When attempting to upgrade CA Service Desk Manager (CA SDM), a 'Debug Error!' pop-up window appears when executables are launched by the upgrade process.

Products

• SUPPORT AUTOMATION- SERVER
• CA Service Desk Manager - Unified Self Service
• CA Service Desk Manager
• CA Service Management - Asset Portfolio Management
• CA Service Management - Service Desk Manager

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to upgrade CA Service Desk Manager (CA SDM), a 'Debug Error!' pop-up window appears when executables are launched by the upgrade process.

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Environment

CA Service Desk Manager 12.x, 14.x and 17.0All Supported Windows Operating Systems

Cause

Improper file format of the NX_ROOT\NX.ENV and NX_ROOT\pdmconf\NX.ENV_NT.TPL files

Resolution

The reason why this error appears is because the NX_ROOT\NX.ENV and/or the NX_ROOT\pdmconf\NX.ENV_NT.TPL files was edited manually and was not saved in the right encoding.

If the file is saved in "UTF-8", "Unicode" or "Unicode big endian" encoding, the Visual C++ error will appear. 

The supported and correct encoding format for the NX.ENV file is "ANSI". 

<Please see attached file for image>

Revert the environment back to the pre CA SDM upgrade and ensure that both the NX_ROOT\NX.ENV and NX_ROOT\pdmconf\NX.ENV_NT.TPL files have been saved with the proper encoding.  


In addition, it was also noted that the nx_compare.pl tool, which creates the updated version of NX.env during upgrade, it is not handling couple of items properly:
1) Embedded Spaces were removed in directory names with embedded spaces in the names, example:  Program Files   as  ProgramFiles
2) Added 2 unicode characters    - and the ‘ in below two lines  (those characters can be removed and a correct -  or '   can be put in place instead)
# In general batch max size should be in range 2-12MB (as per EBR_MAX_INDEX_BATCH_SIZE * average document size) 

and

# Analyst Notification - End User's time in the Queue has expired 


3) Removed one additional embedded space in the line below:
@NX_UFAM_ATTRIBUTES=acquire_datealarm_id………....

It should be: 
@NX_UFAM_ATTRIBUTES=acquire_date alarm_id ………………….. 

SOLUTION:
1) It is suggested to use a comparison tool, example: WinMerge, to identify differences like the ones above
2) Fix the wrong/mishandled characters in the NX.env file as mentioned above
3) Save the file


Then, re-attempt the CA SDM upgrade process.

Additional Information

TEC1891415 - Running any CA Service Desk Manager (CA SDM) command results in a Visual C++ error "Debug Assertion Failed"