SylinkDrop is a Symantec tool designed to update Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) 12.1 client communication settings. When SEP clients are in group communication mode, Sylink drop works without issue, however, when SEP clients are in location specific communication settings mode, SylinkDrop does not update their communication settings.

This results in SEP clients continuing to use the old communication settings after SylinkDrop has been used.

For example, if SylinkDrop is used to direct SEP clients which are in location specific communication mode to connect to a new Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager (SEPM), clients will continue to connect to the old SEPM and will not begin communicating with the new SEPM.

There are no errors associated with this issue.

SylinkDrop is only designed to replace group communication mode settings (Sylink.xml). Sylink drop does not replace files which contain location specific communication settings (Serdef.dat).

This problem is fixed in Symantec Endpoint Protection 14. For information on how to obtain the latest build of Symantec Endpoint Protection, read
Download the latest version of Symantec Endpoint Protection

Workaround:

Replacing location specific communication settings is not currently supported by SylinkDrop. To update communication settings on SEP clients in location specific communication mode, administrators can manually update the SEP client's Sylink.xml and Serdef.dat files.

To do this, administrators will need to:

Export a client install package from the SEPM

1. Login to the SEPM
2. Click Admin > Install packages
3. Click Install Packages
4. Right-click a Windows 32- or 64-bit install package
5. Click Export
6. Click Browse and select an folder in which to export the package
7. Uncheck Create a single .EXE for this package
8. Checkmark the destination client-group for the SEP client
9. Click OK

Extract the Sylink.xml and Serdef.dat files from the install package

1. When the install package finishes exporting, open the install package folder in Windows Explorer
2. Copy the Sylink.xml and Serdef.dat files from the root directory of the folder to the destination computer which has SEP installed

Disable Tamper Protection for the SEP client on the client computer

1. Open the SEP client
2. Click Change Settings > Configure Settings (next to Client Management)
3. Click the Tamper Protection tab
4. Uncheck Protect Symantec security software from being tampered with or shut down
5. Click OK

Stop the Symantec Management Client Service on the client computer

1. Press Windows Key + R on the keyboard
2. When the Run window appears, type in: smc -stop
3. Click OK

Replace the SEP client's existing Sylink.xml and Serdef.dat files

1. Open My Computer
2. Navigate to: C:\ProgramData\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\CurrentVersion\Data\Config
3. Copy the Sylink.xml and Serdef.dat files which were created earlier into this document into this directory. When prompted whether to replace the existing files, choose to replace the existing files.

Start the Symantec Management Client Service on the client computer

1. Press Windows Key + R on the keyboard
2. When the Run window appears, type in: smc -start
3. Click OK

Enable Tamper Protection for the SEP client on the client computer

1. Open the SEP client
2. Click Change Settings > Configure Settings (next to Client Management)
3. Click the Tamper Protection tab
4. Checkmark Protect Symantec security software from being tampered with or shut down
5. Click OK

The SEP client will now use the new communication settings.

Applies To

Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1