Any errors in the logs prior to the service hanging?  What about just after you restart the service?

Hey there

I have actually seen this happening if the server has installed Enpoint Protection, which antivirus are you running on this server, and does anything change if you try disabling it for testing purposes... =)

/Morten

Mclemson> I'll take a look at the log, the next time it hangs. I'm not able to restart the service - It wount come down and I have to restart the server instead.

mortenleth> I'm running F-secure. But I was also running F-secure on my old Altiris server.

Hey alpe

I know this isn't a fix but it will make you not need a reboot.. =)

If you take properties on the service (the only reason you would do this is because i don't know which of the core services it is you are restarting) you can see what .exe file it is you are restarting, and when you stop that service and it won't stop you can kill the task in the task manager instead, most likely it's "express.exe" you are restarting.

Afterwards you should be able to do a F5 in the services window and your service has come to a stop, and now you can start it.
Do you have any entry's in the eventvwr or anything?

Was it the same version and build you used on your other server, cause i have seen before that older versions has been more stable, actually this again is the same customer which had the same antivirus running on the old server which they didn't have any problems with...

/Morten

 I had similar issues, the fix I found was to uncheck the "Refresh connection after idle" box in the Production agent settings.  I have had a lot less clients disconnecting. Once they have this box unchecked on their side.

For DS 6.9 servers & Aclient communications investigations, see:
Deployment Server Axengine, AClient Connection, and Remote Control Troubleshooting Guide
https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=4214&p=1
The eXpress database transaction log is using too much disk space
https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=17380&p=1
Best practice for Aclients 6.8-6.9 to refresh their connection with the Deployment Server
https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=41040&p=1

Because using "Refresh connection after idle", can provide a quick grow of ghost TCP sessions, See also as a workaround:
Does AClient in DS 6.9 SP3 have the keep alive packet feature?
https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=48987&p=1
Because, if a Switch/router, or a Firewall, or a WAN in the middle Aclient & DS, they can "force" a drop the TCP session, so overload the TCP stack of the server, as clients must reconnect a new one each time, all the same DS keep older one a longest time... (or something like that, I do not make a study in depth this problem)

If you stop & restart the Aexengine.exe without resolve any client connection problem, & see a well working blue Aclient, When open "admin property/ok", turn white, "can not connect"...
Just check the number if active TCP sessions are near 52'000? This can be the problem. (see perfmon, TCPv4, active TCP sessions)
Of course, in this situation of TCP stack overflow, you can restart DS services as often you want, you will never solve before rebooting Windows. According the number of clients & refresh period, you will have to reboot "every night", or once a week ;-)

If this solve,  please alpe do not forgot to mark this comment as a solution ;-). Best regards.