstall with error: Failed to perform file operation 'delete'

Products

• IT Management Suite
• Client Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

Symantec Management Agent uninstall was attempted by running '\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent\aexagentutil.exe /uninstall' from an administrator cmd prompt. However, the agent was not completely uninstalled and the following is observed in the logs:

Failed to perform file operation 'delete' on 'C:\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent\AeXAgentExt.dll' with retries: Access is denied (0x00000005)
Cannot delete file: C:\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent\AeXAgentExt.dll: Access is denied (5). Trying to terminate owner process...
Process 'AeXTemp.exe' blocks 'C:\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent\AeXAgentExt.dll' and will be terminated.

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Cause

Cause of this issue is unknown but likely environmental. The issue could not be reproduced in a lab environment testing multiple versions.

Resolution

Resolutions may vary depending on cause. In one example reported to Broadcom, the agent successfully uninstalled by copying the agent installer .exe from the Notification Server/SMP to the client machine. 

The agent installer can be downloaded from the Symantec Management Console in 'Actions'  > 'Agents/Plug-ins' > 'Push Symantec Management Agent'. Click 'Symantec Management Agent Download Page (HTTP package|HTTPS package)' and download the agent installer.

Copy the .exe installer to the managed endpoint where the agent should be removed. Ensure the agent installation package is copied to the same drive the agent is installed on (example: if agent is installed on D:\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent, copy the .exe to D:)

Open an administrator command prompt, navigate to the directory where the agent installer package is copied, and run with the /uninstall switch.