Endpoint Protection

I have a situation where I need to uninstall and reinstall SEP on a number of GUPs, on sites with very slow network connections.

Is it possible to backup and restore the SharedUpdates folder, to avoid creating extra network traffic?

Can I simply copy the folder to another location on the drive, and then copy it back after the reinstall?

Hi Ben25,

This is a very interesting issue, and frankly not something I have tried.

Theoretically it should work, because the SharedUpdates folder contains Delta and Full.zip definitions which are in no way binded to the GUP. Its more like a published folder which the SEP client searches for updates it has requested to the SEPManager, and they are simply dumped with a

Unfortunately at the moment, I don't think we have any articles or documentation on whether this would work or not, but if possible, I would suggest testing it on one GUP at the moment and monitor the SEPM-GUP traffic after the reinstallation and copy of the SharedUpdates folder.

Hello,

I completely agree with Samuel's Comments.

When uninstalling the SEP client (Group Update Provider), take a Backup of the SharedUpdate Folder.

SharedUpdates Folder could be found - 

SEP 11 - C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\SharedUpdates

SEP 12.1 -

(32 bit machines) C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\12.1.x.x.x\Bin\SharedUpdates.

(64 bit machines) C:\Program Files(x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\12.1.x.x.x\Bin64\SharedUpdates

When the SEP Client is reinstalled, create the SharedUpdate folder (in the above location) and paste the complete content which was Backup before.

The SEP client would work flawlessly without any issues (once assigned as GUP on SEPM).

By performing the steps above, the SEP client would only download the required definition updates which are lacking (instead of entire updates) on the SEP clients, saving good amount of bandwidth.

Sounds like that is a workable option.

One thing to remember is that this SharedUpdate folder is created on demand by the GUP depending on which definitions are requested by the client. This means

• There is no point in backing up one GUP and restoring to another.
• The shorter your retention policy for definitions is, the sooner the definitions stored in SharedUpdates becomes invalid & new definitions need to be downloaded again.
• Consider increasing the time that clients can't communicate with a GUP in the LiveUpdate policy to ensure you cover your maintenance period.

Thank you for all the advice. Backing up and restoring the SharedUpdates folder worked fine.