Manage Agents

Agent > Agents > Manage Agents

The Manage Agents page consolidates a number of agent functions all in one page.

Agent Properties and Column Sets

The page can display a wide variety of agent properties. You can use selectable columns, column sorting, column filtering and flexible columns widths to adjust the display of agent properties. You can also create named "column sets" to save a preferred display of data. Column and filter selections apply to each VSA user individually. You can click the cell of any column and copy its value to your clipboard.

Maintenance

A gear icon provides access to three maintenance functions.

• Export - Exports agent data to a csv file. Only data or columns currently displayed are exported—for all agents, selected agents or just the current page of agents.
• Refresh - Refreshes the table.
• Reset - Resets the display of table columns to the default.

Actions

Select one or more agents before selecting any of the following actions. In many cases an additional dialog displays.

Manage menu

• Update Agents - Updates selected agents with the latest version of the agent software. Updating the agent software makes no changes to the agent settings you have defined for each agent. Optionally
  • Force update even if agent is at version x.x.x.x - If checked, machines selected for update are updated with new files to replace the agent files on the managed machine, even if the agent version is currently up to date. This performs a "clean" installation of the agent files.
  • Agent procedure to run after update <select agent procedure> - Select an agent procedure to run immediately after an agent update completes. This lets you re-apply customizations to an agent that may be lost after an agent update. Typically these customizations involve hiding or renaming agent identifiers on managed machines so as to prevent users from recognizing the agent is even installed.
• Cancel Update - Cancels a pending update on selected managed machines.
• Delete Agents - Deletes three different combinations of machine ID accounts and agents.
  • Uninstall agent first at next check-in - Uninstall the agent from the machine and remove the machine ID account from the Kaseya Server. The account is not deleted until the next time the agent successfully checks in.
  • Delete account now without uninstalling the agent - Leave the agent installed and remove the machine ID account from the Kaseya Server.
  • Uninstall the agent and keep the account - Uninstall the agent from the machine without removing the machine ID account from the Kaseya Server.
• Cancel Delete - Cancels a pending delete on selected managed machines.
• Rename
  • Rename account - Renames an existing machine ID account. You can also assign the machine to a different machine group. Renaming an agent only changes how the name is displayed in the VSA.
  • Merge offline account <Offline Machine ID> into <Select Machine ID> Delete <Offline Machine ID> after merge - Use merge to combine log data from two different accounts into the same machine. This could be necessary if an agent was uninstalled and then re-installed with a different account name. Merge combines the accounts as follows:
    • Log data from both accounts are combined.
    • Baseline Audit data from the old offline account replaces any baseline data in the selected account.
    • Alert settings from the selected account are kept.
    • Pending agent procedures from the selected account are kept. Pending agent procedures from the old offline account are discarded.
    • The old account is deleted after the merge.

      Note: Since the machine can only be active on a single account, only offline accounts are provided in the drop-down list to merge with.

• Change Group - Assigns multiple agents to a different machine group. Machines currently offline are assigned the next time they check in. Changing the machine group may trigger automated actions. For example, Policy Management may apply different policies, based on the the assigned machine group.
• Working Directory - Sets the path to a directory on the managed machine used by the agent to store working files. Depending on the task at hand, the agent uses several additional files. The server transfers these files to a working directory used by the agent on the managed machine. For selected machine IDs you can change the default working directory from C:\kworking to any other location. You can approve this directory in security programs, such as virus checkers, to allow operations such as remote control from being blocked. A working directory can be written to using a getVariable() command in agent procedures. A Set System Default Working Directory button displays for master users.

  Warning: Do not delete files and folders in the working directory. The agent uses the data stored in the working directory to perform various tasks.

• Suspend/Resume - Suspends/resumes all agent operations, such as agent procedures, monitoring, and patching, without changing the agent's settings. When suspended, a machine ID displays a suspended icon next to it. While a machine ID account is suspended the managed machine displays a gray agent icon in the system tray. You can filter the display of machine IDs on any agent page using the Show machines that are suspended/not suspended option in View Definitions.

  The system tray is located, by default, in the lower right-hand corner of the Windows desktop, in the Taskbar. It contains the system clock, and other system icons.

Credentials menu

• Set Credentials - Registers an agent credential used by an agent to perform user level tasks on a managed machine. A credential is the logon name and password used to authenticate a user or process's access to a machine or network or some other resource. Most agent tasks do not require an agent credential.
  • Username - Enter the username for the credential. Typically this a user account.
  • Password - Enter the password associated with the username above.
  • Local user account - Select this option to use a credential that logs into this machine locally, without reference to a domain.
  • Use machine's current domain - Create a credential using the domain name this machine is a member of, as determined by the latest audit. This makes it easier to Select All and rapidly set a common username/password on multiple machines, even if selected machines are members of different domains.
  • Specify Domain - Manually specify the domain name to use for this credential in the Specify field.
• Test Credentials - Verifies whether an agent credential works.
• Clear Credentials - Removes the agent credential from all checked machine IDs.

Deploy Agent - Downloads the current VSA user's default package to the user's local machine..

Columns Sets menu

• New - Create a new column set. Add agent property columns to display when this column set is selected in the Manage Agents page.
• Edit - Edit a selected column set.
• Delete - Delete a selected column set.
• Manage - Displays a dialog of all columns sets. You can add, edit or delete column sets from this dialog.