Update the Mac Agent

The Mac Agent is upgraded on a regular basis to include new features, enhanced functionality, support for additional vendors along with general improvements. To take advantage of these improvements we recommend you update your Mac Agents on a regular basis.

There are two Agent version types:

  • General Availability (GA) — Latest production Agent release
  • Release Candidate (RC) — Release Candidate Agents undergo extensive testing before you can download them, but if you choose to download an RC Agent, it could include be minor bugs

As part of our Agent release policy, we support the current and previous GA (General Availability) Agent on a rolling basis with information on each Agent release logged in the Agent Release Notes.

To precisely match your company's software roll-out policy, there are a number of options for updating the Agent on individual and multiple devices.  This supports a mixed approach when rolling out the updates. For example, set the all workstations option at the Client or Site level, then use the individual device option to exclude specific workstations.

The version of the Agent currently installed on the device is displayed in both the Device South-pane Summary tab and in the North-pane Agent Version column (where Agent Version is selected in the Columns drop-down).

Mac Agent support for Apple M1 processors

Beginning with Mac Agent v3.6.0 RC and macOS 11 Big Sur, there is native support for Macs with new Apple M1 processors. Some add-on features, like AV, will run in Rosetta 2 compatibility. We expect to have those ready in the near future, but the core Agent is ready today.

For technical reasons, the Agent is not a Universal 2 binary. If you use Migration Assistant to transfer from an Intel Mac to an Apple Silicon Mac, you must reinstall the Mac Agent to ensure the native version is used. Our installer determines the correct package to install.

The auto-update process may take multiple Agent cycles to complete and whichever method is used to update the Agent, manual or automatic, all existing configuration settings are retained.

Manual Update (GA and RC Agents)

Download and run the installer on each workstation to update

  1. On the All Devices view, go to Agent > Download Agent.
  2. Select the required version of the Mac Agent to initiate the download the DMG file.
  3. Once the transfer of the DMG file is complete.
  4. Navigate to the download directory.
  5. Double-click on the DMG to open, choose Install then Continue to navigate through the wizard.
  6. At the Registration section choose whether to Upgrade existing Agent or Reinstall Agent (existing data will be erased).

Enter the password of the user you logged into the Mac under when prompted to authorize the installation and update the Mac Agent

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Edit Workstation Dialog (GA and RC Agents)

  1. On the All Devices view North-pane, go to the Workstations tab.
  2. Right-click on the device in the North-pane (or from the Workstation drop-down).
  3. Choose Edit Workstation.
  4. Select the required release from the Update Agent drop-down.
  5. Click OK to apply and exit.

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Automatic Update (GA Agents)

Rather that access each workstation to update the Agent, the All Devices view includes the option to automatically update individual or multiple devices.

Only GA Agents are supported in the Agent Auto Update dialog, although individual devices may be automatically updated to a Release Candidate via the Edit device update option

Please be aware that Agent updates are only performed on those Operating System that support the selected version of the Mac Agent.

Agent Auto Update Dialog

  1. On the All Devices view, go to Agent > Agent Auto-update Settings.

    The Agent Auto Update dialog displays.

    The expandable left-hand tree indicates the current Agent version status for the Client and Site nodes.

    agent_update_ok Latest version of the Agent installed on all devices
    agent_update_mixed Devices contain a mixture of old and new Agents
    agent_to_update Older versions of the Agents are installed on all devices
    agent_update_pendingAgent update pending
  2. Select the node level to apply the update to in the left menu (all Workstations, specific Clients or Sites).
  3. Choose the required action in the dialogs' North-pane for All Workstations at the selection or choose an action for Individual Workstations.

    4. Note: for easy identification, an Operating System icon is displayed against each workstation. Hover over this icon for Operating System details.

    No change

    No updates are selected

    Cancel all pending updates

    Any updates currently in the Pending Updates state are canceled.

    Where updates are pending for all devices at the Client and Site levels an orange icon agent_update_pendingis displayed against the relevant nodes in the left menu

    Where updates are pending at the device level the Agent version is displayed in the Pending updates column in the North-pane of the Agent Auto Update dialog (available from the Client or Site node).

    Agent (version)

    Updates the selection to the specified Agent version
  4. Click Save to apply and exit out of the dialog.

By default workstations inherit the update settings from the Site, which will in turn inherit the update settings from the Client, which will in turn inherit update settings for all workstations.

What do you want to do?