Build number 7.0.[****]

Software Management Solution provides intelligent and bandwidth-sensitive distribution and management of software from a central Web console. It significantly reduces desktop visits and lets you easily support your mobile work force.

Software Management Solution also lets users directly download and install approved software or request other software.

This product is part of the following suites:

  • Altiris™ Client Management Suite from Symantec
    For release notes, see knowledge base article 49644.
  • Altiris™ Server Management Suite from Symantec
    For release notes, see knowledge base article 50400.

This document contains the following topics:

New features

The new features of this release are as follows:

  • New supported platforms
    Following platforms for managed client computers are now supported:

    • Mac 10.6
    • Windows 7
    Following platforms for managed servers are now supported:
    • Windows Server 2008 R2
    • Windows Server 2008 Core

     

Installation and upgrade

Prerequisites and System Requirements

Software Management Solution requires Symantec Management Platform 7.0 SP2 Hot Fix 1 to be installed on the Notification Server computer. It can be installed on any server that is acceptable for the Symantec Management Platform.

See knowledge base article 46035, Symantec™ Management Platform 7.0 SP2 Release Notes.

Supported Platforms

Software Management Solution can manage the following client platforms:

  • Windows XP (SP2 or later) x64/x86
  • Windows 2000 Workstation (SP4 + rollups)
  • Windows Vista RTM and SP1 (all editions)
  • Windows 7
  • Mac OS X 10.3.9 (PPC), 10.4.x (Universal binary), 10.5.x (Universal binary), 10.6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 - x86, x64
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 - x86, x64
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 - x86, x64
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 - x86, x64

Software Management Solution can manage the following server platforms:

  • Windows 2000 Server (SP4 + rollups)
  • Windows Server 2003 (SP1/SP2/R2) x64/x86
  • Windows Server 2008 x64/x86
  • Windows 2008 (R2)
  • Windows 2008 Core
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 - x86, x64
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 - x86, x64
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 - x86, x64
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 - x86, x64
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 - x86, x64
  • Solaris 9 - Sparc
  • Solaris 10 - x86, x64, Sparc
  • VMware ESX Server 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.5
  • Mac OS X Server 10.3.9 (PPC), 10.4.x (Universal binary), 10.5.x (Universal binary)

New installation

You can install this product by using the Symantec Installation Manager. You can download the installation files directly to your server or you can create offline installation packages.

For more information, see the Symantec Management Platform Installation Guide (see knowledge base article 45732).

Upgrade

You can upgrade this product from 6x versions if you run the Symantec Installation Manager on a Notification Server 6x computer. To upgrade from the 6x version, you must first upgrade your 6x Notification Server to Symantec Management Platform 7.0 or later. During the Notification Server upgrade process, you can choose to upgrade to the latest version of this product.

For more information, see the Symantec Management Platform Installation Guide (knowledge base article 45732).

Data migration from 6.x

The migration of 6.x data to Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1 is the same as for 7.0.

For a list of the data that can be migrated, see knowledge base article 40926, Software Management Solution 7.0 Release Notes.

For more information about migrating data, see knowledge base article 44969, Migration of 6.x Data to Symantec Management Platform 7.0.

Data migration from 7.0

All the data in Software Management Solution 7.0 is supported in 7.0 SP1 without the need for data migration.

Installation and Upgrade Issues

The following table lists the known issues that are related to installing and upgrading this product. If an article ID is included, you can click the link for additional information.

Issue Article ID
Migration of sequential software delivery tasks to Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1 might fail.

In some instances, the migration of sequential software delivery tasks fails during an upgrade from Software Delivery 6.1 to Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1. When the upgrade process updates an assembly file named altiris.profiling.dll, it corrupts the file.

Workaround:

Perform this task before you run the 7.0 SP1 upgrade or migrate the sequential software delivery tasks.

  1. Open knowledge base article 48858 and download its attachment file (policy.6.1.Altiris.Profiling.dll) to the following location on your Notification Server computer:
    program files\altiris\software delivery\GAC
  2. On the Windows Start menu, click Run.
  3. In the Run dialog box, in Open, type: cmd
  4. In the command window, type the following command:
    cd “program files\altiris\software Delivery\GAC”
  5. Type the following command:
    gacutil.exe /i “Assembly path\policy.6.1.Altiris.Profiling.dll”
  6. After the last command is executed, close the command window.
 48858
During an off-box upgrade, the Software Delivery Package File Importer in the migration wizard fails.

