NetIQ^® Secure Configuration Manager^TM Windows Agent version 5.9 (Windows agent) includes new features, improves usability, and resolves several previous issues. Many of these improvements were made in direct response to suggestions from our customers. We thank you for your time and valuable input. We hope you continue to help us ensure our products meet all your needs. You can post feedback in the Secure Configuration Manager forum on Qmunity, our community Web site that also includes product notifications, blogs, and product user groups.

For more information about this version and for the latest release notes, see the Secure Configuration Manager Documentation Web site. To download this product, see the Secure Configuration Manager Product Upgrade Web site.

What's New?

The Windows agent collects security information from one or more Windows computers in one or more domains. You can use the Secure Configuration Manager console to automatically install and uninstall agents on Windows computers to manage systems running a variety of Windows operating systems as well as Microsoft SQL Server, Internet Information Services (IIS), Oracle, Active Directory, and Network Attached Storage (NAS) endpoints.

For more information about Windows agent computer requirements, proxy requirements, and permissions, see the Installation and Configuration Guide for NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager Windows Agent.

The following sections outline the key features and functions provided by this version, as well as issues resolved in this release.

• Update Windows Agents from the Secure Configuration Manager Console
• Receive Patch Database Content Automatically Pushed from Core Services
• Enhancements and Software Fixes

Update Windows Agents from the Secure Configuration Manager Console

This version enables Windows agents to receive software updates through the deployment feature in the Secure Configuration Manager console. After installing this version for all your Windows agents, you can use the console to deploy hotfixes and service packs to multiple agents concurrently. To reduce the impact on environment performance, you can schedule the updates to occur at specified times.

Receive Patch Database Content Automatically Pushed from Core Services

This version enables Windows agents to receive updates for patch assessment that Secure Configuration Manager Core Services automatically pushes out. When you run the AutoSync service to download the latest available patch information, Core Services can push those updates to your agents with the latest patch database file before you run the patch assessment security checks for your endpoint.

Enhancements and Software Fixes

This version includes software fixes that resolve several previous issues.

• Adds Support for Using System Variables When Querying Certain File or Directory Objects
• New .msi Installation File Resolves Several Previous Issues
• Deployment of a Windows Agent Fails
• Cannot View a List of Systems Where Deployment Fails
• Secure Configuration Manager Might Display 0 and 1 Results Instead of True and False for IIS Web Site Objects and Attributes
• Uninstallation Process Does Not Remove All Files
• Cannot Deploy an Agent when the Deployment Account Password includes a Blank Space
• Deployed Agents Do Not Register Automatically
• New Numbering Scheme for the Windows Agent Version

Adds Support for Using System Variables When Querying Certain File or Directory Objects

This version enables you to use system variables when running queries against the following objects in the Windows namespace:

• File or Directory
• File or Directory Control Access Entry
• File or Directory System Access Control Entry
• Content Line

You use the following variables to specify values for these objects:

• %CommonProgramFiles%
• %CommonProgramFiles(x86)%
• %CommonProgramW6432%
• %ProgramFiles%
• %ProgramFiles(x86)%
• %ProgramW6432%
• %SystemDrive%
• %SystemRoot%
• %TEMP%
• %TMP%
• %windir%

(ENG235626)

New .msi Installation File Resolves Several Previous Issues

The new NetIQSecurityAgentForWindows.msi installation file for this version resolves the following issues related to using the previous SecurityAgentForWindows.msi file:

