During the process of installing a renewed Symantec Premium Antispam (SPA) license for Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE) an error message is displayed:

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Symantec Premium AntiSpam registration failed. The product will not receive definition updates

Do the following:
1. Ensure that a valid, up-to-date Premium AntiSpam license is installed.
2. Verify that DNS can resolve aztec.brightmail.com.
3. Allow outbound secure https through firewall (port 443).
4. If using proxy server, see documentation for manually running register.
5. Retry registration by enabling Premium AntiSpam within the product.
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Conditions

The start date of the license is in the future.

To verify the start date of a Symantec License File:

1. Browse to the location of the license file in Windows Explorer.
2. Right click the license and choose "Open With".
3. In the Open With menu, select notepad.
4. Locate the <start_date> tag.

If the date within the <start_date> tag is in the future, this condition is met.

Licenses have recently been changed to start at the time the purchased contract starts, instead of from the date the license is issued. Premium Antispam will not function correctly when attempting to use a license that is not yet valid.

This issue is resolved in SMSMSE 7.5.4. After upgrade to 7.5.4, SMSMSE will now merge the existing license with any new, future dated licenses before registering them.

Workaround

Remove the new, future dated license from SMSMSE, and install the older license. Once the start date has been reached, the new license can be installed.

To remove the future dated license:

1. Stop the Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange and Symantec Mail Security Utility services (Start -> Run, net stop SMSMSE, net stop savfmsespamstatsmanager) and close the SMSMSE console.
2. Navigate to <install path>\SMSMSE\<version>\Server\SpamPrevention. Remove the file SPALicense.slf to a backup location, or delete the file.
3. Navigate to <install path>\SMSMSE\<version>\Server\UPLOADS. Remove any existing license files to a backup location.
4. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Symantec Shared\Licenses. Find the old license by opening the files in notepad, and note the name of the old license. Remove any SMSMSE licenses from the directory to a backup location.
5. Start the Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange and Symantec Mail Security Utility services (Start -> Run, net start SMSMSE, net start savfmsespamstatsmanager).
6. Open the SMSMSE console, and navigate to Admin -> Licensing.
7. Click the "Browse..." button, and select the old license noted in step 4.
8. Click Install, and verify that the license registers without errors.
9. Navigate to Premium Antispam Settings, and insure Premium Antispam is enabled.