Altiris™ Patch Management Solution for Linux® 7.1 SP2 from
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1. For more information see the Patch Management Solution for Windows 7 1 SP2 Release Notes at the following URL http www symantec com docs DOC4815 Patch Management Solution for Linux is a component of Patch Management Solution When you install Patch Management Solution using Symantec Installation Manager the following components are installed m Patch Management Solution for Windows m Patch Management Solution for Linux m Patch Management Solution for Mac Patch Management Solution is part of the following suites m Altiris Client Management Suite from Symantec m Altiris Server Management Suite from Symantec m Altiris IT Management Suite from Symantec What s new in Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 In the 7 1 SP2 release of Patch Management Solution for Linux the following new features are introduced m Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 0 and 6 1 all variants m Support for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop version 11 SP1 m Performance and reliability improvements Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes 5 General installation and upgrade information General installation and upgrade information You 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 Installing IT Manage2. Management Solution for Linux you used Novell Customer Center credentials Starting from version 7 1 you must type the Novell Mirror credentials on the Novell page Novell Customer Center tab Log file is created on the endpoint A log file is created on the endpoint that lets you troubleshoot patch installation issues for the particular computer The log file location is swuagent var InstallLog txt Integrating Patch Management Solution with IT Analytics solution IT Analytics solution provides reports that display patch management data By default users with Patch Administrator role do not have access to these reports To grant access add the IT Analytics Users role to the users For more information see the IT Analytics documentation Patch Management Solution for Linux creates a new Software association type during Patch data import This is done for binding Linux update channels with exact OS version This is working as designed HOWT065658 15 16 Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes Documentation that is installed Documentation that is installed Table 1 6 Documentation that is included in the product installation Help Information about how to use The Documentation Library which is available in the Symantec this product Management Console on the Help menu Help is available at the Context sensitive help is available for most scree
3. Settings gt Novell m Red Hat patch management configuration policy You access this policy from Settings gt Software gt Patch Management gt Red Hat Settings gt Red Hat Workaround On the configuration policy s page delete the default targets and then add the appropriate custom targets Task details do not show the cause of the Import Patch Data for Red Hat or the Import Patch Data for Novell failing due to lack of free space on the Notification Server computer When there is no free space on the Notification Server computer the Import Patch Data for Red Hat and Import Patch Data for Novell fail When you open the task details in the Task Status table no mention is made of the lack of free space causing the task to fail Software updates import task status is incorrect When the Import Patch Data for Red Hat or the Import Patch Data for Novell task is running the Pending status is displayed in the Task Status section of the task page This status is not correct To view the correct status of the task click the task instance and open the task instance details Software update details page does not work In Resource Manager the Summaries gt Software Bulletin Details or Summaries gt Software Update Details pages do not work The Software Update Tasks Delivery Summary Web part shows executed tasks as incomplete In the Red Hat Novell Software Update Tasks Delivery Summary Web part the tasks that
4. consider when planning or customizing ITMS http www symantec com docs DOC4827 Table 1 7 Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes continued 17 Other information Information resources that you can use to get more information Symantec Management Platform User Guide Information about using the Symantec Management Platform Symantec Management Platform Documentation page Symantec Management Information about new features and Symantec Management Platform Platform Release Notes important issues in the Symantec Documentation page Management Platform Symantec Management Information about using Symantec http www symantec com docs DOC4798 Platform Installation Guide Installation Manager to install the Symantec Management Platform products Knowledge base Articles incidents and issues about this product SymWISE support page Symantec Connect An online magazine that contains best practices tips tricks and articles for users of this product Symantec Connect page 18 Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes Other information