• The previous .msi installation package fails to install the Windows agent on a computer running a non-English operating system. The setup program looks for a group named "User" in English. The .msi installation package in this version can install the Windows agent on a computer running a non-English operating system. (ENG278913)
• You cannot not install the NetIQ^® Secure Configuration Manager Module for SCAP (SCAP module) on a computer where you installed a Windows agent using the previous .msi file. You can now locally install or deploy the SCAP module 1.4 from the Secure Configuration Manager console to a computer that hosts this version of the Windows agent. For more information about deploying agent packages from the console, see the Installation and Configuration Guide for NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager Windows Agent. (DOC309545)
• You cannot use the previous .msi file to install the agent on a computer running an operating system with the German language. The installation process succeeds, but the NetIQ Security Agent for Windows service (Windows agent service) does not start. (ENG305134)
• Some directories remain on the computer after you uninstall the agent. This issue occurs only when you have used the previous .msi file to install the agent. (ENG302181)
• You use the previous .msi file to update an agent on a 64-bit computer, and then cannot uninstall the agent. (ENG290544)

Deployment of a Windows Agent Fails

Cannot View a List of Systems Where Deployment Fails

Secure Configuration Manager Might Display 0 and 1 Results Instead of True and False for IIS Web Site Objects and Attributes

Secure Configuration Manager now displays True and False when reporting the status of IIS Web site object and attributes. (ENG297173)

Uninstallation Process Does Not Remove All Files

When you remove the Windows agent from a computer using the uninstall program, such as the Remote Deployment wizard or the remove programs utility in the Windows Control Panel, the program now remove all files from the agent installation folder (by default C:\Program Files\NetIQ\Vulnerability Manager Agent).(ENG310022)

Note Before removing the agent from the computer, ensure that you have unregistered and deleted the agent from Secure Configuration Manager. For more information, see the User Guide for NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager.

Cannot Deploy an Agent when the Deployment Account Password includes a Blank Space

Secure Configuration Manager now allows you to specify an account for deployment where the password contains a blank space. However, you cannot specify a password if the first character is a blank space. (ENG322765)

Deployed Agents Do Not Register Automatically

Agents deployed successfully to remote computers, particularly Windows 2003 Server systems, now register automatically with Core Services. (ENG262432)

New Numbering Scheme for the Windows Agent Version

With this version, the Windows agent version number changes to a new scheme that more closely resembles versioning supported by Microsoft Corporation. The new version number uses a MM.NN.BBBB.SHHH format. For example, 5.9.755.0000. The following table explains the scheme.

Symbol	Represents
MM	Major version of the product
NN	Minor version of the product
BBBB	Build number
S	Service pack number
HHH	Count of applied hotfixes

Under certain circumstances, the Windows operating system might report to Secure Configuration Manager that an agent is version 5.9.755.1 when the agent really is at version 5.9.755.0001, which represents this release plus one hotfix. This discrepancy occurs because Microsoft commonly removes the leading zeroes in numbers.

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System Requirements

This version requires NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager 5.9.

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Installing and Upgrading Agents

This version enables you to install new agents or upgrade existing ones. You can upgrade from the following agent versions:

• 5.7 Service Pack 2
• 5.8
• 5.8 Service Pack 1
• 5.8 Service Pack 2

NetIQ Corporation recommends that you review the following considerations before installing or upgrading to this version:

• If you want to install or upgrade an agent on a local computer, use the NetIQSecurityAgentForWindows.msi setup program included in the installation kit.
• If you want to install or upgrade the agent on remote computers, use the Deployment wizard in the Secure Configuration Manager console. Before using the remote deployment feature, you must locally install or upgrade at least one agent in each domain. Secure Configuration Manager uses this first upgraded agent as a Deployment Agent for the domain. Once an agent is upgraded, Secure Configuration Manager can automatically assign it as a Deployment Agent. For more information about deployment and Deployment Agents, see the Installation and Configuration Guide for NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager Windows Agent and the User Guide for NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager.
• The Secure Configuration Manager 5.9 setup program automatically adds a Windows agent to the Core Services computer. If a Windows agent already exists on the computer, the setup program upgrades the agent to this version. Secure Configuration Manager also assigns this agent as the default Deployment Agent for the computer's domain.
• Before using the Deployment feature in the console to upgrade older agents, you might need to specify a fully qualified host name (FQHN) for the agent computer. Secure Configuration Manager needs to know in which domain each agent resides so that Core Services can assign a Deployment Agent to use for deploying version 5.9 to the agents.

