Relocate Altiris Agent LDB directory

[deemacgee]

Hi all,

Is there a way to relocate the following LDB directories? Taken from here: Article 150837

 LDB folder:

The following are the default location for the LDB folder (Agent secure storage files):
"\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Symantec\Symantec Agent\Ldb"
"\ProgramData\Symantec\Symantec Agent\Ldb"

We have been experiencing random OS freezing on VMs which appear to be related to our backup solution.; crashdump analysis indicates files in the LDB path are locked and not being released correctly. Short of amending literally dozens of backup templates, we'd first like to try moving the LDB directory to another, untargeted, drive on the VM.

The VMs in question were upgraded from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2016 earlier this year, and the first lockup reports came in a few weeks afterwards. We had no such issue on Windows Server 2012 R2.

We're unable to duplicate the behaviour manually, and a system in the locked state responds only to a handful of remote requests, making diagnosis difficult - we have only the vendor's (biased) analysis of the crashdump to work with, plus whatever limited information is available after the fact. Altiris Agent logs do not update at all between the time of a machine lockup and the hard reset. Windows event logging entries are extremely limited during a period of lockup, with no useful information collected.

After disabling the Altiris Agent entirely about 10 days ago on a specific category of at-risk server types, the issue has not presented on those servers.

We're running Altiris 8.6 RU3, and this problem has been encountered under Altiris Agent versions 8.6.4286 and 8.6.4292 (October 2023 pointfix).

Any suggestions, sympathies, solidarity, etc, are welcome.

[Sergei Zjaikin]

Hello, there is no way to relocate LDB folder currently regardless of the version.  The functionality related to LDB folder has not been changed for few years already and there are no known bugs exists at all. There should be some sort of "black list" for your backup solution if the solution is mature enough, try that and exclude LDB from backup..

Whatever problem you're having is most likely related to 3rdparty software, not Windows or ITMS.

Could you please describe what kind of LDB locks there are and what software crashes exactly? 

What backup solution are you using exactly?

The explanation that crash is caused by the "locked" folder is not that good, no any kind "folder lock" should cause any crash.

Can I take a look at that crash dump?

thanks!

[Roy B]

Hello deemacgee, 

If you'd like, create a case with support and upload the crash dump to the case, and we can share that file with Sergei internally.

Thanks, Roy

[deemacgee]

Thanks all.

We are looking to exhaust all other lines of investigation, and will return
to this thread if no other potential causes are identified.

[deemacgee]

Hi everyone,

Belated update to this issue: Microsoft eventually came back and confirmed for us that there is a bug in file transaction handling under Windows Server 2016. Their recommendation was to upgrade to WS2022. We're in the process of doing that anyway and, so far, it appears the issue has been resolved.

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Tech Monkey/IT Primate
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[Ebot_H]

Thanks for the update. We are experiencing the same symptoms, except backup software is not a factor in our case. Our XDR agent might be involved, but Altiris/Symantec Management Agent definitely is. We haven't seen the issue occur on any system with it stopped. None of our 2019 or 2022 servers are impacted - only 2016.

Memory dump analysis is showing involvement of the LDB folder.

The issue started at the beginning of October for us.

TD SYNNEX/Broadcom support hasn't been very helpful so far, asking us to upgrade to 2019. As we have hundreds, this is not practical. Microsoft is also telling us that there's a bug in 2016.

[Sergei Zjaikin]

Hello, can I see that memory dump? What kind of LDB folder "involvement" is it?

We have not seen any technical evidence so far unfortunately and it is very hard to help.

The problem with the relocation is that we do not know if it will help at all. LDB folder is just a set of files, nothing much special about how Symantec Management Agent accesses those files.

You can try changing "StorageIOMode" registry value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Altiris\Altiris Agent

The default value is 0, that means files in LDB folder will be accessed in an optimized way from the performance and data integrity point of view.

You may try using the following values:

1 - lower performance but files will not be corrupted in case of power failure.

2 - faster performance but there is a chance files can be corrupted in case of power failure.

SMA restart is needed after the value was added to the registry.

[Ebot_H]

Thanks for the quick reply, Sergei.

I will share the number with you privately so that you can see the memory dumps. I have uploaded two to the case, but Broadcom support is currently having difficulty accessing the SharePoint files I uploaded. TD SYNNEX is working with them to provide access.

I will also privately send you the relevant excerpt from the dumps that Microsoft highlighted.

As well, I appreciate the StorageIOMode tip. We will try that.