Symanec Protection Suites

It appears that many of our 2008 servers get the WIndows firewall ENABLED after the upgrade to SEP 12 (problem occurred on twelve servers over the weekend).  The current SEP 11 server installation includes AntiVirus and Proactive Threat Protection.  Server scans occur weekly.  Real time scanning is disabled. 

The server upgrade to version 12 ONLY installs virus and spyware protection.  Servers scans run weekly and real time scanning is disabled here as well.  We are installing SEP 12.1.1101.401 (RU1 MP1)

  In our situation the Windows Firewall is ALREADY disabled.  I need to understand if and why the Symantec upgrade is RE-ENABLING the WIndows firwall!  This is a big problem for us.  I did read a tech note, 97986 that talks about this to some degree.  It was cited as a resolution, however I don't see that as being applicable in our case. 

  ". . . To prevent this situation, SEP's installer automatically detects and disables Windows firewalls that are enabled. (The exception is, of course, if a custom install package is created which does not include NTP. If this Symantec firewall is not included in the install, an active Windows Firewall will not be disabled during install.)"
 

In our situation the Windows firewall is ALREADY disabled.  According to the article, without NTP, the firewall WON'T be disabled.  Is Symantec turning it back on since it detects that no firewall is running?  If so, this is an ISSUE!  I need to understand if and why the Symantec upgrade is RE-ENABLING the WIndows firwall.

Thanks,

Dino Ingram

HI,

Check this similar thread

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/sep-upgrade-11x-121-ru1-enables-windows-firewall

I reviewed the threads.  It appears though, that it doesn't address our issue.  The Windows firewall is being turned back on AFTER the upgrade.  The threads address the policy of SEP only requiring ONE firewall to be enabled, and the issue of SEP NOT disabling the Windows firewall if the SEP firewall is not installed.  It doesn't seem to specifically address the solution to SEP turning the Windows firewall ON following the upgrade.  I did confirm that the servers affected are all 2008.

Thanks,

Dino Ingram

does the package has only PTP and AV, was the NTP already installed on server?

HI,

This issue may be resolved SEPM next release

Windows Firewall is enabled on Windows 7 clients after a SEPM migration from 11 ru6 mp3 to 12.1 Ru1

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH184409