Auto-updating Windows agent

Unitrends 10.9.5 introduces the Auto-updating Windows agent which provides improved security, reliability, and efficiency.

IMPORTANT  Push-installing agent updates will be removed from Unitrends in an upcoming release.

Understanding the auto-updating Windows agent

1.  Newly provisioned assets will deploy the auto-updating Windows agent by default.

2.  Existing assets can be configured to use the auto-updating Windows agent on the Edit Asset screen.

3.  The auto-update process will not initiate reboots, but may occasionally request client reboots to implement new features or fixes.

4.  Auto-update events will be visible in the event viewer, allowing RMM agents to parse auto-updating events. See the list of event viewer message codes below.

5.  If an asset is not communicating with an appliance, auto-update will not happen.

6.  You can see the current agent version and agent auto-update status for every asset on the Configure -> Protected Assets tab.

7.  Enabling or disabling auto-update on any alias will update the setting for all previously protected aliases for a protected asset.

To configure the auto-update status of an asset or Hyper-V host:

  1. Navigate to the Configure page.
  2. Select the Protected Assets tab.
  3. Select the check-box for the asset or Hyper-V host you want to configure.
  4. From the Update Agent drop-down, choose toggle auto-updates.
  5. On the Agent Auto-Update Settings pop-up, click Enable or Disable to configure auto-updating.

Alternatively, you can also change the auto-update setting for an asset or Hyper-V host from the Edit Asset screen as shown below:

When an auto-update happens, an alert is displayed with details:.

An example alert for a successful auto-update with details about remaining steps:

An example alert for an auto-update that was postponed:

The auto-update agent can deliver the following Event viewer messages:

Level ID Event log message Comments
Information 10 Starting agent update process. Current version: [currentInstalledVersion], target version: [targetversion]. Agent update process started.
Information 11 Resume updating the Unitrends Agent. Resume updating the agent due to a previous failure, for example, because a backup or restore process was in progress.
Information 13 Agent [agent version] installed. Agent installed successfully.

Warning

 14 Agent downgrade is not allowed. Current version: [currentInstalledVersion], target version: [agentVersion]. Agent downgrade is not allowed.
Warning 20 Cannot proceed with agent update. System reboot is required. Agent auto-update postponed. A system reboot is required. The agent update will resume after a 4-hour delay. After the third failed attempt, the next agent update will be scheduled for 30 days later.
Warning 21 Cannot proceed with agent update. Unitrends [process name] proccess is running. Agent auto-update postponed. Unitrends process on an asset side is in progress. The agent update will resume after a 4-hour delay. After the third failed attempt, the next agent update will be scheduled for 30 days later.
Warning 22 Cannot proceed with agent update. Backup or restore is in progress. Agent auto-update postponed. Backup or restore is in progress. The agent update will resume after a 4-hour delay. After the third failed attempt, the next agent update will be scheduled for 30 days later.
Warning 23 Cannot proceed with agent update. Agent update process already started. Agent update is in progress. Second instance of Agent update is not allowed.
Warning 24 Cannot proceed with agent update. Agent_Autoupdate_Status flag is disabled in master.ini file. Agent auto-update option is disabled.
Warning 25 Cannot proceed with agent update. Asset is clustered. Agent auto-update is not supported for clustered asset. Agent auto-update is not supported for clustered asset.
Warning 26 Manual installation of UVCBT driver is required, please run C:\Installers\uvcbt.msi on the asset. Manual installation of UVCBT driver is required.
Warning 27 Manual installation of Hyper-V CBT driver is required, please run C:\Win2012.dir\InstallCBT.bat on the asset. Manual installation of Hyper-V CBT driver is required.
Warning 28 Cannot proceed with agent update. Unitrends Volume CBT driver reboot is required. Agent auto-update postponed. A system reboot is required. The agent update will resume after a 4-hour delay. After the third failed attempt, the next agent update will be scheduled for 30 days later.
Error 30 Failed to download Unitrends Agent from [AgentUrl]. [Exception.Message]. Failed to download Unitrends Agent from the appliance.
Error 31 Agent update process failed for appliance [applianceip] with agent version [agentversion] due to unexpected exception: [Exception.Message]. Unexpected exception during updating Unitrends Agent. See details in a [Exception.Message].
Error 32 Failed to install Unitrends Windows Agent, not found any Agent installation. You need to manually install the Agent. Agent installation crashed because of an internal error.
Error 33

Failed to install Unitrends Windows Agent [agent version]. [event viewer error]

or

”Check the [Log path] and event viewer for Unitrends Agent installer.”

 Failed to install Unitrends Windows Agent. Check Event Viewer.
Error 34 Error sending agent update success status to [appliance ip]. [Exception.Message] Can not send status to an appliance. See details in a [Exception.Message].
Error 35 Error sending agent update failure status to [appliance ip]. [Exception.Message] Can not send status to an appliance. See details in a [Exception.Message].
Error 36 Error getting job status from [appliance ip]. [Exception.Message] Can not read status from an appliance. See details in a [Exception.Message].
Error 37 Unexpected exception in a main script execution:[Exception.Message], stack Trace: [ScriptStackTrace] Unexcepted exception. See details in a [Exception.Message].
Error 38 Invalid format of downloaded agent version: [version]  
Error 39 Failed to retrieve installed agent version: [version]