Software Management Group

About Symantec Software Resource Replicator
The Symantec Software Resource Replicator utility is designed to migrate “logical” information for deliverable software resources from one Notification Server to another. Note that the utility does not migrate physical packages. Physical packages should be migrated manually.

How to use the utility

1. Extract the .zip file to any location on the source Notification Server and launch SoftwareReplicator.exe. (The source Notification Server is the one from which the export is performed.)
   NOTE: The password for the zip is "symantec" (without the quotes)
2. Select the software resources you want to export. Use the “Filter software resource by name“ edit box to show only the required resources.
3. Define the Export path and select software resources export parameters.
4. Click Export now.
5. Extract the .zip file to any location on the target Notification Server and launch SoftwareReplicator.exe. (The target Notification Server is the import destination.)
6. If the Software Library was used on the source Notification Server, make sure that the Software Library is also configured on the target Notification Server. It can be configured to any desired location, and not necessarily to the same location as on the source Notification Server).
7. Copy the physical packages you want to import to the proper locations, if their location is changed during their migration to the new Notification Server.
8. Select the location from which the XML files that you defined in step 3 above should be imported.  Click Refresh.
9. Ensure that the mappings between “Root on Source” and “Root on Target” are correctly defined.
10. Click Import now.
11. Wait until the import is complete. Check the message column for any errors (highlighted in red) or warnings (highlighted in blue). The migration is done!

Limitations

1. The utility does not migrate physical packages. These packages should be copied manually to proper locations.
2. The utility does not migrate software resources created by Patch Management Solution.
3. The utility does not migrate information not directly related to software resources (like Organizational views, users etc.).
4. Packages assigned to a specific Package server on the source Notification Server will be assigned to “All Package servers” after migration is complete. The custom package download location on the package server is reset to its default.
5. Only Deliverable Software resources (with at least one command line defined) are replicated.
6. Once replication has completed, you may have duplicate Software Resources due to Inventory. To merge these rules, follow these steps:
   a. In the console browse under Settings > Console > Views > in the left-hand pane browse under Software > and select Software Catalog.
   b. Use the filter field to find the duplicates.
   c. Right-click on the resource you wish to merge the duplicates into, and select Resolve Duplicate Software Resources.
   d. Make sure you complete the entire wizard, checking all options you wish to be merged into the final Software Resource
7. Note that during the merge of the Software Resource (considering the steps in 6) the default command-line is not checked and will need to be checked as part of the process.

Known Issues

1. “Contains” software resource associations are lost during the migration with this utility.
2. Association type Updates (software updates) will get migrated even if corresponding export parameter is unchecked.
3. Association type Supersedes will not be migrated if specified using “software resource that supersede this software resource” option.
4. The Software Release association with the software product will appear in Managed Software on the Target Activity Center only after this software is discovered by Software Discovery, or Software Inventory. This issue is not specific to the Software Replicator utility.
5. Error message regarding published command line is displayed in NS command line during export. The error does not affect functionality.
6. File Inventory Data will also get migrated when selecting a Resource to be migrated even if the File Inventory checkbox is unchecked.
7. When using the "Exclude Security and NS Origin information" checkbox it is not removing Software Product Security and NS Origin information. Security and NS Origin information is contained within exported XML files.

Fixed Issues comparing to 7.1.2.2015 version of the utility

1. Added support for ITMS 7.5.
2. Skip resources without command line checkbox was removed as tool designed to replicate only deliverable resources.
3. In case of Package source is "Access package form URL", added ability to edit the package directory path, if it is present.

Important Notes

1. Software Replicator is using the full export/import functionality of Notification Server. One Software Resource includes associated items (it sometimes exports 50+ items if a Software Release has a lot of dependencies/packages/command lines and etc). The export of 5,000 Software resources can take approximately 45 minutes. The import of 5,000 Software resources can take approximately 2 hours 30 minutes (tested on Dell PowerEdge R710 2x Xeon 2.0 GHz 16 GB RAM).
2. The Solutions Agents/Plug-ins Software Resources are excluded from the list of software resources for export.
3. Software Replicator never removes existing associations. Only new ones will be added. (Previously imported Software resource settings like File Inventory, Software associations, Software Publishing settings, Applicability and Detection Rules will be preserved after re-importing for the same  Software resource with fewer settings which were exported using fewer Export parameters).
4. For correct Software publishing information migration from one NS to another, source and target NS servers should be registered either to the same domain or to trusted domains.

Supported Notification Server versions
The following source Notification Server versions are supported by the Symantec Software Resource Replicator utility:

• ITMS 7.0 MR2
• ITMS 7.0 MR3
• ITMS 7.0 MR4 (both clean and with Rollup 6)
• ITMS 7.1
• ITMS 7.1 SP1
• ITMS 7.1 SP2
• ITMS 7.5

The following target Notification Server versions are supported by the Symantec Software Resource Replicator utility:  

• ITMS 7.1 SP1
• ITMS 7.1 SP2
• ITMS 7.5

NOTE: This utility is being provided with limited support. All usage scenarios may not have gone through the QA cycle due to limited time, resource constraints, or that the use case was not identified during the creation of this utility.