• If you do not immediately upgrade your Windows agents after upgrading to Secure Configuration Manager 5.9, you must apply Hotfix 73282 to the agents. This hotfix updates the certificate file that ensures communication between the agent and Core Services.

  You must also continue running a Windows agent on a computer other than the Core Services computer. The agent computer must be running your current agent version and have the Standalone Deployment Wizard installed locally. You can use the standalone wizard to push the hotfix to your older agents. You cannot use the Secure Configuration Manager console to deploy Hotfix 73282.

• You can deploy version 5.9 to your Windows agents without Hotfix 73282 applied. However, you must re-register the agents after deployment. Secure Configuration Manager cannot communicate with the agents until they are successfully registered.

• During installation and deployment, the installation program makes the following changes on the target computer:
  • Automatically grants the "Log on as a service" right to the specified account for the Windows agent service.
  • Enables the Services utility in the Windows Control Panel to automatically restart the Windows agent service after a failure.
• If you want to use an upgraded agent as a Deployment Agent, you might need to modify the run-as account for the NetIQ Security Agent for Windows service on that agent's computer. The service account for Deployment Agents must have the credentials to deploy to remote computers. For example, specify a domain administrator account. When you upgrade a Windows agent, the setup program persists the agent settings, including baselines and registry key settings.
• If you upgrade an agent that communicates with Core Services on a port other than the default ports, you must manually re-register the upgraded agent. When the upgraded agent registers with Secure Configuration Manager Core Services, the default communication port changes from 1626 to 1627.
• This version does not install these release notes or the Installation and Configuration Guide for NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager Windows Agent included in the installation kit. To maintain the latest documentation on the console computer, copy the files to the Documentation folder, by default \%Program Files%\NetIQ\Secure Configuration Manager\Documentation.
• You can upgrade a Windows agent that has the NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager Module for SCAP (SCAP module) installed on the agent computer.
• If you want to re-deploy an agent that has already been successfully deployed to a remote computer, you must uninstall the agent first. For example, you might want to change the credentials of the Windows agent service or resolve issues with the agent. The Deployment wizard does not change the settings for a previously installed agent, even though you modify the settings as part of the deployment process. The Windows agent setup program prevents you from installing an agent when the same version already exists on the computer, but the Deployment wizard does not.

For more information about installing, upgrading, and deploying the Windows agent, see the Installation and Configuration Guide for NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager Windows Agent included in the installation kit. For more information about installation, contact Technical Support.

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Verifying the Windows Agent Installation

To verify that the Windows agent installation was successful, on the computer where you installed the Windows agent, open the Control Panel utility for adding and removing programs. The currently installed programs should include NetIQ Security Agent for Windows 5.9.

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Known Issues

NetIQ Corporation strives to ensure our products provide quality solutions for your enterprise software needs. The following issues are currently being researched. If you need further assistance with any issue, please contact Technical Support.

• Effective Policy Object Has Some Restrictions in Collecting Group Policy Object Data
• Special Steps Required to Uninstall Previous Versions of the Agent from a 64-bit Computer
• CIS Policy Setting Security Check Reports a Not Configured Status for Some Disabled Policies
• Security Checks Report Proxied Endpoints as Offline When Windows Firewall is Enabled

Effective Policy Object Has Some Restrictions in Collecting Group Policy Object Data

The following limitations apply to the Effective Policy object:

• Due to data integrity issues, Microsoft APIs prevent the Windows agent from running Effective Policy object queries against some GPOs.
• The Windows agent cannot collect GPO settings information when the agent runs as the Local System account on queried endpoints. The Windows agent must have Administrative permissions on the endpoint to run the queries. (DOC304630)

Special Steps Required to Uninstall Previous Versions of the Agent from a 64-bit Computer

You must follow a special procedure to uninstall previous versions of the Windows agent on a 64-bit computer if you used the SecurityAgentForWindows.msi file to upgrade or install a previous version of the agent. This issue applies to computers running the following 64-bit operating systems:

• Windows XP Professional
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Enterprise
• Windows Server 2008 Standard
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise

For more information about the special procedure, see NetIQ Knowledge Base article NETIQKB72423.

