To manage agents, you must use the Windows console.
Occasionally, you might need to check an agent’s status or re-register the agent. You can also update the agent’s software and limit the number of concurrent requests that Core Services submits to an agent.
Secure Configuration Manager lets you control the flow of information through an agent by limiting the number of requests that Core Services submits to an agent concurrently. For example, if you have an agent installed on a shared server supporting many proxies, you can set the Maximum Concurrent Requests to a low value. This enables the server’s resources to be shared with other applications since less data will flow through the agent at any given time. Alternatively, you can increase the number of concurrent requests if the agent is installed on a server with no proxy reporting or is installed on a dedicated server monitoring multiple endpoints by proxy.
To specify the number of requests Core Services sends to the agent concurrently, change the agent property for Maximum Concurrent Requests. The default value is 5, and the maximum value is 100.
To determine whether an agent is started, running, and registered, check the agent heartbeat. The heartbeat indicates the agent’s status. If an agent is not running, you may need to start the agent service and register the agent again.
To check an agent heartbeat:
In the left pane, click IT Assets.
In the IT Assets tree pane, expand Agents.
Right-click the folder that contains the agent whose heartbeat you want to check, and then click Check Heartbeat.
Click OK on the confirmation message.
Secure Configuration Manager enables you to push software updates to security agents on multiple systems concurrently. Once you have a registered in your asset map, you can use the Deployment wizard in the console to apply a hotfix, service pack, or new version of the agent.
Secure Configuration Manager adds a report to the Completed Jobs queue when the deployment process finishes. You can also save a copy of the report to a folder or file share. The report provides a list of successful and failed agent updates.
You can apply only the Windows installation and update packages stored on the Core Services computer. By default, the packages are stored as .nap files in the %ProgramFiles%\NetIQ\Secure Configuration Manager\Core Services\SyncStore folder. Some .nap files might contain an update for both the Windows agent and Secure Configuration Manager components. The Deployment wizard enables you to import the file.
To update software for an existing Windows agent:
In the IT Assets tree pane, expand Agents > OS > Windows.
In the content pane, select the agents you want to update.
Right-click a selected agent, and then click Deploy or Update.
Follow the instructions in the wizard until you finish updating the agents on the target computers. For more information about deploying your Windows agents, see the Help in the console.