How to cap memory utilization of the SAVFMSESp.exe process in Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE) 6.5.2 and later
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How to cap memory utilization of the SAVFMSESp.exe process in Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE) 6.5.2 and later

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Article ID: 152867

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Updated On:

Products

Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange

Issue/Introduction

You've noticed an ever increasing trend in the memory utilization of the process SAVFMSESp.exe on your Exchange Server. Use the following article to determine the memory profile and performance of the SMSMSE processes: How to enable Performance Monitor Logging for Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE).

Resolution

Symantec is not currently aware of any outstanding memory leak issues in the SAVFMSESp.exe process with version 6.5.2 or later. If you are experiencing such a memory leak, please contact Symantec technical support. While we investigate root cause, you can use the following workaround to avoid problems due to excessive memory consumption.  

For details on the issue this feature was created to help address, see Memory Leak in SAVFMSESp.exe When x.400 or Display Names Cannot be Resolved to an SMTP Address.

Workaround

With build 6.5.2 and later, SMSMSE now has a mechanism to cap the memory utilization of the SAVFMSESp.exe processes.

Perform the following steps on the Exchange server having a memory leak:

NOTE: Symantec recommends setting this value no lower than 100. If set lower than 100, the scan processes may restart constantly during normal operations. This limit is intended to mitigate the consequences of a memory leak, not to cap memory utilization during normal scanning operations. These 2 values work together and must be set according to requirement. The memory can still go beyond the set Size limit (ProcessUpperMemoryLimitInMB), but will be pushed back after the set time(ProcessMemoryCheckTimeInMin).

1. Open the registry editor (Start -> Run, Regedit).
2. Navigate to one of the following locations:

32 bit systems: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Symantec\SMSMSE\6.5\Server\Components\NaveSp
64 bit systems: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Symantec\SMSMSE\6.5\Server\Components\NaveSp

3. Create a new DWORD value called ProcessUpperMemoryLimitInMB and set the value to the upper limit you would like to set on scan process memory utilization.
4. Create a new DWORD value called ProcessMemoryCheckTimeInMin and set the interval you would like SMSMSE to check for memory exceeding the set limit. If this value is not set, the default value is every 5 minutes.
5. Restart the Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange service.