5. were executed more than 30 days ago are shown as Incomplete Reports can show incorrect data The Novell Red Hat Compliance by Update report can show incorrect number of computers on which updates have been installed For example this happens when the same update belongs to two different channels Such an update is displayed as if it was installed on two computers To work around this issue use the report s parameters section to filter the results by operating system or by software channel 11 Known issues Table 1 3 Cannot save settings on Red Hat and Novell pages when credentials left empty 12 Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes Other known issues continued The changes on the Red Hat and Novell pages cannot be saved if you leave the credentials fields empty Workaround Type the credentials the credentials are critical for the solution to work If you do not know the valid credentials at the time of editing the configuration settings you can type fake credentials Sometimes policies with custom schedules can trigger other policies When you set a custom installation schedule for a policy other policies with default schedules can also be triggered on the client computers and software updates will be installed Other policies that have a custom schedule set are not affected by this issue They will run on their scheduled time Patch Manage
6. Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes vi Symantec Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes The software described in this book is furnished under a license agreement and may be used only in accordance with the terms of the agreement Legal Notice Copyright 2011 Symantec Corporation All rights reserved Symantec and the Symantec Logo Altiris and any Altiris or Symantec trademarks used in the product are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U S and other countries Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners The product described in this document is distributed under licenses restricting its use copying distribution and decompilation reverse engineering No part of this document may be reproduced in any form by any means without prior written authorization of Symantec Corporation and its licensors if any THE DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED AS IS AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON INFRINGEMENT ARE DISCLAIMED EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID SYMANTEC CORPORATION SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH THE FURNISHING PERFORMANCE OR USE OF THIS DOCUMENTATION THE INFORMAT
7. ION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENTATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE Symantec Corporation 350 Ellis Street Mountain View CA 94043 http www symantec com Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes This document includes the following topics m About Patch Management Solution for Linux m What s new in Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 m General installation and upgrade information m System requirements m Platforms supported by Patch Management Solution for Linux m Known issues m Fixed issues m Other things to know Documentation that is installed m Other information About Patch Management Solution for Linux Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux from Symantec lets you scan Red Hat and SUSE Linux computers for security vulnerabilities report on the findings 4 Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes What s new in Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 and automate the downloading and distribution of needed errata or software updates This solution downloads the required patches and provides wizards to help you deploy them During configuration you can set up an automatic patch update schedule to ensure that managed computers are up to date and protected on an ongoing basis Patch Management Solution for Linux is installed with and uses the same license as Patch Management Solution for Windows
8. a on the child In this situation the following errors occur m Inthe Linux Software Update Delivery Summary report failed policies have the status of Policy Execution Incomplete m If Hierarchy Editable Properties are enabled the Policy reconstruction failed error is displayed on the child Notification Server computer when you try to modify the policy Workaround To avoid this problem make sure that all the child Notification Server computers that belong to the hierarchy have clients with the same collection of Red Hat operating system versions installed 13 14 Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes Other things to know Other things to know The following are things to know about this release If additional information about an issue is available the issue has a corresponding Article link Table 1 5 Other things to know You can use the First Time If you want you can use the wizard on the Home gt Notification Setup portal to configure Server Management gt First Time Setup page to configure Patch Patch Management Solution Management Solution for the first use for the first time Perform the following steps in order 1 Onthe portal page under Step 5 Schedule Patch Management click Schedule Patch 2 Inthe wizard configure the schedules for the patch metadata import tasks If you want to enable more than one task make sure the schedules are staggered
9. e Starting from version 7 1 Patch Management Solution for Linux uses Novell Mirror Credentials to manage SUSE Linux updates m Because of the changes in the architecture it is not possible to migrate the selected software channels from 7 0 to 7 1 SP2 After you migrate the solution from 7 0 to 7 1 SP2 import the channels list and select the channels for which you want to download updates m For Red Hat after you upgrade the product on the Import Patch Data for Red Hat page select and import the same channels as you had in the 7 0 version of the product If you do not import these channels it is not possible to distribute migrated Red Hat packages For more information see the IT Management Suite Migration Guide version 7 0 to 7 1 SP2 at the following URL http www symantec com docs DOC4743 DOC4743 Steps to do after upgrading from 7 1 and 7 1 SP1 Run the Import Patch Data for Novell and Import Patch Data for Red Hat tasks Breaking hierarchy before migrating to 7 1 SP2 You must break the hierarchy if you are performing a migration from 7 0 to 7 1 SP2 After you break the hierarchy on the parent Notification Server computer sometimes the child Notification Server computer retains its association with the parent server Workaround Also break the hierarchy on the child Notification Server computer Known issues 8 Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release No
