A managed agent is an agent the central computer can install and upgrade remotely. An unmanaged agent is an agent you manually install and update. The central computer cannot upgrade unmanaged agents.
Use an unmanaged agent in circumstances where a managed agent is not supported. Agent Manager cannot deploy managed Windows agents to remote Windows computers that are located outside a firewall. Consider installing an unmanaged agent to access the network over a WAN or a slow connection.
NOTE:NetIQ Corporation does not support managed agents separated from the central computer by a firewall or other device or configuration that can impede RPC or NetBIOS functionality.
When monitoring computers behind a firewall, NetIQ Corporation recommends installing unmanaged agents on your remote computers.
For more information about installing agents in a firewall environment, see the NetIQ Agent Manager Installation Guide.
When you deploy a managed agent or install an unmanaged agent, you assign that agent to a central computer.
For a managed agent, a central computer performs the following functions:
Installs and upgrades the managed agent
Scans the managed agent
Sends data collection rules and configuration information to the managed agent
Receives events from the managed agent
For an unmanaged computer, a central computer sends rules and configuration information to the unmanaged agent. The central computer cannot install, upgrade, or scan an unmanaged agent.
All managed agents are authorized by the central computer by default. You can use either the Agent Administrator utility or Agent Manager Console to specifically authorize each unmanaged agent.