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Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

amandaw33

amandaw33Jan 03, 2013 09:52 AM

amandaw33

amandaw33Jan 04, 2013 08:34 AM

  • 1.  Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Trusted Advisor
    Posted Dec 21, 2012 02:44 PM

    For months now, I've had a ticket into support for being unable to run compliance reports in Remediation Center for Flash.

    A new Flash update comes out, and the remediation report correctly shows me all of my computers are applicable and not installed.

    When I push it out to my test environment (or production), instead of the installed number going up and the not installed number going down, the applicable number goes down and the installed number stays and zero.

    I've had a ticket in for months on this begging support to help to no avail.  The tech has escalated it to dev but are saying it's a known issue with no ETA.

    I can't stress enough how we bought into Patch Management specifically because it offered patching of Adobe products in the same console we do other management tasks... and now for months I've been unable to provide reports on who has flash installed, who doesn't, without creating my own custom reports.

    Is anyone else having a problem with Flash reporting?  It's not all adobe products, just flash.

    Tech has continually requested to close my case and instructed me to subscribe to the tech article for email updates. 

     

    http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH200491

     I wish at my work I could close unresolved tickets telling the customer there is no ETA, sorry.



  • 2.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Posted Dec 21, 2012 04:29 PM

    This issue has been escalated to the team that provides the Patch metadata.  They have not provided an ETA.  An update on the status of this issue has been requested from the Patch data team.



  • 3.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Posted Dec 22, 2012 01:18 PM

    Subscribing to articles often isn't any help as they aren't updated very diligently when the fix is released as part of a hotfix rollup, MP, SP or new release. It's not unknown for the article to just disappear.



  • 4.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Trusted Advisor
    Posted Jan 03, 2013 09:52 AM

    @Michael - any update?



  • 5.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Posted Jan 03, 2013 02:30 PM

    No updates yet. I received an email from the Patch metadata team over the holidays which seemed to indicate that they were able to reproduce the issue and possibly identify the root cause.  The email explicitly indicated that there was no ETA for resolving the issue.

    I sent a follow-up email asking when the team will be able to provide me with an ETA, but have not received a response.  I have also asked whether this is an issue that can be resolved by making a change to the data, or whether a change to the underlying engine will be required.  Data issues can likely be resolved more quickly than issues that require changes to the code.

    I will provide additional information as it becomes available.



  • 6.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Trusted Advisor
    Posted Jan 04, 2013 08:34 AM

    Thanks for replying, Michael.



  • 7.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Posted Jan 15, 2013 03:03 PM

    Have you opened SIM to see if there are any partial installs?



  • 8.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Posted Jan 15, 2013 05:39 PM

    I have been told that the issue mentioned in the original post in this thread will require enhancements to the scanning engine.  It is not something that can be addressed by simply making changes to the contents of the data feed.

    This change is currently planned for the next version of the scanning engine.  Coding on that version of the scanning engine is expected to be completed by the end of Q2.  Integration testing will then need to be performed, as the scanning engine is just one part of the Patch Management Solution plug-in. 

    It is my understanding that this portion of the Patch Management Solution plug-in can be updated outside of the normal release cycle for the product.  This means that availability will not necessarily be tied to a new release of the Altiris Patch Management Solution. 

     



  • 9.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Trusted Advisor
    Posted Jan 16, 2013 09:23 AM

    Thanks for the update Michael.  It's a shame I couldn't get that info from the ticket I put in, or the eTrack created I was supposed to subscribe to when the ticket was requested to be closed linked above.  

    It's strange the only place I see this is with Flash - and it doesn't seem to be happening with all customers.  I wonder why Flash and my environment is unique.
     
    I guess it is what it is and I'll have to hope some future release fixes it, and I'll have to post back to the forums for updates.

    Thanks for taking the time to respond.



  • 10.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Posted Jan 16, 2013 10:32 AM

    Sally5432,

    Just to clarify the process -- Known issues are documented in KB articles, so that customers other than the customer who reported the issue are aware of them.  The customer who reported the issue should be provided with the associated KB article number by the technical support team.

    The Etrack system that you referenced is our internal bug tracking database used by our engineering team.  Stakeholders within Symantec's engineering team can subscribe to items within Etrack, but customers are not able to do so.  Etrack tracks and documents communication among members of the engineering team with respect to issues.  Such content is not appropriate for consumption by external stakeholders.

    The best way to keep informed of the status of issues is to subscribe to the associated KB article.  The technical support and documentation teams are responsible for updating KB articles when fixes are released. 

    Keep in mind that issues are addressed based on assigned severity and priority ratings and that not all issues get addressed.   The timing of fixes for particular issues is dependent on the nature of the change required and finding an appropriate release vehicle for such change.

     



  • 11.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Posted Jan 16, 2013 05:43 PM

    Thanks for the reply. One problem with subscribing to KB articles is that they sometimes are just withdrawn instead of updated:

    Or just not updated:

    http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH176442 corrected according to SMP 7.1 SP2 release notes

    http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH152440 corrected according to Inv Soln 7.1 SP2 release notes

     



  • 12.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Trusted Advisor
    Posted Mar 01, 2013 02:27 PM

    Again being asked by support to allow them to close the case & customer should subscribe to the KB until a fix comes out Q2.

     

    http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH198907

    So frustrating.  I had this happen before with another issue, the KB was updated at some point, but my issue wasn't resolved like the KB said it was.  I guess Altiris/Symantec won there too because at that point I was so fed up I just ignored it.

    I understand for a technician the desire to close a case you can't work on (dev needs to), but I don't see the benefit to the customer.

     



  • 13.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Posted Mar 01, 2013 06:45 PM

    Just cite the four articles I listed above as examples where you wouldn't get an update.



  • 14.  RE: Adobe Flash patch reporting problem - so frustrating!

    Trusted Advisor
    Posted Aug 12, 2013 09:37 AM

    FYI it appears this has been resolved via point update.  

    http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH198907&actp=SUBSCRIPTION