10. ification Server computer is displayed in patch reports Packages are not replicated to child Child Notification Server computers download packages from Novell and Red Hat servers after the Patch metadata is replicated down the hierarchy 9 Known issues Table 1 2 Replicating data between different versions of Patch Management Solution is not supported 10 Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes Hierarchy and replication issues continued Although some items may replicate between different versions of Patch Management Solution that are installed on parent and child Notification Server computers Symantec does not recommend doing this If you want to use hierarchy and replication Patch Management Solution versions must be the same on the parent and child Table 1 3 Relocating packages from an UNC location to another location does not work Other known issues If on the Core Services page you change the To Location value from an UNC path to another path the packages will not be relocated Workaround Relocate the packages manually Software updates cannot be downloaded from an alternate download location on a non IIS package server Only UNC paths can be used as an alternate download location on a non IIS Windows package server If you specify a local path on the server as the alternate download location the software updates are not downl
11. lication rules Windows Novell and Red Hat run at the same time which is 11 00PM by default Symantec recommends that you stagger the replication schedules if you want to use both Windows and Linux patch management functionality in a hierarchy Scheduled client tasks are not replicated to child immediately When you create a schedule for a client task for example Run System Assessment Scan on Linux Computers and include managed computers from a child into the target the schedule does not replicate to the child Notification Server computers immediately Workaround Use the Run now option Exporting software update policies from parent to child is not supported Do not attempt to export a software update policy on the parent Notification Server computer and import it on the child Instead use the built in replication functionality An issue with Allow Package Server Distribution with Manual Prestaging setting The Allow Package Server Distribution with Manual Prestaging settings are replicated but displayed incorrectly in the Symantec Management Console of the child Notification Server computer The functionality is not affected you can ignore this user interface issue Reports do not display any data from hierarchy With the exception of the Compliance Summary report Patch Management Solution reports do not display any data from the child Notification Server computers Only the data for the current Not
12. ment Solution for Linux cannot check for second level dependencies Sometimes a software update cannot be installed because a dependency that was added to the policy is dependent on other software Currently Patch Management Solution for Linux does not run a dependency check for dependent software Workaround Add dependent packages to the policy manually Sometimes a software update policy fails to save This issue may occur when anonymous access is enabled for the Altiris folder in IIS The Software Bulletin Details report shows the computers that are out of scope of the current console user In the Software Bulletin Details report Applies To column the number of all applicable computers is shown including those for which the current console user has access and those for which access is disabled Software update installations that require a computer restart are shown as complete The Linux Software Update Delivery Summary report shows software update installations that require computer restart as complete You can use the Restart Status report to view if any computers are pending restart Automation policy report Maintain Retired Machine Historical Data does not return any result The automation policy creates a report but it contains no data Table 1 3 Steps to do if installation fails Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes Fixed i
13. ment Suite chapter in the IT Management Suite 7 1 SP2 Planning and Implementation Guide at the following URL http www symantec com docs DOC4827 See the product s documentation for information on how to configure and use it To perform an upgrade from version 7 1 or later in the Symantec Installation Manager click Install New Products and then choose to install this product Do not use the Install Product Updates page to upgrade Symantec recommends that you upgrade all of the installed products to the latest version The easiest way to achieve this is to choose to install a suite If you use hierarchy you must disable hierarchy replication and upgrade all products to the latest version on each of the Notification Server computers For additional information about upgrading see the Upgrading to IT Management Suite 7 1 SP2 Best Practices article at the following URL http www symantec com docs TECH177513 After you upgrade the product you must upgrade the Symantec Management Agent and the plug ins that are installed on the managed computers Symantec recommends that you do the following m Inthe Symantec Management Console click Actions gt Agents Plug ins gt Rollout Agents Plug ins Then in the left pane under Symantec Management Agent locate and turn on the upgrade policies for the Symantec Management Agent m Inthe Symantec Management Console click Settings gt All Settings In the left pane expand Notification Se
