Agents

At Topology > Agents, you can set up and manage Agents. An Agent is a service running on a computer and can execute Ivanti Automation Tasks. This can be on the same computer on which the Agent runs, but also on another computer (for example, when executing a Task Execute Secure Shell (SSH) Commands or a Task Create Exchange Mailbox. An Agent can perform only one Task at once.

In Agents, the Enabled column indicates if Tracing is enabled. The Auto-Refresh option (enabled by default) automatically updates all nodes in which this functionality is available (all Jobs and Topology nodes).

Prerequisite

For the Agent to function properly, 8.3 naming convention must be used. By default Microsoft Windows has 8.3 naming convention enabled, which means that when an application is installed that uses a long path or filename, Microsoft Windows will create an 8.3 name for it. However, it is possible to disable 8.3 names. This means that Microsoft Windows will not create an 8.3 name for long path or file names.

Configuration

When deploying (via New) from the Console, the Agent+ will be installed. Please make sure the target computers meet the prerequisites. Use the Target computer(s) option to specify the computers you want the Agent deployed to. Use the browse button to target computers by browsing the network or scanning a specified IP address range. Version 2021.4 adds a new Select target computers based on Active Directory (OU)/Group membership button.

If you deploy an Agent+ on the same computer where a legacy Agent is installed, the Agent will be converted to the Agent+. The Agent+ will automatically adopt the Agent settings, and the legacy Agent will be removed from the system. Please note that if you used the default Agent resource folder for caching Resources and you installed the Agent on a custom location, the cached Resources will be removed after the convert.

To deploy the legacy Agent, use the MSI file and install it manually. It is not possible to install the legacy Agent, if the Agent+ is already installed on the same machine. Agents for Mac OS X and Agents for Unix/Linux cannot be deployed from the Console, but need to be installed separately.

When deploying Agents:

  • By default, new Agents that are deployed from the Console inherit the Global Settings. However, you can preconfigure Agents before their deployment. The Agents will then automatically connect with these settings to a Ivanti Automation environment when they are deployed. Agents can be preconfigured on the Agent Settings tab of the Push Deployment window.
    • When preconfiguring an Agent and specifying the Dispatcher discovery settings, select Use above configuration only at deployment of Agent to specify settings that are only applied during deployment. When the Agent has been deployed and connected to a Dispatcher with these initial settings, the Agent will from then on use the settings that are inherited from the global settings or the primary Team. This makes it possible to gain more control over the Agent deployment process. The option Use above configuration only at deployment of Agent is only available when the option Use global setting has been selected.
  • A deployed Agent will only get online if it can connect to a Dispatcher.
  • If you have deployed an Agent for which no license is available, an icon Unlicensed will be shown in the list of Agents.

  • If Agents are identified by MAC address or by Domain name/NetBIOS name, this information will be shown in the Agent Properties, in the field Identified by. This field is not shown if components are identified by their GUID. You can change the way in which components are identified in the Global Settings.

  • You can remove duplicate agents from your environment while keeping the job history attached to the “new – online” agent. For various reasons, duplicate agents can be present in any environment, one online agent and one offline agent. For example, this could happen when a machine is transferred from domain A to domain B while having the identification method configured with “Computer domain name & NetBIOS name”. Jobs were executed on the "old – offline" agent but also on the "new – online" agent.

  • If you want to delete obsolete Agents that have the same name as an online Agent, please use incorrect credentials if you want to keep this Agent: during deletion Ivanti Automation will use the Agent name to resolve the machine on which the obsolete Agents are installed, including the one with the online Agent. As a result, the online Agent will also be deleted.
  • The File version for the Agent+ follows the Microsoft standard: <Major>.<Minor>.<Days>.<Seconds>. For example, File Version 10.0.6205.36370 for the Agent+. The File version for the legacy Agent follows the standard: <Major>.<SR>.<incremental number>. For example, File Version 7.05.0577 for the legacy Agent.
  • Agent services will automatically restart if they fail.
  • Console users can select an agent from the Topology node and either click the toolbar's Recycle button or right-click and click Recycle. This will restart the agent service on the selected agent machine and it supports Windows/Mac/Linux/Unix agents. The Management Portal also supports this feature.


When searching for Agents, you can filter on Agents that are member of a Team or on Agents that executed a specific Project or Module.

In version 2021.2, all the Agent related views now have a changed Agent Search input field that will accept a list of semicolon separated Agent names. This will facilitate a more flexible way of adding Agents into Teams. If the list contains names that are not present in the environment or more agents correspond to the same name, a pop-up will report these names. If the are more than 5 names in this list, a file will be created on disk containing the list with the agent names grouped per type of issue.

When repairing an installed Agent, or Agent+, the current Agent settings will be used. A repair will replace the component like for like. A legacy Agent will not be converted to an Agent+.

When editing an Agent:

  • Use the Properties tab to view the general properties of the Agent or to prepare the Agent for use in a computer image.
  • Use the Agent Settings tab to configure settings for an Agent that deviate from the Global Settings.
  • Use the Agent Variables tab to configure Variables that deviate from the Global Variables.
  • Use the Teams tab to manage Team membership of the Agent.
  • Use the Snapshot Intelligence tab to manage snapshots of the Agent. This tab is only shown if the Agent has reverted to a snapshot.
  • Use the Job History tab to view details of Jobs that were executed by the Agent, to reschedule Jobs, to reapply Job history or to delete Job history.
  • Use the Trusts tab to define trusted Modules and Resources for the Agent. This tab is only shown if Trusts Security has been enabled.
  • Use the Permissions tab to view the level of access that Console users have to the Agent.
  • Use the Traces tab to enable Agent tracing on a computer.

See also: Open a remote Console on an online Agent

Enabling or disabling the Auto-Refresh option to automatically update items affects ALL nodes in which this functionality is available (all Jobs and Topology nodes).

If an Agent is offline because the computer on which it is installed is turned off, use wake-on-LAN to turn on the computer and bring the Agent online. You can do this from the Agents node for individual Agents, and from the Teams node for all Agents in that Team. To use wake-on-LAN, right-click the Agent or Team and choose Wake-on-LAN. This feature only works if the Agent and your network infrastructure support wake-on-LAN.