Reboot devices now or later

When a device requires a reboot, for example when deploying patches or installing a new version of Managed Antivirus, it is indicated in the All Devices view North-pane Reboot column and in the device's Summary tab in the South-pane.

The reboot option is available for Windows computers, and Mac computers running the Mac Agent version 3.3.0 or later.

When you initiate a reboot from the All Devices view, the command is sent to the Agent during its next 24x7 upload cycle.

You have the following options when you select the reboot option:

  • Now — The Agent is instructed to reboot the device after a delay of five minutes from receipt of the restart command. For both Windows and Mac, the user receives a five minute warning message to save their work. Mac users receive an additional 15 second warning message.
  • Later — The Agent is instructed to reboot the device at the specified date and time. There is an option to cancel reboots that are scheduled for later. For more information, see Cancel a reboot scheduled for later.

Although a System Shutdown countdown message displays on the device for both reboot options, we recommend you notify the end user of the reboot so they can save their work before the reboot is initiated.

If a device is offline or in a hibernating state, the reboot runs after the device is back online.

After the Reboot: Now instruction is sent to the Agent, it cannot be canceled from N-sight RMM or the device.

Reboot a single device now or later

  1. In the All Devices view North-pane, go to the Servers, Workstations or Mixed tab.
  2. Right-click the device, then select Reboot.
    • If the device already has a pending reboot action, the reboot options are unavailable.
  3. Choose one of the following:
    • To reboot immediately, select Now.
    • To schedule the reboot, select Later, then choose the date and time.

      Devices reboot at the selected date and time based on their local time zone.

  4. Review the summary and select OK to confirm the reboot action.

Reboot multiple devices now or later

  1. In the All Devices view North-pane, go to the Servers, Workstations or Mixed tab.
  2. Select multiple devices:
    • Press Shift and select to choose a range.
    • Press CTRL and select to choose specific devices.
  3. Right-click one of the selected devices, then select Reboot.
  4. Choose when to reboot:

    To reboot immediately:

    1. Confirm the devices you want to reboot.
    2. Deselect any devices that do not require a reboot.
    3. If a reboot is not available for a device, this information appears in the Able to create actions? column.
    4. Select Run to start the reboot, and then OK to confirm.

    To schedule a reboot:

    1. Confirm the devices you want to reboot.
    2. Deselect any devices that do not required a reboot.
    3. If a reboot is not available for a device, this information appears in the Able to create actions? column.
    4. Select Schedule.

      Devices reboot at the selected date and time based on their local time zone.

    5. Choose the reboot date and time, then select OK to confirm.
  • The UTC Offset column shows the device time zone.
  • The Device Time column helps you identify devices that may be ahead of or behind the selected schedule.
  • Adjust your selection if needed to apply an appropriate schedule across devices in different time zones.

Example end user warning messages

Device type Example
Windows
Mac

When you schedule a reboot, you can only select the current date or future dates — you cannot select a previous date, which may cause an issue.

For example, if you are in Melbourne, Australia (and your All Devices view is set to that timezone), and you are scheduling a reboot for a device in New York, USA, you may have an issue because you cannot select the previous date for a reboot.

In this case, we recommend you change your All Devices view default timezone to reflect the timezone of the Agents in the last timezone to change. So for the above example, you would change your All Devices view default timezone from Australia/Melbourne to Americas/New York using Settings > General Settings > Office Hours > Time Zone.

Once complete, set the timezone for each Client to ensure their Reports etc. are generated in line with their timezone. Right-click the Client in the Client List, Edit Client > General > Timezone.

Cancel a reboot scheduled for later

You can cancel Reboot: Later actions up until the selected reboot time.

Single Device

  1. In the All Devices view North-pane, go to the Servers, Workstations or Mixed tab
  2. Right-click the device and select Pending Server Actions or Pending Workstation Actions
  3. Select the reboot action
  4. Click Cancel Action(s)
  5. Review the summary and select OK to confirm
  6. Right-click the device and select Rerun Checks

Multiple Devices

  1. In the All Devices view, select View > Pending Actions
  2. Select the target reboot actions
  3. Click Cancel Action(s)
  4. Review the summary and select OK to confirm

What if an end user cancels the reboot on a device?

If an end user cancels the reboot on a device (For example, the end user runs the shutdown abort command shutdown.exe /a) , the All Devices view continues to display the device as pending in the Reboot column for 30 minutes after you issue the Reboot action. When a device is in the Reboot pending state, the Reboot menu options are unavailable.

After the 30 minute timeout period, the device's status in the Reboot column changes from pending to failed and the Reboot menu options are now available.