The error "There was an error performing the update" occurred on a Mac OS X client workstation running Symantec AntiVirus for Mac - the Enterprise product version, not the consumer-oriented Norton AntiVirus for Mac.
The message itself is not very helpful... In order to see a more helpful error message, you'd need to look at the log file : "/Library/Application Support/Symantec/LiveUpdat
When I saw the above error message, it occurred to me right away that communication between the Symantec client and their servers was failing. Perhaps I might need to update a certificate by manually installing it ? The fix is easier, in fact. Update the Symantec LiveUpdate itself, which is a 4.6 MB .dmg file.
See Symantec's article here: http://www.symantec.com/bu
If you are managing your Macs centrally with Apple Remote Desktop (aka "ARD"), you can use "Send Unix command…" to verify the LiveUpdate version on the client workstations using the following:
The message itself is not very helpful... In order to see a more helpful error message, you'd need to look at the log file : "/Library/Application Support/Symantec/LiveUpdat
When I saw the above error message, it occurred to me right away that communication between the Symantec client and their servers was failing. Perhaps I might need to update a certificate by manually installing it ? The fix is easier, in fact. Update the Symantec LiveUpdate itself, which is a 4.6 MB .dmg file.
See Symantec's article here: http://www.symantec.com/bu
If you are managing your Macs centrally with Apple Remote Desktop (aka "ARD"), you can use "Send Unix command…" to verify the LiveUpdate version on the client workstations using the following:
Using ARD, you can centrally push/distribute the updated LiveUpdate by mounting the .dmg download from Symantec, and using the package installer within. After that, use the below command to get the client workstations to update. I suggest updating everything, rather than just (virus) definitions. All on one line:
The command to update definitions only (again, all one one line) is:
You can monitor some information about the update process by watching the log file (via ssh access, for example):
Please note that after repairing the problem (updating applying the LiveUpdate package/updating LiveUpdate itself), the update process can take a very long time ! Just let it do its thing.
Also note that this problem can also occur on a Windows client where - for example -you might be trying to run LiveUpdate from a batch file or other script. See: http://www.symantec.com/b
The most likely cause of this problem on either platform (Mac or Windows) is that the software is installed without then updating all components right away. And/or updating only virus definitions over a long period of time, without updating the program components - the the extent that the client falls too far out of date to communicate with the update server(s) correctly.