Question

What does the Coresettings.config variable MaxAgentDownloadTryingTimeMins do?  Also, what does the registry key PkgDownloadFromNS do?  How do the two interrelate?

Answer

NOTE: in ITMS 7.6 HF7 and later the PkgDownloadFromNS coresetting no longer exists.  Setting the MaxAgentDownloadTryingTimeMins to "0" will prevent downloading packages from the SMP if a package server is present in the same site.

1. The Coresettings.config variable MaxAgentDownloadTryingTimeMins is a value in minutes that tells the Notification Server how long the agent will continue to try to download from a Package Server before bypassing the Package Server and downloading directly from the Notification Server. This setting is more correctly defining a Notification Server behavior rather than Agent behavior. The Altiris Agent always downloads packages from the codebases that are given out by the Notification Server.  This setting is 240 (minutes) by default, and the value to disable it is 0. This will not allow the agent to receive codebases from the Notification Server. Any other value than 0 results in a time value that is sent to the server when it makes its calls to GetPackageInfo.aspx. When this time value exceeds the MaxAgentDownloadTryingTimeMins value, Notification Server will hand out its codebases along with the codebases of any Package Server in the Notification Server's site/subnet.  A "Constrained" Package Server by default will not receive codebases for the Notification Server, but rather will be given only the codebases of other Package Servers listed in its same site. In the event that the Primary Package Server in that site has failed, this setting could be used to get the packages down to the Constrained Package Server
   
   
2. The registry key PkgDownloadFromNS (Deprecated) is an on/off registry key found at HKLM\Software\Altiris\Express\Notification Server. When set to 1, if package servers are present, the agents are able to download their packages from package servers, AND the Notification Server directly. When set to 0, agents cannot download from the Notification Server, only site-local Package Servers. Note: This setting only works when SITES are defined.