I am rolling out Symantec Endpoint Protection, and have noticed a strange situation. It is possible that my experiences are abnormal, and not reproducable, but I thought I would make myself a note about it anyway, and maybe it will help someone else having similar results.

I installed the SEP Management Console, and created two deployment packages – one for servers, and one for workstations. Then I went into the MC and set up policies, exceptions, assigned things, disabled things I didn’t want, etc.

When it was time for rollout, I logged into the first server (using mstsc /admin), browsed to the deployment package (single EXE), and ran it. It installed successfully, but the green dot never appeared on the yellow shield, indicating that it did not check in with the management console. I rebooted a couple of times, and then let it sit for 30 minutes. Nothing. Right-clicking on the shield did not reveal the “Update Policy” option that should be there on a managed client installation. 

The second server I did this on was the same OS and SP level, but it was set up for Terminal Services. This one installed, got the green dot, etc. All was good. The third one was very similar to the first, and had the same result – no green dot. I used the Deployment Wizard to push the installation to the remaining two servers, and that worked fine – the green dot appeared.

Going back to the first two servers, I uninstalled SEP, rebooted, and then pushed the client with the Deployment Wizard. Both servers installed successfully, green dot appeared.

I have not had these results on workstations. Workstations consistently seem to work properly, even when the setup is run manually.

I don’t know if this is a normal thing, or if Terminal Services had any impact on it regarding the server that did work with a manual install.

What I DO know is that there are a LOT of Google results for issues concerning servers not checking in with the console, and if there are answers out there, they are not easy to find. This worked for me. Maybe it will work for you.

Tags: Deployment Wizard, Green Dot, Symantec Endpoint Protection