Symphony components and services cannot connect to the Symphony Server

Issue

Symphony components and services cannot connect to the Symphony Server.

Cause

A Microsoft .NET Framework update prevents Symphony components and services from connecting to the Symphony Server.

Workaround 1

To work around this issue, you can add the following code to the ae.exe.config, MobileBridge.exe.config, InfoService.exe.config, and SetupWizard.exe.config files as the the first child element of the <configuration> element. These files are located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Senstar\Symphony Server v7_bin or <custom_install_path>_bin.

Symphony Server 7.0.x or later

<configSections>
    <sectionGroup name="system.data.dataset.serialization" type="System.Data.SerializationSettingsSectionGroup, System.Data, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089">
        <section name="allowedTypes" type="System.Data.AllowedTypesSectionHandler, System.Data, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" />
    </sectionGroup>
</configSections>
<system.data.dataset.serialization>
    <allowedTypes>
        <!-- <add type="assembly qualified type name" /> -->
        <add type="Seer.BaseLibCS.Utils+TimeZoneInformation, Seer.BaseLibCS, Version=7.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null" />
        <add type="Seer.DeviceModel.Dio.IOModuleState, DeviceModel.Dio,
Version=7.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null" />
        <!-- additional <add /> elements as needed -->
    </allowedTypes>
</system.data.dataset.serialization> 

Symphony Server 6.14.x and earlier

<configSections>
    <sectionGroup name="system.data.dataset.serialization" type="System.Data.SerializationSettingsSectionGroup, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089">
        <section name="allowedTypes" type="System.Data.AllowedTypesSectionHandler, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"/>
    </sectionGroup>
</configSections>
<system.data.dataset.serialization>
    <allowedTypes>
        <!-- <add type="assembly qualified type name" /> -->
        <add type="BaseLibCS.Utils+TimeZoneInformation, BaseLibCS, Version=6.13.2.4, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null" />
        <!-- additional <add /> elements as needed -->
    </allowedTypes>
</system.data.dataset.serialization>

Note: In addition to the *.exe.config files listed above, add the code to the config files for any other Symphony executables that you use (for example, SDK sample applications).

Add the following registry key:

Registry key: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\AppContext

Value name: Switch.System.Data.AllowArbitraryDataSetTypeInstantiation

Value type: REG_SZ

Value data: true

On a 64-bit operating system, you need to add both the 64-bit key (shown above) and the 32-bit key. The 32-bit key is located at HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\AppContext.

Workaround 2

To work around this issue, you can uninstall one of the following Microsoft KBs:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4565627/kb4565627-cumulative-update-for-net-framework

https://support.microsoft.com/en-za/help/4565633/kb4565633-cumulative-update-for-net-framework