Windows Action Center notifications for Symantec Management Agent — configuration and behavior (ITMS 8.6 RU1 and later)

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

ITMS 8.6 RU1 Release introduced the ability to display Symantec Management Agent (SMA) power action notifications, restarts, shutdowns, and logoffs, in Windows Action Center on client computers. When this option is enabled, Windows Focus Assist settings apply to SMA notifications, giving end users control over when and how they appear.

This article covers how to enable the feature, the notification behavior once it is active, and the UI constraints imposed by the Windows notification system.

Applies to: Windows Action Center integration, SMA power action reminders, restart/shutdown/ logoff notifications, deferred power actions, Focus Assist, Targeted Agent Settings

Environment

ITMS 8.6 RU1 and later

This feature is not supported on client computers running Windows versions earlier than 1903.

Resolution

Table of Contents

• Enable Windows Action Center notifications
• How it works
  • Notification behavior reference
• Verification

 

Enable Windows Action Center notifications

1. In the SMP Console, go to Settings > All Settings > Agents/Plug-ins > Symantec Management Agent > Settings.
2. Open the Targeted Agent Settings policy you want to modify.
3. Select the User Control tab.
4. Check Show agent notifications in Windows action center.
5. Save and apply the policy.

See Targeted Agent Settings page in ITMS TechDocs for full field descriptions.

If this option is checked, the Symantec Management Agent restart notifications will be shown in Windows action center and the Windows "Focus assist" settings apply to these notifications as well.

For example, if an end user turns the "Focus assist" on, the agent restart notifications are not shown on the desktop unless they are critical.

 

How it works

When the option is enabled, the SMA delivers power action reminders (restart, shutdown, logoff) as Windows Action Center notifications rather than through the native SMA reminder window. Because the Windows notification system enforces strict UI limits, the notification consolidates multiple pending power actions into a single entry.

Windows UI limits that affect SMA notifications:

• Maximum 4 lines of descriptive text per notification
• Maximum 5 selectable items (deferral intervals) in the selection box
• Maximum 5 actionable buttons

These limits drive the consolidation behavior described below. The SMA does not circumvent them.

Notification behavior reference

Which action is shown

Only the most recent alert text appears. Priority order: Shutdown > Restart > Logoff. If multiple pending power actions exist, the notification displays: "There are N more pending actions." This count signals to the user that additional actions are queued, without rendering a separate notification for each.

Buttons shown

• If only logoff was requested: a Log off now button appears.
• If restart was requested: Restart and Shutdown buttons appear. No Log off button appears, even if logoff was also requested. Restart supersedes logoff. Shutdown is included as a convenience — if the user shuts down and powers the machine back on, the effect is equivalent to a restart from the SMP perspective.
• If log off and restart are both requested, the logoff button is omitted due to button count limits in the Windows notification system.

Deferral

The user can defer the action by selecting a time interval from the selection box. Up to 5 intervals are available; the intervals displayed adjust dynamically as the deadline approaches. Maximum deferral interval is 2 weeks.

Example interval set when the maximum is 2 weeks: 5 minutes, 2 hours, 12 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks. If the maximum deferral is more than 1 day, intervals step in increments of 1, 2, or 4 days depending on the remaining time.

Multiple logged-in sessions

If multiple sessions are active on the machine, selecting Log off now, Restart now, or Shutdown now opens a confirmation window before the action executes. Standard Windows permission rules apply: a regular or power user can log off only their own session; an administrator can log off any session.

Closing the notification with X

The X button cannot be disabled on Windows notifications. The SMA responds as follows:

• If deferral is configured: the notification defers using the currently selected interval.
• If deferral is not configured: the notification reappears. The user must either perform the power action manually or wait for the automatic action to execute (if one is configured).

Priority notification (3 minutes before automatic action)

If an automatic restart is configured, the notification becomes a priority notification 3 minutes before the scheduled action. It reappears on the desktop even if the user previously moved it to Action Center, and continues reappearing every 30 seconds until the action executes. The user retains the option to turn off SMA notifications in Action Center, but the SMA executes the restart regardless.

SMA service restart and notification state

When the SMA service stops, it removes all its notifications from Action Center and the desktop. When the SMA service starts, it re-adds any notifications that are still required based on the current policy state.

Notification lifecycle

A notification initially appears as a standard Windows toast notification, which disappears after approximately 25 seconds. If the user does not act on it, it moves to Action Center automatically. To move it manually before it auto-dismisses, use the right-arrow gesture on the notification.

Logging

The SMA agent log records the moment a notification appears, changes, or when the user triggers an action. Log entries include XML describing the UI state and the action taken. These entries are written at INFO level. UI change entries (such as countdown progress updates) are written at TRACE level.

Focus Assist interaction

If the end user enables Focus Assist, SMA restart notifications are suppressed on the desktop unless they are marked as critical. The notifications remain accessible in Action Center.

If an end user turns off all SMA notifications via the Turn off all notifications for Symantec Management Agent right-click option in Action Center, restart notifications fall back to the SMA user interface. This fallback prevents unexpected reboots by ensuring the user still receives the prompt before the action executes.

Verification

After enabling the setting and applying the policy to a test client:

1. Trigger a power action on the client (for example, via a Patch Management policy or a task using aexagentutil.exe /reboot).
2. Confirm the notification appears in Windows Action Center on the client rather than as a standalone SMA reminder window.
3. Confirm that enabling Focus Assist on the client suppresses the desktop toast but leaves the notification visible in Action Center.
4. Confirm the SMA agent log contains an INFO-level entry recording the notification appearance.

Additional Information

Reboot countdown cannot be cancelled after Symantec Management Agent initiates a power action (KB 185939) — covers the registry-level power action state (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Altiris\Altiris Agent\Dynamic Data\PowerActions) and how to stop an active countdown that cannot be dismissed through the UI.

Symantec Management Agent troubleshooting (KB 156111)

ITMS 8.6 RU1 Release Notes — What's New

ITMS TechDocs — Symantec Management Agent