14. ns in the Symantec solution level and at the suite Management Console To open context sensitive help click inside the level window pane dialog box or other screen element about which you This information is available want more information and then do one of the following in HTML help format m Press the F1 key m Inthe Symantec Management Console click Help gt Context In the Symantec Help Center window type your search string to search within the installed documentation To expand your search to the Symantec Knowledge Base check Include online search For more information on how to use the Symantec Help Center click the Home symbol User Guide Information about how touse m The Documentation Library which is available in the Symantec this product This information is available in PDF format Management Console on the Help menu The Documentation Library provides a link to the PDF User Guide on the Symantec support Web site m The Supported Products A Z page which is available at the following URL http www symantec com business support index page products Open your product s support page and then under Common Topics click Documentation Other information Table 1 7 Information resources that you can use to get more information ITMS 7 1 SP2 Planning and Implementation Guide Information about capacity recommendations design models scenarios test results and optimization best practices to
15. oaded from a package server that does not have IIS installed Sometimes policy schedules work incorrectly across timezones Sometimes when you create a schedule for a policy and select either Use Agent time or Use Server time the policy does not run as planned on the endpoints that are located in a different time zone Workaround Use the Coordinate using UTC option The Terminate after setting on the Novell and Red Hat pages does not work On the Programs tab on the Novell and Red Hat pages when you set a value in Terminate after the setting does not work The default value of 60 minutes is always used Staging Red Hat and Novell patches from an alternate location is not possible When you specify an alternate download location for Red Hat and Novell patches the download fails This setting is under Settings gt Software gt Patch Management on the Core Services page on the Languages and Locations tab Table 1 3 The Patch Administrator cannot edit the default targets in the patch management configuration policies Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes Known issues Other known issues continued A user who belongs to the Patch Management Administrators role cannot edit default targets in the following policies m Novell patch management configuration policy You access this policy from Settings gt Software gt Patch Management gt Novell
16. rver gt Site Server Settings and then locate and turn on the upgrade policies for various site server plug ins m Inthe Symantec Management Console click Actions gt Agents Plug ins gt Rollout Agents Plug ins Then in the left pane locate and turn on the upgrade policies for various plug ins Symantec recommends that you configure a schedule for these policies the default Run once ASAP option may not trigger the policy if this is not the first time you perform an upgrade Also to speed up the upgrade process consider temporarily changing the Download new configuration every setting on the Targeted Agent Settings page to a lower value 6 Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes System requirements For detailed instructions on migrating from 6 x and 7 0 to 7 1 SP2 see the following documentation resources m IT Management Suite Migration Guide version 6 x to 7 1 SP2 at the following URL http www symantec com docs DOC4742 m IT Management Suite Migration Guide version 7 0 to 7 1 SP2 at the following URL http www symantec com docs DOC4743 System requirements Patch Management Solution for Linux requires the following software to be installed m Symantec Management Platform 7 1 SP2 Symantec Management Platform is installed or upgraded automatically when you use Symantec Installation Manager to install or upgrade this product See Platforms supported by Patch Managemen
17. ssues Other known issues continued Sometimes bulletin can fail to install because of a conflicting bulletin included into the same software update policy To work around this issue Symantec recommends that you create a software update policy for this failing bulletin only If it still fails you can set the log level to DEVNOTE and examine the rpm output You can also try to install the update and its dependencies manually Fixed issues The following are the previous issues that were fixed in this release If additional information about an issue is available the issue has a corresponding Article link Table 1 4 Software channels from multiple child servers are excluded from replication Fixed issues Because software channel resources from different child servers do not merge only one child Notification Server computer per one parent Notification Server computer is supported for Patch Linux hierarchy Bulletins that contain updates for different operating system versions cannot be distributed to the endpoints of child Notification Server computers in case not all of the operating systems exist on the child This issue occurs when Inventory Solution is installed Inventory Solution s Software Products and metering track usage configuration for the products rule incorrectly replicates Patch Management Solution data to the child Notification Server computers This results in inconsistent patch management dat