When you copy the software package migration data during an off-box upgrade, you must place both the PackageFiles folder and the data store (ADB) file in the same location on the 7.0 Notification Server computer. Otherwise, the migration fails.

  
A software package that is migrated from Software Delivery Solution 6.x might lose its package server associations.

In certain cases, a package server's GUID is changed during the upgrade from 6.x to 7.0 or 7.0 SP1. As a result, when you migrate a software package that was assigned to that server in 6.x, the package loses the server association after the migration. Because the package cannot be downloaded to the package server, any legacy software delivery tasks or policies that deliver that package cannot be run.

Workaround: After the upgrade and data migration, check the server assignments of the migrated software packages and if necessary, edit the packages to reassign the package servers.

  

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Fixed Issues in this Release

The following table lists the previous issues that were fixed in this release. If an article ID is included, you can click the link for additional information.

Issue Article ID

 

  

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Things to know

The following table lists the additional things in this release that you need to know about. If an article ID is included, you can click the link for additional information.

Things to know Article ID
The Software Management Solution tasks do not support multicasting.

The Package Delivery, Quick Delivery, Source Path Update, and Windows Installer Repair tasks do not use multicasting. Therefore, even if the multicasting option is selected in the global Altiris Agent settings, and you use those settings for the task, the multicasting does not occur.

  
The Software Portal shortcut might not appear on the client computer. (Mac OS only)

If the Altiris Agent window is open on the client computer when the Software Management Solution plug-in for UNIX, Linux, and Mac is installed, the Software Portal shortcut does not appear on the client. To prevent this problem, restart the Altiris Agent on the client computer after the plug-in is installed. After the Altiris Agent restarts, the Software Portal shortcut becomes available to the user.

  
Software Management Solution supports hierarchy and replication.

Software Management Solution supports the hierarchy and replication features of the Symantec Management Platform. These features let you create tasks and policies at the top-level Notification Server computer and replicate them to child-level Notification Server computers.

For more information about replicating Software Management Solution data, see the Software Management Solution User's Guide.

Also see knowledge base article 48826, How to replicate Software Resources referenced by Policies in Software Management using Hierarchy.

 48826
The Software Portal does not open properly on a computer that runs Windows Server 2003 or 2008.

This problem occurs when the computer's browser security settings are set to High, which disables the Security Settings option for "Launching Programs and Files in an IFRAME". Because the Software Portal home page uses IFRAME, the page is not rendered properly. We cannot fix this issue because we cannot edit your browser security settings.

  
Details about the alternate download location for packages.

The download settings for Software Management Solution delivery policies and tasks contains the Destination download location option. This option lets you define the directory on the destination computer in which to place the package files. The default location is the Altiris Agent cache. You can also select an alternate download location.

The download settings do not affect the location of the delivery-related XML files that are created during the delivery.

The following table describes how different delivery methods use the alternate download location:

Delivery method Where the download location is specified Download location
Quick Delivery task or Package Delivery task In the Advanced Settings dialog box for the specific task
  • The package is downloaded to the alternate download folder that is defined for the task.
  • The XML files are created in a subfolder under the default download location. The subfolder’s name is the same as the GUID that is associated with the package.
Managed Software Delivery policy In the Advanced Options dialog box for the specific policy
  • The package is downloaded to the alternate download folder that is defined for the policy.
  • The XML files are created in a subfolder under the default download location. The subfolder’s name is the same as the GUID that is associated with the package.
Managed Software Delivery policy In the global settings on the Managed Delivery Settings page
  • The package is downloaded to a subfolder of the alternate download folder that is defined for the policy. The subfolder’s name is the same as the GUID that is associated with the package.
  • The XML files are created in a subfolder under the default download location. The subfolder’s name is the same as the GUID that is associated with the package.
 

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Known Issues in this Release

The following issues are unresolved in this release. If an article ID is included, you can click the link for additional information.

Issue Article ID
Updated documentation and Help are not shipped with this product.

Updated versions of the User's Manual and Help for Software Management Solution are not available at the time of this release. When it is updated, the PDF version of the User's Manual will be posted to the following locations:

  
Software that requires a restart during installation cannot be installed with Software Management Solution.

