Symantec Management Platform (Notification Server)

Is there any indication when the Symantec Management Platform SP5 update is going to be compatible with Dell Client Manager?

Since I am using DCM, I can’t use CMS 7 Maintenance Release 2, which will become more of a problem, going forward.

It’s a shame these releases can’t be synchronized or at least some guidance is given about how long it will take for a compatible version to be released, so customers know where they stand.

I am wondering this as well.  I removed Dell CM in preparation for an NS 7 SP5 upgrade, and it has wreaked havoc with our system- we cannot import software resources now. We are getting an error which says "There was a problem parsing the submitted installation file."

This error correlates with this one in the NS Logs:

Description: Failed to find file hash: An unexpected exception has occured during CreateInstance. (Assembely:Altiris.DellCM.Patch, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=5826ffdd0bcbd7fb Type:Altiris.DellCM.Patch.Resources.DellSoftwareInstallationFileResource) 

I am quite frustrated with the releases coming out of Symantec lately.  As you noted there is little guidance and additionally every time an upgrade is performed it seems to be a "click next and pray" type of scenarios.

From TECH141793

Dell Client Manager 3.1 is currently not compatible with Symantec Management Platform 7.0 SP5.

Symantec Management Platform 7.0 SP5 has not been certified for use with any version of Dell Client Manager including the current 3.1 release.  This is currently an unsupported platform. 

Dell Client Manager 3.2 will be available in Q1 of 2011. It will be compatible with SP5 and Dell OMCI version 8.x, which is required for managing the latest client computer systems shipped by Dell.

The latest service pack for DCM that is supported is Symantec Management Platform 7.0 SP4.  Systems that are required to run Dell Client Manager 3.1 must be kept at SP4.

Customers who have single SMP server environments that combine DCM 3.1 with other Altiris/Symantec suites (like Client Management Suite, etc) that are currently on SP4 and wish to update to SP5 will need to do the following:

*  Uninstall DCM from the current SMP server
*  Upgrade current SMP server to SMP 7.0 SP5
*  Install DCM 3.1 with SMP 7.0 SP4 on a separate server 

This is pretty disappointing, so if we want to use the latest CMS MR2 release, which is an important release and needs SMP SP5, we have to uninstall DCM, loosing it’s additional functionality for up to half a year?

Knowing there could be delays like this again going forward, I think we will consider dumping DCM permanently unfortunately, one of the key Dell advantages, we promoted up until now.

Also this is being discussed here Management Platform 7 SP5 and Dell components and here Removed Dell Client Manager, Now Cannot import Software Resources.

I see the release notes for DCM 3.5 have been posted (http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC3514).  I don't see the update in my SIM yet, but this looks like an indication that it should be out soon.

but you're right, should be out very soon.

From the DCM 3.2 release notes -

 and

No support for CMS 7.1/SMP 7.1 though!

DCM 3.2 has finally been released and now supports SMP SP5:

It taken exactly six months since SP5 was released and while it was (barely) within the "<DCM 3.2> will be available in Q1 of 2011" statement from the corresponding TECH article, it's still been an inconvenience and has set our CMS 7 progress back substantially, as we haven't been able to use the two latest maintenance releases, as we were was keen on keeping DCM.

Still undecided on whether to remove DCM permanently anyway now, as with no firm details to support SMP 7.1 MP1/CMS 7.1 (though DMC will on May 1st), we could face similar delays again, which would be unacceptable.