SEP clients managed by a SEPM server: To disable scanning of compressed files

Auto-Protect scans:

SEPM Antivirus and Antispyware policy, Mac Settings, File System Auto-Protect, Scan Details tab, "Scan compressed files" checkbox

Scheduled scans:

SEPM Antivirus and Antispyware policy, Mac Settings, Admin-Defined Scans,Common Settings tab, "Scan compressed files" checkbox

On-demand scans (as commanded via right-click in SEPM client listing):

SEPM Antivirus and Antispyware policy, Mac Settings, Admin-Defined Scans, Scans tab (at bottom, "Administrator On-demand Scan settings")

These setting override the client's local settings only for AutoProtect, scheduled scans, and on-demand scans.

Scans commanded through the local client GUI and navx command line use settings that are independent of any SEPM configuration.

Unmanaged SEP for Macintosh clients: To disable scanning of compressed files

Auto-Protect scans:

From the SEP client command line as root (or using sudo as below, and commands are case-sensitive):

sudo defaults write /var/root/Library/Preferences/com.symantec.autoprotect ScanCompressedOn –bool NO

This setting is also controlled by the client Auto-Protect preferences panel in the Macintosh system preferences, and is overridden by SEPM policy settings.

User-scheduled scans:

For ALL user-scheduled scans, from the SEP client command line (note capitalization):

defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.Symantec.SAVX ScanCompressedPref -bool NO

For scans scheduled by the current user (applicable to SAV for Macintosh only; the global setting above doesn't work in SAV, and SEP ignores any user-specific setting):

defaults write com.Symantec.SAVX ScanCompressedPref -bool NO

User-specific settings are by default stored in /Users/username/Library/Preferences/.

To delete the current user setting for SAVX ScanCompressedPref:

defaults delete com.Symantec.SAVX ScanCompressedPref

NOTE: SEP uses only the global SAVX ScanCompressedPref setting, and SEPM policy will override any local changes in a managed client.

Managed and un-managed clients: To turn off the default setting for manual scans run by the current user through the local GUI

This setting cannot be controlled via the SEPM. There is a checkbox labeled "Scan within Compressed Archives" in the client GUI for SAV or SEP for Macintosh. This setting does not affect AutoProtect or scheduled scans; it affects only manual scans that are run from the client GUI. Changes to the default state of this setting (checking or unchecking the box) are not retained if you close and re-open the GUI. But the command below will change the default setting globally for all users.

defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.Symantec.NAVX ScanCompressedPref -bool NO

To set this for the current user (applicable to SAV for Macintosh only: SEP ignores any user-specific setting):

defaults write com.Symantec.NAVX ScanCompressedPref -bool NO

 User-specific settings are by default stored in /Users/username/Library/Preferences/.

To delete the current user setting for NAVX ScanCompressedPref:

defaults delete com.Symantec.NAVX ScanCompressedPref

NOTE: SEP uses only the global NAVX ScanCompressedPref setting

For scans run from the command line

See Command line switches and use of NAVX command line utility for SAV/SEP for Macintosh