You cannot use Software Management Solution to install software that requires a restart during installation. An example of such software is MS SQL Server 2008. Because the Software Management Solution agent cannot handle the restart, the installation task or policy does not complete successfully.

A workaround is available. See knowledge base article 48740.

 48740
The Software Management Solution reports do not show information about a child Notification Server computer and its clients.

When you create a parent and child hierarchy between two Notification Server computers, and then perform a replication from the child to the parent, the Software Management Solution reports do not show information about the child server and its clients.

  
Execution data is not replicated up the hierarchy.

The information about the success of a delivery task or policy is not replicated back up the hierarchy. For example, when a Managed Software Delivery policy is executed on a client computer, information about the success of the execution is sent to the server. If a policy is executed from a server that is a child in the hierarchy, that execution information is not passed up to the parent server.

  
The data replication of software publishing information is not supported.

Information about software resources that are published to the Software Portal cannot be replicated.

  
Quick Delivery tasks might time out if they are executed immediately after upgrading.

After you upgrade to Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1, wait approximately 15-30 minutes before you execute a Quick Delivery task. If you try to execute a Quick Delivery task immediately after the upgrade, the task might encounter a timeout failure.

  
Legacy Software Delivery policies that are located in subfolders are not replicated.

If you migrated 6.x Software Delivery tasks to 7.x policies, and those policies are organized in subfolders, they are not included in the replication of Software Management Solution policies. Any policies that are in the root of the Legacy Software Delivery policies folder are replicated correctly.

 48739
In a Package Delivery task, the predefined command lines do not appear for packages that you select by browsing.

In a Package Delivery task, if you select a package by browsing, any command lines that are defined for the package do not appear in the Command Line drop-down list.

Workaround: Select the package from the Package drop-down list.

  
Command lines are not available for selection in a Package Delivery task.

If command lines are added to a software resource before the package is added, those command lines are not available for selection when you create a Package Delivery task for that software resource.

Workaround: Use Quick Delivery to deliver such software resources.

  
Managed Software Delivery issues  
When Sequential Software Delivery tasks are migrated to Managed Software Delivery policies, they do not download packages to the alternate download location.

When you upgrade from Software Delivery 6.1 to Software Management Solution 7.0 or 7.0 SP1, you can migrate Sequential Software Delivery tasks to Managed Software Delivery policies. When you run those migrated policies, their packages are always downloaded to the default location on the client computers. If you specified an alternate download location in the download settings, it is not used.

  
The Managed Software Delivery wizard cannot deliver a software resource that contains dependencies.

When you use the Managed Software Delivery wizard to deliver a software resource that contains dependencies, one of the following things happens:

  • The wizard hangs frequently and re-prompts for credentials. The dependencies at the end of the wizard do not appear.
  • The following error occurs: Error saving SWD Wizard Policy: Specified cast is not valid.

Workaround: Perform the Managed Software Delivery without using the wizard.

  1. In the Symantec Management Console, on the Manage menu, click Policies.
  2. In the left pane, under Policies, expand Software.
  3. Right-click Managed Software Delivery and click New > Managed Software Delivery.

For more information about creating a Managed Software Delivery policy, see the Software Management Solution User's Guide.

 48217
Package subfolders are not created in the alternate download location.

In Managed Software Delivery, when you specify a destination download location for a software package, the package is supposed to be placed in a subfolder of that location as follows:
download_folder\package_GUID

Instead, the subfolder is not created and the package is placed in the root of the download folder. This was an issue in 7.0 and is not fixed when you upgrade to 7.0 SP1. However, this issue does not occur in a new installation of Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1.

Workaround:

  1. In the Symantec Management Console, on the Settings menu, click All Settings.
  2. In the left pane, under Settings, click Software > Managed Delivery Settings.
  3. On the Managed Delivery Settings page, click Save changes without making any changes.
  
 Replicated Managed Software Delivery policy fails

A replicated Managed Software Delivery policy fails to execute when the installation file is an MSI and resource and item replication rules are used to replicate the software resource and the policy.

  49794
Virtualization issues  
Virtualizing Windows applications during a software delivery requires a specific version of the Software Virtualization Agent.

The Install this policy’s software into a virtual software layer option in the Managed Software Delivery wizard can only be used with the version of the Software Virtualization Agent that is shipped with Software Management Solution or a later version. Earlier versions do not support this feature.