CIS Policy Setting Security Check Reports a Not Configured Status for Some Disabled Policies

The CIS Policy Setting security check verifies whether an endpoint complies with specified policy settings. This check reports the following group policies as not configured when the policies are disabled:

• Disable remote Desktop Sharing
• Do not process the legacy run list
• Do not process the run once list
• Require trusted path for credential entry
• Restrictions for Unauthenticated RPC clients

(DOC310546)

Security Checks Report Proxied Endpoints as Offline When Windows Firewall is Enabled

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Contact Information

Our goal is to provide documentation that meets your needs. If you have suggestions for improvements, please email Documentation-Feedback@netiq.com. We value your input and look forward to hearing from you.

For detailed contact information, see the Support Contact Information Web site.

For general corporate and product information, see the NetIQ Corporate Web site.

For interactive conversations with your peers and NetIQ experts, become an active member of Qmunity, our community Web site that offers product forums, product notifications, blogs, and product user groups.

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Legal Notice

NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager is protected by United States Patent No: 5829001 and 7707183.

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This document could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein. These changes may be incorporated in new editions of this document. NetIQ Corporation may make improvements in or changes to the software described in this document at any time.

© 2012 NetIQ Corporation and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

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If this product claims FIPS compliance, it is compliant by use of one or more of the Microsoft cryptographic components listed below. These components were certified by Microsoft and obtained FIPS certificates via the CMVP.

893 Windows Vista Enhanced Cryptographic Provider (RSAENH)

894 Windows Vista Enhanced DSS and Diffie-Hellman Cryptographic Provider (DSSENH)

989 Windows XP Enhanced Cryptographic Provider (RSAENH)

990 Windows XP Enhanced DSS and Diffie-Hellman Cryptographic Provider (DSSENH)

997 Microsoft Windows XP Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module (FIPS.SYS)

1000 Microsoft Windows Vista Kernel Mode Security Support Provider Interface (ksecdd.sys)

1001 Microsoft Windows Vista Cryptographic Primitives Library (bcrypt.dll)

1002 Windows Vista Enhanced Cryptographic Provider (RSAENH)

1003 Windows Vista Enhanced DSS and Diffie-Hellman Cryptographic Provider (DSSENH)

1006 Windows Server 2008 Code Integrity (ci.dll)

1007 Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Kernel Mode Security Support Provider Interface (ksecdd.sys)

1008 Microsoft Windows Server 2008

1009 Windows Server 2008 Enhanced DSS and Diffie-Hellman Cryptographic Provider (DSSENH)

1010 Windows Server 2008 Enhanced Cryptographic Provider

1012 Windows Server 2003 Enhanced Cryptographic Provider (RSAENH)

This product may also claim FIPS compliance by use of one or more of the Open SSL cryptographic components listed below. These components were certified by the Open Source Software Institute and obtained the FIPS certificates as indicated.

918 - OpenSSL FIPS Object Module v1.1.2 - 02/29/2008 140-2 L1

1051 - OpenSSL FIPS Object Module v 1.2 - 11/17/2008 140-2 L1

1111 - OpenSSL FIPS Runtime Module v 1.2 - 4/03/2009 140-2 L1

Note: Windows FIPS algorithms used in this product may have only been tested when the FIPS mode bit was set. While the modules have valid certificates at the time of this product release, it is the user's responsibility to validate the current module status.

EXCEPT AS MAY BE EXPLICITLY SET FORTH IN THE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT, NOTHING HEREIN SHALL CONSTITUTE A WARRANTY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND WARRANTIES INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE HEREBY EXCLUDED TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW AND ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED BY NETIQ, ITS SUPPLIERS AND LICENSORS.

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