Error No: 1026 System.Application.Exception: Unable to initialize SPIAgent

Note: This article applies to SureSync 6 and older, these are obsolete versions and it's strongly recommended that you upgrade to a supported release

Error No: 1026 System.Application.Exception: Unable to initialize SPIAgent indicates a failure to initialize the SPIAgent, most likely because of a port range conflict. Please investigate the following:

  • Are you running Symantec's Continuous Protection Server? Some customers have reported a port range conflict caused by Continuous Protection Server using some of the same ports as the SPIAgent port range. Documentation on the ports used by Symantec's product can be found here. The SUIR.exe component of Continuous Protection Server uses ports 9000-9003 which conflicts with the SPIAgent port range of 9002-9033
  • Investigate any other program that could be using the port range used by the SPIAgent. The SPIAgent uses UDP port 9001 and the TCP port range 9002-9003 (for SureSync 5 and 6). The netstat -a command from a Command Prompt can be used to find established connections on our port range
  • A firewall could be configured to block the SPIAgent port range
  • The network adapter is disabled and/or has no IP address
  • Checking the Application Event Viewer for relevant error messages can sometimes provide additional clues.

Once the conflict is resolved the error will stop occurring.

If the problem is caused by a port range conflict, you can either move the other product off of the default SPIAgent port range or change the SPIAgent port range. It is strongly recommended to not change the SPIAgent port range whenever possible because it introduces a change that must be made to each new SPIAgent machine you deploy. All SPIAgent machines in an environment must have the same port range configured.

To change the SPIAgent port range, you would go to Start | Programs | SureSync | SPIAgent Configuration Utility for each machine running the SPIAgent in the environment. All machines must have the same range listed or conflicts will be created. For "TCP Listen Range" you can change this range to anything you like. For example, you might select 8002-8033. Remember that each running Relation, Schedule, and Real-Time Monitor consumes a port while active. We recommend keeping the range at a minimum of the default 31 available ports. After this change is made, you must cycle the SPIAgent service for the change to take effect. Finally, go into SureSync and go to Tools | SPIAgent Setup. In that panel, select each agent and enter the first port number in the new range for "Agent's TCP Listen Port. Using the same example, 8002 would have to be configured for each SPIAgent definition in SPIAgent Setup.

Whenever possible, we recommend changing the ports of the other application because it often results in less configuration work.