  
A Managed Software Delivery policy cannot correctly install software into a Symantec Workspace Virtualization 6.1 layer.

Workspace Virtualization 6.1 is the new version of Software Virtualization Solution 2.1. Normally, a Managed Software Delivery policy can install software into a virtual layer on a client computer. However, if the client computer contains the agent for Workspace Virtualization 6.1, the software is installed and the layer is created. However, the layer does not contain any files and therefore cannot be used.

Workaround: If you plan to use Managed Software Delivery to install software into virtual layers, use the agent for Software Virtualization Solution 2.1. It is included with this version of Software Management Solution. Do not upgrade to Symantec Workspace Virtualization 6.1.

  
When you install software into a virtual software layer with a localized layer name, the localized name does not appear in the SVS Admin on the client computer.

In a Managed Delivery policy, if you choose to virtualize the software during installation, you must provide a name for the virtual layer. If you enter a localized string as the layer name, the software appears in the SVS Admin with the default layer name "SWD" instead of the localized layer name that you provided.

  
Managed Software Delivery does not virtualize software whose installation file is in EXE format.

Managed Software Delivery does not virtualize an EXE package when you select the Install this policy’s software into a virtual software layer option. The software is installed normally instead of in a layer.

  
Software Portal issues  
Software requests are missing after upgrading to 7.0 SP1.

Any software requests that were created from the Software Portal in Software Management Solution 7.0 are not available after you upgrade to 7.0 SP1.

  
After an authorized user accesses the Software Portal, any other user can access it.

This issue was fixed in Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1 MR1.

 

After an authorized user accesses the Software Portal, any other user can access it for software that was published for one or more user groups. A caching issue on the Notification Server computer allows this unauthorized access. When the cache is dumped, the Software Portal access is blocked for unauthorized users until another authorized user accesses the portal.

 48788
An "invalid license" error might occur after a user configures their user profile in the Software Portal.

This issue was fixed in Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1 MR1.

 

In the Software Portal, on the User Profile page, after a user enters their information and clicks Save Changes, the following error might appear:

"The computer from which you are accessing the Software Portal does not have a valid Symantec license. Please contact your administrator."

Workaround: The user should close the Software Portal and then re-open it and log on with the same credentials as before.

  
The Software Portal Administrators and Software Portal Managers security roles cannot access their role's views and options in the portal.

This issue was fixed in Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1 MR1.

 

If a user is added to the Software Portal Administrators security role or Software Portal Managers security role as part of a domain group, that user has the following restrictions:

  • A Software Portal Manager cannot see the manager-specific views and options on the Manage page in the Software Portal.
  • A Software Portal Administrator cannot see the Administrator Portal in the Symantec Management Console.

Also, due to a restriction of the Windows operating system, security role access cannot be defined for local groups.

Workaround: Add users to these security roles individually instead of by groups.

 48741
Local users cannot be added to a manager's list of users in the Software Portal.

This issue was fixed in Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1 MR1.

 

In the Software Portal, on the User Profile page, a manager can add the users whose software requests the manager can process. However, if the Notification Server computer is not a member of the Active Directory domain, the manager cannot add local users to the list.

If the Notification Server computer is a domain member, the domain users and the local users can be added successfully.

  
Software Portal managers do not receive user requests under certain circumstances.

This issue was fixed in Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1 MR1.

 

When a user is added to a Software Portal manager's User Profile page as part of a group, the manager does not receive that user's software requests. Instead, that user's software requests are forwarded directly to the Administrator Portal page.

 48743
Groups that are added to the Software Portal permissions list do not appear in the list.

This issue was fixed in Software Management Solution 7.0 SP1 MR1.

 

When you publish a software resource to the Software Portal and you add a domain group or a local group, the group does not appear in the group list on the Software Publishing tab. The members of that group can see that software resource in the Software Portal. However, because the group does not appear on the Software Publishing tab, you cannot assign portal permissions for that group.

Workaround: Add the group to a security role and then assign the security role to the software resource, as follows:

  1. In the Symantec Management Console, on the Settings menu, click All Settings.
  2. In the left pane, click Settings > Notification Server > Security Roles.
  3. Right-click Security Roles, and then click New > Security Role.
  4. In the New Role dialog box, type a descriptive role name, and then click OK.
  5. In the left pane, click Settings > Notification Server > Security Roles, and then click the role that you just created.
  6. In the right pane, click Membership.
  7. Click the Add new members symbol (blue plus sign).
  8. In the Select Users or Groups dialog box, add the group that you want to provide Software Portal access to, and then click OK.
  9. When you are returned to the Membership tab, click Save Changes.
  10. Open the software resource and, on the Software Publishing tab, add the new security role to the list of users who can access the software resource from the Software Portal.
 46145
Non-Windows delivery issues  
You cannot execute Managed Software Delivery policies from the client side on non-Windows computers.

