Agent upgrade overview

The Connected Agent supports both manual and automated upgrades. Choose the one that best meets your needs:

  • Manual. Provides an interactive Agent upgrade.

    Users download a newer version of the Agent from the Connected web application and then run it. This interactive upgrade method uses a wizard with a few simple pages to step users through the upgrade process. Customer-level administrators can define the specific Agent version available to users for each operating system. For more information, see Configure the Agent versions available for user download and Upgrade the Agent interactively.

  • Automated. Two automated methods silently upgrade Agents without user interaction:

    • Auto-upgrade method. Automatically upgrades all Agents in a group.

      For this method, you specify an Agent version for a particular group, and Connected silently automates the rest of the upgrade process. For more information, see Initiate auto-upgrades of Agents.

    • Command-line upgrade. Upgrades Agents regardless of group.

      For this type of upgrade, use a custom script or software deployment tool that distributes the new Agent to multiple users, regardless of group, and then installs it on their computers based on a set of command-line options. For more information, see Upgrade the Agent from the command line.

Which type of upgrade should I use?

The upgrade method you use depends on which users you plan to upgrade. Each method is best suited for a particular upgrade scenario. Do you want to upgrade a single user? A group of users? Subsets of users across groups? Here are a few additional points to consider:

  • For manual upgrades, the Downloads page provides all users access to the same version of the Agent installation page for download.

    If you want specific users to upgrade to a version other than the one set at the company level, either provide those users a copy of that version or upgrade them using an automated method. The administrator's version of the Downloads page provides access to all available Agents.

  • The command-line method provides the most control for companies with their own software deployment tools and processes. However, it requires the most work by the administrator.

  • The auto-upgrade method is the easiest way to upgrade Agents and requires the least administrator or user interaction. However, if you have very large groups or do not want to upgrade an entire group at once, it might not be the best option.