Error: Altiris Linux Agent registration fails in Azure due to incorrect FQDN resolution

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

Altiris Agents installed on Linux servers in Azure environments may fail to register with the Notification Server (NS). This occurs when the agent attempts to parse or communicate using Azure-specific URLs (e.g., containing reddog.microsoft.com) that are not reachable or intended for agent communication.

Symptoms

• The command aex-cta ts returns a blank output, indicating no successful task server registration.
• Agent logs show the client attempting to parse a URL for the SMP server that exists on Azure but is unreachable from the client network.
• Resource GUIDs may be missing from the agent information.

Environment

• ITMS 8.x
• Linux Servers (RHEL, Ubuntu, etc.)
• Azure Cloud Infrastructure

Cause

The default communication profile may include HTTP or HTTPS addresses for Azure that conflict with the internal network configuration. The client incorrectly attempts to prioritize these external-facing FQDNs for registration.

Resolution

To resolve this, create and assign a clean communication profile that excludes problematic Azure FQDNs.

Step 1: Create a Clean Communication Profile

1. In the Symantec Management Console, navigate to the NS Communication Profiles.
2. Clone the default NS communication profile.
3. In the cloned profile, remove all non-needed or unreachable FQDNs (specifically those related to Azure/reddog.microsoft.com).
4. Assign a non-existent or temporary target to this profile and Save.

Step 2: Prepare the Installation Package

1. Navigate to the Symantec Management Agent Install (push) page.
2. In the upper section, select the newly cloned profile.
3. Verify that the Install XML now contains only the correct FQDNs from the cloned profile.

Step 3: Clean and Reinstall on the Client

1. On the affected Linux server, manually remove any existing installation configuration files:
   bash

    

   rm /tmp/altiris/.aex-agent-install-config.xmlrm /opt/altiris/notification/nsagent/.aex-agent-install-config.xml

2. Perform a clean uninstall if the agent is already present:
   bash

    

   /opt/altiris/notification/nsagent/bin/aex-uninstall -f

3. Install the agent using the updated aex-bootstrap-linux utility or the manually updated configuration XML.

Additional Information

• It is the customer's responsibility to ensure internal network routing allows communication to the FQDNs specified in the profile.
• Reference KB 373778 for standard methods to get the bootstrap utility onto endpoints.