18. t Solution for Linux on page 6 Platforms supported by Patch Management Solution for Linux The Patch Management Solution for Linux component of Patch Management Solution supports the following operating systems m SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 10 SP1 SP4 x86 x86_64 m SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 11 SP1 x86 x86_64 m SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 10 SP1 SP4 x86 x86 64 m SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 11 SP1 x86 x86 _64 m Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS WS ES 4 x86 x86_64 m Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Desktop 5 x86 x86_64 m Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Workstation Client 6 0 6 1 x86 x86_64 Known issues The following are known issues for this release If additional information about an issue is available the issue has a corresponding Article link Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes 7 Known issues For the most up to date information latest workarounds and other technical support information about this solution see the Technical Support knowledge base The known issues are separated into the following groups Installation and upgrade issues See Table 1 1 on page 7 Hierarchy and replication issues See Table 1 2 on page 8 Other known issues See Table 1 3 on page 10 Table 1 1 Installation and upgrade issues Steps to do after migrating from 7 0 m Type the Novell Mirror Credentials on the Novell Patch Remediation Settings pag
19. tes Table 1 1 Installation and upgrade issues continued Invalid custom severities are not removed from the bulletins Invalid custom severities are cleaned up during upgrade However bulletins keep the invalid severities assigned to them To remove an invalid severity from a bulletin change its severity by using the right click menu Package server settings are not migrated from 7 0 Package server settings on the Policy and Package Settings tab are not migrated from 7 0 Configure the settings after the migration SQL queries in automation policies are overwritten Parameters in the default automation policies can be migrated but SQL queries are overwritten Symantec recommends that if you want to customize an automation policy you clone the policy and then make changes to the clone Old server name is displayed in the Compliance summary report after the upgrade After the migration from 7 0 the old Notification Server computer s name is displayed in the Compliance summary report Software Update Plug in policies settings are not migrated The settings in the Software Update Plug in Install Uninstall and Upgrade policies are not migrated from 7 x to this version of Patch Management Solution for Linux Software Update policy targets are not migrated from 7 0 The targets in the Applied to section are reset after migration The targets are reset to the target value that is indicated in the Defa
20. to prevent the server from overloading When you turn on the Linux tasks you must type the Novell Mirror Credentials and the Red Hat Network access credentials By default all vendors and all channels are enabled You can customize the settings later on the appropriate Import Patch Data pages 3 Optional Configure the notification options If you enable administrator notifications you must also configure the SMTP Server Settings You can configure SMTP settings on the Settings gt Notification Server gt Notification Server Settings page 4 Onthe next panel configure the assessment scan and update installation schedules or leave the default ones 5 Click Schedule patch Updates download URLs for The software updates metadata is downloaded from the following Novell and Red Hat URLs m Red Hat http xmlrpc rhn redhat com m Novell https nu novell com Make sure that your firewall and proxy configuration allows network communication to these URLs Table 1 5 Entitlement check is removed from the product Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes Other things to know Other things to know continued Patch Management Solution for Linux no longer checks for entitlement For this reason inventory policies and the Update Agent Discovery task are removed from the product Use mirror credentials for Novell In the previous versions of Patch
21. ult Software Update Plug in Settings policy Custom severity with non Latin characters is not migrated after upgrade from 7 0 Sometimes custom severity with non Latin characters is not migrated RHEL3 and SLES9 are no longer supported The historical data is kept in the database but you cannot download or install patches for RHEL3 and SLES9 after the migration Table 1 2 Hierarchy and replication issues Only two level hierarchy is supported Although Symantec Management Platform lets you create multi level HOWT044217 hierarchies Patch Management Solution supports only two level hierarchy A child Notification Server computer cannot be a parent to another Notification Server computer Table 1 2 Software update policies on the child are not revised Altiris Patch Management Solution for Linux 7 1 SP2 from Symantec Release Notes Hierarchy and replication issues continued Software update policies that were created on child are not revised when you run the Import Patch Data for Windows task with the Automatically revise Software Update policies after importing patch data option checked on the parent Notification Server computer Workaround After the patch management import data replication is complete recreate the policies on child using the same bulletins Known issues An issue with default replication schedules There can be issues with data replication if all three rep
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