High CPU utilization by Veritas Service Management Framework Service (VxSMF.exe)

Problem

The Veritas Service Management Framework Service (VxSMF.exe) looks cyclically for a Veritas Licensing Server and, if the Licensing Server is not reachable or if it simply does not exists, the process can consume a great amount of CPU.

Cause

If a Symantec Licensing Server is not present or available, VxSMF can consume system resources including high CPU usage.
 

Solution

If Licensing is managed locally in any single system, the Veritas Management Framework Service is not needed and it can be deactivated with these easy steps:

• Open the Services console (run services.msc from a command prompt)
• Locate the Veritas Service Management Framework Service and double-click on it
• Set the "Startup Type" Field to "Disabled" and click OK.
• Close the Services console and open a Task Manager (run taskmgr from a command prompt)
• In the Processes Panel, locate the vxsmf.exe process, select it and click on the button "End Process"
• Repeat the latest step for any occurrence of the process, if needed.
• Close the Task Manager
   

These steps can be applied even in clustered systems with no further precaution.
It will not cause any failure on any resource, nor any disconnection at Volume/disk level.