Download SymDiag v3 to detect product issues
Article ID: 281571
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
Download and learn about SymDiag v3 — the Symantec Diagnostic Tool — which identifies common issues, and gathers data and logs for support-assisted troubleshooting.
This article contains information about Version 3 of SymDiag. For SymDiag Version 2, click here.
Environment
Use SymDiag Version 3 for products in this table listed below.
| Endpoint Security | Information Security | Network Security | Additional Products |
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For products listed below, visit the SymDiag Version 2 (v2) article.
| Endpoint Security | Information Security | Network Security | Additional Products |
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Additional Notes
- Both SymDiag v2 and v3 can be used to gather data for Endpoint Protection 14.3.x and Endpoint Security 14.3.x.
Resolution
Table of Contents
SymDiag for Windows v3 (3.0.108)
- Download SymDiag for Windows v3.
Save the file to the Windows desktop. - On the Windows desktop, double-click the SymDiagWin.exe icon.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to collect data.
Note: Requires Microsoft .NET 4.6.2 or greater.
SymDiag Viewer for Windows v3 (3.0.108)
- Download SymDiag Viewer for Windows. Save the file to the Windows desktop.
- On the Windows desktop, double click the SymDiagViewer3.msi icon.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to install the SymDiag Viewer.
- Double click on any *.sdz3 file and the file will be opened in the SymDiag Viewer.
- If .Net v8 is not installed, when the SymDiagViewer v3 application runs it will prompt you to download and install .Net v8.
Note: Requires Microsoft .NET 8.
Supported products
See the Environment section of this article for supported products.
SymDiag command line
The command line format has been updated. An action will start with ‘sd-x’ where x is the action to take. An action can have options and arguments. An argument is denoted by 2 dashes: ‘-- ‘. Spaces delimit options and arguments. If spaces are needed in the option or argument, then quotes are put around the option or argument.
| Command | Details |
-?, -h, --help | |
sd-base <DIR> |
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| sd-dest --dir <DIR> --file <FILE> |
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| sd-log <TYPE> | Creates the type of log file and all others in this order (PPPP indicates a pid number):
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| sd-logging <ProductShortName(s)> --for <Minutes> | Enables product logging when running SymDiag silently.
Currently the supported products are: Sea (which will enable Sea, WssBlade and SepBlade), WssAgent, WssCloud |
| sd-open <FILE> |
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| sd-prod <ProductShortName(s)> | A comma delimited list of product shortnames to collect data for if the product is detected. If specified, then data is not collected for unlisted detected products. |
| sd-noup |
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| sd-optional --run <COMMANDS> --notrun <COMMANDS> | Specify to run or not run optional collection commands. COMMANDS is a comma delimited list of commands which are listed in Pascal Case for easier reading. The command is case insensitive.
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| sd-s Run silently |
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| sd-skip <OPTIONS> | A comma delimited list of options to skip past ui screens. The options are in Pascal Case for easier reading. The option is case insensitive.
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| sd-update-only | Update to the latest version and then exit |
Example command line with multiple options to set the base dir, output dir and SymDiag logging:
sd-base c:\basedir sd-dest --dir "c:\output dir" sd-log log
Product short names
Short Name | Product Name |
Esa | Enterprise Security Agent |
| SepBlade | Endpoint Protection |
| WssBlade | Cloud SWG |
| SpeServer | Protection Engine Server |
SpeConsole | Protection Engine Console |
Files and directories created by SymDiag
SymDiag uses a base directory, which can be set by the command line option sd-base. Within that base directory, SymDiag creates files and directories. The file name’s format is: [computer name]__yyyy-mm-dd__hh-mm-ss.
If the sfx or cert argument is provide to the sd-log command, then a SymDiag.PPPPP.log where PPPPP is the initial pid is created. Once SymDiag starts running, if the SymDiag.PPPP.log exists, it is renamed to [computer name]__yyyy-mm-dd__hh-mm-ss.log.
