Understanding the "Delete Package File" Configuration Options

Looking at screens from the Notification Server Console can be frustrating sometimes. Sometimes you see checkboxes and there are cryptic desciptions next to the boxes. What do they do? How will it affect my environment?

Let's take a look at two of them. First, what does the "Delete Package files if unused on the Package Server" setting do? and the "Delete package files if unused on the Altiris Agent" on the Altiris Agent configuration settings?

Delete Package files if unused on the Package Server

This setting is designed to be used when Package Servers should delete unused packages. It exists on the Settings tab of the Package Server page. Once checked, an order of events must occur for packages to be deleted.

First, a count down to remove package files on a Package Server will only begin when either;

1. The package is unassigned from the Package Server or,
2. The package is deleted from the NS database.

Both of these situations result in the package no longer being sent down to the Altiris Agent in the Package Server node of the configuration XML file.

Once this occurs the Package Server updates the PackageStatus.xml file that it stores for each individual package and sets the 'Status' flag to 'Deleted', and the 'Time' flag to that time, when it was removed from the configuration file.

By default, the package status files are located at the following location on the Package Server machine:

C:\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent\Package Server Agent\Package Status

At each Package Server configuration refresh, the Package Server will check for a Deleted flag inside all the Package Status files and if the corresponding Time flag value has exceeded or "gone past" the duration configured for the deletion of unused packages, then the package files will be removed.

For NS Internal packages, such as the Altiris Agent, and others, there are no different or unique parameters that cause the countdown or deletion to change in anyway. NS internal packages are getting deleted the same as other packages.

One point to note is that, for example, if packages are configured to delete immediately, the deletion does not happen at the exact time the package is removed from the config file. The removal occurs at the next interval of the package refresh schedule on the Package Server. To quicken this process you could click the 'Refresh Packages' button inside the Package Server UI.

Now on to the second one:

Delete package files if unused on the Altiris Agent

There is a similar setting that can be configured on Software Delivery (SWD) packages individually, called, 'Package files will be deleted from the client computer if unused for X amount of time'. This setting only applies to when the Altiris Agent will delete its unused SWD packages.

For this to take effect, certain conditions must be met. One of the conditions for a SWD package to be considered unused by the Altiris Agent is that the associated SWD task has to have executed at least once. If it has not run at least once then the count down to delete the package will never start.

Another condition that will not allow the package to be deleted is a setting called 'User can run the task immediately' that, when enabled while configuring a SWD task, will cause the associated SWD package to always be considered 'In use'.

The conditions listed below will cause a SWD Package to be considered unused, and therefore be deleted from the client machine. If:

1. There are no longer any enabled SWD tasks associated with the SWD package.
2. If the client is removed from the collection which applied to the SWD task.
3. The option on the SWD task to 'Remove this task after successful install' is enabled and the SWD task has run successfully at least once.
4. If the SWD task has run once on the Altiris Agent, and is not configured to run on any other schedules.

Once the SWD Package is considered unused, the count down begins to delete the package, and the deletion will occur in 7 days (by default) from the time the SWD task last executed.