The client-side user interface (on the Altiris Agent) is not available on UNIX, Linux, or Mac computers. Therefore, you cannot execute Managed Software Delivery policies from those client computers. This issue occurs because those policies do not appear in the utility "aex-swdapm" on UNIX, Linux or Mac clients.

  
Some Managed Software Delivery settings do not work for non-Windows software.

Because the client-side user interface (on the Altiris Agent) is not available on UNIX, Linux, or Mac computers, the following Managed Software Delivery settings do not apply to UNIX, Linux, or Mac delivery policies:

  • Power on if necessary (using Wake-On-LAN, Intel, AMT, ASF)
    Appears on the Managed Delivery Settings page, on the Schedule tab, under the Compliance section.
  • Only perform check if…Computer is available at the exact scheduled time
    Appears on the Managed Delivery Settings page, on the Schedule tab, when you click the Advanced button.
  • Upon success run
    Appears on the Managed Delivery Settings page, on the Run tab, under the Results-based actions section.
  
Launching a GUI application via Software Delivery on a Mac computer is not recommended.

To ensure the highest security, we recommend that you do not launch a GUI-based application through a Software Management or Inventory task. If the computer is at the login window, you may inadvertently provide root access to the computer through the application.

  
SLES 9 RPM packages cannot be delivered.

You cannot use Managed Software Delivery or Quick Delivery to install RPM packages that were created with RPM Package Manager 4.1.1 or earlier. For example, those used on SLES 9. Because those packages cannot be imported into the Software Catalog, they do not have software resources that you can deliver.

  
Solaris 10 zones are not supported.

A Solaris 10 global zone that has non-global zones installed is not supported. However, Solaris 10 that does not contain any non-global zones is supported.

  
The names and descriptions of the Software Delivery for UNIX and Mac exporters and importers appear in English only.

When you migrate Software Delivery data for UNIX and Mac, the names and descriptions of the exporters and importers that appear in the Exporter and Importer Configuration dialog boxes always appear in English and are never translated.

  

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Where to get more information

The product installation includes the following documentation:

Document Description Location

User’s Guide

Information about how to use this product, including detailed technical information and instructions for performing common tasks.

This information is available in PDF format.

Help

Information about how to use this product. This information is the same as in the User’s Guide.

Help is available at the solution level and at the suite level.

This information is available in HTML help format.

The Documentation Library, which is available in the Symantec Management Console on the Help menu.

Context-sensitive help is available for most screens in the Symantec Management Console.

You can open context-sensitive help in the following ways:

  • The F1 key.
  • The Context command, which is available in the Symantec Management Console on the Help menu.

For more information, you can use the following resources:

Resource Description Location

Implementation Guide

Information about how to install, configure, and implement this product.

This information is available in PDF format.

The Documentation Web site, which is available at the following URL:
http://www.altiris.com/Support/Documentation.aspx

Symantec Management Platform Release Notes

Information about new features and important issues in the Symantec Management Platform.

This information is available as an article in the knowledge base.

https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=45141&p=1

You can also search for the product name under Release Notes.

Installing the Symantec Management Platform products

Information about using Symantec Installation Manager to install the Symantec Management Platform products.

This information is available as an article in the knowledge base.

https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=45732&p=1

Altiris 7 Planning and Implementation Guide

Information about capacity recommendations, design models, scenarios, test results, and optimization best practices to consider when planning or customizing an Altiris 7 Infrastructure for your organization.

This information is available as an article in the knowledge base.

https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=45803&p=1

Knowledge base

Articles, incidents, and issues about this product.

http://kb.altiris.com/

Symantec Connect (formerly the Altiris Juice)

An online magazine that contains best practices, tips, tricks, and articles for users of this product.

http://www.symantec.com/connect/endpoint-management-virtualization

Online Forums

Forums for users of this product.

http://forums.altiris.com/

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Imported Document ID: DOC2025

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