Extension | Type |
SymDiag.PPPPP.log | Log of the self-extractor operations and/or the certificate checks prior to SymDiag starting |
.log | Log of SymDiag's operation |
.realm | Mongo Realm database file |
.realm.lock | Mongo Realm database lock file |
.sdz3.tmp | SymDiag archive file |
In the base directory, the following directories are created (PPPP is a common pid):
Name | Purpose |
[Name].realm.management | Mongo Realm’s directory |
SdSfxPPPP | SymDiag's self-extractor extracts the SymDiag files to this directory |
TempPPPP | Directory that is used for creating temporary files while SymDiag is running |
TempPPPP\Archive\x | As files are archived, numbered directories are created and the files are compressed into them before being written into the archive |
TempPPPP\RebootState | If SymDiag is rebooting the computer, then various state files are written to this directory |
TempPPPP\TraceSessions\x | If product logging is running, then separate directories are used for each product and log type |
Additional Information
Release Information
What's new for SymDiag v3 for Windows?
- Data collection can be up to 14 times faster. The average collection time should be about 30 seconds.
- Resolves v2 issues
- The UI workflow and performance has been updated.
- All data collection commands are multi-threaded with the ability to cancel a command after 90 seconds
- Viewer, Database, and Archive tabs have been added
- Reports have been redesigned as Facts
- Product logging UI selections, logs and errors are displayed
- The WPP logging options and filtering have been updated
- The Command line options have been updated
- The archive and database collections have been updated
What's new for SymDiag v3 for Windows Viewer Tab?
- Updated the display of product data
- Updated the query UI
- Updated the tree view for all products
- SQLite databases are displayed as tables and columns with filtering capability
- Files larger than 2 MB are displayed
- New for Endpoint Security Agent v2.5
- Collects and displays data for Endpoint Security Agent v2.5 and the following products:
- Endpoint Protection 16
- Cloud SWG 1.3
- Collects and displays data for Endpoint Security Agent v2.5 and the following products:
- New for Protection Engine
- Supports v9
What's new for SymDiag v3 for Windows Viewer
- .Net v8.0 application
- The v2 and v3 Viewers can be installed together. The v2 Viewer will only display v2 (.sdbz) files and the v3 Viewer will only display v3 (.sdz3) files.
- Includes all of the viewing capability of SymDiag for Windows
- Updated data collection version check
- Includes the latest LogJoint for rich log viewing
- Initial Facts editor with examples
Resolves the following SymDiag v2 for Windows issues:
- Slow data collection
- Database is locked error
- Data collection hangs
- Large file collections can fail
- Runs out of memory while collecting some database data
- UI is slow or stops responding
- WPP logging errors are not displayed when they happen
- Windows 64bit OS data may not be collected
- Viewer will not display files that are larger than 2MB
- Viewer is slow to open when a large number of file contents have been stored in the database
- Data is stored in multiple formats
- Old Windows UI folder selector
What SymDiag v2 for Windows features will not be included?
- Malware detection and removal as it is no longer under development
- Language Support
- License Overview
- Resources section
- Real time display of cpu and memory
- Wolken integration
- Facts linking to KBs
- The following reports will not be in v3
- Latest Version
- System Requirements
- Security Advisories
Frequently asked questions
Q: Why is the performance slower than expected?
- Data collection will be slower on systems with less than 4 CPUs as compared to systems with 4 or more CPUs. The fastest collection times are when the number of active commands are 50%-75% of the virtual CPUs. The number of active commands defaults to 50% of the virtual CPUs.
This is set in the Scan Options by selecting the number of active commands. - Memory usage above 50% before SymDiag runs can increase the data collection time. This is due to the large number of objects that are created, saved to the database and then released.
Q: How do I extract the files from the .sdz3 file?
- The .sdz3 file uses a Zip format. The initial .sdz3 file will have 1 file with the same name. This file can be extracted using a Zip program. The files within the extracted .sdz3 have been compressed using LZ4, which most Zip programs do not support.
You will need to use SymDiagWin, SymDiag Viewer, or an application that supports LZ4 compression.
Release Notes
Build 3.0.95 (09/09/2025)
| What's New? | What's Fixed? |
The following products are now supported:
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